I am having trouble picking up Digital Television Signals?

Question

I live in a valley below the mountains in Southern California, and I can't pick up any digital TV signals. I bought a digital to analog converter box, and hooked it up to an existing antenna on top of the house. I get nothing. I don't know how old the antenna is, it was here when we moved in 5 years ago. Can antennas go bad? I hooked it up using a brand new coaxial cable. My closest neighbor (about 1/2 mile away) is able to pick up 6 local stations, clear as a bell. Any ideas? I also tried a fancy set of rabbit ears (indoor) and still got nothing. Any ideas?

Answer 1

If a nearby neighbor can get 6 over-the-air (OTA) channels and you have a good outside antenna, you should be able to get the same channels, no question. The first thing to do is determine the health of your outside antenna. It could be quite old, with corroded connections where the downlead (coaxial cable) connects to the antenna. The downlead itself may have deteriorated due to weather. It may take some work, maybe some professional help, but a good antenna and downlead are essential to OTA reception.



Before going to all that trouble, though, check the basics of your converter and TV. The easiest way to connect the converter to your TV is via composite cables (yellow-red-white) if the TV has a matching set of auxiliary input jacks. You just select that input with the TV's remote.



Failing that, connect the converter's coaxial output to your TV's antenna jack. The converter most likely came with its output channel set to analog ch. 3. It could also be ch. 4. Whichever it is, put your analog TV on the same channel (3 or 4) and leave it there permanently. You change channels with the converter remote, not the TV remote.



Next, scan for channels. The user guide for the converter will tell you how. It will most likely be a menu function. You will have to rescan any time you make any adjustment to your antenna for the purpose of receiving new channels.



You should get solid reception on those 6 channels, and somewhere in this answer is what you need in order to do it. Good luck.

Answer 2

The first thing I have to ask is are you sure your TV set is set to the channel your converter box outputs on? They don't all use the same channel. Channel 3 or 4 is common but I have seen some converter boxes that use other channels. Also, some TV stations broadcast their digital signals on a different frequency than their old analog signals even though the channel number might be the same. Did you perform a rescan when you installed the converter box to allow it to identify the new channels? Your existing antenna might not do a good job of picking up the new frequencies. Here is a link that might tell you which antenna will be best for where you live.

Answer 3

Can you see Mount Wilson in your line of sight? If your outside antenna is directional, you should be pointing it towards Mount Wilson. Also, be sure you run the Auto Channel select, or what ever it is called on your unit, to get all possible channels. Remember that you are receiving channels in both the VHF and UHF bands. That is 2 to 13 and 14 to 69 respectively. That means that your antenna should have both capabilities of receiving these bands.

Answer 4

ask your neighbor what antenna is he using. if you both have the same antenna, just look for a signal by moving its angle.



sometimes antennas really go bad most of the time not. it depends on the weather condition and how long it was on the rooftop.