OTA Interference issues / HDHomeRun support not helpful

#64

Not sure how this turned into talk about trying to atenuate signal/too strong signal.
I do not have issues with too strong signal, as long as I do not use an amp.

Only a few channels are pegged at 100% all the time, and do not have issues at all.
All others are around 95% or higher.

I have one channel ION, that is the one where the tower is far away.
That stations signal level is around 67% on a good day.
Just enough to get it clearly, as long as there is no bad weather or such.
Adding anything into the line that attenuates anything, like a splitter or such, causes this channel to be too low signal to get.

Hence, I was looking for a "smart" or "programmable" amp that I can program to only amp certain frequencies/channels like ION. However, while it seems that tech exist, it is insanely expensive and not worth bothering with for just one channel that comes in ok most of the time.

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#65

Still expensive, but you could run 2 HDHR’s.

Have the antenna run to a splitter, then on one leg of the splitter, amplify that and run to one HDHR, then run the other unamplified.

#66

No thanks. Again, not needed for just ONE channel.
Second, can't seem to buy any more HDHR's new. All out of stock everywhere.
Except for the new 4K model, which is overpriced.
The Connect Quadro i got 2 years ago only cost $89 at Microcenter.

#67

How long is your coax run between antenna and HDHR? The beauty of the HDHR is that you can put it pretty much anywhere. Have you tried connecting your HDHR directly to the antenna with only a short little jumper, and then having a longer Ethernet run to hook it to your router?

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#68

Mentioned that previously.
About 30 feet coax.
tried moving tuner to antenna with a 6 foot coax and longer ethernet.
no change.
already ruled out cableing.

#69

Another dumb question... Have you tried connecting the antenna directly to the tuner on your TV? Does the TV exhibit the same interference behavior as the HDHR?

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#70

I don't use a TV I use a computer monitor and an Nvidia shield.
The big TV in the living room is too far away and too big to move close to the antenna and I don't feel like removing it or the antenna from the wall.
I have a small portable TV in the same bedroom as the antenna however the coaxial port is broken.

But that is something I have not tried.
If I Can get my hands on some small TV... Might give that a try

#71

An off the wall suggestion. Have you tried replacing the wall wart power supply for the HDHR? I've seen a lot of strange things on many devices when they start to get weak under load.

#72

Yes. Tried some random same voltage power adapter. Didn't change anything. I tested the one that came with it with a voltmeter and it looks fine.
Also in these tests only one tuner is activated and only has issues under my test conditions.
I can have the thing with all three tuners in use for hours and have no issues. So I don't think it's the power supply.

#73

This really doesn't tell you anything other than if it's completely bad. You need to test under its rated load.

#74

update.

So, I got the new Channel Master LTE/5G filter and High Pass Filter.
The LTE/5G filter does have on its label what the manufacture told me via email is wrong, for the Frequency rand it passes/blocks, but without special test equipment, I can't verify what is correct.

Installed both filters.

Did effect things.

The wand massager now only glitches out 2 channel and their subs, instead of all, 11.1 and sub channels (201.000Mhz), 41.1, .2, ION, GRIT (485.00Mhz).
Which is a improvement.
(the 41 channels are the ones hard to get, lower signal, cause tower is very far away)

Did not affect the fan speed switch, but, that is not a normal use case, to keep switching it in rapid suggestion for several seconds.

So....glad to see improvement.
Pretty sure that is the best I can do at this point.

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#75

Good to hear.

The only way to totally eliminate your internal noise makers is to relocate your antenna outside, which I know for you is impossible.

Would be nice if we could physically see Electro-Magnetic radiation and its patterns. Then it wouldn't be such a guessing game when it comes to issues like these.

So basically, you setup a 'band-pass filter' using both a low-pass (LTE Filter) and high-pass (highpass) filter in combination. In combination they both act as a band-pass filter and a signal attenuator where you're getting less signal through to your HDHR, but eliminating interference from frequencies lower and higher than your band-pass frequencies of your wanted OTA channels..

Nice detective work and thanks for posting your results.

#76

btw, if any wondering what channels you can get via ota, see a transmitter map, and channel info, I just found that Channel Master has such a thing.

for me, my zip code(u can also put in your full street address to get even more precise info.)

All my towers are 5-13 miles from my address, with only ION (41.X) tower being 26miles away, much more north west of the other towers. So even a low gain amp, would cause all but a comple channels to be overpowered. And, I see no sense in trying to lower the gain via adding in a splitter....adding amp, also amps noise/interference. If you get good strong signal without an amp, then that is already most ideal and would be lower SNR. err i mean lower? i forget what is better for that metric.

#77

rabbitears.info has a much better map/detail.

https://rabbitears.info/searchmap.php

#78

Won't work for me right. Zooms in does not show towers.
I neve r liked Rabbitears site, its too...overcomplex and looks ugly, like a site from the early 2000's. Not very user intuitive.

Also, their list does not give me some of the channel info as the C.M does, when u hover over it. uhf/vhf, freq, etc.

#79

I followed that link to the Channel Master website. It looks like you would benefit from a directional antenna pointed straight at the furthest-away tower. I very successfully used an antenna very much like the STEATHtenna indoors on a shelf in an upstairs closet.

Are you using a FLATenna? Problem with that style of antenna is that it picks up RF equally well from the front (outward-facing) and back (inward-facing) sides. I wonder if there's a way to shield the side that faces into the house? Sounds dumb, but have you tried covering the inward-facing side with a sheet of aluminum foil?

#80

I bought this antenna 10 years ago and installed LTE filter and preamp, never had issues with it picking up signals up to 45 miles.
image image
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#81

Every detail, and more accurate channel detail, is on rabbitears.

UHF/VHF is simply 2-13 for RF channel for VHF, everything else is UHF.
Real channel is in ()'s in the channel results.

Tower direction is in the bullseye-looking thing. distance is in the results. Clicking on "map" not only shows you on a map where the tower in question is, but shows the signal propagation on the same map.

To each his own, but the CM site is a little oversimplified for my tastes, and has some outdated channel info in my market.

#82

I'm a fan of tvfool, similar to RabbitEars but a little more compact and easier to use.

#83

Problem is that the tvfool database is even more out of date than the CM one. I agree on the interface - i used it for years and years.