Quote:
Originally Posted by frogtog
area special is a 3-element antenna on one mast made by channel master several yrs ago b4 the transition to digital.
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This may explain the problem. If the antenna was optimized for WGVU when it was on channel 35, then it will not work so well now that WGVU has moved to channel 11.
I believe this antenna was a combination of 3 separate antennas that you could aim at the different groups of transmitters. The one that you aimed at WGVU (compass heading 280ยบ) was probably cut to optimize reception in the middle of UHF (around channel 35).
WTLJ is also in that direction on channel 24 (originally channel 54 analog). This channel is still on UHF, so it probably comes in fine even after the channel change.
You might want to try experimenting with rotating your antenna. Your peak VHF reception is probably pointed in a direction that is sub-optimal for WGVU. By turning your antenna, you can at least see if your Samsung tuner is able to pick it up with better antenna positioning.
The root cause of your problem is probably multipath rather than signal strength. Multi-directional antennas like this are taking in signals from many signal paths, including signals that might bounce off of buildings, trees, or the surrounding terrain. Since the length of the signal path between the transmitter and your antenna is different for each of the possible bounced signals, they show up at your receiver as if they were delayed "echoes" of each other. If this was an analog TV signal, these "echoes" would show up as "ghosts" on your screen.
For digital TV, these multipath echoes can interfere with your receiver's ability to decode the digital data stream. Some receivers are better at coping with multipath than others (newer generation chip sets are generally more robust than older ones and there are some differences between chip set vendors). Your Vizio and Hauppauge devices might be using newer/better chip sets than your Samsung tuner.
It is possible to improve reception on older chip sets by cleaning up the signal going into it. If you had a single directional antenna pointed at WGVU, it would probably be clean enough for your Samsung receiver to work (because any multipath signal coming from the sides or back of the antenna would mostly be ignored).
With some experimentation on your current antenna setup (and a bit of luck), you might be able to find a middle ground where you can keep your multi-directional setup while still being able to pick up WGVU on your Samsung receiver.
If that doesn't work, then you'll have to consider other options:
1) Switch to a different kind of antenna setup. A single antenna with a rotator will greatly cut down on multipath, but you'll need to turn the antenna to view stations from different directions.
2) Replace the Samsung receiver with something that uses a newer chip set.
3) Get a new TV (all new TVs have built-in ATSC tuners, and most of them use newer chip sets).
Reception
