I have two TV receiver devices for my W7 Media Center PC. One is an internal Hauppauge 2250 PCI card and the other is an Ethernet-connected SiliconDust HD HomeRun Connect. Each one has two tuners. My question is: Since they're both connected to the same antenna splitter and both on 7dB connectors on the splitter, why does the Hauppauge have poor reception on a few channels while the SiliconDust has a stronger signal on those channels? This mainly seems to happen on some of the secondary side-channels, for example 10.2-9, 3.2-4, etc. Main channels like 10.1 and 3.1 and most of the secondary channels seem fine on both the Hauppauge and the SiliconDust, but there are a few which I record from that the Hauppauge doesn't have a satisfactory signal. The reason I noticed this is because the Hauppauge is always selected first if only one or two programs are being recorded simultaneously. When some programs are recorded late at night; ones that are shown on the secondary channels in question, such as Comet-TV or Me-TV, the recordings intermittently have pixelation glitches. It's basically unwatchable. I was thinking maybe my hard disk was failing but after some messing around with the MC TV Signal Strength tasks, I noticed the discrepancies in the signal strength between the two receiver devices. I have since unchecked the channels in question on the MC so the Hauppauge doesn't get used to record them, but I am still baffled why this would be happening.
Does anyone know why this would be? Is my Hauppauge card failing? The PC and both receiver devices are over 10 years old now, but most recordings still work fine. I am reluctant to junk the setup as I like Media Center and, in addition to the DVR functions, all of my CDs are ripped into the MC.
Thanks!
Poor Signal on some channels on Hauppauge, fine on SiliconDust
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zeldar
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If you swap the input cables from the antenna splitter, does the problem follow the cable or does the Hauppauge still have the weaker signal?
It's possible that the tuners in the Hauppauge are simply not as good as the ones in the SD at picking up weaker signals, although I think that subchannels are on the same frequency, so having different results for channel 10.1 and 10.2 doesn't make much sense. It's my understanding that those two channels would be separated digitally in to two separate streams, but broadcast over the exact same frequency.
You did not mention getting a "Weak Signal" error page from WMC, so I'm guessing this is not your issue, but there is a bug in WMC that causes it to think there is a weak signal when there is not. You can read about the fix here, there is no harm in applying it, if not done so already.
It's possible that the tuners in the Hauppauge are simply not as good as the ones in the SD at picking up weaker signals, although I think that subchannels are on the same frequency, so having different results for channel 10.1 and 10.2 doesn't make much sense. It's my understanding that those two channels would be separated digitally in to two separate streams, but broadcast over the exact same frequency.
You did not mention getting a "Weak Signal" error page from WMC, so I'm guessing this is not your issue, but there is a bug in WMC that causes it to think there is a weak signal when there is not. You can read about the fix here, there is no harm in applying it, if not done so already.