Boost signal?

[dpackham]

I have added a second HDhomerun and the signal levels went down to 70-80% range. is there any way to boost that signal? the antenna i have is already powered and has an inline power dongle. can I boost that signal ?

Dave P

[stanger89]

I'd see if you can get a "bigger" preamp (like a CM7777 or something) rather than trying to amp a weak signal that's already been amplified.

Of course the other question is, is the signal level change causing any problems, if not, why not leave it alone...

[dpackham]

well... uhh.. would the picture quality be better if i get it back to 90% like it was before? i was thinking that it would be maybe. HDTV signals look good.

dunno.

Dave P

[stanger89]

Nope, digital signals don't work like that, it's all or nothing. Either you're getting the picture without blocking/breakups/dropouts or you aren't. If you're not having those (very obvious) problems, then a higher % on the meter won't make any difference.

[Skirge01]

Originally Posted by dpackham

well... uhh.. would the picture quality be better if i get it back to 90% like it was before? i was thinking that it would be maybe. HDTV signals look good.

dunno.

Dave P

Sorry... I had to kind of chuckle at that. You don't seem to notice a degradation in the picture quality, but you want the signal to be stronger? That's the kind of thinking that got computer magazines using synthetic benchmarks to "rate" hardware. A bigger number doesn't always equate to "better". Perfect example nowadays: Is a 2.66 GHz Phenom II better than a 2.33GHz Core i7?

I have a 68-82% signal for my OTA reception and the quality is excellent. Personally, I wouldn't spend more money just to get my signal up to 90-100% if I couldn't tell the different.

Do some tests for yourself. Remove the 2nd HDHR and record a show. Put the 2nd HDHR back into the mix, record the show again, and see if you can see an improvement from 10' away or however far you normally watch from.

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

Sorry... I had to kind of chuckle at that. You don't seem to notice a degradation in the picture quality, but you want the signal to be stronger? That's the kind of thinking that got computer magazines using synthetic benchmarks to "rate" hardware. A bigger number doesn't always equate to "better". Perfect example nowadays: Is a 2.66 GHz Phenom II better than a 2.33GHz Core i7?

I have a 68-82% signal for my OTA reception and the quality is excellent. Personally, I wouldn't spend more money just to get my signal up to 90-100% if I couldn't tell the different.

Do some tests for yourself. Remove the 2nd HDHR and record a show. Put the 2nd HDHR back into the mix, record the show again, and see if you can see an improvement from 10' away or however far you normally watch from.

It is not image quality in digital that will cause issues ( you either get it or you don't in digital) but the signal quality can drop, causing more artifacts and macroblocking, or even complete dropouts...

[Skirge01]

Fair enough. Very poor choice of words on my part. When I said "picture quality", I was actually talking about artifacting and macroblocking. When I went into my "test" suggestion, even I forgot that's what I was talking about. Obviously, the test scenario is pointless.

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

Fair enough. Very poor choice of words on my part. When I said "picture quality", I was actually talking about artifacting and macroblocking. When I went into my "test" suggestion, even I forgot that's what I was talking about. Obviously, the test scenario is pointless.

Can you post your TVfool results, and I will see if there is anything we can do to boost your signals without overloading any tuners!

[Skirge01]

Sure thing: TVfool results

[jasonl]

70-80% is well within the acceptable range for OTA with the HDHomeRun. 60 is the minimum, with 70 preferred. Anything more than that is gravy. If you really want to spend the money, the Winegard HDP269 is probably the best choice for your area; anything stronger will probably overload.

Jason
Silicondust Support

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by jasonl

70-80% is well within the acceptable range for OTA with the HDHomeRun. 60 is the minimum, with 70 preferred. Anything more than that is gravy. If you really want to spend the money, the Winegard HDP269 is probably the best choice for your area; anything stronger will probably overload.

Jason
Silicondust Support

Very good Jason, the only thing to be careful with the HDP-269 is the fact that it has no FM trap, so if the original poster has a VHF-LO antenna, he may overload on FM. I would try the HDP-269 first and it works great, but if you get nothing or signal quality all over the place in the HDHR, then add a FM trap ahead of the amp, right after the antenna.

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by Skirge01

Sure thing: TVfool results

How about fmfool results and what antenna you currently have!

(with LOS to the towers at 20ish miles, you should have prefect OTA tv with the right setup!)

[turak]

How are people checking the signal strength? With the HD Homerun Config (GUI) or is there a way to check it within SageTV? I'm about 16 miles with LoS. I had a roof top antenna installed. Every time I load the HDHR GUI and check the signal, all bar's are green. Yet I've been having issues where some recordings start skipping like crazy.

I'm not sure if it's a signal issue or not. It seems to happen more often when three or four shows are being recorded at once. My HDPVR recordings play back perfectly. Some HDHR recordings play back perfectly. Others are unwatchable.

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by turak

How are people checking the signal strength? With the HD Homerun Config (GUI) or is there a way to check it within SageTV? I'm about 16 miles with LoS. I had a roof top antenna installed. Every time I load the HDHR GUI and check the signal, all bar's are green. Yet I've been having issues where some recordings start skipping like crazy.

I'm not sure if it's a signal issue or not. It seems to happen more often when three or four shows are being recorded at once. My HDPVR recordings play back perfectly. Some HDHR recordings play back perfectly. Others are unwatchable.

You need to watch the HDHR stats in real time, watch to see what happens when the picture breaks up.
I would bet on either too much signal/amp-tuner overload or multipath.

Post your tvfool results and your current antenna config and maybe I can see what is happening from signal readings in tvfool....

[HuMan321]

Where exactly in HD Homerun do you see the signal strength? I just recently bought and setup my HD Homerun and it had me only run channel scans in Sage. I want to see the signal quality numbers so do you think I can scan channels in HD Homerum without messing things up?
The setup directions were pretty specific saying to ONLY setup channels in Sage.

[DaveW42]

Signal strength information can be found in the "HDHomeRun Config" application that is installed when you setup the software that ships with the HD HomeRun.

[HuMan321]

Originally Posted by DaveW42

Signal strength information can be found in the "HDHomeRun Config" application that is installed when you setup the software that ships with the HD HomeRun.

Thanks!!!
Works perfect to show me a problem channel

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by HuMan321

Thanks!!!
Works perfect to show me a problem channel

More then likely, it is not a signal strength issue, but a signal quality drop that makes tearing/macroblocking or no picture at all...

[HuMan321]

Originally Posted by gjvrieze

More then likely, it is not a signal strength issue, but a signal quality drop that makes tearing/macroblocking or no picture at all...

It is a signal quality issue on Fox only. The strength seems reasonable, but quality drops to yellow 65 and rarely to red 37%. Not sure why though as all the transmitters in this area are in the same location. I have purchased a new antenna so I am hoping that will help out with Fox

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by HuMan321

It is a signal quality issue on Fox only. The strength seems reasonable, but quality drops to yellow 65 and rarely to red 37%. Not sure why though as all the transmitters in this area are in the same location. I have purchased a new antenna so I am hoping that will help out with Fox

I assume that you are watching WNYW-DT out of NYC correct? If so it is a little lower on the Empire State Building antenna mast then say WCBS-DT. You may just need to get a lite pre-amp or better yet, move your antenna up 5-10ft higher in the air. How well can you see the ESB from your location? (maybe you can just see the mast, that is fine, you just need to be able to "see" the bottom antenna on the mast for you OTA results to be 100%) At 20+ binoculars are prolly needed to see ESB from that distance, but it never hurts to ask either!
Need to know what antenna you have for starters, that would answer a lot and how it is installed...