Post #16 in the OTA FAQ is this one:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=675713&postcount=16

It is the correct topic. :)

Thanks for the replies!

Major intersection would be New Street and Burloak.
For New Street in Burlington you'll need to pull out all the stops. With a roofmount 4228 with preamp on a rotor, I can just pull in Global and Sun-TV reliably in the summer. In the winter, nothing at all. Maybe if I had went with RG-11 to squeeze another 1 dB from cable loss. Regrets, regrets.

Got some great info on ganging antenna, one pointed to Buffalo and the second to Toronto on this site. I'm going to alter my Eaglestar Pro Mod:53-6308
by removing the existing 2 baluns and replacing them with a homemade spacer connection points for 300 Ohm ribbon of equal length [short as possible] to a single balun [a good one I picked up] then to the TV. The reason I mention this is if anyone else has tried this in my area we could exchange information. The rain has dampened [grin] my progress on the roof and when I get a clear shot at it I'm up there to make these changes and hope to have good news to report.:)

PS ---I get about 12 channels that are good enough to watch with the old setup, but hope to improve and be able to get Fox and Global on HD

Good afternoon everyone.

Firstly, I need to thank everyone who has posted their experiences here and to those who responded. This is absolutely one of the best resources and group of people helping each other that I have ever found on the internets. ;)

I have a co-op apartment on Lakeshore in Burlington across from Spencer Smith on the 2.5th floor. We don't have balconies or access to the roof so the antenna needs to be indoor. We actually have analogue cable included in the fees so this is only for HD, specifically the only thing I care about is getting NFL games in the fall. I have two windows that I can see the lake from and a large building on one side. The TV is about 10 feet away from one of the windows.

My TV doesn't have an ATSC tuner in it, so I am also looking at USB HDtuners, but that is for another post in another forum.

It looks like my best option is a CM422x. It says CM4220 on the Decision Chart but everyone here is talking about cm4221(hd) or cm4228(hd).

What do you guys recommend for my set up? amplifier needed or beneficial? WAF is a non-issue, but non-resident GAF is a possibility if the set up is ridiculous for a medium sized apartment.

Will the # of analogue stations I get be a good indicator of how many digital station I would get? IE I don't want to spend the money on a ATSC tuner yet if I am not going to get any stations.

Is there anything else I need to consider? :confused:

Again thank you very much everyone and have a great long weekend.

The Shawnster

PS I will make sure to let everyone here know how well it all works...

Shawnster() welcome here and check out the station lists to get an idea of what is out there. Analogue reception is no longer a good indicator of digital reception, especially after the U.S.'s recent digital transition. For the U.S. stations you'll need much more than a CM4220, which is on the Antenna Chart purely for indoor use in relatively local settings or way up high in GTA highrises. You'll want to consider a CM4221HD or CM4228HD, but reading through this thread will show you how others nearby have done.

I picked up an amplified terk indoor antenna today and did a quick set up with some minor adjusting.

So far I've been able to pick up

CBC HD
Fox HD
ABC HD
Global SD
CBS HD

a bunch of other channels I'm not familiar with

I haven't been able to get

CTV
Global HD
City
NBC

I wanted an indoor antenna for an easy setup, but now I'm wondering if I'd get better results with an outdoor. I had a look outside and there is a satellite dish already set up (Just moved here). I'm wondering if I would be able to take that out and put an antenna on the mount that's already there and use the existing wiring. Has anyone had luck with this before?

Also, any tips on getting the 4 channels above to come in with either an indoor or outdoor antenna?

Welcome here nox - you definitely need an outdoor antenna for more stations, and regarding using a satellite j-mount for an OTA antenna please read through the important info in this thread about doing that:

OTA Mounts, Towers, Rigging Hardware (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=29559)

I have read many pages of extremely informative posts. In short, I am wondering what would be the best antenna for my location and where such an antenna could be purchased?

I live in Burlington right around the QEW and Appleby exit. I have been looking at the CM4221 or 4228 and a Terrestrial Digital LacrosseA. I am wondering which would be better. I know that the LacrosseA is omnidirectional which may help me avoid purchasing 2 directional antennas or using a rotor but I would like to ensure that I will get both the Toronto and Buffalo stations from my location.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

Tom

It depends on your elevation, obstructions, where you will mount it, etc, etc.

It also depends if you want to pull in channels from more than one broadcast tower in different directions. You may need to add antennas or a rotor.

I am in Kitchener and am using a CM4228HD with a rotor. My results are pretty satisfactory but will hold judgement for a while since summer is the best time for OTA with tropospheric conditions helping to bounce distant signals our way sometimes.

Larry

Actually the Lacrosse antenna is only rated as multidirectional , not omnidirectional. It would require using a rotor if the broadcast towers are more than 20 degrees apart. And to add they are limited to about a 40 mile distance. Good for Urban/Suburban use

A CM4221, hacked , will give you a 45+ beam width and a 50 mile range without amplification. Good for Urban/Suburban/Rural use.

Most of your stations are within 50-60 mile distance range, and within a 90degree beamwidth span, so I would suggest a CM4221 with a rotor or use 2 CM4221's aimed in differing directions to capture the Toronto & Buffalo tower locations without using a rotor.

I used a LacrosseA for about 2 years. It is more multi-directional than a CM4221HD and received all Buffalo, Toronto and Hamilton channels without a rotator. Where it has problems is with distant or 2edge weaker channels. I recently changed to CM4221HD all hacks with rotator and CM7777 preamp. It gets me all the same channels as the LacrosseA plus 4 ION channels. If I aim for max. signal from ION and 49-1,2, Toronto and Hamilton signals are weaker than they were with the LacrosseA. CITY gives drop outs that were not there with the LacrosseA. For now the rotator fixes all, and when Canadian channels boost power I'm thinking weak Toronto signals will be gone and I can leave the antenna aimed at ION. Also the CM4221HD is much better for VHF HI, analog 5 VHF-low, analog 9 and analog 11, come in crystal clear. This was not the case with the LacrosseA.

Thanks for the advice,

I see that a lot of people are using the CM4221, has anyone had any experience with the Antennas Direct DB4? From my reading it seems to be a little better than the CM but it isn't listed on the chart? Also, does hacking the antenna refer to changing it's physical configuration?

Thanks,

Tom

The CM4221HD is superior to the DB-4 in several ways, and also you can find the link to the CM4221HD Hardware Hacks thread here:

Modified CM4228HD - Hardware Hack Gives Boost (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=103749)

The advice is much appreciated. I will go out and pick up a 4221 and see how it does.

After picking up a 4221, I am getting all channels including Ion but for some reason I cannot reliably pick up Fox HD(29-1). It came in for awhile and then was gone and the signal strength was then showing as 0. Any ideas as to how I can pick up Fox?

First check out the tropo thread, otatom, in case that's causing the trouble:

OTA Odd Reception, Weather Effects, DXing, Tropospheric Skip (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=26789)

Hi all I've been attempting to get a better signal from FOX. Nothing I've tried yet seems to help.

I live in Milton, ON and have an original channel master 4228 with Tivo hd unit. My view south is mostly clear farmers field with the exception of a small forested area about a kilometre south.

I am very lucky to be getting a fantastic signal from almost all of my buffalo stations.

Signal strengths displayed on the Tivo unit are as follows.

2-1 , 100%

4-1 , 99 %

7-1 , 98 %

17-1 , 98 %

23-1 , 91 %

29-1 , 55%picture is lost at 42%

49-1 , 75 %

locals are all good too. cbc and chch in the 90's everything else mid 70's.

as soon as the weather turns for the worst FOX is gone.

I have done the following to attempt resolving the problem.

Ran a new coax rg6 from the roof through the attic. Total length around 75 feet ( was 150 f ).

Made my own coax cable balun tuned to channel 14. Surprisingly this worked and I got about 8 % more signal on FOX but sadly it reduced City TV to 2 %.

Tried re-aiming my antenna.

Also leveled my Antenna mast. When I originally installed the mount last fall I forgot to bring a level up on the roof. My roof has a very steep incline and I was terrified at the time and just wanted it installed, so I eyeballed it, this caused the scew of my antenna to be off ( tilting eastward ). after leveling it my signal from FOX seems to have dropped about 10 %, weird.

I am considering the following and would greatly appreciate your advice.

1. Get a pre amp. I have not done this yet as most stations are high and I'm concernd about overdriveing the Tivo.

2. Purchase a 4228hd and do the upgrades, the graph shown for the upgraded 4228hd seems to indicate it picks up station around channel 10 and higher better than mine and I'm curious if any of you can confirm that the new 4228hd does pick up FOX better.

3. Try a 2.5:1 balun on my 4228, although I've had no luck finding where to get one. Also curious if anyone has tried this.

If WUTV is the only station you want a better lock on, I would only suggest trying a pre-amp. Since you are only 75' in coax, I don't think you need a powerhouse, something in the light to medium range- maybe a CM 7778 or something weaker. If there is any safe way you can get the antenna higher, try to.

The big factor in overloading the tuner is how close you are to the transmitting towers, and being in Milton, I wouldn't think this is a problem. Today's tuners can handle the increase in power from pre-amps.

I would not recommend another antenna- you got the best with the org. 4228.

Thanks goforit. I would love to put a tower next to the house but I'm gonna need to save for some diamonds first.

I think I'll try the WineGard 4700 PreAmp it's only 19 db. I was just worried the picture on the higher signal stations might get worse, but at this point with all the things I've tried I think it's worth the $ 80.00 to find out.

After picking up a 4221, I am getting all channels including Ion but for some reason I cannot reliably pick up Fox HD(29-1). It came in for awhile and then was gone and the signal strength was then showing as 0. Any ideas as to how I can pick up Fox?

There is something fishy going on with Fox HD (29-1).

I am in Mississauga and have very solid reception of Canadian stations from the CN Tower, as well as 3 major US networks (ABC, NBC and CBS - 7.1, 2-1 and 4.1, respectively). NBC gives me some intermittent problems (usually very short dropouts), but overall it is not too bad.

However, the one that I cannot figure out is 29-1 (Fox). I may have perfect reception for hours, without a single glitch, and then the whole thing just disappears. No signal at all. It can last a few minutes, or even a few hours. And then it comes back. All in all, pretty much unwatchable, because you don't know when it is going to fail.

Whether this may be related to tropo, I have no idea. The most confusing thing for me is the fact that the signal varies from 100% to absolute zero.