Does it make sense to rescan a converter box w/o the antenna

M

mm

Guest
A friend writes: Some techical advisor told me to disconnect the
antenna from the converter, to rescan, then connect the antenna back
and rescan again. If this doesn't work, to buy a newer antenna.


Does it really help to rescan with no antenna, and then with. Won't
one step, rescanning with the antenna give the same results?
 
A friend writes: Some techical advisor told me to disconnect the
antenna from the converter, to rescan, then connect the antenna back
and rescan again. If this doesn't work, to buy a newer antenna.


Does it really help to rescan with no antenna, and then with. Won't
one step, rescanning with the antenna give the same results?
Click to expand...
That depends on the firmware in the converter.

I've read that some converter boxes don't handle an "analog to
digital" transition on the same channel very well. Specifically: if
during the first scan the box found an analog transmission on a
channel, and if that channel's mode is switched to digital, the
converter may *not* "see" the new digital channel during a second
scan... it'll see that there's a signal of some sort, but won't change
the internal memory setting for that channel from "analog" to
"digital", and won't be able to tune to that channel.

It's a firmware bug, really.

If you disconnect the antenna and re-scan, there won't be any
detectable signal on that channel (or any other). The errant
converter will reset the channel memory to "unoccupied". If you then
connect the antenna again and re-scan, digital channels should be
detected properly.

I don't think this problem affects many different models of converter,
but I have heard of it happening.

--
Dave Platt <dplatt@radagast.org> AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!
 
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:33:38 -0700, dplatt@radagast.org (Dave Platt)
wrote:

A friend writes: Some techical advisor told me to disconnect the
antenna from the converter, to rescan, then connect the antenna back
and rescan again. If this doesn't work, to buy a newer antenna.


Does it really help to rescan with no antenna, and then with. Won't
one step, rescanning with the antenna give the same results?

That depends on the firmware in the converter.

I've read that some converter boxes don't handle an "analog to
digital" transition on the same channel very well. Specifically: if
during the first scan the box found an analog transmission on a
channel, and if that channel's mode is switched to digital, the
converter may *not* "see" the new digital channel during a second
scan... it'll see that there's a signal of some sort, but won't change
the internal memory setting for that channel from "analog" to
"digital", and won't be able to tune to that channel.

It's a firmware bug, really.

If you disconnect the antenna and re-scan, there won't be any
detectable signal on that channel (or any other). The errant
converter will reset the channel memory to "unoccupied". If you then
connect the antenna again and re-scan, digital channels should be
detected properly.

I don't think this problem affects many different models of converter,
but I have heard of it happening.
Click to expand...
Thank you. It's good to know that the tech is not putting out
nonsense. And it's also good because the tech worked for the FCC as
a digital specialist or something - Phone 888-225-5322 I didn't
mention that before. :)
 
On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 19:26:45 -0400, mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com>
wrote:

And it's also good because the tech worked for the FCC as
a digital specialist or something - Phone 888-225-5322 I didn't
mention that before. :)
Click to expand...
That's 1-888-CALL-FCC which is the general phone number for the FCC in
Washington DC.
 
mm <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:77s165p7rbeoorfevguaf0s71iat5adguc@4ax.com...
A friend writes: Some techical advisor told me to disconnect the
antenna from the converter, to rescan, then connect the antenna back
and rescan again. If this doesn't work, to buy a newer antenna.


Does it really help to rescan with no antenna, and then with. Won't
one step, rescanning with the antenna give the same results?
Click to expand...

Digital tuner, loss of a channel, due
to some reclassification of channels at the transmitter
or poor reception leading to "dialog box"
saying "no signal" -retune , and you do so
when reception is bad.
Assuming generally enough signal strength
by checking on the "manual" tuning option
for the 6 or so digital channels for your area.
Choose a time of day/weather conditions that give
best reception. In my case, worst reception is when sun is low
and nearing in-line the the rear of the Yagi.
Switch off the box at the mains
Disconnect the aerial lead.
Power up and go through the installation process to clear
all contents of the stations.
reconnect the aerial
power on
Redo the installation process.


--
Diverse Devices, Southampton, England
electronic hints and repair briefs , schematics/manuals list on
http://home.graffiti.net/diverse:graffiti.net/
 
mm wrote:
A friend writes: Some techical advisor told me to disconnect the
antenna from the converter, to rescan, then connect the antenna back
and rescan again. If this doesn't work, to buy a newer antenna.


Does it really help to rescan with no antenna, and then with. Won't
one step, rescanning with the antenna give the same results?
Click to expand...
Yes, but it's not really a matter of analog to digital or such. It helps
because many stations were on temporary UHF bands with their HD, and
once the analog was turned off they moved back to their original channel
assignment. Some boxes, on a re-scan, would find the "new" station on
it's proper current frequency but would fail to forget the old temporary
UHF position.

Scanning with no input signal is just a way to make it forget. We have
solved a lot of complaints with this suggestion.
 
mm wrote:
A friend writes: Some techical advisor told me to disconnect the
antenna from the converter, to rescan, then connect the antenna back
and rescan again. If this doesn't work, to buy a newer antenna.


Does it really help to rescan with no antenna, and then with. Won't
one step, rescanning with the antenna give the same results?
Click to expand...
Yes, but it's not really a matter of analog to digital or such. It helps
because many stations were on temporary UHF bands with their HD, and
once the analog was turned off they moved back to their original channel
assignment. Some boxes, on a re-scan, would find the "new" station on
it's proper current frequency but would fail to forget the old temporary
UHF position.

Scanning with no input signal is just a way to make it forget. We have
solved a lot of complaints with this suggestion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Welcome to EDABoard.com

Sponsor

Back
Top