"Weak Signal" but Live TV works fine as does tuner on the TV

[pmann19]

I have a Windows 7 64 bit HTPC with a Hauppauge HVR-1800 tuner card.
I have a Channel Master CM-4221HD Antenna and Channel Master CM-7777 Titan 2 Preamplifier installed on the chimney of a one story house (about 35 feet off of ground level). There is 100 feet of cable between the antenna and my TV/HTPC. The Preamplifier power is plugged in at the 50 foot mark. I have only one splitter inline sending the TV signal to the TV and the HTPC.
I formerly had a SiliconDust HDHomerun installed on the system so I did not have to rent a DVR from Charter but I have disconnected that unit and uninstalled any associated software. During this time I removed the HVR-1800 from my system but I have since reinstalled it and Windows says it is operating properly.
Before we moved to our current home I had the system working perfectly picking up OTA channels with a bowtie antenna and boosting the signal with a similar preamplifier. We moved cross country and I then had Charter TV and was recording QAM channels but when Charter adopted Switched Digital Video in my area I had to purchase the SiliconDust HDHomerun. But now I am back to an antenna and frustrated.
I am a long time user of WMC and have had no issues whatsoever but now I am stumped.

I am able to tune 9 digital channels (8VSB modulation) on my TV and one analog station NTSC modulation). The signal is very good. I am able to watch those same 9 ATSC channels in Windows Media Center with a very clear picture (no shutter or lag, etc.) but the antenna signal strength shows up as weak (only one red bar) in the Windows Media Center TV Settings/Digital TV Antenna Signal Strength. As a result Windows Media Center will not record anything because it believes the signal strength is weak. I have tried the "Scan For More Channels" utility and it detects all 9 channels but signal strength still shows as weak. I have updated all drivers and I am now at loss for how to continue troubleshooting this issue.

I have tried modifying the registry per https://support.microsoft.com/kb/2708283?wa=wsignin1.0 but it did me no good and it does not exactly describe my issue. I have tried rerunning the Setup countless times but I always get the same outcome. I have tried tuning to a channel and watching live TV and then pressing the record button and after a short pause Windows Media Center tells me the signal is too weak. I have installed and run the Hauppauge Signal Monitoring software and get a signal strength between 25 and 30 (the range is 0-30 with 20+ being "Good".)
Can I force Windows Media Center to record despite the supposed "Weak Signal Strength"? Does anyone have any experience similar to mine?

[mdavej]

That Weak signal error doesn't always mean weak signal. I got that error when I had Play Ready issues and a perfect signal. I'm not sure if this applies to OTA, but it wouldn't hurt to run DCA and install (and pass) Play Ready.

[pmann19]

I am not sure what DCA is but I passed Play Ready, I think. I ran the following:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download ... px?id=5445
I did not have any errors or issues. How else do I test Play Ready?

I should also mention I am on the Oregon Coast so I am receiving retransmission signals of the 9 ATSC channels and not the original broadcasts.

[dmagerl]

I am receiving retransmission signals of the 9 ATSC channels and not the original broadcasts

^^ This..

WMC doesnt handle repeaters very well. If the repeater and main channel both have the same callsign in the guide, they get lumped into one listing. When you tune to that listing, you dont know if you're tuning to the main channel or the repeater.

You have to go to the guide, right click on the affected station and select "edit channel". Then select "edit sources". There should be just one source per tuner if all is well, i.e. 1 tuner = 1 source, 2 tuners, = 2 sources. If there are multiple sources per tuner, you have to go through the list and disable those that dont work.

[mdavej]

I am not sure what DCA is but I passed Play Ready, I think. I ran the following:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download ... px?id=5445
I did not have any errors or issues. How else do I test Play Ready?

I should also mention I am on the Oregon Coast so I am receiving retransmission signals of the 9 ATSC channels and not the original broadcasts.

Digital Cable Advisor may not be needed for an OTA setup. But it does seem to make a difference. If Play Ready passed, you're fine on that front. Perhaps retransmission is the issue, as the previous poster said. Maybe something other than WMC would work better.

[pmann19]

Thanks dmagerl,
WMC had 2 sources per channel with the primary being the primary transmission channel out of Portland and the secondary was the retransmission channel. I reordered the sources and disabled the primary. Now everything works great, I can't see the Signal Strength but who cares I was able to record a show on each channel this afternoon and everything worked great. I have played with every menu I knew about in WMC but not the menu you get when you right click the station in the guide.
Thanks for the help,
Peter