Sudden signal loss

jimmylittleman · 3-Oct-2023, 6:45 PM

Hi all, I posted this yesterday but apparently in the "Welcome to the Forum" section instead of the reception section - anyway here is my post

Hi, it has been awhile since I posted. I have a Winegard HD8200U antenna, Winegard 2000 Pre Amp Winegard HDA 200 booster.

I have been able to receive channels out of Seattle and surrounding areas for years (75 miles out). NBC and CBS will come and go during bad weather - Fox always comes in at strength 90 or 100. PBS comes in mid 70s to 80 strength consistently

OK so a week or so ago, everything but Fox went dark. Regardless of how I position the antenna (RCA remote control rotor) I am getting nothing but Fox and now Fox only comes in at strength 60 to 64 -

There have been no changes anywhere, no bad weather storms, no new blockages etc. Today a friend and I took down the mast enough to check the connections and everything looked fine. The coax into the house in the attic also is tight and unchanged and the connection at the TV and DVR all seem fine.

I am at a loss as to what might have happened and am looking for some insight and/or ideas. TX jimmylittleman
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OTAFAN · 3-Oct-2023, 10:55 PM

Hi jimmylittleman:

Is it possible to ask any of your neighbors that also have OTA antennas and see what their reception is at present?

I would also check your Pre Amp/booster to make sure none of the circuitry has failed.

And, how old is your TV? Flatscreens typically start having issues 6-7 years out, although not a hard and fast rule. The last time my Samsung started having reception issues, I took it into my local electronics repair shop. The Tech asked me the same question, and when I told him 7 years, he said this was not unusual. Our TVs these days don't last like the old tube TVs of our childhood, say up to 20 years or so. Anyway, I just ended up buying a new set as repair wasn't cost effective.

These are just a few ideas that may or may not be helpful in resolving your issue. Hopefully, some of the TV Fool Techs will read your post and be able to narrow it down for you. Fingers crossed.

Please let the forum know what your outcome is. I think it would be of interest and help to others here.

All the best.....

jimmylittleman · 4-Oct-2023, 4:16 PM

TX OTAFAN
how can I test the pre/amp and booster circuitry. The booster has been on the mast outside in the weather for years (maybe 10 or more)
No one else in this area uses an OTA system that I know of. We are pretty rural

OTAFAN · 4-Oct-2023, 10:45 PM

You can remove the preamp/booster and hook your cable directly to the antenna, to see if you can receive anything in passive mode.

I know you're far out at the reception edge, given 75 miles and the curvature of the earth. I'm a bit surprised at your fairly good reception all these years.

If you're handy with electronics, there are ways to test your preamp to see if it's still working properly. Or, if you have an electronics repair store nearby, they should be able to check it out for you. Since you've been using it for 10 or more years, that makes me suspicious of its life expectancy.

You might also check the various related threads on TV Fool, as probably someone has posted a check and repair for preamps. Or search YouTube for a video. I'm fairly certain you could get some help there.

Here's several YouTube videos to help get you started. They might not answer your issues, but worth a view:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGHgQE3ztNU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDOvUN7jzHw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WK4y2AZXl8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHWH8mxZuUc

Also, have you done a reception report for your location? Go to rabbitears.info for the most up to date information. You can do a report here on TV Fool, but the last I checked, it still appears to be not as conclusive as rabbitears.info. Although, there's a chance I might be wrong about this.

I'm sorry I couldn't give you a definitive answer to your issues. I'm not a Tech, just my own experiences going back too many years to recall now.

Thanks for your reply. Please keep the forum posted as how this turns out.

If I can think of anything else, I'll update.

Fingers crossed for you!

jimmylittleman · 13-Oct-2023, 8:00 PM

I got the system working again! Yea. I kept reading posts from years ago to get ideas of something that might fail besides the pre amp. One guy had a post from like 10 years ago and said that his inserter burnt out. Well I had some equipment in storage from my mother in laws system I bought her years ago - in that box of stuff was a new inserter. Went into the attic swapped them out and got Fox at 100, CBS 90, PBS 85 etc. Just in time for the Washington Oregon game tomorrow!

I was just about to order a new Pre Amp and telescoping mast but now I will wait until next spring/summer when weather is nice and warm sunny etc.

Thank you for all your help and feedback OTAFAN. It is much appreciated

jimmylittleman

OTAFAN · 14-Oct-2023, 10:41 PM

Before you finally check out of this thread, jimmylittleman, please provide the link to the post you mentioned regarding the inserter burnt out issue.

I think this would be very helpful to others who probably will encounter some of the same issues you had.

This way the forum can direct them to the post you found. Otherwise, they'll have to spend a lot of time searching as you did.

FWIW, here's a link to a CM power inserter. I don't know if this is similar to the one you used:

https://www.channelmaster.com/produc...ers-cm-7777xpi

Thanks for keeping the forum updated!

All the best.....