Outboard Digital TV Tuner

Has anyone ever experienced an outboard TV tuner (such as a Winegard RC-1010) intermittently tuning in the picture but not the sound for no apparent reason? Is it possible for a digital channel transmission to be strong in the picture but weak enough in the audio portion to cause the tuner to connect to the digital picture but not to the digital audio? Could this be a problem within the tuner itself rather than the digital signal?

I hope I explained this clearly.

Thank you!

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Originally Posted by menschenstimme

Could this be a problem within the tuner itself rather than the digital signal?

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If that tuner was bought using government coupon, thne it might be the tuner as those tuners are made real cheap. I bought a digital tuner using gov. coupon and that was cheapestly made electronic I ever seen. Even onscreen menu guide scream of being cheap. And it only lasted 4 months.

As your problem, I would do a hard reset including unplugging it for few mninutes and then do a rescan.

Smokey, I was wondering if you suggest me buying an outdoor or making my own outdoor antenna? Also I want to look into boosting the signal. Would the antennacraft 10G202 be a good choice?

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Originally Posted by cjayramone

Smokey, I was wondering if you suggest me buying an outdoor or making my own outdoor antenna? Also I want to look into boosting the signal. Would the antennacraft 10G202 be a good choice?

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That might be a good idea. I experimented with two different simple antenna arrangements and one resulted in a much stronger signal. This seems to have solved my audio problem.

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Originally Posted by cjayramone

Smokey, I was wondering if you suggest me buying an outdoor or making my own outdoor antenna?

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Definitely buy an outdoor antenna. The antenna elements (tubings) are precisely measured cut and spaced, so you get the best performance. They are also weather proofed.

Also outdoor antenna tend to be directional, so you may have play around with its pointed direction to get the most channels.

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Also I want to look into boosting the signal. Would the antennacraft 10G202 be a good choice?

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Preamp signal antenna boosters are used if cable is going to be too long, the signal will be splitting or if you live in remote location. If neither of these scenarios apply to you, then signal boosters are not recommended :)

I live on a hill and for some reason the tv signals here aren't that great compared to my parents house that is more flat and 5 minutes away. Also which outdoor antennas do you know of that are great? Thanks a lot Smokey

If an antenna signal is being split with short cables, does one still need a preamp?

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Originally Posted by cjayramone

I live on a hill and for some reason the tv signals here aren't that great compared to my parents house that is more flat and 5 minutes away.

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Living on a hill can be tricky as TV signals (especially on UHF bands) do work on "line-of-sight" concept. Get antenna as high as you can to ensure best reception, and play around with its direction.

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Also which outdoor antennas do you know of that are great?

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It depend how far away you are living from TV stations. The further you are, you will need bigger antenna that have higher gain. Radioshack have few choices in that regard, and here is one that is good general reception antenna for VHF and UHF bands:

Antennacraft HBU22 High-VHF/UHF Antenna : Antennas | RadioShack.com

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Originally Posted by menschenstimme

If an antenna signal is being split with short cables, does one still need a preamp?

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Spliting signal will cut signal strenght in half. It might not effect strong TV signals, but weaker signals might be effected. You can use a pre-amp, but have to adjusts the gain on preamp so just to compensate for the split loss.

Thanks, Smokey!

Perhaps a more idealistic/purist way to do it would be to have two separate antennas and cables - for example - one for the TV and one for the DVD recorder.