How To: Align an Off-Air Antenna using the Digital Cable-Air Module
In this video, we will cover How To Align an Off-Air Antenna using The XR-3W+ Satellite Signal Level Meter with the Digital Cable-Air Module. Step-by-step instructions are available below.
Meter Set Up:
Press Menu > highlight and press enter on Channel Plans > scroll down, highlight, and press enter on OTA Digital under Standard Off-Air Plans.
This screen shows you the standard plan for OTA Digital.
The channel numbers and frequencies are the standard plan, not the virtual channel that your local TV station assigns.
Set Up Pre-Amp Power:
If your Off-Air Antenna has a Pre-Amplifier, you will need to set up the pre-amp power in the menu.
To do this, press Menu > scroll down, highlight, and press Options > scroll down, highlight, and press the Default Preamp Voltage selection.
Use the left and right arrow keys to select the required voltage. This meter can output 5 volts, 13 volts, and 18 volts.
Once you are done, press Menu > Exit.
Power the Pre-Amplifier:
When in the Single-Channel view, you can scroll through the different channels using the up and down arrow keys. If you know the actual channel or frequency, you can type that in on the keypad and press Enter.
Once on the desired channel, press the middle right soft key labeled Preamp to power the pre-amplifier.
You then can adjust your Off-Air Antenna to get the best signal possible.
View the Favorite's Graph:
View up to 5 channels at a time using the Favorites Graph.
To view your Favorites Graphs, press the lower left soft key labeled Favs Graph.
If you receive an ERROR, you will need to go into the meter settings and set up your 5 favorite channels to be displayed in the Favorites Graph.
To add channels to your Favorite's Graph, refer to Set Up New Custom Plan section.
Scan All Available Channels via Channel Scan:
You can view, store, and do a complete scan of all channels in the meter by pressing the Channel Scan option in the Main Menu.
To do so, press Menu > scroll down, highlight, and press Channel Scan.
The meter will then start scanning all the channels.
Once the scan is complete, you can save the scan by pressing the Save key in the lower portion of the screen.
You will be presented with 3 Channel Scan Save Options.
The Save Results as Scan File option saves the result as a scan file to view later.
*The Save Found Channels as New Plan option saves the found channels as a new Custom Plan to be used in the meter.
The Save Favorites & Tilts to Plan option saves the selected channels to an existing plan.
*By selecting Save Found Channels as New Plan, you will enter the file name along with different information for Location, Technician, and even Notes.
Once the file is stored, press Okay and then Exit to get back to the main run screen.
Set Up New Custom Plan:
To set the meter with a New Custom Plan, click Menu > Channel Plans > scroll down to your saved plan under Custom Plans and press Enter. The channel lineup will now only contain the previously found channels.
You can request a Custom Channel Plan from our website for your local geographical area.
If you have one loaded in your Channel Plans, it will be listed under the Custom Plans section. The Custom Channel Plans will have the virtual channel and the TV’s call letters loaded in the meter.
The Custom Plan will also have 5 pre-loaded favorite channels that can be viewed in your Favorites Graph.
This allows you to align the Off-Air Antenna to 5 different channels to maximize the peak on each.