TROUBLESHOOTING FOR BAD RECEPTION OF THE RADIO ANTENNA : There are a few ways to figure this out. But remember, any site tool that you use is a "guesstimate" and you may have better or worse results once you actually try the antenna at your location. Many, many things can impact an antenna's reception as you will find if you keep looking through the FAQ's but if you are in a good area for reception it's pretty amazing! We here at Mohu love TV Fool. It seems to be the most accurate tool that we have tried. It can be a little tough to decipher but here are the steps and information on reading a channel scan for your location if you want to give it a try. As always we are here if you need us! Just shoot us an email with your complete address to support@gomohu.com or give us a call at 855-446-6648. Step 1: Enter in your complete address and click "find local channels". Step 2: Review the results to see what signals you can expect to receive. Grid Color: o Green indicates what channels you should be able to receive. Please note that if there is a 1Edge or 2Edge in the path column, regardless of the color, there may be reception issues. 1/2Edge indicates a terrain issue. o Yellow means more power is needed and that generally means a roof/attic mounted antenna. o Red or purple means that there is no usable signal. Distance Miles: Our products each have a distance range that varies from a 25 to a 65 mile range. Make sure to look at the range on the antenna you are interested in before making a decision. Path: this column indicates whether or not the antenna has a clear path to the towers for optimum reception. o LOS indicates line of sight and must be present for ideal signal reception. o 1Edge means some blockages but an amplifier may help OR getting the antenna higher like in a 2nd story window or a roof mounted amp may help. o 2Edge means massive blockage and usually means no reception will occur. o TROPO means total blockage. Those signals are officially and completely unavailable. Network: Shows the call letters of the customer can expect to receive.
NM (db): This is a measure of overall signal strength and indicates power. Signal strength below 20 will not be consistant if it is received at all. o 39 or higher for all indoor antennas. o 20 or greater for the Sky 60. UHF/VHF: To determine if a signal is transmitting in VHF look in the "Channel" column called Real. If the number in the Real column is numbered 2-13 then it is a VHF signal with reduced reception range. o VHF reception range for our antennas. Non-Amplified Indoor Antennas: 10 mile VHF range. Amplified Indoor Antennas: 20 mile VHF range. Roof/Attic Mount Antennas: 45 mile Vhf range. All Channels Radius: The All Channels radius will show which way the majority of their signals are coming from for optimal placement of your antenna. o The center of the radius indicates your homes location. o True north is always the top of the radius. Finding the Direction of your Signals: TV Fool Pop Quiz: Which will yield the best results?
Troubleshooting Issue: Snowy, Blue or Black Screen? So you connected your new antenna and all you see is a snowy, blue or black screen? You may have a TV that is not compatible with a digital antenna and need a digital converter. The first thing you need to know is the age of your TV. If it was made prior to 2009 you will most likley need a digital converter. If you aren't sure when your TV was made you can find out a few ways. 1. Look in your TV's manual. 2. Google the make and model of your TV and locate a manual you can download. 3. Contact the manufacture of the TV and give them the model number and they can advise you. What you are looking for is reference to a "digital" or "ATSC" tuner. This indicates that your TV has the needed tuner to work with an antenna. If you see NTSC however, it is not digital signal ready and a converter is needed. Most big box retailers that have an electronics department will stock digital converters.
Brand new TV with no coaxial port and/or no digital tuner built in... Many of the newer TV's on the market are being made with no coaxial port and/or no digital tuner. This trend is because many people have discovered the joys of streaming content either through their new "smart" TV or using a streaming device so who needs a coaxial port or digital tuner? Well...people that use antennas do! If you aren't sure if your new TV is compatible with an antenna you'll need to reach out to the manufacture or look in the manual. Two things are needed for antenna use... a coaxial port and an ATSC/digital tuner. If you discover that your TV is missing the things needed to use an antenna all is not lost. In order to use a TV missing the needed elements you can purchase a digital converter box. This allows you to connect your antenna to the television AND they have built in tuners also. A digital converter box connects to your TV via HDMI or other means (make sure you know which connection you need before you buy) and allows the TV to receive digital TV signals. A digital converter box is a one-time purchase with no monthly fees. One converter box is necessary for every TV that doesn't have a built-in digital tuner and that receives its signal over the air with an antenna. Congratulations on the new TV but you need one more thing to pull it all together. A digital converter box. When you get our antenna you will need to find the sweet spot or perfect placement for your antenna to get the best reception. A general rule of thumb for antenna placement is the higher you can get it, the better reception you will have. Most customers try several locations until they locate the spot where they get the most channels. Please remember that every time you move your antenna you will need to run your channel scan again. If you are not sure how to do a channel scan, contact the TV manufacturer directly as set-ups can vary. If you are getting clear reception on the channels that broadcast in your area then you are done. You may also want to try placing your antenna in a window and rerunning the channel scan. Here are generic steps to do a channel scan but it is a different process for almost every television: You will need to run the scan function on your television set. This step can typically be located by pressing the "menu" button on your remote and looking for "scan" or "setup". You will also need to make sure that your television is set to "air" or "antenna" and not cable.
The scan can take just a few seconds to several minutes depending on the number of stations that the television is scanning for. Once the scan is complete you should be receiving digital signals through your antenna. Please reach out to the specific television manufacturer or consult your manual if you are not able to get the channel scan to run. If this does not help you perform a channel scan a google search with the brand of your television followed by "customer service number" should locate their technical support number. You may also be able to consult the owner s manual for more detailed instructions on how to run a channel scan.