Would losing one whisker from an 8 bay cause loss of a channel?

billydee · 11-Feb-2015, 2:55 PM

I purchased and mounted a Solid Signal Xtreme Signal HDB8X 8 Bay VHF/UHF antenna last summer and found one of the whiskers (out of a total of sixteen) on the ground last week.

Perhaps heavy wet snow or wind or who knows what caused it. All of the nine channels I get seemed to still be ok.

And then a couple days later my channel at 2.1 (KASA FOX) disappeared and has been gone for nearly a week. I've done several rescans and no other channels are affected.

I'm thinking there's a possibility that the KASA translator is down, which has happened before. But could it be that one whisker missing is the problem?

Here's my TV Fool report from today-
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2c153dcfc704a7

I don't see KASA Fox on it anymore....could it just have been dropped?

Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks

ADTech · 11-Feb-2015, 3:36 PM

Quote:

I don't see KASA Fox on it anymore....could it just have been dropped?

You'd have to contact KASA and inquire about the current status of their translator (or find someone local that is getting it, perhaps).

K50FS should be the KASA translator and it's the in same place on your list as it was back in April.

billydee · 11-Feb-2015, 4:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADTech

You'd have to contact KASA and inquire about the current status of their translator (or find someone local that is getting it, perhaps).

K50FS should be the KASA translator and it's the in same place on your list as it was back in April.

I'll try that inquiring with them, don't know anyone local that's doing the same thing. Thanks for your advice.

I really should get up there and verify the 109 degree direction for the one set of bays on the HDB8X. That said, I'm a little upset that the whisker broke off that easily.

ADTech · 11-Feb-2015, 6:16 PM

I'd suggest calling the company that imported the antenna from China and sold it to you.

billydee · 11-Feb-2015, 6:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ADTech

I'd suggest calling the company that imported the antenna from China and sold it to you.

I sent them an email yesterday and will follow-up by phone in a day or two if I don't hear back.

Probable lesson learned here- you get what you pay for. The HDB8X sure seemed like a good deal...

Contacting KASA and K5F0S has been a black hole so far. Can't get a real person to even ask about it.

billydee · 12-Feb-2015, 3:01 PM

This is what I heard back from the antenna seller-
While there is nothing you can do to fix that particular problem, I do have suggestion as to what you can do. Instead of replacing the entire antenna, you could purchase a HDB4X and just replace the broken half of the antenna. The HDB8X is made up of two HDB4X’s combined together.

Lot of help that advice is...

So yesterday I climbed up there and took a look. It appears the whisker that came off can be reattached with some crazy glue. I'll do that this weekend. I propped it up in place with some tape for now.

I rechecked the 109 and 342 degree angle for the antenna and they're all still good. And I've given up on trying to find out if there's a problem with the KASA translator. I can't get a live person to save my life.

Stereocraig · 13-Feb-2015, 12:13 PM

Attaching the whisker w/ Crazy Glue or any other non metallic adhesive, could partially or completely insulate it from the rest of the system.
Plus, it will eventually break down from weather and UV.

The proper thing to do, is to drill out the rivet and replace it w/ #8, or #10 screws, nuts and star washers.

I'm guessing that the other whiskers, may also be close to falling off.

billydee · 14-Feb-2015, 5:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stereocraig

Attaching the whisker w/ Crazy Glue or any other non metallic adhesive, could partially or completely insulate it from the rest of the system.
Plus, it will eventually break down from weather and UV.

The proper thing to do, is to drill out the rivet and replace it w/ #8, or #10 screws, nuts and star washers.

I'm guessing that the other whiskers, may also be close to falling off.

That's not a bad idea, I'll give that a try. Thanks!

GWM · 18-Feb-2015, 3:17 PM

I'm looking at this same antenna. How would you rate it on fringe reception ?

billydee · 18-Feb-2015, 3:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GWM

I'm looking at this same antenna. How would you rate it on fringe reception ?

Well I'm no expert like some here and this was my first foray into OTA TV, but that said I'm pretty happy with it.

It picks up all the channels they say it should, at least all of the Line of Sight ones and a few of the 1 and 2 Edge ones if I point that way.

And I find it easy to adjust the bays angles and is very lightweight.

That said I'm a little concerned that the plastic piece holding on one of the whiskers broke off but I think I can repair it easily. We did have quite a bit of wet heavy snow for a while which may have been the culprit.

Good luck.

billydee · 20-Feb-2015, 10:23 PM

Some good news regarding why I can't pick up KF50S (KASA Fox) anymore.
I was able to find the phone number for the engineer and he stated they are having some problems but expect it to be fixed in the next week or so.

So it appears that losing one whisker did no harm.

Thanks to all that offered advice and/or condolences for buying a non-American product.