Radio Shack antenna and new HDTV doesn't receive many channels any more

Mar 28, 2008 5 Replies
W

Hi,



I bought a $32 Rad-Shack Digital antenna to use with my new Sharp 46" HCTV. For 2 days I picked up many channels and the reception was awesome. Suddenly it stopped receiving all of the channels, and now only picks up 3 with poor quality. I took the TV to the basement analog TV and it worked fine down there in a hole.



I also have a new problem at the same time with my laptops not getting wireless reception upstairs in our living area. The wireless router is downstairs in the basement and the upstairs reception was awesome before this last week.



I've been told the weather could do it, but we've had clear days.



I recently added a cat5 cable from the basement to an upstairs bedroom to replace a bad/old cat 5 cable, as well as added a Yamaha receiver and Bose speaker system. I've unplugged both and have found no improvement in TV or wireless.



Any ideas?



Thanks


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H

digital tv can be greatky effected by a variety of weather issues.

why not return antenna to radio shack and try another one? since its new

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T

:

Go to

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They have a utility where you can put in your address and it will show the transmitters, angle, distance and recommend what antenna is appropriate. Obviously there is a big difference where the transmitter is 4 miles away vs 40. Also, I'd check with neighbors as to what kind of antennas they have. If they are using large outside ones and you're attempting to use a small inside one, then that could be an issue.

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L

First off, there's no such thing as a "digital antenna". Digital TV broadcasts are sent on the same old frequency range as analog, hence the need to turn analog off in 2009. Most of the digital channels are in the UHF band.

So not knowing the specific model of your antenna (rabbit ears, out doors, etc?), it's hard to diagnose your problem. More info would help.

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C

Did you really take the TV to the basement or did you take the antenna? If the analog TV worked using the antenna, but your new TV doesn't then your new TV has a problem. If that is so, call for a warantee repair.

Charlie

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M

If the antenna works with the analog tv, which I'm also guessing you meant, Charlie is right.

If not: I don't know what you get for 32 dollars these days, but if it's an amplified antenna, you can use a voltmeter to measure the output of the power supply. It should be 6 volts or more. That's about all the testing you can do.

If the antenna isn't amplified, I'd look for something phyically broken, so I could show it to the store, but I'd exchange it whether I could find something broken or not.

I would take the laptop to the basement and see if it works there, then watch the signal strength as you carry it upstairs. If it's windows there's probably an icon in the systray that will start the wireless software display, including the signal strength screen.

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