# Direct Comparison of Bolt vs Roamio OTA Tuners



## TeamPace (Oct 23, 2013)

For Christmas I swapped my daughter's Bolt for a refurbished Roamio OTA w/"All In" service that I bought during the $199 Thanksgiving sale so she wouldn't have to pay any additional service fees for the Bolt. It gave me a chance to compare the OTA reception between my Roamio basic model and the Bolt I acquired from her. I connected them both to the same antenna (a large Winegard 7698p mounted on a 40' tower). There is a single coax line running from the antenna to a splitter and then fairly equal short lengths of coax running to the two TiVos. The weather was cool, calm, and sunny and it was about 10am.

I normally receive a total of 15 stations (50 channels w/subs). One channel (my most problematic one) was not tuning on either device at the time of this experiment (it came in OK after sunset on both TiVos). The stations I receive are located in two different cities and all in one general direction, one tower field is about 9-10 miles away and the other about 53 miles away. Initially both the Bolt and the Roamio were able to tune all of the same channels except for one. Also one channel (a high VHF channel) was getting some minor pixilation on the BOLT. I went to the signal meter on both TiVos and had the following results.

CH Rm Bt Pixilation?
50 72 72 neither tivo
35 59 40 neither tivo
41 72 72 neither tivo
22 60 60 neither tivo
12 55 45 Yes, minor on Bolt only
28 60 60 neither tivo
16 72 72 neither tivo
20 67 67 neither tivo
18 72 72 neither tivo
26 72 72 neither tivo
39 67 62 neither tivo
30 72 72 neither tivo
34 42 32 Bolt had no picture, Roamio was fine
33 62 53 neither tivo
29 32 32 no picture on either TiVo until after sunset

CH = broadcast channel
Bt = Bolt signal level
Rm = Roamio signal level

Later in the afternoon, approximately 1:30pm with more bright direct sun I completely lost the picture on frequency 35, 12, and 34 on the BOLT while the Roamio continued to tune those frequencies without difficulty. Also during the afternoon I tried switching the coax cables between the two TiVos with no appreciable difference in reception. I even tried connecting the coax directly from the antenna to the BOLT (no splitter) and things actually seemed worse. So bottom line is there was absolutely no difference in the signal that the Bolt was receiving vs. the Roamio. The difference in reception was purely the difference in the electronics in both devices. Another notation is that all of the channels that read at "72" signal strength are the closer towers (9-10miles) and both TiVo's had no trouble tuning those throughout the day. The automatic gain control built into these TiVos allows a maximum signal strength of 72 once it kicks in so that's why both TiVos read the same on those frequencies. I know signal strength meters can vary between different products and between TiVos, however most of the results of this experiment would lead you to believe the meters in the Roamio and Bolt seem to read pretty comparably. I have found that when signals drop much below 50 on either TiVo you'll start to see picture degradation. I did not go as far as looking at the diagnostic screens on the TiVos as I believe I have pretty convincingly shown that the Bolt tuners aren't as good as the Roamio at least in tuning the channels available in my market. I have set up a couple of other Bolts (and Roamios) for friends in different locations and my experience has been similar in each case with the Bolt having more challenges tuning OTA. This is why I normally always recommend a Roamio to those who plan to use it for OTA only. I like the faster electronics of the Bolt. the built in streaming, remote finder button, HD menus etc. and would probably use the one I now have as my primary TiVo but not at the expense of good reception. In certain markets with the right signal strength/quality from all of the available stations, a Bolt may be an OK option. Otherwise I'd stay with a Roamio for OTA.

Yes, many users may see pretty identical reception between the two models if you happen to live where all of your signals are pretty solid or suit the tuning characteristics of the Bolt. In my case with some stations close and others over 50 miles away it seems to present enough challenge that you discover the differences in tuner capability. I do read of others pulling in stations on the Bolt at longer distances but it will depend on the signal characteristics and terrain.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

I also own both a Bolt and a Roamio Basic connected to the same antenna. The Roamio consistently has better reception and fewer dropouts.

I concur that the Roamio offers a better OTA tuner than the Bolt.


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