All of a sudden my Tablo says a few of my channels are too weak to stream. I have not moved my antenna (verified that it is pointed dead on in the right direction) nor have I changed my setup. Any ideas what might be causing this change? I am 15 miles from NYC and my signal is strong. So frustrating. Thanks in advance.
Andrew
Some of the stations may have been affected by the channel repack. Check antennaweb.org or similar site. If affected you need to rescan.
Re-scanning may not make a weak station stronger. If a station has changed their actual frequency due to the repack, then yes, your antenna will likely find the new frequency, but it will not cure a weak signal.
What you are most likely encountering is a ‘temporary’ reduction in power from those now ‘weak’ stations. In my market, for example, a few different stations use the same tower.
The repack has created a situation where some stations have to install new equipment.
At the tower in Needham, the station that has their equipment near the top of the tower has to do some work up there, so a few of the stations with equipment lower on the tower must reduce their power to protect the workers while they are on the tower.
Some of this work can takes weeks or months, by the way. This is most likely what you are seeing.
Are you in the Boston area? How are you getting ch 2 WGBH LO VHF?
Because there are fewer crews available for antenna work (contractors), stations had to ask for extensions, experiencing delays in their schedules.
Yes - Uxbridge, MA. We’re about 25-30 miles form the tower. I bought an Antennas Direct ClearStream 2V as well as an RCA pre-amp. They are installed in the attic of my 2 story house.
I bought that, btw, before I saw your Antop thread lol.
And yes, I’m seeing 2.1 perfectly. After discovering the Boston antenna thread at AVS, I consider myself to be fortunate for sure.
15.1 is weak for me right now, but 10.1 (also NBC) is very strong. We’re actually closer to Providence than Boston, but we prefer the Boston stations. I must have 7.2 for ‘Highway Patrol’ lol.
That’s great, a normal VHF dipole getting lo vhf at that distance. @ericgus is 50 miles out.
So you can get both Boston and Providence with one antenna - are both groups of stations in the same direction?
No. According to Rabbitears, Boston is at 53 degrees, and Providence is at 127 degrees.
When I originally set up my antenna, I pointed it directly at channel 38 in Boston. It was the weakest station we were interested in receiving on that day. (DirecTv dropped our CBS affiliates.)
That’s when I started looking at OTA DVRs, and obviously decided on a Tablo.
I just read over at the AVS Boston Antenna forum that WGBH’s signal has gotten much better since Saturday. They are also saying 15 (NBC Boston) is currently operating at reduced power.
So what I’m seeing makes sense.
From everywhere I’ve seen repack results across the country, it’s not been a one day type thing where you rescan and that’s it. Work is lagging, extensions have been asked for, things have to be tweaked or reworked, etc. The post repack period in an area may go on for a few months before it gets stabilized…
As for the major Providence stations, I’m getting 6, 10, 12 and 64 reliably.
Yup - it’s more like dominoes - and each one must fall one at a time in sequence. It’s quite a dance.
A station’s plans can go up in smoke because of another station 1,000 miles away encountering delays. They can’t change their frequency because it will cause an overlap in their market and now they must wait, so now their plans can be delayed. It can cause a ripple effect in many markets.
It’s not going as smoothly as it did on paper for sure.