So, for anyone who knows. I’ve read a few times in this forum that the HDHomeRun’s do not like “Full Signal” coming to them, and that you should put a splitter in-line if you’re having a problem. Before I go out and spend the few bucks on a splitter, I had a couple of questions that are sort of use-case specific I think.
Before I ask, there’s something that I think may be relevant. My HDHomeRun works (albeit with glitches and errors on some of the channels) without an amplifier. However, the Antenna I got has an amplifier that comes with it. When I connect that amplifier in-line, I get 0 channels on scan.
So I was wondering:
Would installing the amplifier AND the splitter make the “glitchy” channels less glitchy? But still give me the ability to even scan for channels?
Would installing the splitter degrade the service/picture of the channels that are not glitchy?
Would a better solution be to just get a different/better antenna? (I have towers anywhere from 6 miles to 70 miles away, though the 5 channels that are longer than 30 miles are either duplicates of channels I already have, or I don’t really need/want. So As long as I can get the things within 30 miles, I’d be a happy camper.) If so, does anyone have any good antenna recommendations? (Most of the Antennas I am interested in receiving are located North West of me, with one south west)
Note I am just a little further south (not by much) and a little further east (again not by much) than the red dot displays, maybe 2-3 miles south and 1-2 miles east)
If you lose all of your channels when you power the amplifier, then you are almost certainly saturating the receivers in your tuner. Think of it like this: when you stare directly into the sun, you can’t see any detail about it; all you see is blinding white light. If your antenna and amplifier combo are providing too much total gain, this is (in effect) exactly what is happening to your tuner. Note that this is NOT unique to HDHomeRun tuners; it is true for ANY receiver.
If it (mostly) works without the built-in amplifier powered, then chances are you are very close to being able to get by on antenna gain alone, which is not uncommon with careful antenna selection in urban environments. As an aside, this is why I personally prefer antennas without built-in amplifiers; that way I can use (or not) an amplifier as required AND can select an amplifier of appropriate gain for the situation.
All that said, you have a couple of options. Adding a splitter will help in this case because the splitter introduces losses (as opposed to antenna or amplifier gains) as it splits the signal. A two-port splitter, in effect, divides the signal in half and sends half to each port. So, by adding the splitter, you effectively reduce the gain from the amplifier. While it is not ideal from an RF engineering perspective, you can get away with leaving the second port open (un-terminated). But, if you can, connect to another tuner such as one built-in to a TV, or maybe even better, a second Connect Duo (more tuners for Plex and no over-amplification). Assuming your amplifier doesn’t have an FM trap (filter) built-in, you could even send the other port to a home stereo FM receiver.
Other options include longer cable runs, since cables introduce loss as well. But, this is only really practical if you can add significant length by, say, moving the antenna to an attic or something. Another option, as you suggested, is to use a different antenna with more gain and no amplifier, or a antenna of less gain with a similar amplifier. You might even be able to use the existing antenna, ignoring the built-in amplifier and adding a separate amplifier with less gain. But that assumes your antenna provider was kind enough to share the specs (gain) of the built-in amplifier.
Thanks for the quick and detailed reply. The amplifier is a separate piece that I can put inline or remove. Currently, due to the “oversaturation” I have it removed…
Just to clarify a bit, I COULD use the amplifier + a splitter, and it may do what I am hoping? But, a new antenna, without amplification that has “better specs” would also likely fix the issue?
I am using a simple flat square antenna that I got for 13 dollars with an Amplifier from Amazon. I figured since the towers were so close, it likely wouldn’t be an issue. However, no matter how I place the antenna, in the direction of the broadcast towers, I still get glitchy recordings, which end up putting audio way ahead of or way behind video, on some of the channels I choose to record. It also presents with green tiling for a few moments at a time which is what causes the desynch of audio and video.
So, I could pick up another antenna, that wouldn’t be a problem, I just want to ensure that I don’t have similar issues if I choose to spend significantly more on say a Clearstream 1Max, 2Max, or 4Max.
A decent two-way splitter will produce signals on the output side that are approximately -3.5dB (negative = loss of signal) relative to the input. So, assuming that the amplifier isn’t so weak that the split cancels amplifier gain completely (unlikely) and isn’t so powerful (think +20dB or more) that the signal is still saturating the tuner after the split (also fairly unlikely), then the splitter will almost certainly work for you.
For a more permanent option and based on the map you provided, I suspect the Clearstream 2Max or maybe 4Max (or something similar) will work well for you, probably even without an amplifier, unless you intend to support multiple outlets in the home and/or have to deal with long cable runs. In this case, you might need a mild pre-amp (for longer cable runs from the antenna to the distribution point) or a distribution amp (to support multiple drops/outlets). In any case, I strongly recommend getting the antenna first and trying it without any amplification and only adding amplification as required to make it function in your particular location and installation.
EDIT: Just saw the link to your current antenna. The specs do not state the antenna gain vs amplifier gain, so it’s hard to be sure. But, I strongly suspect that most of the gain from that setup is coming from the amplifier, which would explain why it doesn’t work with the amp and barely works without. A cheap splitter will probably get you by for now, but a proper antenna is what I recommend for a long-term solution.
Cool, and yeah, at least the “Specs” on Amazon says that the antenna + amp provide 30dBi gain. So, maybe just getting a better antenna is the way to go… I am familiar with splitters and how they work, some 3-way splitters even offer -3.5 on 2 and -7 on the third leg. The antenna stays in my room (although with something like a 4max I might put it up in the attic, but it would still be a short run, like less than 10 feet, to where the Connect Duo is.
Just an update, I went and got a ClearStream 2Max, there’s still some glitching, but not nearly as badly as it was (that I can tell with the limited use so far). I will record my shows again and see if it affects the recordings (out of 20 episodes of Criminal Minds on ION only 2 were watchable previously).
However, when I re-added the DVR/Tuner, I seem to have lost the ability to turn off closed captioning… I used to have the CC thing in the plex play bar, and I could turn them off if I wanted, now that seems to have gone away…
I can’t say why your captioning features seem to have been effected; that really shouldn’t have anything to do with the tuner. Assuming you have checked the Plex settings and everything is as it should be, then the only wild-guess-suggestion I can offer is to make sure your HDHomeRun is on the latest firmware. (Again, this is just a wild swing at something you might try.)
As for the antenna performance: It sounds like you are on the right track. Next, I’d suggest going through your OTA channels and noting the single strength for each channel. This won’t reveal specific signal strengths, but it will give you a relative comparison channel-to-channel. With that, you can determine if your signal strength is, say, low for all channels coming from the same general compass bearing, or, if all the weak channels are VHF. With that information, you may be able to better orient (or locate) the antenna and improve things, or otherwise plan your next move.
If, on the other hand, all (or at least many) of your channels are down some in strength and repositioning the antenna isn’t helpful (or isn’t an option), then you could look at a adding modest amplifier to get you the last bit of gain you need. For reference, I have noticed that once the strength on a channel is down to roughly “60%” according to Plex, it can start to glitch.
