Of course the tablo has multiple tuners so it has an internal splitter.
If OTA broadcast towers are over 10 miles away with Line of Sight doesn’t mean that the tablo channel scan is reliable. It’s always fun to rescan, without updating, multiple times in a row. Since I only have 14 channels, including the sub-channels, it only takes around 20 seconds to perform a scan. The tablo signal strength results can vary between scans. I’ve seen results where the primary channel doesn’t even show up. The sub-channel has 1 red dot. An immediate rescan has both show up with 5 green dots. And the channel records just fine.
The stations are all about the same distance away because they put the towers on a high mountain located at the southwest end of Colorado Springs. The towers are located on Cheyenne Mountain at about 9,500 feet above sea level. ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS and Fox all work fine on any of my HDTV’s or the Tablo. I put a splitter in the line and it didn’t change anything. What do you know about the other person who replied and mentioned that the channels had to be in the Tablo Guide Database for the Tablo receiver to find them? I did open a support ticket as was suggested. I have performed a rescan multiple times over the last three days and the results have always been identical. Thank you to everyone who has offered opinions. I do seriously wonder if there exist a Guide Database and that the Tablo only picks up channels listed in said database.
The tuner the Tablo uses is a third party product and wouldn’t know anything about the guide Tablo uses (also from another party). The tuner would detect any frequencies independently of the guide. Now whether the Tablo applies the guide as some sort of template from which to choose which stations to list I don’t know. Possible for the tuner to detect stations that the Tablo declines to list because they aren’t in the guide… Beastman’s post indicates otherwise and is significant.
BTW KWHS channel 51 has a strong signal according to TVFool for anyone in any zip code area of Colorado Springs. So this is intriguing… Are there other Colorado Springs Tablo users out there who could verify KWHS reception?
Smurph’s response is also interesting regarding PSIP irregularity. I also would like to know whether the Tablo\tuner can be affected by PSIP metadata - from a Tablo rep.
The channels don’t need to be available in the guide for the scan to detect them. You can add a channel that is not in the guide and use manual recording until the guide data is updated.
Maybe you need to tvfool.com and antennaweb,org and put in your exact address and see what the results tell you. Maybe you need a power injector and not a splitter to be able to pick up 51
That is correct. When 7.4 started broadcasting in Austin, TX on Good Friday, I simply did a scan and Tablo had it. The guide was blank because it was a new (and excellent) station…METV. So I used www.titantv.com for guide info and did manual recordings.until Tablo finally got correct Guide information. Same thing for GRIT, LAFF, COZI, ION., BUZZR. 2016 has seen all these English stations start in Austin, TX.
I had some of the channel 17 go blank but on both TV and Tablo. Hope new stations come. Since they are gone on both TV and Tablo i think they are gone.
What antenna do you have? I see it is a low power station. Tablo has an internal 4 way splitter, so you might need am amplified antenna. I have a Winegard FL5500A and it is excellent. I even get 2 stations that are in Killeen during the winter.
TVFool shows strong reception (+26 NM) for channel 51 in your area even though it is a low powered ("-LD") station. However if for some reason you would need an amplifier, I would recommend the RCA TVPRAMP1Z preamp which is quite overload resistant (since you have strong +60 NM stations). It has been tested at a variety of forums in conditions of mixed weak and strong RF signals and does not readily overload a tuner. Lowes carries them for $30 which means you could pick one up, test for your situation and see whether a preamp applies to your problem (if not return it within 30 days).
If you need a channel specific preamp (no amplification except for 51), try Jan Jenca who makes channel specific preamps. You tell him that you need a channel 51 specific preamp just to boost up that channel\frequency. I’ve used Jenca for just such circumstances.
If however it is not a signal strength issue but as Smurph indicated possibly a PSIP issue, do what a friend of mine did. He got a “channel specific” DVR just for one channel that his Tablo was having issues with - a Homeworx 180. He absolutely wanted to be able to record this specific channel and was willing to have 2 DVRs - one (Tablo) for all the channels minus one; another DVR for the Tablo problematic channel (with which the 180 seems not to have metadata issues). Several people have used the Homeworx as a backup to their Tablo including me (check the various forum threads about that). MarkKindle uses his just for recording sports events. The 180 goes for the ridiculously low price of $30 so it also could be a cost effective solution (of sorts)!
Definitely give our support team a shout. Via a remote session, we can manually probe the channels the Tablo isn’t picking up. From there, we should be able to figure out the root cause.
The insights from @smurph are spot on. The PSIP data is necessary (as it is set by the standard) in order for the channel (and its guide data) to populate. We’ve seen a few isolated instances (maybe… 3-4, ever) in which the broadcaster is not transmitting the PSIP data. If this is the case, the broadcaster needs to solve this on their end.
Yes both virtual and real channel numbers are the same - 51 (KWHS). 692-698 MHz would have to be the frequency specified for a channel specific amp (i.e. from Jenca).
Question @TabloSupport - why does the Tablo need absolutely correct PSIP data when other tuners can live with PSIP irregularities? Tablo doesn’t depend on a station’s guide data as transmitted through the PSIP.
The Tablo requires this data because it uses this information to form a zap spec. This includes the call sign, channel number, etc.
As noted above, this affects many other DVR’s - and that’s the key. Some TVs/other tuners can just ‘make up’ the information needed for live streams, as they don’t support guide data, and they can’t record the content. The information within the PSIP data is required to do both of these.
Even for live TV, the Tablo is recording (temporarily) to the disk so that you can FF/RW; and of course because it needs to transcode the video anyway, for the supported devices out there.
Support Team: I did create a “ticket” last night so you should have it. How/when do we start the remote session?
CraigRoyce: Regarding a separate DVR for that one channel: I actually have an iView 3500STBII coming today from Amazon. It is similar to the Homeworx HW180STB that you mentioned. I ordered it to use as a tuner for my projection system. I have seen in the few days I have had my Tablo (and read on this forum) that the Tablo isn’t the best thing to use to actually watch live TV because of the inability to channel surf, the buffering. As such, with my HDTV’s I just use an ordinary antenna connected to the TV’s receivers; I ordered the iView to have a receiver for my projection system. Also, I may try the RCA TVPRAMP1Z; my local Lowes has one in stock.
Beastman: My antenna is a 1byone 45 mile range digital attic/outdoor HDTV antenna; however, it doesn’t do any better than the 1byone 25 mile super thin HDTV antennas I have in the house. I have one of those connected to three different HDTV’s and the antenna is in the window. They look very similar to the antenna you said you have but do not have an amplifier.
The iView may well confirm whether it is a signal strength or PSIP type problem. If it gets channel 51 and can record it… If the iView is like the Homeworx (which it is), then it will also have a numerical signal strength meter with which to gauge the signal strength for that channel.
Maybe the question should be that when using the 80920 zip code and tablo channel search tool, the channels available and signal strength displayed by tablo are way more optimistic then any results returned from tvfool.com. antennaweb.org, channelmaster.com, or winegard.com.
I just cannot believe that it is an issue with the signal strength, either not strong enough or too strong. My house is at 7,000 feet and I can see across town to the top of the mountain where the antenna’s are located at 9,500 feet. It is line of sight and only about 15 miles. I pick up ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Fox, CW57, ION, KBDI, KWHS (channel 51, the channel the Tablo does not find) and KXTU CW (57) with a simple1byone 25 mile super thin HDTV indoor antenna in the window. I have three of these connected to three different HDTV’s. Of all of these, it is channel KXTU CW (57) that is the weakest based on the fact that it comes in and out on my HDTV’s yet, ironically, Tablo picks it up fine. The one channel that Tablo doesn’t find is KWHS (51.1 & 51.2) yet it works perfectly on all three HDTV’s. The Tablo is connected directly to a roof mounted 1byone 45 mile range digital attic/outdoor HDTV antenna and it doesn’t find channel 51. I have tried connecting one of the indoor 1byone 25 mile super thin HDTV antennas to the Tablo and the results are the same. I’m betting that it is an issue with the PSIP data. It will be interesting to see if the iView 3500STBII picks up channel 51. I’ll update this post later today after Amazon delivers the iView 3500STBII.
CraigRoyce: I just wanted to share with you that I just installed the RCA TVPRAMP1Z and it doesn’t make any difference.
Tablo Support: Regarding the remote session you mentioned…I did file a support ticket…How/when do we do that?
Yup, I suspected that it wouldn’t be a signal strength issue since TVFool shows an NM of +26 to +28 (which is good) across most Colorado Springs zip code areas. It’s when the NM becomes a negative number that reception becomes problematic. And I doubt that it is a multipath problem since that mainly occurs with 2-edge transmission not LOS. The iView test will be interesting…my experience is that these iView-Homeworx-ViewTV boxes are more forgiving regarding PSIP irregularity.
You’re the 3rd person to report not being able to receive a Cozi TV channel on your Tablo.
KWHS 51.2 is Cozi TV.
I was able to pick up K15CU 15.1 for many months, and recently, my Tablo can’t tune it in.
Gotta be something weird with stations broadcasting Cozi TV.
These channels are mostly broadcast by LeSea which is not a mainstream broadcaster. They may not be adhering to standards and thus transmitting funky metadata. But if the iView picks it up, the solution will be get a $30 box to supplement the Tablo (as MarkKindle has been advocating at this forum). Does he get a commission when these boxes get sold?
Radojevic: Thank you for sharing that with me. It definitely sounds like it is a compatibility issue with 51.2 Cozi and Tablo.
Craig Royce: I’m curious if you have an opinion on the iView 3500STBII versus the Mediasonic Homeworx HW180STB? I went with the iView based on some reviews I saw on Google.