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"Weak Signal" but Live TV works great as does tuner on the TV
I have a Windows 7 64 bit HTPC with a Hauppauge HVR-1800 tuner card.
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 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 via USB 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 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?
Last edited by pmann19; 06 Jan 2015 at 18:00.