Strange phenomenon....

[MiataMan]

Okay, so here's the deal. I'm getting my HD signal ota. For WSYX I have a full signal. For WTTE, however, I have no signal or, at most, a 20% signal. Any reason this would be the case? I'm in Arlington, BTW.

TIA!

[festivus]

What antenna are you using? wsyx is at the top of vhf, wtte is uhf. But it wouldn't surprise me if wtte is messing with their signal strength. I had a signal strenght issue with both wtte and wsyx last thurs night. Don't expect a straight answer if you call them.

[DublinDoodah]

UHF vrs VHF is probably the main clue. WBNS, WCMH, and WTTE are UHF. WSYX is VHF. You didn't mention how WBNS and WCMH are being received. If they're weak also, you may have a poor UHF antenna. Otherwise, you may need to try a different position.

I have trees in my backyard that play hell with WTTE during the summer, especially when the wind blows. I moved the antenna 2 feet and now have a stable signal.

FWIW: There are more complaints about WTTE signal problems than any of the others, so you're not alone.

[MiataMan]

Thanks for the responses guys...

First off, I have this antenna (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2253765&cp=2032057.2032187.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=family) that I got from Radio Shack. Nothing particularly special, I guess. It's mounted in my attic.

Secondly, every other HD channel comes in just fine, including WWHO (53). WSYX and WOSU are the only ones with a full signal. My TV displays the signal strength in 0-5 bars and WSYX and WOSU are at 5 while WCMH, WBNS and WWHO are at 3.

Thirdly, I did move the antenna from a rafter in the attic to the attic floor, a difference in height of about 2 - 3 feet. It's still facing the same way though. Now I get WSYX at 5 bars, WCMH, WBNS, WTTE and WWHO at 3 bars but WOSU doesn't come in at all. Go figure.

[DublinDoodah]

It amazing that you're getting such a good signal from WSYX since they are VHF and your antenna is UHF. Normally you want one that handles both UHF and VHF. I use a Shack antenna (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062081&cp=2032057.2032187.2032187.2032189.2032204&pg=2&parentPage=family) in the attic when the trees have leaves on them, then switch to my full-sized outdoor antenna (also in the attic) when the leaves fall.

You might see how the image looks when you tune to analog WTTE. If there is any ghosting you could have a multipath problem. In any case, you're probably going to need to move the antenna until you get a good/stable signal.

[nakedeye]

well i can tell you there were quite a bit of break ups on my end last night

[MiataMan]

Okay, so here's a question, can I use a signal splitter in reverse and connect two antennas to my TV or will that totally screw everything up?

[Timcredible]

well i can tell you there were quite a bit of break ups on my end last night
on fox?

[DublinDoodah]

Okay, so here's a question, can I use a signal splitter in reverse and connect two antennas to my TV or will that totally screw everything up?I think so, but:

A splitter will cause some reduction of your signal strength.
If your VHF reception is OK without it, why bother?
If you're going to get a second antenna, you might as well get one that supports both frequency ranges. If you're putting it in the attic, just get a cheap indoor antenna like mine (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062081&cp=2032057.2032187.2032187.2032189.2032204&pg=2&parentPage=family). Besides being less expensive, it's easier to move around.

[festivus]

Breakups on wtte or on wsyx don't surprise me at all. Sinclair must be monkeying with something. What other explanation is there for a consistent 95 signal dropping to 60 (and causing breakups) in clear weather with no leaves on trees? Happened to me with wsyx on thanksgiving night. Next day it was 75. Day after that back up to 95 and been there every since. Can't be multipath. It would be nice to get a Sinclair engineer to answer some of these questions. Like what Shaun does for wcmh.

[nakedeye]

on fox?
Yeah but only on one set. very likely an internal erroor on my end. think i screwed up something internaly on my one tivo. will chk later

[Timcredible]

don't know about anyone else, but my signals have been degrading recently, prompting me to buy a winegard ss-2000. i tried it in my attic, didn't help. i put it on the roof this morning, and nbc, cbs, fox, all came in GREAT (i'm getting 100 on cbs and fox, 86 on nbc, all about 20 better than before)! but abc is a problem (thanks again, sinclair, for putting one channel in vhf). anyway, after fiddling with the antenna and moving it as horizontal as possible, i've been getting abc ok today. but the real issue is - why is everyone seeing dropouts recently? my antenna in my attic had been working fine for years, until that bad thunderstorm that damaged nbc (or that's my guess anyway, since everyone saw a lower signal from nbc after that). but now fox and abc have also been having issues. so, what the heck is going on?

[nakedeye]

finaly put it on the roof eh? LOL

i wish i know b/c nbc is even giving me problems, but i assumed after so many storms over the years my ant shifted.

[Timcredible]

finaly put it on the roof eh? LOL

yeah, i couldn't put the ugly, old-style antenna on the roof. not only would my wife have hated me, i would've hated looking at it myself. the ss-2000 looks nice, neither of us have a problem with it on the roof. it's in the back, where nobody can see it except us and our neighbors behind us (when there's no leaves on the trees).

also, i just ordered a couple of vhf/uhf separators ($5 each) so that i can get the 96% strength signal for abc from my antenna in the attic (the ss-2000 is only getting 76% for abc), and the rest of the channels from the ss-2000. should be the best of both worlds - at that point i should have:

abc - 96%
nbc - 86%
cbs - 100%
fox - 100%
osu - 100%
channel 51 (what is it?) - 88%

pretty decent for being 23 miles from the towers.

[nakedeye]

no luck on cw?

[Timcredible]

i rescanned and am getting 53 also (72%). however, today, nbc is showing 92% strength, but dropping out every couple seconds. i tell ya, if sinclair wasn't run by morons, and tw had all the locals in hd, i'd go back to tw (well, they'd have to have espn2hd also). this antenna problem is really getting on my nerves.

[festivus]

I really think it's our local stations causing these problems. I had zero OTA issues for months until thanksgiving night.

I'm with you on the TW thing. Add fox, abc, espn2 and the nfl network in hd and I would switch back after my committment with dish expires.