Thanks everyone for your comments. Since my last post, I got my TV (47LG50), and bought the CM4221HD. I've temporarily mounted the antenna on my deck (15ft above ground) and I am getting all of the Buffalo / Hamilton stations clearly (NBC, FOX, CBS etc). Having said that, I'm looking forward to moving the antenna up to my second story and rotating it a bit more towards the CN tower!
For 50 bucks, I wouldn't be opposed to setting up a separate antenna if Toronto doesn't pull in clearly---I hear what you're saying Markf, but i'm not sure how i'd mount one of these puppies on my roof (cheap and effectively).
All in all, i'm simply blown away by the clarity and number of channels!

Mark2074, I wonder what the minimum distance would need to be in a setup similar to yours? What kind of splitter did you use to combine the two?

mebad247, see Post #16 in the OTA FAQ about combining antennas and then we'll make some comparisons to see what improvements there might be for you :)

Stampeder, good point. I checked that out and noticed a minimum of ~25" between 4228's. Am I to read this as, any distance greater than 25" should be ok? I'm not too clear on the theory behind this gap requirement, and since I'll need to mount a bracket on the side of my house to accomodate this, I'd like to make as few trips (and holes) as possible :)

Yes exactly, a bit over 2 feet is needed but if you have more room than that you're doing fine. BTW you mean two CM4221HDs and not 4228s, right?

Right, 4221s. I was just referring to the FAQ. Thanks again, I'll report back once I get them mounted!

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_C7cUiuxTSTA/ScquQyn1UrI/AAAAAAAAABI/YBP2YZklbEo/s512/IMG_6245.JPG

Here's a picture of my set up from the ground. I bought the brackets and pole at Nutech in Hamilton. They added up to about $50 if I remember correctly. That's about half the pole there with enough height. For me it was a good solution, I wasn't sure how else to do it without getting up on the roof and using a tripod (which themselves are about $50 bucks at Nutech if I remember correctly). I'm too chicken to actually go up there.

My neighbour used the rest of my pole and a satallite holder to mount his and it is pretty solid as well (he screwed the pole and satallite holder together with metal screws.)

Hello everyone, still using a temporary mount for my cm4221hd on my deck (15' above ground in Oakville at Bronte/Dundas). I can get pretty much all of the digital Buffalo and Hamilton stations without trouble -- but I can't seem to pull in any of the Toronto stations in digital. When I set up the antenna originally I could get 5.1 no problem---now, nothing.

What could have changed? I can move the antenna so that the analogue stations from TO come in perfectly, but I still can't get the digital equivalents.

I'm guessing the cable run is about 60ft (RG6 that is grounded).

Height will be increased this weekend, but I don't understand why I'd be losing CBC when it was one of the first stations i pulled in.

Thanks in advance.

I wanted to pass along my appreciation for everyone who has shared info about equipment and reception results. Reading the results really pushed me to expand our OTA experience.

Last weekend we installed a CM4221 under our pre-existing combo antenna: the four-bay directed towards Buffalo and the combo towards Toronto. We fed both antennas into a CM7777 and changed all the old ribbon cable to coax. Put the feed into the new TV with the built-in digital tuner and there was magic. There were angels singing!

We are located in south Burlington, near Cental Library (read big trees). We now receive:

NBC,
Weather Plus
CBS,
CBC,
ABC,
THIS, (This seems to have disappeared)
CTV, (Only analog? Is this strange?)
CHCH,
SUN,
PBS1/2,
CW,
WNYB,
FOX,
CTS,
GLOB,
MYTV,
OMNI1/2,
CITY.

I was wondering if TVO was going digital soon.


Thanks again to one and all.

Hey all,
new to the forums...but I'm looking for a set-up for Burlington (just south of QEW off Brant) to pull Buffalo stations. I would prefer an indoor antenna, since we rent and g/f probably doesn't want to see an antenna in the apartment. We're on the second floor and I could use a crawl space (similar to attic area) facing Buffalo for an antenna.

I'm looking to pull at least FOX and ABC once a week for sports (we still have cable), but I want to watch in HD.

Does anyone have any suggestions in antenna/set-up to pull from this area (with an indoor/attic antenna)? I'm still searching the forums, but figured I'd post in the meantime.

Thanks in advance.

Chadrox, if its not on the Antenna Chart I would not buy it.

Also use the Search This Thread tool to the upper right beside Thread Tools and put in the search term "Burlington" so you can compare how others near you have done. :)

I installed two CM4221s today, one pointed at Buffalo (about 100 km away) and the other pointed at the Toronto CN Tower (about 50 km away). Ran cable from both antenna's into the house and joined them with a simple digital splitter into my Hitachi HDTV with ATSC tuner. I live in Burlington, ON on the side of escarpment with line of site to both Buffalo and Toronto. Here are my issues:

1. When I combined my Buffalo antenna and my Toronto antenna, I actually lost almost ALL my Toronto stations that I could see prior to combining;

2. I had an old UHF/VHF amp and installed it BEFORE the combiner and got most of my Toronto stations back (when installed after the combiner it made no impact);

3. However, at night I lost Global HD (41.1) and SUN TV (15.1 and 66.1).

Does anyone have any idea why I would pick up stations in Buffalo better than the ones that are relatively close to me in Toronto?

Could my CM4221 for Toronto be defective?

Should I consider a preamp to ensure I pull in my Toronto stations?


Very much appreciate any help.

Thank-you.

When I combined my Buffalo antenna and my Toronto antenna, I actually lost almost ALL my Toronto stationsfaz68, keep in mind that what looks like perfect aim for one antenna can suddenly become the wrong aim when that antenna's reception pattern is combined with the reception pattern of another antenna. :eek: It can happen to some locations where the angles cause overlap of one antenna's null with another antenna's side lobes. Indeed if you check out Tom.F.1's situation in Ajax, ON he had to use 3 antennas! :D I think we can solve yours with two though.

My advice is that since the Buffalo aim seems to be very good just keep both antennas combined with no preamp on either of them but loosen the Toronto antenna's mounts, then try some re-aiming and re-scanning of Toronto stations as you move its aim farther north and farther south. Hopefully you will find the sweet spot that will solve the issues.

If after that you are still not getting the Toronto stations properly then loosen the Buffalo antenna and re-aim/rescan as you try turning it a bit southwards, then re-aim/rescan the Toronto antenna again. It sounds time consuming but unfortunately that might be the only way to get it right.

See Post #16 in the OTA FAQ for an overview of what antenna combining is all about. ---------------->

I'm looking for a set-up for Burlington (just south of QEW off Brant) to pull Buffalo stations.Chadrox: I recently purchased a Terk HDTVa (amplified)indoor antenna and 50 feet of RG6 cable and I'm having excellent results with it.
I can get the following channels...

2.1 WGRZ NBC
2.2 WGRZ Weather+
4.1 WIVB CBS
5.1 CBLT CBC
7.1 WKBW ABC
7.2 WNGS THIS
9.1 CFTO CTV
15.1 CKXT SUN
17.1 WNED PBS
17.3 WNED PBS Thinkbright
18.1 CHCH IND
23.1 WNLO CW
36.1 CITS CTS
49.1 WNYO MYTV

In order for me to receive CBC and CFTO the antenna has to be placed in two separate locations in my house. For all of the other channels I set it up in one sweet spot in my house.
I've also noticed that I get WGRZ and WKBW at approximately 1 foot above ground level in my house. If I put the antenna at the highest point in my house they don't come in. This is strange because the antenna is pointing through several houses on my street. I guess it picks up those stations through multiple reflections.
I can't get WUTV for some reason.

Welcome killer kain.

Great results on the indoor set-up. Reflections make for funny reception. My antenna is mounted about 6 feet above my eave (not above roof peak) and to get the Toronto stations, I aim the antenna away from the CN tower, which means it is reflecting off the roof. WUTV is difficult to get, but with my 4228HD and the CM 7777 pre-amp it is rock solid. The WUTV aim is very directional- off a little you get nothing, unlike other stations. Are you not getting the OMNI channels, Global, or CITY? Can you check again to see if you are getting 7.2 THIS? Supposedly it is shut down.

Can you check again to see if you are getting 7.2 THIS? Supposedly it is shut down.No not anymore but I received it a while back.

Hi,

I recently placed my 4221HD antenna in my attic and without the CM7777 amp, I am unable to get half the stations I get now. With it, I get all the digital stations available. I also got this amp as I'm going to feed to 1 other TV as well as potentially an HTPC. If it is just 1 TV, it would probably be overkill and you could get away with a lower gain amp. Also, your distribution amp could act like a preamp as long as it is close to your antenna. You could try a test with an extension cord like I did to make sure investing in a preamp is a good idea. A Home Depot distribution amp worked just as well as the CM7777 up close. I needed the CM7777 as I don't have an outlet in my attic and wanted to send the power up the coax.

Watch out for overload problems when using the Home Depot distrubution amp as a preamp.I had this occur but did not show up right away.Turn FM trap on too.

Newbie to OTA, have read lots and lots of threads. I'm finding that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I'm in SE Oakville, sort of near the lake, so NOT on the high ground at, say, 8th Line and Upper Middle Rd. I installed a CM 4221HD on a chimney-mounted mast about 8' above the roof line, maybe 25' off the ground. I'm trying to feed to two TVs, located at opposite ends of the house, consequently with fairly long cable runs.

I'm in the process of putting in new RG6 cabling with no in-line joints for max effectiveness as far as that goes. I bought a CM distribution amp, and feed the TVs off that. So far, so good.

My main problem is getting decent reception for both TO and Buffalo. I first tried with the antenna pointed more or less at Buffalo (actually Grand Island I think, judging from the 100% signal for WNED). With that position, I got wonderful reception of all Buffalo stations, great for Hamilton, and so-so for TO, especially City, but with problems on CBC and CTV as well. It seemed like no amount of tweaking of the antenna aiming was going to give me the mix I was looking for. Point to TO naturally solved all problems with City etc., but at the expense of almost no signals from Buffalo.

So here's where the "little knowledge is dangerous" thing comes in: I thought I could solve my TO reception problems by leaving the antenna pointed to Buffalo, and adding a preamp, specifically the CM7777. (The more knowledgeable among you are probably laughing at my dumbness.) Now no amount of aim-tweaking results in satisfactory results. Buffalo stations are still fine, as long at the antenna isn't pointed too far in the direction of Toronto. If I aim towards Buffalo enough to pick up those stations reliably, I get lots of drop outs on the TO stations, worst of all being City, but others are affected too.

I should add that the preamp is on the roof, but about 8' away from the 4221 input (RG6 cabling). I'm suspicious that that gap might contribute to my problems.

Based on my readings of these forums, especially this thread, I'm wondering whether I have some sort of overload issue with the preamp in place, such that the weaker digital stations from TO are getting knocked out, or affected by strong analog signals.

So I'm seeking guidance with the following points:

1) Is the preamp actually appropriate for my setup? If so, will I notice a difference by relocating it with only a very short cable to the antenna? Note that I have a dist amp as well, so maybe the preamp is overkill.

2) Am I wasting my time trying to get reliable reception from my location with one antenna from TO and Buffalo, with Hamilton thrown in, considering the wide separation between all stations? Should I be looking at two separately aimed 4221's or a rotor?

Thanks in advance -- pmosher

hi pmosher,

Most of us in Oakville either have a rotor or combined antennas, as the angle between Buffalo and Toronto is quite large. I went with the combined option, as I am feeding 4 TV's and wanted to avoid 'debates' over antenna aim when all the TV's are in use...

I doubt the amp is your issue.