CBS HD reception issues in New Port Richey

[bbubelis]

I've recently replaced my Terk 35 antenna with a "Tampa Bay Special" from Chester Electronics in Largo. I now get "excellent" analog reception on all stations, along with "excellent" digital reception on all of the listed digital stations, yet still no digital signal CBS (10.1) from there.

Any suggestions?

[jaymer]

i would think thats almost impossible since you are so close.
have you tried 24.1

jaymer...

[bbubelis]

Jaymer,

Sorry for the long delay in reply. You are correct in your assumption that, being so close, CBS reception should be a given. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

I've spent a significant amount of time recently trying to resolve this. Here's what I've done:

1) Accessed the www.antennaweb.org tool to determine that, from my location, the "antenna farm" in Riverview is located at between 146 - 148 degrees from my location. CBS is 230 degrees from my location.

2) Replaced my Terk 35 with a "Tampa Bay Special" AntennaCraft unit. I thought this was the solution, since I had a separate set of elements I could point at CBS with the main portion pointed toward Riverview. This arrangement resulted in better analog reception of CBS, but poorer digital reception across the board and still NO digital CBS on either 10.1 OR 24.1.

3) I've spoken personally with several local (New Port Richey) Home Theater "experts". Their take on the situation is that I'll require three, separate antennas to get satisfactory performance. One UHF/VHF/Digital for the Riverview location, one UHF for CBS digital from Holiday and a third VHF for CBS analog in Holiday. These anntenas would be "joined" into a single downlead for connection to my home distribution point.

My question is, does this seem right? Has anyone in my area done this without jumping through these many hoops?

Any assistance you or the other members of this forum can provide will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[jaymer]

I'd like for some of our "experts" to weigh in on this.
I saw the other post from Goat Boy (chupacabra) and I never knew that the CBS antenna on the TB Special was for 10, not 24, but it makes sense. Having never seen the antenna, you can notice it a lot in older tampa neighborhoods... almost every house that DOES have an antenna, has 2 pointing the appropriate directions. But that was for 10, a VHF station, so it makes sense that you'd need a UHF antenna to get 24.1

There's NO reason for you to have 3 antennas... you don't need analog 10, period.

But there must be something wrong with your STB because like us down here by the Riverview farm, you SHOULD be able to put a coat wire up and receive 24.1

I think I'd push to have a friend bring over a STB and try a different unit.
jaymer...

[bbubelis]

Jaymer,

I welcome other opinions on this issue and hope others will weigh in. I do, however, have a need for CBS analog since I have other analog TVs that require it.

Having said that, I agree with your assessment. Given the fact that the unit is less than one month old and has NEVER received either 10.1 or 24.1, I believe that a visit from the vendor's service staff is in order.

I will keep everyone posted on my progress.

[chupacabra]

Hope to have an update by next week.

baahhh.

GB

[Floyd]

I would think that you would be able to get 10 without any second antenna, since I'm doing that over here in N. Tampa. I have a main U/V antenna in the attic pointed at Riverview, and enough 10 comes in from the side to get it well. Ch 24(10-1) also comes in fine on my setup.

You should try just the one antenna and see if that works. Since you are close to the 10 antenna the reflections(multipath) may be very strong, and may be affecting your reception. Try aiming the antenna to minimize ghosts, and see if 10-1 will come in. If not then turn the antenna in tiny increments to see if that helps, since UHF signals are greatly affected by small movements(like someone walking near the antenna) due to the shorter wavelengths.
I had a customer that was having problems with a couple of channels, and no amount of antenna fiddling would help. Another receiver was the answer. Try another one if you need to.
If your antenna is being split before your digital tuner, try a direct connect to rule out problems from reflections or traps in other rooms, or a cable company splitter that isn't rated for UHF.

[OccamMD]

I agree w/Floyd. You should be able to get everything w/a UHF/VHF depending upon reflections.

[Buddy]

Recommend people with reception problems of WTSP check out their Web site at Tampabays10.com , or just go directly to : http://www.tampabays10.com/inside10/RECEPTION_TIPS.pdf

[D-know]

I had the same problem in Clearwater. I needed to point to 355 for CBS and 117 for the Riverview Bank. I had a company hook me up with a free Dish HD rx that is working great. They hooked me up with TWO antennas and an RF switch mounted to the back of my Entertainment Center. [edited]


msg edited by jaymer.
am not going to allow blatant advertising for an unknown company by a total "newbie", who also quotes misinformation.
Thanks for your input, but what you said is just not true... am glad you DO have a working solution though, thats the important thing.