HDTV reception on my antenna

[NHOJ4782]

Hello team,
I have been receiving HDTV on my antenna for the past 7 months. I live in Port Orchard Wa and I have a clear view of Seattle channels to the East. Nothing has changed with my setup. In the last month or so my signal has become spotty at times. I have repositioned the antenna and the signal looks good then goes spotty. At times it was just the local King 5 while the other channels were clear.
Tonight all of the channels are having problems. I was watching the signal strength steady at 100% ten drop to below 50% or worse. After a second or two it would come back to 100%. Meanwhile the picture pixelates or comes to a stop. Most annoying.
My question is: Is there any way someone or something could be interferring with the HDTV signal? I have tried a different antenna and the result was the same. i really would like to get back to the steady signal I used to get. Does anyone else in the Puget Sound area have the same problems?
Thanks
John

[NHOJ4782]

I am at home at the same time as last night and there hasn't been one glitch since I have been watching. To me it is looking like there might be something or someone interferring with the signal. This interruption happens with out any rhyme or reason? If I had a bad setup why wouldn't it be spotty all the time.
What would it take to interfere with the HDTV signal? Any thoughts? Is there a good place to report my suspicions?
There must be somebody on this site that might have an idea.
Thanks.

[rabbit73]

Welcome, John:

You really should have posted your question on this thread for a better response:
Help With Reception
http://forum.tvfool.com/forumdisplay.php?f=7

but we will try to answer it here.

Please tell us a little more about your equipment and give us a link to your tvfool signal report that you can do here:
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?opti...pper&Itemid=29

Guidelines when asking for help
http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=4

Without any more information it is difficult to say what might be the cause of your reception problem.

OTA signals constantly vary in strength. If they are marginal at your location, they can fall below the point of reliable reception.

At this time of year trees can grow more leaves that will block TV signals.

Electrical interference can cause problems with reception.

Intentional interference caused by someone else is possible, but very rare.

Digital TV signals are pretty much all or nothing, but there is a small zone between the two called the "Digital Cliff" where you will experience pixilation and picture freeze.

[NHOJ4782]

Rabbit73,
I did see that section after I posted. Do you think I should repost?

On with the problem. I did get a reception map of my area. I saved it under my name a month or so ago. DB Date Code 201601041148 Maybe you can find it.

I have a Winegard FV-30BB antenna. I am running RG6 from the antenna to my
LG60UF7700. I think there might be 4 connections in the line.

I have done the automatic tuning on the TV many times. For quite a while everything was great. In the last month or so the signal started to go goofy. I tried a different antenna with the same results.

I discovered I could go to the manual tuning option on the tv and watch the signal strength and quality. When things are good the strength is fairly steady at ~60% and the quality is 100%.

When things start acting up the quality is all over the place from 100 to 0%. The signal strength bounces a lot. I don't recall if it ever went to 0 but it did go way down. When it was screwing up the tv would pixilate until the signal got too bad and then the picture quit. It takes a second or to to reacquire so watching tv is a real drag.

Not sure I have answered all of your questions. I do think something is happening that is beyond my ability to resolve. I have tried to reposition the antenna for maximum signal and did not get much better that the ~60%. To me if my setup was bad enough to cause the goofy stuff why does it get better.

Thnks for any response
John

[NHOJ4782]

Rabbit73,
I forgot to tell you that there is nothing close by to block my reception. I have a very clear view to the east from north to south. I would say close to 270 degrees from the antenna. The blockage to the west is from the house. The antenna is on a post off the deck. 10 feet from the house and 20 feet off the ground.
Thanks
John

[rabbit73]

Thanks for the additional information. Before we go any further we need to see your tvfool report to make a good analysis. I am not able to recover your report because it is saved on the tvfool server using a URL link address not a date code, and looks like this:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e2cbacf5df18ad

A generic zip code report for you looks like this, but we need a more accurate exact address report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e2cbacf5df18ad

[NHOJ4782]

Rabbit73,
I have gone in and requested a new search. This time I entered in all the data they asked for. I named it "John Jurgens 6-15-16".
I understand you need the info for the signal coming to my antenna but I am having a problem with the sporadic signal only at times. I don't see where the sporadic problem could be coming from the broadcast tower or the receiving equipment at my house.
Lemmeno what I can supply to help out. Is there any way to link this string to the right forum?
Thanks
John

[rabbit73]

I have gone in and requested a new search. This time I entered in all the data they asked for. I named it "John Jurgens 6-15-16".

Sorry, that isn't the way they are filed on the tvfool website. I did some research and made a guess about your location which puts you near WTK Embroidery, Wild Soap N Candles, and Taylor Driveline & Machine. If that is close enough, we will go with this report:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e2cb603d7dbbf3

I don't see where the sporadic problem could be coming from the broadcast tower or the receiving equipment at my house.

Even if the transmitter output is constant and your equipment is stable, the signal strength can and will vary on its way to your antenna. Many times I have seen a change of 10 dB in 30 minutes. That is why we suggest a Fade Margin safety factor of 10 dB more than the minimum signal required for good reception.

At times it was just the local King 5

That is one of your weaker signals, so it would be affected first. Changes of temperature or weather can affect the signal.

I have a Winegard FV-30BB antenna.

That antenna doesn't have much gain. Maybe an antenna with more gain and a preamp would help. Your signal strength readings can guide you,

I have tried a different antenna and the result was the same.

What other antenna did you try?

If you have proof that someone is causing intentional interference, the FCC will investigate for you.

Are you aiming the antenna at 38 degrees magnetic?

How long is the coax?

[NHOJ4782]

Rabbit73,
I figure my antenna is in the 40 degree region. Looks like you are close to my location. The coax run is right around 75 feet. The other antenna I tried was from Target but I took it back.
The majority of time the signal has been great. I can go with a couple of glitches when the weather is acting up. When I am having the big problems it is every couple of minutes the signal is hopping all over the scale and the TV drops out. I do believe something / someone is causing the signal to go goofy but I'm not sure I can prove it. I guess the next time it happens I will record the time of day and maybe see if there is any time relation to the signal acting up. If I find there is a periodicity/ pattern to the excursions then I would have something to report to the FCC.
I can't find the quote you use on your emails but for me I'll say "You can't fix it if it ain't broke. If it would just stay broke long enough we could find the problem."
Thanks
John

[rabbit73]

"You can't fix it if it ain't broke. If it would just stay broke long enough we could find the problem."

That's a good one, John. Intermittent problems are difficult to solve.

[analogqueen]

It could be multipath! Are there helicopters or airplanes going by when this happens? I have a medium VHF/UHF antenna outdoors about 30ft up, and one station started going "digital"/chunks going out, I happened to look outside and there was a little bird perched on the VHF horizontal. I shooed it away and the picture came back.

[NHOJ4782]

I have not had any problems since the day I posted this string. I have not done anything since then and the reception has been just fine. I am still leaning on something man made that was causing the interference. Problem is that as long as there is no issue there is nothing to troubleshoot. And when there is a problem I can't figure out the cause. I suppose it would have to go to total broke to figure out what is wrong.
Thanks
John

[ADTech]

I suppose it would have to go to total broke to figure out what is wrong.

After having worked electronics for 40 years, I can say you're absolutely correct! I didn't get all these grey hairs from the kids....