WCMH issues (audio sync, dropouts)

[Timcredible]

I saw the following starting yesterday afternoon and still happening before I left for work this morning:

1 - audio sync is off on both the digital and the analog stations
2 - the digital station is having dropouts every couple seconds (this is happening on both my antennas, one antenna has a signal strength of 92 and the other 81, I only have 1 antenna plugged in at a time).
3 - neither problem was there on saturday, they both started sunday.

both problems are happening on both my hdtv receivers. all other stations are normal.

[festivus]

I didn't notice the audio being out of sync, but I watched only wcmh digital ota last night during the football game. And then I was doing other stuff around the house. My satellite feed this morning seemed just fine.

However, I was seeing lots of dropouts with the ota last night. They would last for a second or two. My signal strength for wcmh had been typically around 75. Last night it was up around 93-95. I thought that maybe I was having a multipath issue due to the increased strength. I messed with the antenna a bit but was still having the same issue.

[nakedeye]

I have been having drop outs for a few weeks now

[Timcredible]

ok, so it's not just me. hopefully shaun will see this thread and find out what's going on.

[Timcredible]

update: heroes had the audio in sync perfectly, although plenty of dropouts (one every couple seconds). this morning, on the analog channel, the local news audio is still not in sync.

[Timcredible]

I wrote to wcmh, and they were nice enough to write back and say that they installed new amplifiers on Saturday, which explains why we all saw such a great signal strength on Sunday. They also said the equipment to test the new signal hadn't arrived on time and that they expected it to arrive today (Wed). So, wcmh will probably be working properly at the new stonger signals this week. It sure is nice to have wcmh and wbns - they're always nice to work with, they always respond to questions, and they fix problems.

[Dbailey]

i am seeing about a 10% increase in signal strength...

[zelig2]

I saw a ton of dropouts last night. I recorded a bunch of shows and I'm hoping it's not too bad when I get around to watching them. My wife really hates it and usually asks "Why did we switch from cable???"

[Timcredible]

Debra from WCMH has been writing back to me and said that they're done installing and testing, and that they don't see anything wrong. I told her that it's not just me, and that yes, we all see the stronger signal strength, but the signal has some issues. She asked me to remove my pre-amp, and that fixed the problem. However, without the pre-amp, I lose fox and cw. I told her about that, and she said she'd talk with the engineers about it, but that they can't undo the new equipment because it was required by law. I told her to please post on this forum so that she can get a larger test audience and more feedback than just me. I hope they figure this out, because I'll basically be losing nbc if this continues (it's 100% unwatchable right now for me, and I'm not watching standard def shows).

[Timcredible]

another update - 4-1 is still breaking up, even without the amp on the antenna. it doesn't break up very much (about 4-5 times an hour), but it does still break up. So, whatever the problem is, it's made worse by the amp.

[nakedeye]

funny thing was last night ws just fine for me from 8-9pm

[Roundtown]

We've had these dropout issues here in Circleville also since the "upgrade".

Hehehe - aren't upgrades supposed to help?

[zelig2]

I don't even watch NBC anymore because of this problem. It's way too annoying.

[Roundtown]

A quick update. I found that if I plug my antenna directly into the back of my TV instead of the Dish Network box the problem goes away. Does that make sense to anyone?

[festivus]

I tried to watch the tonight show ota last night. Too many dropouts so I switched to the SD satellite signal.

I hear what you're saying about the wife, zelig2. Mine asks me why we switched from cable as well. Dish is supposed to come out this afternoon to check my setup since I lose my signal with any weather beyond light rain. Of course, it's clear today and my signal will read very strong.

[Gimpy McFarlan]

By "breakup" do you mean that the video is good but the audio drops? If so then I'm experiencing it too. The audio will drop for 5-15 seconds at a time and then come back suddenly. The video typically stutters briefly (sometimes barely perceptable) when the audio comes back. I'm using a Winegard OTA antenna w/o an amp.

[Timcredible]

A quick update. I found that if I plug my antenna directly into the back of my TV instead of the Dish Network box the problem goes away. Does that make sense to anyone?

yep. i figure it's a parameter that's messing up some (but not all) hd receivers. i have dish also, so it looks like this problem affects dish receivers, but not your TVs receiver. We had the exact same problem a couple years ago, and it turned out to be some parameter on the encoding equipment that affect some of the receivers, but not all of them. what kind of tv do you have?

[festivus]

Is there anything that can be done to fix it on our end? How was this fixed a couple of years ago?

It's incredibly annoying. And since Dish can't seem to point my dish correctly I can't count on my sat locals either. WTF did I ever leave cable?!?

[nakedeye]

yep. i figure it's a parameter that's messing up some (but not all) hd receivers. i have dish also, so it looks like this problem affects dish receivers, but not your TVs receiver. We had the exact same problem a couple years ago, and it turned out to be some parameter on the encoding equipment that affect some of the receivers, but not all of them. what kind of tv do you have?


it could also be some sort of multipath issue. not all tuners are created equill.

not shure what could have recently caused it though

[festivus]

Is everyone else out there with Dish Network receivers still having the same issue? I am. Signal drops every 30 seconds or so.

I've been in contact with Debra at wcmh. Someone else mentioned some correspondence with her as well. She's very nice and she's determined to figure out what's wrong. She thinks that it might be isolated to the Dish receivers.

[MeHDTV]

It happens with our Dish 622, 2-211's, DirecTV TS160, TS360, and DTC-210. Doesn't happen with the integrated tuner on the JVC HD-ILA TV.

[MeHDTV]

PM me festivus, I did my own and neghbors and no porblems.