[mythtv-users] OT - Antenna tuning/aiming

[Brian Wood]

On Nov 2, 2006, at 2:32 PM, Brad Fuller wrote:

> Is there recommended sw to dynamically display the signal strength  
> of an
> HD signal? I have a PCHDTV3000 and a new antenna. I'd like to maximize
> the direction while watching something like a strength meter. The
> antenna is a Winegard squareshooter. Kinda little. The instructions  
> say
> to have someone watch the TV while adjusting and it has all the  
> settings
> of a dish: azimuth, elevation and skew (which I don't know why you  
> need
> that). I'd rather just look at a number and adjust.
>

I think azap and the like will give you a signal strength reading. I  
believe it gives you a BER as well, but I seem to recall reading that  
that particular card does not give meaningful BER information.

Maximum signal strength may or may not equal best reception, because  
you might have reflections that can be minimized by turning the  
antenna slightly off peak. This is why the BER is a better indication  
of signal quality for digital signals, but I don't think you can read  
that directly from that card. Mine shows a zero BER no matter how bad  
the signal.

(BER is the Bit Error Rate, in case you were not aware of that :-))