Seattle Market issue with CBS.
CBS is the ONLY channel my Attic antenna has pixelization and buffering with. All others are awesome. Could it be that Tablo might be picking up the CBS that is farther away as they are close to same direction? Any way I can tell which is being used?
Per rabbitears.info:
CBS KIRO-TV RF23 is 6.6 Miles at 89 degrees, 104.61 strength
CBS KIRO-TV RF 18 is 26.2 Miles at 109.4 degrees, 77.4 Strength
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According to wiki, CBS KIRO-TV is rebroadcast on 5 different translators. The translators are supposed to serve areas that can not normally receive the TV signal, so they should not interfere with each other (however, it could be possible under some conditions).
Since the station is only 6.6 miles away, the signal might be too strong. A very strong signal can produce the problems you describe. …Just something else to consider.
Have you tried turning off the Tablo amplifier?
The Tablo doesn’t show the transmitter RF channel. Sometimes you can figure it out by the ID reference in the Tablo scan results. Here is an example from my iPhone Tablo app:
Note the transmitter references by CBS and ABC. You may be able to cross-reference these on Rabbitears.info or elsewhere on line to figure out which is which.
If Tablo is locking on to the “wrong” CBS transmitter, you can move your antenna and/or turn off amplification to make the undesired transmitter signal too weak for Tablo to find. After a new channel scan, go back to your preferred setup, but then don’t rescan. The trick is to “weaken” the undesired transmitter signal while still having the rest of your signals strong enough for Tablo to find. May or may not work.
I have duplicates in my area, so I use a Televes AvantX digital filter to only pass the RF transmitters I want to my in-house coax distribution (to Tablo and TV tuners). With this device, my TV tuners only “see” the transmitters I want in their respective scans. Televes also makes the (relatively) less expensive Smartkom that does the same thing. Both devices are easily programmable. Unfortunately, both are expensive.
Too strong a signal is also a possibility as noted. However, “solving” that problem can be difficult. If turning off the amp fixes that problem, it may add new problems to the weaker channels. Either Televes device I mentioned will also solve issues combining very strong signals and other much weaker ones. These devices can accept very wide ranges of signal strength, digitally equalize them, then send them to your Tablo and TVs at a balanced level you select. Perfect device for sorting out areas with lots of repeating transmitters (translators) that overlap virtual channels from different RF transmitters.
I actually have two amps in use, one built into my Televes antenna and the Tablo one. I have found that turning off the Tablo amp doesn’t change anything. However, if I unplug my Televes amp, the signal is much worse. I’ll try an idea from another post to turn off all amps and rescan.
Helpful idea on weakening the signal and doing a rescan, thanks! I’ll post an update with results.
Hmm. Rabbitears.info lists KIRO-TV 7.1 as an ATSC 3.0 broadcast. Not sure if this is the RF channel 23 transmitter you are trying to get. If it is, Tablo won’t see it in a scan no matter what you do.
It looks like KIRO-TV transmits on RF 18, 23, and 28 in the Seattle area. Not obvious to me in the ATSC 3.0 listing page in Rabbitears.info which RF channel(s) are ATSC 3.0.
Edit
I found another reference that says KIRO-TV Seattle is on RF channel 24 in ATSC 3.0, so maybe you are ok!
Rabbitears has a map of KIRO transmitters. RabbitEars.Info
Great thread. I think I have seen similar issues in the Seattle area (16 miles north of Seattle) with CBS, FOX and ABC. I spent hours repointing my antenna and turning Tablo amplification on/off to test.
The replies are helping me understand what to look for and possible solutions.
Thanks