I have been getting OTA for about a year at a cottage in rural New Brunswick a few miles from the Maine border. I have attached my radar scan - not a lot of channels because of the terrain. This week I had satellite internet installed and they put the box on the bottom part of the antenna pole - see attachment. After the install, the TV screen pixelated, went dark, with only audio. I can no longer receive any of the PBS stations. As indicated on the radar scam WAGM and PBS have exactly the same power and compass coordinates - WAGM is still just fine - PBS is gone. Any suggestions as to why. I have disconnected all of the internet electrical and still no reception. Thanks.
That doesn't appear to be a satellite antenna, it looks more like a wireless internet service antenna. Very different equipment with very different potentials for interfering with OTA reception. Please see if you can accurately identify the operating frequencies used, you will need to call the service provider and find someone with the knowledge.
Please clarify the following:
Which PBS station (WMEM?) ?
What direction are the antennas aimed for that station?
What preamplifier is installed?
How are the two antennas combined?
Clarify symptom: Did you loose all of that PBS station or do you only have audio for that station, including any/all subchannels?
Yes, it is a wireless internet receiver - they recently installed a tower to pick up the satellite signal. I checked with the provider and they broadcast at 3.56 GHz. I don't know which preamp I have - I sent the radar map to Antennas Direct and they advised me of which one to get - I think it would be the Channel Master that picks up in the blue/purple zone. An electrician did the install and he followed the materials provided with the hardware.
I have no PBS signal (no audio or visual). Before this event, I was able to receive four PBS stations that were labelled 10.1, 10.2, 10.3 and 10.4 - they all had different content and are broadcast from the tower in Presque Isle, Maine. The WAGM signal is picked up as 8.1 and 8.2. This signal has virtually the same power as the PBS signal and the tower is also located in Presque Isle, Maine. I can still receive both WAGM signals with a clear image. I also get CTV out of Fredericton, NB and Global TV out of Moncton, NB but the picture is not good.
I have rotated the antenna full 360 degrees with no gain in signal. I have not rescanned for a signal.
When this started, the TV was on low power and turned itself on with a totally pixilated screen and no audio. Then it turned on with audio and no picture - I mean it turned on by itself and I had to unplug the TV to get it to turnoff (could not find the remote at the time). I am wondering if there was a signal or power surge (all were connected to a power bar). The inside power unit for the external receiver and a router were located next to the TV.
I sent the radar map to Antennas Direct and they advised me of which one to get - I think it would be the Channel Master that picks up in the blue/purple zone.
We would not have offered such advice since we sell our own amps. I don't recognize the profile of the amp specifically, but it might be a member of the old ChannelMaster Spartan 3 family.
I don't think you have an antenna issue. It sounds more like the TV went haywire or, more remotely possible, something also happened to go wrong at the station.
Thanks. I bought this preamp 2 years ago. I bought it on-line - I thought the company was in Mississaguga ON. I did so much research at the time that I am probably confusing where the info came from but I did send the radar map for advice. I will rescan and hopefully this will be fixed. It may be that PBS was affected since this was the channel that was tuned in at the time all went nuts.
If it's unpowered and there's no change in your reception of that station, then it's not too likely it's the issue.
I'd suggest perusing that stations Facebook page and Twitter feed to see if they're having issues. It does happen and it's prudent to either rule that out or keep it as a possibility.
One last question - when I run the scan, the system seems to spend a lot of time on 10 - like it is looking for a signal that may be just below the detection threshold. Is there a way to 'reboot' the preamplifier?
It shouldn't require that, but you can certainly unplug its power supply for a bit then plug it back in.
I'd never have predicted anything close to semi-reliable reception of that station with a C5 (the signal estimates don't add up) so you might simply be encountering either summertime signal fade, co-channel interference due to temporary atmospheric effects, or the like.
