OTA digital TV channel drops out

A corroded connection at the antenna? Water ingress into the coax?

Personally I'd fire the parts cannon at the problem. Channel Master CM-4228HD, new RG6 quad shield, splitter

Posted and mailed.

I live in NW Baltimore and have signal strength variations with DC stations, and also with FM stations from both Baltimore and DC.

I only get DC TV stations at all because I have an amplified antenna in the attic. I think I"m on my 3rd in 30 or so years. I was not sure prior ones broke, but it was easier to buy a new one. I have no test equipment for this. (Well, I have an EICO Kit oscilloscope that I bought used 45 years ago, but it's too heavy to lug up to the attic or even the 2nd floor, plus I don't yet know how to use it.)

The amplifed antenna made DC stations possible.

You probably know all this but you can get a separate tv signal ampllfier to use with any antenna.

But since digital and so many substations for the Baltimore stations, the fact that it's gotten harder to get DC is not so important. But even 11.2 for example is usually great, but sometimes disappears for a 2 cnoupld seconds every 10 minutes and sometimes is not goof for hours.

OH, I wrote what I thought of and only now read this paragraph.

Wow, what TV is that?

Sorry. There is now more TV, especially more 60's tv, than I have time to watch, plus computer videos, email, and Usenet, and the web. So I just give up when I can't get a channel.

A cheap 42" Samsung.

After much troubleshooting the only possible problems were the antenna or the coax cable from the antenna to the splitter in the attic. I went to WalMart and bought a new $50 antenna and 100 foot cable. First I ran the cable directly to the TV and there was no change. Next I installed the new antenna in the attic and hooked that up to the splitter which feeds my three TVs. I aimed the antenna in the general direction of the broadcast towers and that seemed to fix it! Apparently my three year old antenna was having trouble picking up the higher numbered RF channels (19, 20, 21).

The TV technician told me RF channels are the real OTA channels and the virtual channels (43-1, 10-1, 13-3, etc.) are subsets of the RF channels. Virtual channel numbers don't match RF channel numbers though. He also told me I'm close enough to the broadcast towers (22 miles) that attic installation is good enough. I'm glad to be rid of the eyesore installed on my roofline.

I live much closer to the DC metro than to Baltimore and I have the same problem in reverse. I have cable service for TV and it carries all the DC metro outlets for the national OTA networks. That's good enough for me re: local TV. However, I really enjoy the programming on FM radio station WBJC but need an amplified indoor FM antenna to receive it and reception is a continuous game of chance. Sometimes pristine, sometimes a little fuzzy and sometimes much too distorted to bother. Recent high rise construction nearby has created many new reflection surfaces for increasing multi-path distortion. WBJC simulcasts on the web and I've looked at audiophile wifi tuners but either they cost a fortune or have table radio specs. and poor user reviews when patched into a good audio system. I live in a steel girder and concrete high rise condo on a floor closer to the ground than the roof and we're not permitted to hang anything out any of the windows. My unit is on the SE corner of the building. WBJC's transmitting antenna is NW of my address. Couldn't be worse located in our building unless I was in the basement. Oh well. Not a serious enough problem to think about moving but it's certainly frustrating. We have WETA-FM all classical but their programming sometimes leaves me reaching for my collection of LPs and CDs.