I live in the Phoenix, AZ market. I currently have 39 active channels in my guide, have a Tablo Quad (previous model) and am having issues with KPHE-LD 44.1. The channel will flicker, split screen and basically go crazy for about 15-20 seconds when tuning into it and then the Tablo goes offline, error message says there are network issues and then it takes about 1-2 minutes to find the Tablo again and go back to normal. The sub-channels on 44 come in just fine, it’s only the .1 I’m having issues with. The signal is shown at 5 green circles in the app. No other channels besides 44.1 in the guide have issues. Scratching my head on this one; can anyone else verify this?
Stations sometimes set parameters in their broadcasts that conflict with your Tablo unit.
See this thread
The Tablo becomes unavailable because it is rebooting. The station has to make the fix, in the past Tablo would assist by contacting the station in question.
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Thank you! The thread you linked describes exactly what’s happening.
You can find more be searching for “split screen”. FYI, here’s another thread.
This issue can be very annoying. You are at the mercy of the station, just hope they’re open to changing their broadcast parameters.
I had a local PBS station do this and had to alter my scheduled recordings for a while to keep the Tablo from trying to tune the “bad” channel. Also, in my case once the Tablo rebooted because of this issue I had to do an unplug power reboot as some recordings on “good” channels would be affected (like there was a memory corruption that could only be cleared by pulling power).
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I did. Wow, I feel like an idiot. If I had opened up the search box beyond the first results (which meant nothing to me or the issue) I would have found the threads you mentioned. In fact, in one of the threads it mentions this issue happening on KPHO Channel 5.1 a few years back and I find it interesting that they also bought KPHE about a year ago. Makes you wonder if they still have the same engineer or are reusing equipment. I’ve submitted a Tablo ticket.
We were in Apache Junction a couple of weeks ago and we’re in Casa Grande now and both KHPE and KHPO have issues on our Samsung TV in our motorhome (I don’t have a Tablo yet, waiting for the Apple TV app for the gen 4 
) For both channels they will show up in a channel scan and be working just fine, but later (sometime a couple of days, sometimes the same day) they will show as ‘No signal’ on the TV. KHPO was fine last night and is showing No Signal this morning, for example.
Not sure if this info is helpful at all, but I found that it was interesting since it involves the same two channels.
Update: After submitting the ticket, Tablo got back to me, and it’s been an almost endless back and forth of remove app, reinstall app, log out, log in, delete channel 44, reinstall channel 44, rescan, etc. The last email I sent back was this past Monday, when they requested screenshots of what’s happening.
Did you mention the threads describing previous identical problems and the fix? It sounds like they are focusing on you and not the transmitting station that is the actual source of the problem. With the ownership and support changes they may have ‘forgotten’ this issue.
Yes, I did, and I also included the links in my correspondence. And you hit the nail on the head; they don’t seem to be paying attention to what I’m telling them and are just doing standard troubleshooting.
I see the exact same issue here in Queen Creek AZ on channel 44.1 KPHE-LD
Using a Tablo Quad.
It’s obvious the Tablo doesn’t tolerate something in the signal from the broadcaster.
A missing “picture structure” parameter makes a lot of sense.
But shouldn’t that parameter have a DEFAULT value?
Seems to me the broadcaster OR Tablo firmware programmers could fix this issue.
Seems to have happened in several locations.
BTW: My Mom uses a Tivo w/Antenna and records the Phoenix Suns on this channel with no issues. My Tablo goes into convulsions when tuned to this channel for more than a minute.
Well, at least I’m not the only one; thanks for the confirmation. Tablo and I are still back and forth in emails, but all they seem interested in are screenshots of what happens to channel 44.1 on my TVs, phone, or even the PC, and then my Tablo crashes and reboots.
It may be a missing signal parameter from the broadcaster that is the root cause of this, but it’s very bad behavior of the Tablo to reboot or whatever causes the network disconnects. The Tablo should be more tolerant (as other TV tuners and DVR’s are).
I am in Tempe and have an 8 and 3 yr old quads. 44.1 comes thru on both with a great picture. Could it be an antenna or coax problem??
Not for me. I have an outdoor antenna on the roof right outside the same wall where the Tablo is located, and there’s not more than 10 feet of coax between the Tablo and the antenna. And all other stations come in fine.
I’m getting 44.1 using my Tablo Dual Lite down around the Gilbert/QC border. The antenna connected to the Tablo is upstairs and amplified. My downstairs antenna (also amped) connected to my living room TV does not pick it up.
No No,
The channel comes in fine. No issues at all with signal strength. Try watching the channel for 5 minutes. The picture will jump, change aspect ratios, split, or turn all red/green. The audio is always clear and never hiccups.
Eventually, connection of the CLIENT (Rouku/Firestick) will fail, probably because the Tablo reboots.
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Sorry, misunderstood. I see what you’re referring to now! I was watching in the web app on my PC. Past experience from what I’ve seen is that it is on the station’s end somehow.
OK, I tried it again this morning and I see what you are talking about. I am not an expert on TV broadcasting tech, but it looks to me that this maybe a problem with the video broadcast settings coming from 44.1. You might want to call the station and talk to them about it. Now I just put the TV on antenna instead of Tablo and 44.1 is solid!!! — so it may be a Tablo problem. It would be ideal if Tablo would discuss this with 44.1, but with all the changes there I don’t think that will happen. This is way above my pay grade, so keep us posted on this problem
I have contacted KTVK/KPHO-TV/KPHE-LD explaining the situation, including links to threads from here and even supplied pictures; no response. Some of the other threads indicated that Tablo would reach out to the broadcaster. I was kind of hoping that would’ve happened.
TABLO users are a very small percentage of viewers, and since no other users are affected by this issue, I’m sure the station has little interest in making any type of changes to their equipment.
Especially from a few end user pleas on a web forum.
To me, the TABLO is simply intolerant to whatever the station is sending. The fact that the TABLO crashes and reboots when tuned to this channel is abhorrent behavior and a firmware flaw. This should not happen.
Unfortunately TABLO is not very motivated to fix or modify legacy products . They have their hands full with Gen 4 products and seem to be heading in a different direction. I’d be interested in hearing how the Gen 4 Tablo behaves tuned to the same channel.
This issue has been here in Phoenix since the channel was taken over by new management in MAY 2023, and TABLO has been aware of this picture problem and then crash with this firmware for some time. Neither has been changed.
In short, nobody cares.
I applaud you for trying to get the attention of people that CAN help. I just have my doubts that anything will happen.