[Cialug] [OT] Digital TV

[murraymckee at wellsfargo.com]

I am using all commercially made (crimped, not soldered) cables.  I've spent hours checking the signal levels and adjusting the orientation in the attic and rechecking the signal levels.  The one thing I discovered was that if the antenna pole touches the insulation the reception gets worse.  The pole is 2" PVC pipe attached with a bracket to a ceiling joist.  When I installed it to make changing the orientation easier reception got worse.  IT was non existent for digital and unusable for analog.  I had been holding the antenna up with monofilament fishing line before that.  I'd lengthened and shortened the monofilament loops and moved the support screws often enough that it got to be too much of a hassle so I did something else.  I had it pushed up to the insulation to keep from bumping into the bottom of it, but as I turned the antenna back and forth the pipe slid down and the reception went back to where it was.  I was about to go back to the monofilament.

Murray McKee 
Operating Systems Engineer
WFFIS - Wells Fargo Financial Information Systems 
800 Walnut Street
MAC F4030-037
Des Moines, IA 50309-3605
WORK (515)557-6127 Cell (NEW) (515) 343-6630  FAX (515) 557-6046
MurrayMcKee at WellsFargo.com 
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-----Original Message-----
From: cialug-bounces at cialug.org [mailto:cialug-bounces at cialug.org] On Behalf Of Dave J. Hala Jr.
Sent: Monday, May 04, 2009 1:14 PM
To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group
Subject: Re: [Cialug] [OT] Digital TV

Look at your cabling and connectors. Generally computer people are not
precise enough with cabling and connectors when they start working with
UHF/VHF/RF... You need a perfect crimp, a perfect connect and no loose
strands hanging out. Generally speaking, soldered connectors or
manufactured cables are better. 

If it worked and you disconnected it, then put it back and now it
doesn't perform as well I'd look at antenna orientation and then
connectors.