Hello,
I have a show that I tape every morning on CH5 and the signal is bad (choppy playback, skipping audio), but then if I watch the same channel live later on in the day it is perfect and there is no skipping etc.
I’m using a Mohu Leaf 50 and live in 60417. Antenna is located in 2nd floor window.
@chadzeilenga - OTA signals can be affected by weather but also by other things like LED lights. Is it possible you have something turned on during the morning that isn’t typically on later in the day?
If this is a common occurrence, you might want to move your antenna or pick up one with a bit more power.
It was very windy here tonight and I was seeing a lot of pixelation. I switched over to the tv to use the signal strength gauge and saw it was fluctuating between 0 and 58.
I didn’t think the wind could affect the radio waves.
How is it if you connect the antenna directly to the TV? OTA is affected by garage door openers, microwave, power, weather, daylight. Is your Tablo wired or wireless? If wireless, 2.4 or 5 GHz?
Hello All,
We watched the “Today Show” Live this morning to see if it was an issue with the signal or playback. The show/channel played perfect. No skipping or pixilation. Then we watched the recording of todays episode and still, no issues. We replayed yesterdays airing and it was skipping really bad. For some reason yesterdays had a bad signal. Don’t recall it being very windy.
I can’t think of anything in the proximity that would be “on” and interfering but will check. We have our antenna connected to the Tablo device which communicates wirelessly with our Roku. Have been using same setup for ~10mo now. Occasional issues that require a reposition of antenna.
@chadzeilenga - Every once in a while, there’s an issue at the originating broadcaster. If it was a 1 time event, that may have been the issue too.
The wind itself does not effect RF signals at all.
Wind does, however, greatly impact trees and other structures that can greatly impact RF signal paths and signal strength.
There is also the (relatively rare) upper atmosphere effects that can have dramatic and unusual effects on RF signals. I actually experienced a condition where a radio 5 miles away was temporarily unreachable, except via a (unintentional) relay site 1000 miles away that could talk to us both (This was VHF, those who know about RF would confirm that the long range unintentional relay site is normally impossible via VHF).
example reading for the curious:
Wikipedia
TV and FM “Distant” reception wikipedia
I’ve received Houston stations in Austin, but didn’t add therm to Tablo. It was heavy fog which helps signals travel different.
My channel strengths vary according to time of day. I’ve been taking measurements throughout the day for several years. Most of my channels are at their weakest early in the morning (between 7 and 9 AM) and mid afternoon (1-3 PM). This has been a consistent pattern for over ten years (since I’ve installed a strong rooftop antenna - the Channel Master 4228).
The signals are at their strongest in the evening between 7 and 10 PM and through the night after midnight (up until 5 AM the next morning). The signal strengths can fluctuate by up to 20% between these time periods (from 80 to 100%).
Autumn and winter are the peak seasons for my antenna reception; summer is the worst. Heat affects signal strength. Some people have said that freezing cold also lowers their signal strengths. It appears that temperature extremes have an effect on RF signals.
So I would expect signals to fluctuate daily and hourly (in blocks of time) by up to 20%! If one is getting a signal at 70% (good for a tuner which a Tablo would report as 5 green dots), then a drop of 20% that same day puts it in the “iffy” 50% range (with pixelation occurring).
I have not seen signals stay consistent throughout a 24 hour period in my decade of monitoring them; there is always some fluctuation…
ABC has issues for me at night… Pretty much on a steady basis. My Tablo and Antenna are away from all other electrical devices. One of the reasons I still have Hulu 
I see this happen with our local PBS affiliate … the early mornings are terrible … late morning on… perfect.
I’ll throw another wrinkle into the mix. I have a 4 port distribution amp. With 2 two tuner tablos connected to the first 2 ports. The older tuner is connected to the first port. The 2 tablos were purchased around 4 months apart. So who knows what version of chips the two units contain. All coax cabling is the same length and type.
If you perform back to back channel rescans, the old unit on port 1 always reports more channels then the unit on port 2. Of course the signal strength is usually to low to watch. But it’s always entertaining to see the difference.
Thank you for sharing.