# New Bolt Missing Channels



## Resist (Dec 21, 2003)

The Bolt is replacing a Premiere and after setting it up it doesn't pick up several channels using the same OTA indoor antenna. On the Premiere the signal strength is strong for these channels, but on the Bolt there is no signal. I also have a Series 3 OLED and is gets those channels with a strong signal using another antenna in another room. I've tried tow other antennas with the Bolt and it still couldn't get the channels. 

Did Tivo send me a defective new Bolt?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Many posts but no numbers. How high? Bolts have a greater sensitivity to overloading. A bad tuner(s) will not be channel sensitive. I would return the unit. I would also attenuate the cable feed first.

There's a graphic display of the signals in Channel Settings, Signal Strength - Antenna. But usually a too hot signal shows as 100%, so I'd get a new box. A wild guess might be a bad channel map. The frequency is displayed on your Premiere. It will correspond to a physical channel number. They have been moving recently. I wonder if you did a rescan on the Premiere if it would also lose the same channels. Just a thought.

North American television frequencies - Wikipedia


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## snerd (Jun 6, 2008)

I agree with JoeKustra that a bad tuner would be unlikely to receive most channels while blocking a few.

Antennas are "directional" devices. The received signal strength can vary dramatically by changing the location of the antenna or by pointing it in a different direction. If you are careful to keep the antenna in the exact same location and pointed in the same direction, and you're getting good signals strength on one TiVo and poor signal strength on the Bolt, then it could be a problem with the Bolt. If you're changing things around, like adding new coax or splitters or connecting/disconnecting other legs of splitters, then other things could be causing the problem.

If you're seeing good signals on the old TiVo, and the only physical change is that you're disconnecting the old TiVo to swap in the Bolt, then this is really odd. It would help if you can determine the frequencies used by the four channels.


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## Resist (Dec 21, 2003)

The antenna and coax are the same as used with the Premiere. I even rescanned the channels on the Premiere and got all the same channels, so I think the Bolt is the issue. Tivo is sending me a replacement Bolt, of course only after they receive this one back. So probably in about 2 weeks I'll be able to see if the replacement can get the missing channels. If it doesn't, then I'm asking for a refund and the lifetime put back on the Series 3 OLED.

I really wanted the Bolt to work because I liked how small it is. But don't like the UI, it seems confusing and not as simple as past Tivo UI's. Didn't really like the remote either, the voice button was too easy to accidentally hit when trying to press other buttons. Also didn't like that the Bolt visually only shows one red record light on the front. Would have been nice if it had a light for each tuner recording.


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## Resist (Dec 21, 2003)

I can get a 1TB Roamio on Amazon for the same price as a 1TB Tivo with the current deal. I'm starting to think that's what I should get instead. I really was excited to get a 4K Tivo but maybe 1080p is enough, my current Premiere connected to my LG OLED 4K TV looks great and the Premiere only outputs 1080i.


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## Resist (Dec 21, 2003)

Amazon dropped the 1TB Roamio to $350 now and looks like it was $265 earlier this year. If the replacement Bolt still can't get some of my channels I'll return it and keep an eye on the Amazon Roamio price.


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## Anotherpyr (May 6, 2015)

Resist said:


> The Bolt is replacing a Premiere and after setting it up it doesn't pick up several channels using the same OTA indoor antenna. On the Premiere the signal strength is strong for these channels, but on the Bolt there is no signal. I also have a Series 3 OLED and is gets those channels with a strong signal using another antenna in another room. I've tried tow other antennas with the Bolt and it still couldn't get the channels.
> 
> Did Tivo send me a defective new Bolt?


I only have one antenna, but I had similar results with the premiere able to tune in more channels than the bolt. It's a disappointment but helps explain why the roamio ota is still sold instead of just the 4 tuner bolt.


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## Resist (Dec 21, 2003)

Anotherpyr said:


> It's a disappointment but helps explain why the roamio ota is still sold instead of just the 4 tuner bolt.


I don't really think it explains anything, because they could have used the same tuners in the Bolt but apparently didn't. They still could use the same tuners in new production runs of the Bolt and yet still don't. It's almost as if Tivo is trying to push us away from OTA by knowingly using less sensitive tuners. Are they in bed with the cable companies?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Resist said:


> Are they in bed with the cable companies?


It's more like they car pool together.


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## Anotherpyr (May 6, 2015)

Resist said:


> I don't really think it explains anything, because they could have used the same tuners in the Bolt but apparently didn't. They still could use the same tuners in new production runs of the Bolt and yet still don't. It's almost as if Tivo is trying to push us away from OTA by knowingly using less sensitive tuners. Are they in bed with the cable companies?


Lots of things impact design decisions. Cost, availability of components, size, and power requirements are all factors to be considered. If I were to speculate I'd say that the initial prototypes didn't have as much signal degradation.

And lots of things impact ota signals. In trying to determine if the performance of the bolt's ota that I'm experiencing is normal I came across this thread Quality of Bolt's OTA Tuner that would indicate some have had the opposite experience of the bolt ota being the best.


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## Resist (Dec 21, 2003)

Anotherpyr said:


> If I were to speculate I'd say that the initial prototypes didn't have as much signal degradation.


Yet the Bolt has been out many years now, with no improvement in the tuners from what keep reading. Tivo had tuners in previous boxes that actually worked great OTA, why not use those tuners in the Bolt?


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Resist said:


> Tivo had tuners in previous boxes that actually worked great OTA, why not use those tuners in the Bolt?


One word.. not even a word, $$$$$


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## Resist (Dec 21, 2003)

Just setup the replacement Bolt and now I get the channels the first Bolt could not get. But now 2 other channels pixelate at times. I also notice that changing channels on the Bolt is slow (2-3 seconds), certainly not instantanious as it was on my Premiere.


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## Anotherpyr (May 6, 2015)

dianebrat said:


> One word.. not even a word, $$$$$


Not just money, but size. They put them on a single chip now.


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