Strong hdtv signal not recognized by BTV

[callihan]

I have recently purchased BeyondTV 4. I have repeatedly went throught the configuration wizard trying to resolve this problem but with no success. The problem I have is the BeyondTV configuration wizard shows a low signal strength for a couple of channels that my Sony HDTV shows having a very strong signal strength. For example. I have an NBC channel that the television shows with a signal strength in the area of 73-78, an ABC channel that the television shows with a signal strength in the area of 62-67 and a FOX channel that the television shows with a signal strength in the area of 92-98. BeyondTV 4 comes up with the following signal strength for these channels: NBC-100; ABC-98; and FOX-13.
Briefly:
NBC 72-79 --> 100
ABC 62-67 --> 98
FOX 92-98 --> 13 ???

The FOX channel is the problem (at least one of the problem channels). I have the FusionHDTV5 gold plus tuner card, AMD Athlon 64 1.8GHz, 512MB RAM, and Windows XP Pro SP2.

I would like to return the tuner card if this problem cannot be resolved.

Patrick

[HomeyFour]

What antenna are you using for the Fusion? Is it a VHF and UHF antenna? Did you go to antennaweb.org to see if you needed a better antenna? (The default antenna on the Fusion is useless)

[cmumford]

You should do a channel scan using the FusionHDTV program and bypass Beyond TV altogether. Also, make sure you are using the 3.2 software from thd Dvico site. I have a FusionHDTV5 Lite connected through about 60' of coax to a standard antenna in my attic. I get 98%-100% on all of my channels with only one exception, and it's at 75%. According to AntennaWeb.org I'm 30 miles away from the broadcasting towers.

I would check your antenna orientation, and make sure your coax is properly terminated. Are you using the same antenna that you have plugged into your Sony?

[callihan]

My antenna is a "MetroStar Omni-Directional, 82 Channel Antenna." It is made by Winegard and is model MS-2000. This site has a lot of information about it: http://www.starkelectronic.com/womni.htm. It is a "green zone" antenna. All I have done is disconnected the antenna from the TV and connected it to the Fusion card. The antenna is mounted on the roof so it has ~50 foot of coax and then it is connected to an amplifier which connects to the TV or tuner card with a 3' piece of coax. I am at a pretty high location so I have always gotten good reception. I have wondered if the amplifier has anything to do with my problem.

I am not sure how I would go about bypassing the BeyondTV setup. I also am not sure how to get rid of the current setup. Possibly removing BTV and starting over. If I don't configure the BTV channels, will they still be available from the BTV interface? I will try your suggestion. I can probably answer my queries by trial and error. I hope that I can get it working.

Patrick

[pdaughe]

Patrick,

Do the channel scans with the Fusion HDTV tuner. Write down the channel numbers for the channels you receive. You then have to add the tuner as an additional video source by running the BTV Setup Wizard. Create a new channel line-up based on your zip code. When it gets to the part where it starts scanning the channels, click stop, and just check the boxes for the channels you wrote down and click NEXT. Ignore the warning message from the wizard regarding low-signal strength. I THINK that's what the previous poster was referring to.

I have two Fusion Gold cards and they work great -- 13 digital channels, all with 100% signal strength, one with 98% strength, according to the Fusion software.

I have an antenna on the roof and ran Belkin quad-shielded cable approximately 90ft. from antenna to tuner. I do not use an amplifier. It sounds like you have an IDEAL location for HDTV. I question whether you need an amplifier. I have no knowledge regarding whether a digital signal can be over-amplified (like an analog signal can be), but it's an easy test to by-pass your amplifier. Also, if you are using splitters anywhere, I believe the older ones may limit the frequency range, but I don't know for sure. I used Monster splitters that go to 2.0GHZ.

Does the Fusion HDTV software play the channels okay? If so I KNOW you can get it working with BTV -- don't give up!

[karhill]

The SignalChecker program that comes with the Fusion software might be helpful as you try to work this out.

[callihan]

Hi,

OK, here is the status. The signal checker with the Fusion program shows the same info as the BeyondTV setup. I have learned that the box I refered to as the amplifier is not the amplifier, but is the power supply for the amplifier which is inside the antenna itself on the roof. If I bypass the power supply for the amplifier and hook the antenna directly to the Fusion tuner card, I can receive the Fox channel that I mentioned in the first e-mail, but I loose several other channels. I have tried signal attenuators.
I have tried other things. I have talked to several people. They have told me that there is no reason why the signal would be strong on one tuner (Sony TV) and not be strong on another tuner (Fusion card). Can someone instruct me as to how to return the purchases I have made to Snapstream?

[pdaughe]

Callihan,

Your testimony sounds unusual. It's difficult to judge the skill level of another user, so please take no offense. Are you sure you are creating a DIGITAL line up? Are you scanning the DIGITAL channels?

Are you sure the right antenna cable is connected to the Fusion card, correctly? Have you tried playing the channels in Fusion HDTV?

I am suggesting this: retrace your steps. Check everything, take nothing for granted, make no assumptions. My son and I were building a tuner server with two Fusion HDTV Gold cards. I had already tested the configuration on another machine. I couldn't get the channels to scan properly. I had the coax for cable TV and the coax for HTDV connected to all the tuners. The only analog channel I could receive was channel 2, no digital channels.

What was wrong? I'm not embarassed to tell you I had the two coax cables feeding into the wrong splitters. We laughed....

Check everything. No yellow marks in Device Manager, look at the Windows Event log. Did you make your own cable. Are the F connectors on solid? Can you try a different cable. Etc, etc. etc.

It really shouldn't be this hard, but we all know sometimes it is.....