Audio issue with HD Antenna

robZ

Hi everyone,

I bought an HDTV Antenna for my apartment 2 days ago and I'm running into a bizarre issue. Out of the 20 channels I get reception on, 4 of them come through with crystal clear picture but no sound. It's not an HD vs SD thing, but appears to be a root channel thing. 3-1, 3-2, 43-1, and 43-2 get picture but no audio, every other HD & standard channel come through fine.

The antenna I purchased was an Apex amplified indoor from best buy and the TV is a Toshiba 50HM66 DLP (about 3-4 years old)

I searched around but could not find any firmware upgrades available for my particular TV set and found nothing else indicating anyone else with my particular TV model having this same issue.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Loves2Watch

Not enough signal. I would recommend you get rid of that "antenna" and get a real outdoor antenna.

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robZ

I don't think that's the issue. The one channel (3-1) that's getting picture but no sound has a full signal and 55-1 (which has half the signal strength), the audio comes through just fine.

Loves2Watch

What do you mean by full signal? How did you arrive at that conclusion?

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robZ

Both the television and HD antenna both have a meter that measures the signal strength in terms of bars. The television measures between 1-5 bars and the antenna measures between 1-6 bars.

On 3-1 (one of the problems stations)...
The television reads 5 out of 5 bars and the antenna reads 5 out of 6 bars.

On 55-1 (the one where the audio works fine)
The television reads 4 out of 5 bars and the antenna reads 3 out of 6 bars.

The television also labels the 3-1 signal as "Good" and 55-1 as "Fair" when I pull up the input channel info.

Yet 3-1 has no sound but perfect picture and on 55-1, the sound works just fine.

Loves2Watch

In any case it still IS a signal problem. As I stated before, try a different antenna.

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HiDefRev

And, by the way, there is no such thing as an "HD" antenna. ANY antenna tuned for the TV band receives all signals in that band, whether they be digital, analog, HD, SD, etc. For that matter, a coat hanger, though not the best choice, will receive the entire band. Don't let the hype fool you. Yes, there are some antennae that are better than others, but not because of the type of signals they receive. They are just designed and made to more exacting standards. You could advertise a $2 set of rabbit ears as "HD" and jack up the price by $10 and be truthful, and sell the daylights out of them because those rabbit ears will indeed pick up HD signals, just as they would ( in the not too distant past ) pick up analog signals, as well as the digital signals. Remember - research BEFORE you buy. It will save you much grief.

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robZ

well regardless of whether or not there is a true "HD" antenna or not (I needed the amplified because of my location), I'm still left scratching my head on this one.



I tried connecting it to my parents TV and the problem channels get audio just fine for them.

I checked to ensure that SAP was turned off and played with every audio setting in there to see if I could stumble across something...thus far, I'm left with no sound on 4 of my channels

Loves2Watch

Read post #6

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oblioman

99% of these head scratching issues can be resolved by a better antenna (L2W's post #6). This could be a UHF?VHF issue, signal bounce, over/under amplification, etc. Are you located failrly close to the transmitters,,,,tall buildings,,,etc? Go to antennaweb.org and see if you can narrow down what antenna is recommended.

robZ

I went to the site and according to the recommendation, I'm using the right type. (Small multi-directional)

All of the major stations (2 of them on the no-audio list) are less than 20 miles away my location. No tall buildings in my area.

My parents are about 27 miles out from channel 3.1 and they get audio on their TV when I plugged it in there.

robZ

Well, I borrowed a different HD Antenna that my buddy has that works fine with his TV and hooked it up to mine and got the exact same problem. I'm convinced now that my antenna is not the issue.

Loves2Watch

Just because that antenna works for your friends TV doesn't mean you will have the same results. Many factors are different including topography, location, relative, on-site signal strength and the sensitivity of your TV's tuner.

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oblioman

Did you re-scan with the different antenna???

robZ

Yep...

I also let my brother borrow my antenna and he also said he had no problems with the channels I'm having trouble with.

Is there any chance that maybe certain stations broadcast in an audio format that some older TV's may not support?