channel disappeared

[patrickRx]

Hello, I have an HDHomeRun Extend Model HDTC-2US. I live in the Seattle area and when I use the FTC coverage map I have strong signal strength for the major channels there. In the past I have been able to tune 7.1 but it seems to have disappeared. When I rescan for channels it won't pick it up, although it picks up other channels like 5.1 which I believe have towers right next to it. I'm a little confused and not sure how to troubleshoot this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

For what it's worth, I feel like I asked this same question some time ago and got a solution but I can't find it in my post history, so I apologize if I'm repeating myself.

Thank you,

-patrick

[NedS]

We would like to get some diagnostic data:

1. Please go to the http://my.hdhomerun.com/ site
2. Click your HDHomeRun's device ID
3. If it tells you that a firmware update is available, please install it
4. Click System Status
5. Check the Send diagnostic information box
6. Go back one page
7. Click Channel Lineup
8. Click on Detect Channels

Reply back to this post and provide us the device ID of your HDHomeRun and we will check the logs. You can find the device ID at the top of the my.hdhomerun.com web page as well as on a label on the bottom of the HDHomeRun itself.

[patrickRx]

I followed all your steps, and for some reason it is now showing up again, which is very odd. Are there any reasons this might work only intermittently? My device ID is 1050FC7E.

Thank you very much,

-patrick

[NedS]

Are you using a signal amplifier or an amplified antenna? It looks like the HDHomeRun is getting overloaded with too much signal.

[patrickRx]

That’s interesting, no I am not. It’s an older Motorola antenna inside my attic. The coax cable is a bit long (maybe 60 to 70 feet). No amplifier though. Thank you for looking into this. Anything else I should do or ideas if it goes out again?

Thanks

-patrick

[NedS]

Are you particularly close to the TV transmitters? If these readings are coming from a passive antenna then I would think you could see the TV towers.

Screen Shot 2020-11-28 at 8.49.02 PM.png (371.96 KiB) Viewed 436 times

(The really strong signals in the 600 Mhz and higher range are most likely cell phone towers)

Red line is signal strength, blue line is signal quality. 60% is the threshold for the software to add a channel to the list, 80-100% is "good/best", and above 110% might overload the HDHomeRun.

[patrickRx]

I measured the distance and I am 2.7 miles from the antenna, unobstructed. Which point on the x-axis represents the channel I'm having difficulty with? Below is info from fcc.gov if it means anything. It's all still working again, perhaps it was a temporary problem on the channel's end? Would you recommend a new antenna? *EDIT - I answered my own question, it is 527mhz which is where those very high spikes are. The antenna came with a signal amplifier but I don't have it attached.

KIRO-TV Facility ID: 66781
KIRO-TV (Licensing) (Public File)
City of License: SEATTLE, WA
RF Channel: 23
RX Strength: 111 dbuV/m
Tower Distance: 3 mi; Direction: 229°
Repacked Channel: 23
Repacking Dates: 10/19/2019 to 1/17/2020

-patrick

[NedS]

Do you have a coaxial splitter handy? If you do, you can use that to see how it will work with half the signal. An in-line attenuator should also work, maybe a 6 or 10 db attenuator.

[patrickRx]

Interesting idea, I will try that.