Discussions

[SentientOne]

When I do a channel scan for OTA local channels on my Roku TV not all channels appear. Using the same antenna I can pick up more channels on other TVs. It is possible to "Hide" channels, but I see no way to add missing channels. On a regular TV I would just tune to the desired channel using the number pad and adjust the antenna for good reception even if the channel scan did not find it initially. The Roku TV has no number pad and I can't figure a way to manually add an OTA channel. Any suggestions?

[RokuDanny-R]

@SentientOne

Thanks for the post.

We would recommend taking a look at the information provided by our Support page here: Set up the Live TV input

Please keep us posted what you find out.

Thanks,
Danny

[Roger9]

I'm facing the same challenge.  I tried the suggested How do I set up the Live TV input on my Roku TV™? without success. I would like to add missing OTA channels and then figure out how to reorient my rabbit-ears antenna to get a good reception.

[RokuDanny-R]

@Roger9

Thanks for the post.

Please be aware that if you haven't already tried the troubleshooting steps provided by our Support page online, then the channels shown on the Roku TV is all of the channels that the antenna is detecting. Have you tried moving the antenna to another location to see if you are able to detect more channels on the Roku TV?

Please keep us posted.

Thanks,
Danny

[Roger9]

Yes. I have moved the antenna around and tried several different locations and orientations within my home. I get mixed results.

FYI -- Back in the day (1960s), TV sets came with 12 channels. I would connect the rabbit ears to the TV set and move the antenna around to get the best reception of the TV stations that were in my geographic area. With Roku as it is now designed, if the antenna does not detect the station, then as far as the Roku TV is concerned, the TV channel does not exist. As I move the antenna around and rescan the OTA channels, the available channels detected by the Roku TV come and go. I have found this effort to be an exercise in frustration.

I know the TV stations exist because I can pick them up on my Windows laptop using the Hauppauge WinTV-dualHD dual tuner. What I am asking Roku to do is to add the capability for me to specify manually the OTA channels I want to receive. Then I can try re-orienting the rabbit ears as necessary to get the best reception for the channels I want to watch.

P.S., OTA signal strength can vary with weather. I can scan the OTA channels today with my Roku TV and get a certain result. If I rescan tomorrow, I might get a different result. By watching the signal bars on the channels I get, I notice a strong signal today may be a weak signal at other times due to the weather. With the ability to specify OTA channels manually, I know the Roku TV is programmed to process those particular channels. I eliminate one element of uncertainty this way. Than I can deal with the other element of uncertainty of weak or strong OTA signals based on antenna orientation and the weather at the moment.

[SentientOne]

See... Roger9 gets it! Exactly.

[Eangloher]

Hi Roku Danny, 

       None of your advice has actually answered the question nor really addressed the fact that the customer response was the channels do exist and are being received as proof that other tvs are seeing it.So to Reiterate the question that I to the problem I am also experiencing is,” Is there a way to manually add an OTA channel Manually?” Or do I take this “sorry I ever bought it TV back and get my good old LG?

[Roger9]

I find the OTA TV channels in my area with Local TV Guide ( https://www.ontvtonight.com/guide/ ). I enter my zip code and get the list.

I don't expect my Roku TV set to pick up all of these channels with a TV antenna, but I want to be able to enter manually the channels I want to watch and then figure out how I have to orient the rabbit ears to pick them up.

[cwcheese]

Rogers, it seems you want to do something that isn't really possible with modern ATSC tuners. I too remember the 60s and how we could reorient the antenna and/or the TV itself to detect those lower power signals. I've noticed the current digital tuners for the most part are limited to the autoscan detection, no software has been coded to allow user input of channels, as I too wish to sometimes try for a low signal channel. 

Have you checked out antennaweb.org or other websites to look at location maps where TV towers are located in relation to your home?  Do you have the ability to install an outdoor antenna with a motorized rotator? That may give you sort of what you need, but you'd have to continually rescan after changing the vector of your antenna.

[Roger9]

cwcheese, an outdoor antenna with a motorized rotator is a major commitment with no guarantee it is needed or will work.

My Roku TV knows my zip code because I entered it manually. I want Roku to download the Local TV Guide to populate the list of channels licensed to operate in my area. Whether a list of channels comes from OTA scanning or FCC authorization should make no difference to an ATSC tuner. I can then explore each channel to determine if I can receive it OK and then select or deselect the channel as needed.

Once I settle on my list of favorites and orient my rabbit ears appropriately, I can channel-surf these stations to my heart's delight. If I cannot get a particular channel on a bad weather day, so be it. But at least I know the channel is there for a good weather day.