Any OTA TV experts here?

[sixone]

HDTV connected to HD antenna. 24-1 comes in nice and clear, but 24-2 gives me a second of sound and no video at all, black screen - no "weak signal" message. When I connect the antenna thru the DVD player, both channels come thru perfectly.

Any idea why or how to fix?

 

[Mloot]

Are you just passing the signal through your dvd player, or does your dvd player have its own digital tuner?

 

[sixone]

Are you just passing the signal through your dvd player, or does your dvd player have its own digital tuner?

DVD player has its own tuner.

 

[nickbits]

My guess is the format of 24-2 is incompatible with your TV and the DVD player is converting it into a usable signal. Is 24-2 SD?

 

[Mloot]

Would I be correct in assuming that your dvd player is newer than your tv? I think some older tuners can have trouble decoding subchannels. For example, I have older Samsung tube hdtv, and its digital tuner chokes on any subchannel that ends in a .4. When this happens, it locks up the set and it takes several power cycles to get it off that channel.

In the end, I had to go with an external tuner (in this case, an OTA dvr) in order to get around this deficiency.

If this is not your situation, then I don't have any advice.

 

[zzuupp]

HDTV connected to HD antenna. 24-1 comes in nice and clear, but 24-2 gives me a second of sound and no video at all, black screen - no "weak signal" message. When I connect the antenna thru the DVD player, both channels come thru perfectly.

Any idea why or how to fix?

Your local station might have changed their signal slightly. Some tuners handle this better than others.

The generic fix is to "reboot" your tuner.
--Remove antenna from TV.
--Ideally Cap the coax input with a terminatorhttp://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103064
--Rescan channels
--Powercycle TV

[Hopefully, this will have totally cleared the TV's channel memory]

--Reconnect antenna
--Scan for channels again.

 

[sixone]

My guess is the format of 24-2 is incompatible with your TV and the DVD player is converting it into a usable signal. Is 24-2 SD?

The display lists an SD just after the call letters, if that's any indication. However, I do get good reception on at least one other SD channel.

 

[sixone]

Would I be correct in assuming that your dvd player is newer than your tv? I think some older tuners can have trouble decoding subchannels. For example, I have older Samsung tube hdtv, and its digital tuner chokes on any subchannel that ends in a .4. When this happens, it locks up the set and it takes several power cycles to get it off that channel.

In the end, I had to go with an external tuner (in this case, an OTA dvr) in order to get around this deficiency.

If this is not your situation, then I don't have any advice.

Yes, the DVD player is newer. Fortunately, I haven't had any trouble with it choking up.

 

[sixone]

Your local station might have changed their signal slightly. Some tuners handle this better than others.

The generic fix is to "reboot" your tuner.
--Remove antenna from TV.
--Ideally Cap the coax input with a terminatorhttp://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103064
--Rescan channels
--Powercycle TV

[Hopefully, this will have totally cleared the TV's channel memory]

--Reconnect antenna
--Scan for channels again.

How critical is it to cap the coax input?

 

[Spacehead]

When I connect the antenna thru the DVD player, both channels come thru perfectly.

Is it an option to just leave it hooked up that way?

 

[zzuupp]

How critical is it to cap the coax input?

That ensures that no signal is getting to the tuner. It is not required, but recommended.

If your TV has a signal meter, tune the channel in question.
Remove the antenna. Presumably, the channel won't decode anymore.
Does the meter go to zero as well? If so, then the cap is not needed.

 

[sixone]

Is it an option to just leave it hooked up that way?

Not ideal, but doable. On the DVD, the info display is awkward, and it won't let me block any sub-channels like weather or Spanish-language channels.

 

[sixone]

That ensures that no signal is getting to the tuner. It is not required, but recommended.

If your TV has a signal meter, tune the channel in question.
Remove the antenna. Presumably, the channel won't decode anymore.
Does the meter go to zero as well? If so, then the cap is not needed.

The option for Fine Tune is grayed out on this channel.

I'll try it, and see what it does.

 

[zzuupp]

The option for Fine Tune is grayed out on this channel.

I'll try it, and see what it does.

Good luck!

 

[sixone]

No change.

 

[Ken g6]

I've seen some weird MPEG2 sent out on some subchannels. I once got 480x480 video, which is not at all standard. Probably all you can do is call the station and complain.

 

[Zedtom]

I have a small digital tv in the kitchen that is hooked up to the roof antenna. I rescan the channels every other week and the signal improves on some channels. It must have something to do with the time of day. What I find interesting is the antenna has been in use for fifteen years yet it delivers an excellent HD picture and sound. I live on the top of a hill with a clear view of the towers fifteen miles away.

 

[sixone]

I just want to rule out any problem with my equipment/cables.

My options are to a) skip that one channel, which I enjoy looking at from time to time, but don't at all need; or b) use the DVD tuner, and flip by all the weather/Spanish/shopping channels.

First world problems.