# Are My Bolt OTA Tuners Bad?



## finstead (Jan 1, 2008)

I am in the Pasadena, California area and use a Bolt OTA with an attic mounted RCA Yagi antenna into an almost new LG OLED TV. I get excellent reception through the Bolt on all but channels 7 and 11 where (especially on 7) there is much pixelation. There is no pixelation when i view the same antenna signal through a splitter to the LG TV. My signal strength on the TiVO Diagnostics on all channels is 72 with an SNR of 29. The RS uncorrected is 0 on all but channels 7 and 11 where it is elevated on all 4 Bolt tuners.

Channels 7 and 11 are the only VHF channels in the line up. TV Fool gives the distance from the broadcast antennas as 9.7 miles. The UHF channels coming from the same distance and direction do not have problems. I have run a cable directly from the antenna to the TV and to the Bolt; while I did not take measurements at the time, the pixelation differential was evident.

Can these problems be from other than the Bolt tuners having difficulty with VHF signals? Does anyone have any suggestions for me? If the tuners are felt to be at fault, is this a known problem? If I were to request assistance from TIVO, what additional information should I provide them to make my case? 

Many Thanks in advance, and Stay Safe!


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## LarryAtHome (Feb 18, 2008)

Try moving the antenna to different locations while observing the SNR. Being so close to the towers, you might be having multipath issues.
You might also be having issues with the LTE interference. I have a LTE filter for my reception of channel 10 in my area. Without the filter, I can not receive ch 10. I have the channel master LTE filter.


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## finstead (Jan 1, 2008)

A good thought. My antenna location options are limited, but I may need to be more flexible. I added a variable attenuator which has been somewhat beneficial; is it possible that reducing signal strength might help with multiparty issues?


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## tom-ell (Feb 20, 2011)

finstead said:


> I am in the Pasadena, California area and use a Bolt OTA with an attic mounted RCA Yagi antenna into an almost new LG OLED TV. I get excellent reception through the Bolt on all but channels 7 and 11 where (especially on 7) there is much pixelation. There is no pixelation when i view the same antenna signal through a splitter to the LG TV. My signal strength on the TiVO Diagnostics on all channels is 72 with an SNR of 29. The RS uncorrected is 0 on all but channels 7 and 11 where it is elevated on all 4 Bolt tuners.
> 
> Channels 7 and 11 are the only VHF channels in the line up. TV Fool gives the distance from the broadcast antennas as 9.7 miles. The UHF channels coming from the same distance and direction do not have problems. I have run a cable directly from the antenna to the TV and to the Bolt; while I did not take measurements at the time, the pixelation differential was evident.
> 
> ...


I'm in Pittsburgh and can see all but one broadcast tower from my house. The only channel in the area that uses VHF is our local PBS station broadcasting on channel 4 (freq. 60-72mhz). I was having severe pixelation problems on most channels and installed an LTE filter about a week ago. The 40 other channels became crystal clear, the 5 PBS channels disappeared completely. On my tv using the tv's tuner and the same antenna feed through a splitter, the station comes in crystal clear. I believe the Tivo tuners on both my Bolt and Roamio (as well as my retired Series 3), work only marginally with VHF stations -- no actual proof, but 50 years of this stuff tells me the circumstantial evidence is strong. Moving your antenna could help, but you'll probably be juggling it constantly. I finally realized the cell tower they put in my neighborhood is a mixed blessing. Every time I moved the antenna a little to get one station I'd lose two others. Had to get the position pointing at the broadcast tower, but away from the cell tower. Not very practical, and endlessly frustrating....


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