Everyone in the Oakville area, I've come to the conclusion that your part of Canada is the sweet spot for Digital OTA TV in Canada!
Great........ I spend weeks to get my set-up right in Markham, and now I find out I have to sell the house and move to Oakville. My wife is gonna kill me. :o

dstb,
23-1
23-2
25-1

what is channel 23-2? I've never seen this mentioned anywhere/anytime. Is your tuner detecting a sub of WNLO, or was that a typo?? regardless nice results with a simple set-up.

Hi everyone,
I'm new to the whole world of OTA. I have been researching the forum for the past two to three months, and finally installed a system this past weekend. I wanted to thank everyone for all their insight and knowledge regarding installs and because of this forum; I was able to save myself a few hundred dollars.

Everything is working perfect; except, I'm not getting any FOX-hd. I get everything else, from Toronto and Buffalo, ranging from CBC, NBC, CBS, CW, Suntv, etc. I even get the Fox-sd channel, but for some reason I can't get the HD one. The SD channel is coming in but is snowy. I tried doing the blind scan over but still not picking it up. Also, tried entering the new channel into the tv, but all static. Do you think I need to go onto the roof and tweak the antenna, or is it out of my range?

My system right now is 2 Channel Master 4221 antennas (one Toronto, one Buffalo) onto a 9' poll mounted onto a chimney off of a second floor house. All connected to a Pioneer elite tv. I'm also in the Bronte Rd and Hixon area in Oakville.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks again everyone.

Hi,
You didn't say how or if you're combining or switching the antennas.
If they're combined, maybe you should try one at a time.

Combining, when pointing different directions is very difficult because of phasing issuses. I found out i get best results with the buffalo antenna directly south, and the toronto antenna, split between toronto and buffalo.

That way i have the side lobes of both antennas adding together. Thats where i pick up more gain than with either antenna. Others on here have said that Oakville is a hot spot, you should get everything available. MyTv is the weakest station i get.

I agree with Tom ,if your combining the antennas try running 2 lines and use an A/b switch.In Mississauga My-TV is weakest followed by Fox becuase their signals are directional.

Priester, Fox has one of the best signals out of the Buffalo area, so if you are getting the other networks,you should be able to get Fox. Stupid question, but you are using channel 14-1 right?

Check this map for location of the transmitter

http://www.remotecentral.com/hdtv/toronto-buffalo.png

as you can see WUTV is a little East of the other networks. If you use the measure tool in Google Earth you can draw a line from your house to Grand Island and determine a landmark near your house to point the antenna at- but unless you are quite a bit West of the transmitters in Buffalo I am surprised that you aren't picking up Fox as well- it should be the easiest one to get.

Oh, and welcome to the forum - soon you will be building an htpc to get a program guide and to record your HD shows in full resolution;)

Fox has one of the best signals out of the Buffalo areai wouldn't go as far as saying that, perhaps you should have said, FOX has one of the best signals 'in' the Buffalo area. Anyone in Buffalo, especially south of Grand Island, would get the signal great, but those of us to the north, east and west of grand island probably get like 30kW out of that 1000. Over here in Niagara, i can aim my antenna at Toronto and still get every Buffalo station, except FOX. I have my antena at grand island to pick up WUTV.

Thx everyone for all your insight. I was planning on venturing up to the roof earlier this week, but got busy, and sure enough the snow came. Everything still comes in great, I just can't get up there right now to play around with it. Once I do get the chance (probably at least another 2 weeks with the amount of snow I got!!!) I will definitly post the results.

Also, 026163 you mentioned fox being on 14-1. I thought fox would be on 29-1. Just because I do get the fox-sd, mind you it goes in very poor, but on channel 29.

Cheers,
Priester

ya unfortanately, the stations can't broadcast both their digital and analog station on the regular frequency at the same time (29). So instead the digital versions of the stations get allocated a different frequency (14) and the get remapped back to their more-known frequency (29) on your tuner.

Hi I am from south Oakville, and get all the channels others list but for some reason channel 2-1 (NBC). I get no audio on 2-2 which is usually weather radar. I get audio as well as on all other channels HD, SD or analog. Could someone please help me to figure out why I get no audio on 2-1.

I am using a built in atsc tuner in my panasonic VIERA. My antenna is an outdoor RCA I manually move it right now but am thinking of installing a rotational motor to move the antenna by remote. I have it about 25 feet off the ground mounted to a post on my fence but will put it higher in the summer perhaps on my roof. No A/B switch installed as I only have the one antenna.

My cable is run about 30 feet I have no amplier connected and I use the same type of ends that I use for my satellite dish and use RG-6 type cable from the antenna to the tv 's built in atsc tuner.

Thanks,

TNTXTC

Hi tntxtc, I've merged your posts together to have all your info in one post.

There is no technical reason from an OTA perspective as to why only one digital channel has audio problems and all the others do not. With ATSC you either get the picture and sound or you do not.

Have a look in the ATSC Tuners Built Into HDTVs - Discussion thread starting at post #138 onwards for some examples of people needing to check the feature sets of their HDTVs to see if the audio problems might be internal:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=41507

If you don't have luck with that just come back to this thread and we'll try to figure it out from a different angle. :)

Located in Burlington, ON I've just setup CM4221 with CM7777 and getting channels below.
On MyTV 49-1 and 49-2 I'm getting absolutely no sound which I find weird because the picture is excellent at 50% signal.
In these weather conditions I can't play (rotate) the antenna but I'm wondering id anybody has an idea what it can be? Can it be due to the signal strength?


Channel Name Res. Signal Comment
4-1 CBS HD 70%
5-1 CBC HD 90%
7-1 ABC HD 30%
9-1 CTV HD 80%
23-1 The CW HD 90%
25-1 CBC(F) HD 70%
29-1 FOX29 HD 60%
29-2 FOX29 SD 60%
43-1 WNED HD 90%
43-2 WNED SD 90%
43-3 WNED-Th SD 90%
49-1 MyTV HD 50% No Sound
49-2 MyTV SD 50% No Sound
57-1 CityTv HD 70%
66-1 SUN TV HD 40%

Welcome beaujolais,

Well, this is becoming an epidemic.
see tntxtc's similar problem (post# 367) (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=36536&page=25) using the built-in ATSC tuner in his Viera.

MyTV (49.1/.2) is low power/height compared to the other Grand Island transmitters and it's directional signal is towards Buffalo. FOX (29.1/.2) is also directional, but much higher power (1000 kW vs. 175 kW). As well FOX actually transmits at ch. 14 vs ch. 34 for MyTV which should translate into better propogation for FOX (i.e. lower frequency).

Combining the fact that WGRZ, NBC (33.1/2.1) isn't even on your radar, and that FOX's signal is 60%, I'm wondering if this is audio equivilent cliff effect.
You have two other signals that shower lower %, but there is some discussion as to how valuable % readings are to diagnosing problems.

It would be interesting to see what your results would be if you could rotate your antenna.

Well, yes, I do get NBC at 10% quality and the picture drops out.

What puzzles me about MyTV is that the picture is perfect and I have stations with <50% signal perfectly OK.

Anyway, I'll play with the antenna when the snow melts and put it on the roof (it is in the attic due to weather conditions now).

thanks for the quick reply

Here is a full list of channels I can get on CM4221 and CM7777 in attic:

Channel Name Res. Signal Broadcast Comment
2-1 NBC HD 10% Buffalo Dropping out
2-2 NBC SD 10% Buffalo Dropping out
4-1 CBS HD 70% Buffalo
5-1 CBC HD 90% Toronto
7-1 ABC HD 30% Buffalo
9-1 CTV HD 80% Toronto
23-1 The CW HD 90% Buffalo
25-1 CBC(F) HD 70% Toronto
29-1 FOX29 HD 60% Buffalo
29-2 FOX29 SD 60% Buffalo
43-1 WNED HD 90% Buffalo
43-2 WNED SD 90% Buffalo
43-3 WNED-Th SD 90% Buffalo
49-1 MyTV HD 50% Buffalo No Sound
49-2 MyTV SD 50% Buffalo No Sound
57-1 CityTv HD 70% Toronto
66-1 SUN TV HD 40% Toronto
11 CH Analog
19 TVO Analog
41 GLOBAL Analog
47 OMNI1 Analog
69 OMNI2 Analog

I don't see how you can't get CKXT-2 on 15 from Hamilton. This should be the closest digital station to your area.

Because I have only one antenna pointed SE between CN and Buffalo. For Hamilton stations I'd need to add another antenna.

beaujolais

Because I have only one antenna pointed SE between CN and Buffalo.
This might be the spot to improve your set-up, either by adjusting the direction or adding a rotor. You are receiving Buffalo (probably around ~ 60 miles??) channels on your side-lobes. Very difficult.

Agreed. But I don't really want to invest in 2nd antenna or rotor.
I'll play with the antenna once the snow is gone and hopefully I'll get the sound on MyTV.

I do understand the pros and cons of one antenna solution but wasn't quite sure why I'm not getting sound on a channel where picture is perfect. Wasn't sure how is that possible with digital channels.

Anyway, thanks for all the pointers. I'll report back later when I get a chance to adjust the antenna.

I'm REALLY interested in going OTA, but I know absolutely nothing about antenna installs etc and I'm situated in Milton too so I'm not even sure if I can get OTA out here so to spend all that money for nothing scare me even more than trying :o

Are there any actual installers who would be able to set up things for me if I wasn't confident enough to do this myself?

I only really watch network TV in HD so paying for satellite when I could potentially get TV for free and then hook it to my Vista MCE just makes a ton of sense.

Thanks to anyone who is kind enough to help out.

Just thought I share my recent experience.
When I first setup the antenna at the end of February I was complaining not having NBC (2-1 & 2-2) and MyTV (49-1) had no sound.
Today, without any changes to my setup (antenna untouched in attic since then) I suddenly get NBC and MyTV with sound.
The only explanation is due to improved weather conditions.
Here is a signal strength comparison chart from February (Signal A) and today (Signal B).
The interesting part is that MyTV signal went down by 10%, but regardless, I get the sound on that channel now.


PSIP Name Signal A Signal B Broadcast Comment
2-1 NBC 10% 40% Buffalo Used to drop out
2-2 NBC 10% 40% Buffalo Used to drop out
4-1 CBS 70% 80% Buffalo
5-1 CBC 90% 90% Toronto
7-1 ABC 30% 50% Buffalo
9-1 CTV 80% 80% Toronto
23-1 The CW 90% 90% Buffalo
25-1 CBC(F) 70% 70% Toronto
29-1 FOX29 60% 70% Buffalo
29-2 FOX29 60% 70% Buffalo
43-1 WNED 90% 90% Buffalo
43-2 WNED 90% 90% Buffalo
43-3 WNED-Th 90% 90% Buffalo
49-1 MyTV 50% 40% Buffalo Used to be No Sound
49-2 MyTV 50% 40% Buffalo Used to be No Sound
57-1 CityTv 70% 80% Toronto
66-1 SUN TV 40% 30% Toronto

MY-tv WNYO had some setting wrong which they corrected this week.