Signal Strength 98% Quality 100% Symbols 0% (2 HDHomeRuns)

Playground Hardware
#1

I'm completely stumped. Since Hurricane Milton, I'm getting Signal Strength 98% Quality 100% with periods (10% of the time) of Symbols 0%. I replaced the 75 ohm to 300 ohm balun. I've replaced the feed line. I've added an attenuator in case it was over loading. I even cleaned the feed point connectors with tuner cleaner.

I can't find anything broken on the antenna. Everything checks out electrically with my continuity tester from the feed point to both the UHF and VHF elements.

Ironically, HVEC channels works perfectly.

I can't think of anything else to try other than buying a new antenna and trying it.

Does anyone have any other ideas?

#2

Have you tried plugging the antenna directly into your TV and doing a channel scan? Maybe the HDHomeRuns are borked?

#3

Maybe the hurricane affected the broadcast towers ... HVEC has better reception.

1 Like
#4

98% signal strength SHOULD be OK, but if you have access to a signal attenuator that can get it below about 95%, you should give it a try.

Maybe try a 5G/LTE filter too.

#6

Could be the transmitter towers like Edwin_Perez says.
Post over on the Silicondust forum and they can help you figure it out.
HDHomeRun Hardware Setup & Troubleshooting - Silicondust

#7

Odd incident that happened to me 2 weeks ago. The HOA landscapers got behind and were mowing on a Saturday. Clear weather, no other issues, watching NCAAF OTA, then the riding mowers came buy and my perfect 95% to 100% strength and quality signals stayed perfect but the "symbol" dropped to zero or near zero during the time the mowers were between me and the towers.

They were going back and forth across the lawn (as mowers do) and I watched the symbol drop to zero in sync with the position of the mowers.

Intermittent, and that hiccup was better than the game I was watching at the time.

I was on the second floor when this happened too.

Moral of the story: I guess if internal combustion engines can interfere with OTA TV signals, anything can. (I guess there's also the possibility they could be equipped with GPS equipment and such for the boss to keep track of them).

#8

Every channel started working perfectly yesterday. I'm leaning towards solar flare (Oct 19th) as culprit at this point believe it or not. Everything was working fine until that date. I assumed it was hurricane damage that just didn’t present itself until days afterwards. Ill post if something changes, but it seems to be super stable all of the sudden.

#9

Are you near salt water? Perhaps the antenna got soaked with that, which is conductive and it shorted things out. Then, maybe it rained and cleaned it off, or it just completely dried out and started working?

#10

I have the same problem in New Orleans. I bought a Televes Eclipse thinking it would solve the problem (it didn't, but now I receive all the Mississippi Gulf Coast stations because they broadcast at 180 degrees). It turns out all the stations are all "upgrading" and performing "maintenance" in preparation for ATSC 3.0. This is what they told me after I called and asked to speak to the engineering department. Some of them already broadcast in encrypted 3.0, but it is an experiment with all the stations using a "lighthouse" tower located about ten miles away from their production tower.They said the signal strength will stabilize once they have ATSC 3.0 up and running and in production mode.