Anntenna TV re-scan issues

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  • Snapdragon

    know-it-all tart
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    Nov 5, 2013
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    The Antenna TV frequencies of some stations changed yesterday (Friday), necessitating a re-scan. I did the scan yesterday several times, even adjusting the direction of the antenna 3-4 times, and still was not able to pick up about half of the channels I had before, including ABC, NBC, and PBS, and also some of the old re-run type stations like MeTV. Is anyone else having this problem, and if so, any ideas of how to fix it?
     

    snorko

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    Apr 3, 2008
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    Had the same issues. I lost the local pbs but picked up Kentucky pbs. Moved the antenna a few times and rescanned this evening and all is well.
     

    worddoer

    Master
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    42   0   1
    Jul 25, 2011
    1,664
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    Wells County
    I rescanned and got all my old ones back and gained 2 more channels.

    I thought the point of going to digital TV was that it released enough frequencies for future use and to not mess with antenna TV again.

    Guess that was wrong...the gubermint sold off more frequencies again I guess. I wonder if it has anything to do with this new fangled whipper snapper 5G thang.

    This website has some pre-packaged answers...

    https://www.tvanswers.org/default.asp

    This website shows what channels you can get with each type of antenna and how to aim the antenna.....

    https://antennaweb.org/
     

    4651feeder

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    3   0   0
    Oct 21, 2016
    1,186
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    East of NWI
    Am bout 30 miles east of SB and also struggled initially with MeTV before noon, got everything squared away after couple more scans. You know in addition to not all antennas being created equally, the same applies to TV tuning circuits.
     

    woowoo2

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    Aug 17, 2010
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    Jeffersonville
    Yes, the "repack" was done to free up spectrum for the cell companies.

    Most of the stations in my market ( Louisville ) are running at reduced power on side mount antennas while work finishes up on the main antennas.
    For us, ( WDRB/WBKI ) we wont be at full power for at least another week.

    I believe most of KET is on their top mount antennas now, so they should be stronger than before.

    You have to understand, good tower crews are hard to come by these days, our crew has been working seven days a week for the last month to pull this off.

    The governments timetable was very aggressive.

    If you have an old antenna, it might have been designed to work best in the upper UHF band, all the stations are being repacked to lower frequency's so that may have an effect.

    The upper channel in the band is now 35
    At home, you don't see the actual channel we are on, just the virtual channel I assign in the encoders.
    My stations went from 49 and 51 to 16 and 32.
     
    Last edited:

    Snapdragon

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    Nov 5, 2013
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    Good info. Thanks. I get the Chicago stations, although I am also able to pull in a few South Bend stations. I'll do another scan today and see what happens.
     

    MCgrease08

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    Mar 14, 2013
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    Earth
    I also gained a few channels I didn't have before, but they were home shopping network and public access, so I ended up "hiding" them anyway.

    I live in an apartment complex so the signal is generally hit or miss depending on the day and weather conditions it seems.
     

    Snapdragon

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    Nov 5, 2013
    38,771
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    NW Indiana
    Yes, the "repack" was done to free up spectrum for the cell companies.

    Most of the stations in my market ( Louisville ) are running at reduced power on side mount antennas while work finishes up on the main antennas.
    For us, ( WDRB/WBKI ) we wont be at full power for at least another week.

    I believe most of KET is on their top mount antennas now, so they should be stronger than before.

    You have to understand, good tower crews are hard to come by these days, our crew has been working seven days a week for the last month to pull this off.

    The governments timetable was very aggressive.

    If you have an old antenna, it might have been designed to work best in the upper UHF band, all the stations are being repacked to lower frequency's so that may have an effect.

    The upper channel in the band is now 35
    At home, you don't see the actual channel we are on, just the virtual channel I assign in the encoders.
    My stations went from 49 and 51 to 16 and 32.
    What are the new frequency ranges? I'm looking at this antenna. Would it work?
    https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0748KYTZN/ref=psdc_172665_t1_B002KNFI0C

    • Frequency Range: VHF: 170-230MHz / UHF: 470-860MHz
    • Typical Antenna Gain: VHF 28~32dB | UHF 32~36dB
     

    woowoo2

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    Aug 17, 2010
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    Jeffersonville
    Good info. Thanks. I get the Chicago stations

    Here is what is happening in Chicago, start with post 13028
    https://www.avsforum.com/forum/45-local-hdtv-info-reception/815397-chicago-il-ota-435.html

    In Chicago, it's a completely different story. With the exception of broadcasters who use the Willis Master Antenna as their main antenna (WCPX, WJYS), all other stations will be operating into it as their aux antenna (WMAQ, WCIU, WTTW, WLS) or at their aux sites at the Hancock Tower (WFLD). We hope to have WCIU's main antenna completed in November. WTTW will likely be in November, but the other stations will not be until 2020. Class A WWME and WMEU will be operating on their main antennas, but WEDE and WVPN will be operating on an STA facility. No one wanted it to be this way, but we had no choice. Let's just hope that the antenna at the top of the east tower will welcome all of these new signals and not decide to reject them. If it does, well...let's just hope it's late November and at least WCIU's out of the woods.


    Signal levels in your area.
    https://m.rabbitears.info/index.php?request=tvdx_grid&tid=1076AA4D&tno=3

    I would wait....
     

    Snapdragon

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    Nov 5, 2013
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    Thank you so much, Woowoo. Will wait. We don't use the local stations too much. I'll miss Jeopardy, but maybe I can find it on demand somehow.

    While we're on the subject of cutting the cable, I have been streaming Philo on my Roku for several months at $16 per month for 45-ish cable channels and am very satisfied. I don't do a lot of sports so don't know how that compares. There are also free services such as Vudu and Pluto that have an odd random assortment of shows/movies.
     

    4651feeder

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    3   0   0
    Oct 21, 2016
    1,186
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    East of NWI
    The Roku 3920X has been struggling with the wireless network connection when it came to streaming, finally addressed that issue this weekend by finding the Toshiba FireTv will now stream YoutubeTV directly. Also discovered the TV's OTA viewing guide is editable and have now ditched Telemundo and HSN channels, so some good did come from this transition.
     

    PistolBob

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    4   0   0
    Oct 6, 2010
    5,387
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    Midwest US
    Channels 20, 59, and the 40's no longer come in here without major pixelation problems on my crappy indoor antenna. Gotta invest in an external aerial and find someone to do the install.

    We still get MeTV...and COZI....which is about all we watch anyway.
     

    Snapdragon

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    36   0   0
    Nov 5, 2013
    38,771
    77
    NW Indiana
    Channels 20, 59, and the 40's no longer come in here without major pixelation problems on my crappy indoor antenna. Gotta invest in an external aerial and find someone to do the install.

    We still get MeTV...and COZI....which is about all we watch anyway.
    I can't get either of those now. And we lost Buzzr (old game shows) but I discovered Buzzr on Pluto, which is a free streaming service.
     

    terrehautian

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    Jan 6, 2012
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    Where ever my GPS says I am
    Regarding rescan, despite running promos for week, I took about 10 calls Friday and Saturday saying they need to rescan. A few didn’t know even how to do that (older folks). Hard to talk someone through it over the phone without seeing tv.
     
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