The Samsung DOES have a signal strength meter right on the screen for each chnl. … shows 75% or more for all chnls.
Signal strength is not the same as signal quality. You need a good sound to noise ratio for reception.
Zippy - you may be onto something … as this ‘experiment’ of troubleshooting continues (so far chnl 2.1 and 9.1 - actually chnl 9 & 13) still does not come in.
I reached out to Tablo tech support to ask them to remotely log into the Tablo … here is what they said … "We were able to test the reception on the 2.x channels and the 9.x channels, the 2.x channels have a very weak signal with very strong interference coming through, and channel 9.x had no signal strength coming through at the time of our testing.
I would recommend readjusting your antenna to see if you can move away from the interference and improve the signal strength coming through."
Interference? This antenna is up in the attic … wood, insulation, A/C duct work … that’s about it. The A/C - Furnace air handler unit is about 25 ft. away. That is the ONLY electrical/electronic thing up there. Gas water heater is old school with a pilot lite - no electric sparker thingy. And ideas how to determine ‘interference’?
Signals may shift their position coming into the attic (or even on a roof). I’ve had a channel I thought I had lost (after getting it solidly for 8 years). Then one day it was gone. I found it again by shifting my antenna about 8 feet to the left. Trees and buildings (new ones) may deflect the path of a signal such that it is no longer in the space it previously was.
Thank you … I was thinking the bldgs. (new homes / subdivisions) … may have caused this … I will try moving it until I find the sweet spot. 
Just a word of warning. After I moved the antenna, I realized that I lost a channel that was coming in well in the previous location. So I had a dilemma because when I moved the antenna back to the old position, I regained that channel but not the initial lost one. So I put an antenna in the old location and another antenna in the new location, joining them. Now I was getting all the channels with two antennas.
Oh boy … never thought of that … LOL …
So how did you ‘join’ the antennas ?
Since the two antennas were far apart and some channels came over one antenna and other channels over the other antenna (with no overlap), I simply joined the two antennas with a simple splitter ($3) in reverse. One antenna went into the left side of the splitter, the other into the right side, and the output (which is normally an input) to the Tablo. Just a splitter used in reverse. BTW I have a preamp at each antenna.
Thank you … I can do that - so glad for this community - so we all don’t have to repeat the same experiments! LOL 1st cool day I will be up in the attic (South La. heat is brutal in attic) - LOL
One thing to remember, especially on channels 2.x to 5.x, is that sunspots greatly affect the quality of the signals received. In the “bad-old analog” days, there would be enough interference to allow you to see the actual call letters of other “out-of-market” stations. Of course, that was analog. In the digital world, this interference would likely corrupt the data stream enough to cause the tuner to lose its lock on the intended signal. The effect of sunspots would be worse in around sunrise and sunset, and affected the lower channels the most. Some summer days, in NYC, the situation was so bad that it lasted most of the day on the local CBS outlet (channel 2), and even would cause problems for WNBC (chan 4) and WNEW (chan 5) for a considerable segment of the day.
The one question in my mind is that the antenna I am using, The Clearstream 4 does NOT have that add-on VHF kit (see pic)
Do I need to get one of these? To help those lower chnls.?
It would probably help. In order to be sure, you would need to check with one of the online antenna / tv signal websites. Sometimes, the local stations broadcast on a different frequency than their channel number, This is a throwback to the VHF only days of TV, and allowed the channels to “relocate” to the UHF band, while protecting their “legacy ID” status. The website will tell you the actual channel vs. the virtual channel number.
The simple VHF antenna pictured is designed for actual channels 7-13, and would be of limited use for Channel 2. The lower the channel, the longer the wavelength, and this requires a much longer element.
One website I’ve used before is http://www.antennaweb.org. If you’re mounting in an attic, you’ll need to allow for signal loss, though. Also, sometimes in newer construction, the sheathing for the attic has a foil backing, which wrecks havoc with TV signals! (This one drove me crazy!!)
Good luck!
You’ve probably heard this before, but there is a world of difference between having an antenna indoors vs. outdoors. I did try the indoor route and found it to be very unsatisfactory, so I sucked it up and went outdoor and haven’t regretted it.
The antenna you have is a pretty good one, I have the single vs. the dual and it works well. Even upgraded tuners on the Tablo wouldn’t get you much of an improvement. If you have the antenna professionally mounted outdoors, it should be able to stand up to most any weather. Good luck.
Thanks VegasSteve, We live in South La. - we have those ‘little wind storms’ known as hurricanes - LOL … IDA just blew threw recently and I am kinda glad I did NOT have the antenna outside … however, on my ‘experimentation’ list, the last measure is ‘test outside’ after all other in attic options have been tried. I have heard of folks using a ‘telescoping’ antenna pole, so I could fairly easily pull the antenna down prior to a bad storm. At this point still the part that bothers me is that the same antenna (THe ClearStream) when plugged directlyinto my 50" Samsung HDTV and smaller 26" Samsung TV pulls in ALL the chnls. while it is up in the attic … plug it into the Tablo … missing chnls. Am I missiing something?
The Tablo has an internal antenna splitter, so an amplifier may be needed. Direct to the TV has no splits, probably why it works.
Yeah, I know about the splitter … pretty sure that is at the crux of this ‘weak signal’ dilemna’ - LOL … My next ‘test’ is to move the pre / amp (what ever it is) to right at the antenna output … right now it is at the back of the Tablo - 50’ downstream from the antenna. I have to route power to the area the antenna is located up in the attic for the power adapter for the pre / amp. On the to-do list. TY
Are you surer you are using an actual pre-amp? Most of those are powered via the coax cable. that runs to the antenna. They don’t expect people to be able to put an outlet next to their antenna. Like these models from ChannelMaster. The power inserter powers the preamp via Coax. An inline preamp would require power where it has been plugged in.
Now we are getting somewhere THe signal booster that I have has a power adapter for the pre-amp. (see pic) … however, the one you mentioned sounds like exactly what I need - Thanks
!
No problem, a Pre-Amp like I posted will help because it boost the signal when it is at its strongest from the antenna prior to sending it down your long coaxial cable.
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