I have a problem receiving one family of channels in the Dallas area (NBC 5.1 over-the-air OTA). This is a new occurrence. Two years ago, I installed a very good Channel Master OTA Antenna (CM-4228HD-80 mile reception), Channel Master Adjustable Gain Pre-amp (17-30 db) and an amplified (4db) 8 port signal distribution box which has five TV connections. All channel towers are about 43 miles away and for two years the reception "on all receivable channels" has been perfect including NBC 5.1! Then on the night of the Superbowl NBC 5.1 was all pixelated. The channel would go completely off then came back on but pixelated. What a disappointment. I have an OTA channel strength meter in my Tivo Edge for Antenna and it shows a current channel strength of "46" (yellow). Tivo uses their own custom scale which is not dBm but seems to be calibrated (1-255) with 70 (green) being an acceptable signal strength. This at first was very confusing because Channel 5.1 should have a dBm rating of -55.74 dBm on Channel Frequency 24 on 530Mhz but Tivo doesn't measure this way. That aside, Tivo in their own backward way is useful for rudimentary channel strength evaluation. A reading of "46 (yellow)" is on the border of pixelation. Interestingly enough ALL OTHER CHANNELS come in perfectly at a rating of around "70 (green)". When I installed the system in 2020, NBC 5.1 was "70 (Green)" on the scale and came in perfectly with all the rest. Now it is "46 (Yellow)"? So, what made NBC Channel 5.1 go from "70" to "46"? I called and talked to an NBC Engineer. He said that NBC was having no transmission difficulties and received no OTA Superbowl complaints. He further said, "The difficulties must lay somewhere in my home system"! OK but what? Nothing has changed! A fresh channel scan does not fix the problem. Rats have not eaten the coax! The coax runs from the distribution amplifier are not excessive (about 50 feet for the longest run) and have not changed. I considered "interference from cell phones". G5 cell phone towers are being installed daily but if this was the problem why wouldn't the interference show up on multiple channels? Could cell phone interference be messing JUST with Frequency 24 (and not the others)? This is an engineering question I'll throw out to everyone? If this is the case all OTA customers are in for a rude awakening. Cell phone companies don't seem to give a flip about OTA TV reception. Here's a case in point. Very recently Verizon and AT+T 5G installations around DFW Airport were interfering with on board aircraft altimeters. Pilot unions were refusing to fly unless some changes were made. There was a resolution but I'm not sure what? Sorry for the long-winded post, but this could become a serious problem for all OTA customers. My analysis of the problem is one of two things. Either NBC has reduced OTA channel transmission which they deny or 5G Cell phones are interfering with Frequency 24! Any opinions?
Moderator edit: New thread created from old thread.
Moderator edit: New thread created from old thread.
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