Tired of Dropouts

[mgd2win]

Been awhile since I was here.

Lost CBS again tonight during CSI (yes I know a repeat but still).

Anyways, the locals still have a longway to go to provide a stable quality HD signal. I see regular dropouts on all the networks via OTA.

[joelbav]

I tuned in to see Letterman Thursday night and was greeted by a screen saying, "Due to a technical issue with the channel provider, this channel is temporarily unavailable." Glad to hear at least the problem isn't Manatee Bright House (misery loves company, y'know...) :)

[Bschneider]

I rarely ever see any dropouts via OTA. Are you sure its not your setup? Perhaps the antenna?

[rgreenpc]

I get occasional droputs usually when a bad storm is around.

Then again I also have my antenna pointed at New Port Richey since I am close enough to Riverview to get all the other channels off the side of the antenna.

I guess its a small price to pay

[mgd2win]

I live in Westchase and I have a Yagi Antenna dedicated to CBS, so I don't think that is the problem. Its not all the time and bad weather occasional I have a problem sometimes but I also take the hits when it is clear.

[raverys12]

Ya ... easily noticed on the signal strength indicator ... funny how the sig. stays stable for a long time ... then goes all to pot ....

[restart88]

Hi all! This is my 1st post here.

Just got my 1st HDTV like 2 days ago and this issue is exactly what caused me to look for a site such as this.

For now I have a clip on antenna powered by a DBS receiver and also a cheap amplifier that I had laying around which seems to add 1 or 2 bars.

My signal strength seems to be great at some times and 0 at others. After about 6 PM it seems like my signal goes from 4+ min to many over 8 bars. But during the day most of the time I have no signal at all.

I had thought perhaps all the stations was scaling back their output during the day but after seeing the posts in this thread that doesn't seem to be the case, I guess.

I re-positioned the antenna once, and will continue to try doing that in a day or two. But how can I rule out some type of interference or a drop in voltage as the culpret? It was some time ago but I remember getting most all the traditional signals at least fair at times (I stopped using it at all when I added locals to my DBS package) and then re-positioned the antenna to get a few more channels which obviously dropped the overall signal strength. I can't get those SD signals now though except for Daystar and HSN, but even those are very weak when I have no digital signal.

[CyberGuy]

If you just using a clip-on antenna that may be part of the problem. You would be better off using a larger antenna with no amplification if you can. With a small antenna like that you may just be amplifying noise. You don't always what to shoot for the highest signal level; in many cases the quality of the signal hitting your receiver is more important.

I live in Port Richey just below SR52 and CBS comes in perfect, I've never had any dropouts at all. I'm using a small Yagi antenna that’s located in my attic.

CyberGuy
HTTP://www.cyberestore.com
Your source for HTPC HDTV cards, Antennas and Accessories.

[restart88]

Thanks for the advice.

In the short term after re-positioning the antenna I now get most digital channels all day. I think you're right about interference but for now I may be better off leaving things as is until I get a new antenna & get it installed.