HDTV Antenna Reception Audio Questions. - Blu-ray Forum

poppj · 01-15-2008, 03:53 PM

Hello all, thanks in advance for any help.

I have a Sharp LC42D64U TV which has worked nicely for the past several months. I currently have cheap-o rabbit ears for my reception, and it works well for the most part. (very cheap, as in $10 or less)

My problem is that sometimes, on certain stations, the audio signal is very weak, and sometimes the dialog drops very low and its hard to hear. When this happens though, the other audio comes in loud and clear (for example, noise effects, music, background noises etc). Ive noticed it more on CBS and PBS while recieving the HD broadcast. If i change the channel to the analog broadcast of the same station, the problem is gone. FWI, the video quality does not suffer whatsoever, and under my digitial settings on the TV, it says the signal strength is in the 70s-80s.

Ive been considering buying a $30-$50 HD antenna in hopes that this could be the problem. Any ideas?

kpkelley · 01-15-2008, 03:56 PM

Do you like in an urban area? If so your rabbitt ears should be fine. However, if like me you live in the burbs you may want to upgrade to a good directional indoor antenae or one of those outside ones. Better yet you could just get HD cable or Fios.

poppj · 01-15-2008, 04:58 PM

I live in a suburb type area. Ive been told Im in an optimum area to get over the air reception because of my location. Ive always been able to get reletively good reception on a variety of channels... the audio glitch is what I don't understand.

Thanks.

Manco · 01-15-2008, 05:11 PM

Generally, my OTA will exhibit macroblocking on the video when the signal gets weak (ie: interrupted by a multipath problem) which will also result in audio drops. But never just audio alone. If this is happening on specific stations it may not be your equipment. Here in the Los Angeles market, there have been issues that resulted in several folks on the AVS OTA boards calling the station managers. They were not even aware of some of the problems with their feeds. The problems were quickly rectified and OTA returned to stable.

Go to the AVS HD-OTA (HD Over-The-Air) boards and look for a master thread related to your area. You can post there to see if others are having the same complaints. It's a good way to find out if it's a problem with the broadcaster or localized to your equipment.

crackinhedz · 01-15-2008, 05:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poppj

I live in a suburb type area. Ive been told Im in an optimum area to get over the air reception because of my location. Ive always been able to get reletively good reception on a variety of channels... the audio glitch is what I don't understand.

Thanks.

I actually get better reception with HD channels than I do SD channels...

RCA - Indoor Off-Air HDTV Antenna

but make sure your tv has an internal HD tuner, or you would need to buy an HD antenna receiver in which case you might as well just get cable.

WHITETRASH · 01-15-2008, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by poppj

Hello all, thanks in advance for any help.

I have a Sharp LC42D64U TV which has worked nicely for the past several months. I currently have cheap-o rabbit ears for my reception, and it works well for the most part. (very cheap, as in $10 or less)

My problem is that sometimes, on certain stations, the audio signal is very weak, and sometimes the dialog drops very low and its hard to hear. When this happens though, the other audio comes in loud and clear (for example, noise effects, music, background noises etc). Ive noticed it more on CBS and PBS while recieving the HD broadcast. If i change the channel to the analog broadcast of the same station, the problem is gone. FWI, the video quality does not suffer whatsoever, and under my digitial settings on the TV, it says the signal strength is in the 70s-80s.

Ive been considering buying a $30-$50 HD antenna in hopes that this could be the problem. Any ideas?

If you are getting enough signal to show video then you are getting enough signal period. It is not your antennea(sp) it is the local broadcast. I had this happen to me watching college football on CBS on more than one occasion. I could hear the crowd and the field action but not the commentators. I moved my antenna to another local affiliate(I live between markets) and the signal was fine. My local CBS station is the worst but PBS does it sporadically.

WickyWoo · 01-15-2008, 07:19 PM

It definately sounds like they're not encoding the center channel for whatever reason

poppj · 01-15-2008, 08:51 PM

Thank you everyone for your help. I did check the AVS forum near my area and I did find a few specific cases of people with similar issues. It seems to be widely accepted that this is a broadcast issue from the station (as well as many of you agree).

I didnt want to waste $$ on a new antenna if it wasnt necessary and this helps.

Hopefully things like this get cleaned up before the all digital switch.

01-15-2008, 03:53 PM	#1
poppj Member Member since:Jun 2007 Trading Score:3	HDTV Antenna Reception Audio Questions. Hello all, thanks in advance for any help. I have a Sharp LC42D64U TV which has worked nicely for the past several months. I currently have cheap-o rabbit ears for my reception, and it works well for the most part. (very cheap, as in $10 or less) My problem is that sometimes, on certain stations, the audio signal is very weak, and sometimes the dialog drops very low and its hard to hear. When this happens though, the other audio comes in loud and clear (for example, noise effects, music, background noises etc). Ive noticed it more on CBS and PBS while recieving the HD broadcast. If i change the channel to the analog broadcast of the same station, the problem is gone. FWI, the video quality does not suffer whatsoever, and under my digitial settings on the TV, it says the signal strength is in the 70s-80s. Ive been considering buying a $30-$50 HD antenna in hopes that this could be the problem. Any ideas?

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01-15-2008, 03:56 PM	#2
kpkelley Blu-ray Ninja Top contributor Member since:Aug 2007 Location:Framingham, MA 4K collection:385 Blu-ray collection:2478 Digital collection:113 Blu-ray reviews: 152	Do you like in an urban area? If so your rabbitt ears should be fine. However, if like me you live in the burbs you may want to upgrade to a good directional indoor antenae or one of those outside ones. Better yet you could just get HD cable or Fios.

01-15-2008, 04:58 PM	#3
poppj Member Member since:Jun 2007 Trading Score:3	I live in a suburb type area. Ive been told Im in an optimum area to get over the air reception because of my location. Ive always been able to get reletively good reception on a variety of channels... the audio glitch is what I don't understand. Thanks.

01-15-2008, 05:11 PM	#4
Manco Special Member Member since:Jun 2007 Location:Tucumcari	Generally, my OTA will exhibit macroblocking on the video when the signal gets weak (ie: interrupted by a multipath problem) which will also result in audio drops. But never just audio alone. If this is happening on specific stations it may not be your equipment. Here in the Los Angeles market, there have been issues that resulted in several folks on the AVS OTA boards calling the station managers. They were not even aware of some of the problems with their feeds. The problems were quickly rectified and OTA returned to stable. Go to the AVS HD-OTA (HD Over-The-Air) boards and look for a master thread related to your area. You can post there to see if others are having the same complaints. It's a good way to find out if it's a problem with the broadcaster or localized to your equipment.

01-15-2008, 07:19 PM	#7
WickyWoo Blu-ray Champion Member since:May 2007 Trading Score:2	It definately sounds like they're not encoding the center channel for whatever reason

01-15-2008, 08:51 PM	#8
poppj Member Member since:Jun 2007 Trading Score:3	Thank you everyone for your help. I did check the AVS forum near my area and I did find a few specific cases of people with similar issues. It seems to be widely accepted that this is a broadcast issue from the station (as well as many of you agree). I didnt want to waste $$ on a new antenna if it wasnt necessary and this helps. Hopefully things like this get cleaned up before the all digital switch.

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