Antenna Issues

#41

I have tried the HDHomeRun app, but not in a very long time, so I don't remember if it was any better. Last season I just moved my indoor antenna around with little to no improvement. Then later I thought I may be getting interference from the cell tower close by because it seemed to be the worst for the NFL, like maybe there was more traffic on Sundays or they were running weekly test, but the LTE filter didn't help at all. I saw a Reddit thread where someone said the NFL OTA signal uses a higher bit rate and some devices have trouble transcoding it on the fly, so I don't know what to think.

I just know that if I never have major pixelation issues with regular programming--I may get a few minor pixelations here and there, but never that huge wave where the entire screen turns to mush.

#42

It might be emi interference. Possibly you have a game day routine causing the issue. Do you fire up that crockpot for nachos, turn on a ceiling fan, light up that neon sign in the man cave, the glade plug in, the kegarator. Really any thing electrical you don’t normally use. Cheap led lights a notorious for emitting emi and destroying signal

#43

Ok I would definitely recommend trying the HDHomeRun app the next time it happens to narrow down the issue some more.

#44

No, I don't have any special game day routine. I've heard the same thing about electrical interference, so I tried turning off all my ceiling fans and LED lights to no avail.

I will definitely try that HDHomeRun app the next time my signal starts breaking up and report back though. Thanks for the tip, Macnbaish.

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#45

Enable tuner sharing then look for the signal info in the dvr activity, you should be able to see the bitrate and if there are signal or network errors.

What is the HDHR plugged into?

#46

Will do.

I have an AT&T wifi modem with 3 ethernet lines running out of it. One goes to my Apple TV, one to my LG TV, the other up through the attic and down to an ethernet switch box in the back room. One line off the switch box goes to the HDHR the other to my PC where the Channels DVR software lives. Then I have about a 6 ft line of cable running out of the HDHR into an LTE filter that's attached to my antenna.

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#47

Why do HDHomerun and pre-amps not get along? If I’m unable to receive signals without a pre-amp, what then are my options? EDIT: Never mind. Found the answer. Overamplification of a few strong signals can foul up everything else.

#48

This can also just be the source. Live shows have to encode on-the-fly, and in a short period. Sports are fast moving. Fast scenes require massive amounts of encoding. The source encoder just can't keep up and it pixelates or drops frames. Pre-recorded shows, on the other hand, can go through hours upon hours of intensive encoding and checks and verifications.

The quality of live sports have never looked as good as pre-recorded shows for me.

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#49

I worked out all the issues I was having by upgrading my ATV from the HD version to the new 4K model. All the chittering and issues disappeared. I'm putting in 124 channels OTA. So far it's been great. Even made it through 2 pretty bad storms with no issues. I hope this will continue to be the case. At this point, the only thing I'm questioning is the antenna itself. I've got the Clearstream 4Max, which I'm told is a really solid antenna. But, here in AZ summers are brutal and the antenna has plastic on it. It will be interesting to see if it can handle a few summers.

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#50

Ah, good 'ol Arizona weather...

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#51

Whelp, a year later, and by complete accident, I think I have finally solved the mystery of what was causing my signal to breakup so badly. Turns out, the ethernet switch seems to have been the culprit.

When I upgraded to fiber last month, I was forced to replace my old Fast Ethernet switch with a new Gigabit switch to get speeds over 100 Mbps. Since doing so, I've watched several games and shows off the antenna and haven't had any more problems.

Before, I could rarely make it through a football game without hitting a few spots where the image went totally haywire. It had gotten to the point that I finally just stopped DVRing games on Fox and switched to watching them live on the Fox App instead.

I have no idea how an ethernet switch could cause such a headache, but that's the only change I've made to my setup and the improvement was dramatic and happened immediately.

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#52

Thanks for posting your experience, it illustrates well how in any complex operation, no matter how unlikely, just about anything can be an issue.

#53

No problem. I wanted to share my experience, not only because I finally found the solution, but also because, in all the time I spent scouring the interwebs for help, I never saw anyone suggest replacing the ethernet switch.

I had tried all the obvious solutions like updating the HDHomeRun firmware, moving my antenna around, upgrading and shortening the length of my cable, adding an LTE filter, and turning off all the lights, fans, and appliances. But nothing I did made any difference, and my signal strength was really strong, so I had basically given up watching anything off the antenna.

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