SO many posts to read so here goes..............I will be helping a buddy in the 8th Line/Dundas area, Oakville for an OTA install. He does not want to go with a rotator for reasons like multiple tv, future pvr, etc.

Will a CM4221 work okay from this area? I have a 4221 in Brampton but when I googled his location the angle between CN & Buffalo is much wider. Thanks.

I am a stone's throw from the lake in East Oakville. Admittedly I haven't yet got around to installing my antennae outside on a rooftop mast for I have been using them in my office near to the Mac since last summer.

I have found that just one CM4221 is incapable of bringing in both Toronto and Buffalo channels, and oddly enough I still can't bring in all the Toronto channels.

I'm at the point where, considering my low altitude, whether even installing them both on a rooftop mast will attain the same kind of results that people in Milton and Brampton are accomplishing. While they are farther distant their height above lake level appears to be more in their favour.

jgvp,
from lakeshore in oakville, toronto and buffalo transmitters are about 100 degrees apart. No antenna should recieve both at once, no compromise will be acceptable.
A 4228 on a tall mast on the roof will give you great reception of buffalo.
Use a rotor and you'd get toronto.
I combined 2 antennas and i'm at the opposite end of the city. TO & Buffalo are about 65 degrees apart.
Rotor and height will work, but i still suggest the 4228, more gain than the 4221.

Tom.F.1:

Did you in fact combine two CM4221s ? I was really intending to steer clear of a rotor, which is why I opted for the 2 x 4221s over the CM4228. I just can't get over the fact that out of all the Toronto channels I am unable to receive more than the two Toronto CBC channels, which at best are even sporadic. I'm hoping to have better reception once I am able to position the CM4221s outside and atop a 10ft. mast.

from lakeshore in oakville, toronto and buffalo transmitters are about 100 degrees apart. No antenna should recieve both at once, no compromise will be acceptable.

I measure the angle at about 80 degrees and I'm about 1 km inland from the lake (QEW & Winston Churchill area). My 4228 pulls in Buffalo and Toronto pretty reliably* and it is still aimed directly at Toronto. Gotta climb the tower and re-aim, one of these days. Of course, I have a bit of elevation and a pretty clear line of sight to the transmitters.

Craig

*My EyeTV Hybrid (ATSC receiver attached to my Mac) has been breaking up at sunset quite a bit in the last couple of months. Can really spoil shows that I'm trying to record. The tuner in my Sony TV does not seem to be affected nearly as much. They're both fed from the same antenna.

PVR4ME:

I just wish I had your elevation. :rolleyes: That's quite an incline up Winston Churchill from Sheridan Garden traffic lights.

I'm just south of Dundas, off of Postmaster (3rd Line area) I'm using two Wade 1483 (4 bowtie) antennas, one pointing towards Buffalo and the other towards the CN Tower. There both located in my attic. I'm getting a total of 36 channels. 17 of them are HD (1080i or 720p), the others are SD, still good quality though,but the HD look unbelievable !! Have to see it to understand.
Just picked up a Samsung 4665 46" LCD on the weekend to boot. Awsome !!! Very happy with my OTA antennas.

I'm looking at picking up a pre-amp. How many more channels will I pick up, using it ?? Anyone know??

dcass, that is great reception on your dual anteanna setup. I find attic setup 50/50 that they work or they dont work well.

A preamp will not help unless your cable run is longer than 45' and you intend to split the signal to feed several tuners.

Connect the preamp right after your comniner if you are going to use one.

I am in same area as dcass and with the little antenna on top of my wall unit on second floor I get a lot of channels from buffalo. Oddly when I hooked up to the BEV 9200 I would get Fox no problems and rarely NBC. I now hooked it up to the Hauppauge 1600 and get NBC with no issues but can't get FOX.

Yaamon, thanks for the response.

I guess I was curious about the pre amp because I'm running close to 110' of RG6 cable. I know they say 100' or more you should use a pre amp, but how many more channels will I get if I do add one ?

which 17 HD channels do you have? On remote central I only counted 14 possible between buffalo and toronto. One or two of those are too far from oakville AFAIK as well.

dcass, the fact that you are getting such reception while using 110' of RG6 is excellent in the first place, so I would suggest a low-to-medium powered preamp (10 to 12dB) for combating the line loss of that distance. If you find that a higher power preamp is a better deal or more available you should also pay a tiny bit extra for a couple of attenuators just in case the signal is too strong. :)

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42426

Your right Q,

I apoligize. I'm getting 12 HD (1080i or 720p) channels. I didn't realize my wife added some of the 480i DTV channels to my Favourites. These are the channels I'm receiving:

2-1 WGRZ
4-1 WIVB
5-1 CBLT
7-1 WKBW
9-1 CFTO
23-1 WNLO
25-1 CBLFT
29-1 WUTV
43-1 WNED
49-1 WNYO
57-1 CITYHD
66-1 CKXT

Well, we helped my buddy's neighbour put one up, so you'll see two cm4228's side by side when you ride down Derry :)

Is anyone in Oak Park having success with an attic antenna ?

We just got a 32" LG LCD with an ATSC tuner and I've had some success with a Philips amplified indoor antenna on the third floor and about 75' of RG6 (I'm using the existing cable in the house). We get most of the Buffalo HD stations, but only the French CBC HD channel.

I figure from where I am, with a clear shot across the lake, that Buffalo and T.O. are about 90 degrees apart.

filper being west or way east of the cn tower makes it hard for any antenna to pickup the signal from the cn tower and Buffalo at the same time properly.

Don't expect great results with a inddor antenna and at 75' of cable you have signal loss.

Because you are pointing your antenna towards Buffalo that is why the reception from the Cn tower is bad.

See if you can try and point the antenna a little more east enough that it does not affect the Buffalo stations too bad and try a rescan of the Toronto stations.

Good luck.

How come I get CBC French HD and not the English HD channel ?

Aren't both from the CN tower ?

Toronto's CBC and SRC stations both come from the CN Tower, but they are at different frequencies at different power levels, thus the difference you see.

How come I get CBC French HD and not the English HD channel ?

Aren't both from the CN tower ?
That sounds backwards to me. CBLT-DT is higher power than CBLFT-DT.
CBC English is usually the easiest Toronto Station to pick up

Hello.
I remember posting that I would give a update in about three weeks time. It has been about seven weeks now. I sorry I have not updated those who replied to my post til now. You know how it is, too busy, too many things pop up with little or no warning, and other things just do not work out.

I was not able to purchase a CM 4228 or a CM7777 in the States. I phoned many different stores and business. None had them stock. Some offered to order the items, but I would be gone to my next stop before the order would be in. Not have a U.S. address when placing the order didn't help either. (Motel/Hotel didn't count.) One tv/antena guy in Washington D.C. told me that "they don't make those any more". Most mentioned that I go with Direct or Dishnet and forget OTA, "No body uses those any more, get a dish". I did find one 4228 in Baltimore for $125 USD! With other things to do and think about, it was something to deal with after I returned home.

I got a 4228 from Neutron Electronics in Guelph. I took the old 4 bay and VHF/UHF down, cutting the two flat wire leads off at the preamp on the mast. The screws that held the flat wire were a ball of rust. When I tried to remove the RG59 from the F connecter using a wrench, (It would not turn by hand) the connecter broke off from the preamp. I removed the preamp from the mast and opened it up. Two of the three solder connections had broken and the plastic board was cracked. The top side of the board was 25% cover with the mud tubes of some type of insect. (wasp?, I could not see how it had gotten inside.) The preamp is now in it's postwork days.

I put up the 4228 with no preamp. The results were not the best. The best was CBC at about 50%, down from the steady 88% with the old set up. The Buffalo channels where gone more than they where there. Time for a 7777. Back to Neutron and back up the tower.

It is a improvement over the old set up except for WUTV FOX-HD.

Toronto Old New
CBC 5-1 88 88 - 97
CTV 9-1 50's 77
CITY 57-1 50 - 60 78
Sun TV 15-1 60 - 70 75

Buffalo
WGRZ 2.1,2 30's 68
WIVB 4.1,2 30's 74
WKBW 7.1,2 30's 82
WNED 43.1,2,3 70's 70
WNLO 23.1 40's 82
WUTV 29.1.2 15 15
WNYO 49.1,2 0 60

Analog - great improvement, best analog OTA picture I have seen. No "snow" for the following:

WKBW 7
CHCH 11
CTV 9 & 13 (Kitchener)
TVO 19
FOX 29
CTS 36
GLOBAL 41
OMNI 1 47
so so, lots of snow for
OMNI 2 69

Could it be that the old Superior rotor cannot be aim precisely to pick up WUTV's very directional digtal signal?

Thanks,

neergder