Ideally, you want the dist amp to replace the splitter. By having the dist amp going to a splitter you are almost canceling the benefit of the dist amp. (dist amp adds 2.5 db noise and splitter cuts signal strength by 3.5 db)

That's what I was looking for....
Does your antenna look like this?
http://www.hdtvantennalabs.com/images/ant2.jpg

If so, this antenna may not pick up stations more than 45 miles away, so some Buffalo stations may not come in. Look at the TVFool report. Anything with a yellow background may not come in.

Your picture is not coming through, but it's a 4-bay antenna. I did take out one splitter and replaced it with the 2-port amplifier. The problem is I have a 2nd splitter after a 30' RG-6 run that feeds a 5' RG6 to my 40" HD tv and a 10' RG-6 run to the 27" analogue. I need to find a way to get behind my wall to that other splitter I guess and also add power to it somehow. We just had the room redone and it will be hard to convince the other half to dig into the wall again.:(

Hello all.

This is my first post so let me tell you the situation we are in.
We just cut our Cogeco cable off after paying $110 a month for the last 2 years and invested in an Apple TV. We are enjoying the Apple TV but still miss a lot of network programing that isn't on it.
From what I understand, after using tvfool, we are in a great spot to pick up channels from Toronto and Buffalo with HDOTA.
I'm looking for recommendations for an installer in the Burlington/Hamilton, area that will help with antenna selection and setup for my home. I'd like to patch it in to the cable wiring that is already in the house.
If anyone has any recommendations they would be appreciated.
Here is my report from tvfool (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d81a318de35c82a)
Cheers
photoj

Hello all. This is my first post so let me tell you the situation we are in.
If anyone has any recommendations they would be appreciated.
Here is my report from tvfool (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d81a318de35c82a)
Cheers
photoj
Hi photoj, welcome to the fourm and there's no need to be overwelmed, there's lots of info here but it can be confusing for someone who's new.
If you're interested in learning ALL about OTA, read the OTA FAQ's.
If you don't care to learn and/or not interested in a DIY solution, call our forum sponsor, (link at top of page). They can set you up with a package, all you need, and can send an installer, but its a bad time of year to be installing on a roof, and they might have a waiting list of people they didn't get to this year before we got snow.
From your tvfool report, it looks like a full 90 degrees between Buf and TO stations, so you'll need 2 antennas. I'm only guessing, not knowing all the particulars, but, If it we're up to me, I'd go with 2 x CM4221HD antennas, chimney mount, 10' mast and a CM3414 4-way distribution amp. You'll need ground rod and wiring as well.
I'f you don't have a brick chimney, a tripod + 7'6" mast would probably do it.
Good Luck,
Tom

Just to add to that, photoj, take your time to absorb what you can, and we'll offer the best OTA advice available to Canadians. If you need clarification on any of the advice you get or info found in the previous posts in this thread, definitely ask. :)

What is your nearest major street corner in Burlington?

Hi photoj,

I'm in Burlington and cancelled Cogeco in July.

My tvfool numbers are a bit higher than yours, but as I live in the Shoreacres area, I'm surrounded by lots of tall trees. I get pretty good results most of the time, but sometimes have trouble with Fox 29, even though its numbers are better than some channels that have lower numbers. So bottom line is that the numbers aren't the whole story. Your location, surroundings and ability to get your antenna up as high as possible will all affect your ability to get signal.

The good news is that we are just over 8 months to the expected analogue shutdown in Canada, so hopefully that means that the Toronto stations will be stronger and therefore more reliable.
Also we expect to be getting TVO in digital and HD.

Hello all;

I am addicted to this site and OTA (first post). I have a 4221HD mounted on my roof peak facing buffalo. I don't know the exact azimuth though. I pulled off the 8 caps because that was easy to do as I just recently mounted it. Hopefully in the spring I will attempt the other two hack ideas for improvement. I really don't feel like going up on the roof until it is warm weather again.

It is properly grounded and has about 50ft of RG6 going into the attic across the length of the house. It then connects to RG59 (typical house cable) where it travels to the the distribution panel and is split many times. I have taken off the splits and it is connected once again to the room with the TV. (I know it is alot of wire with two connection points)

Below is my channel list with comments for the digitals. I get all of the analog that I am supposed to, not completely clear but good enough.

CBLT-DT 20 (5.1)
CHCH-DT 18 (11.1)
CFTO-DT 40 (9.1)
CITS-DT 35 (36.1)
CBLFT-DT 24 (25.1)
CJMT-DT 44 (44.1) doesn't come in
CFMT-DT 64 (64.1)
CIII-DT 65 (41.1) doesn't come in
CKXT-DT 66 (66.1) doesn't come in
CITY-DT 53 (57.1) doesn't come in
WNLO-DT 32 (23.1)
CKXT-DT 15 (15.1) doesn't come in
WNED-DT 43 (17.1)
WUTV-DT 14 (29.1) doesn't come in
WNYO-DT 49 (49.1) doesn't come in
WIVB-DT 39 (4.1)
WKBW-DT 38 (7.1) Scanned but intermittent
WNYB-DT 26 (26.1) doesn't come in
WGRZ-DT 33 (2.1) Scanned but doesn't come in
WNGS 7 (67.1) doesn't come in
WBXZ-LP 34 (56.1) doesn't come in

Any suggestions? Eventually I will get a second TV so I will want to split it once once only. I was hoping it would be as easy as adding a pre-amp? If so, which one and how? I have been looking at them and don't fully understand those yet.

Hi, like many others we're sick of the rising cost of cable tv and are looking at getting an antenna.

I've been doing some reading and I'm thinking of getting the CM 4221HD but not sure if I need 2 or if there's something better? We want the as many of the main stations as we can get... CBC, CITY, CHCH, FOX, ABC, NBC, CBS, etc....

We're in the "Brant Hills" area (Guelph Line & Dundas) so we're almost up on the top of the escarpment. We have LOS to the CN Tower from our roof and the best part is that we already have a very high antenna tower at the side of our house. This thing is awesome! Apparently the previous owner was a big short wave radio guy (or is it long wave???) and he made this tower for it. I'd say its at least 40' high, with service pegs (ie; built in ladder) and its well grounded. Looking at tvfool I think we should have 1 pointing at Buffalo (South-East) and one at the CN Tower (North-East). Although I've read that some people got some decent results by just pointing one South-East and the local stations still came in OK.

Being that the antenna(s) will be so high up, it'll probably need a pretty long cable run.

Ooooh... just thought of something. We have a fairly new Samsung HDTV and a Pioneer HD Recorder that I'm assuming both have digital tuners but I just remembered the TV in the basement is pretty old (CRT) and I'm guessing will need an external tuner.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. I work in Electronics so I'm at least technically inclined in that sense.

i did some additional testing. Seems as though I can get everything if i bring my TV up to the attic hatch where I connect my RG6 50ft to my TV. The only channels I don't get is ION, FOX and MyTV. I am happy with that so I am on a mission for a preamp to get the strength back that I lost through my RG59.

This forums is great. There is a lot of information, just not necessarily organized optimally. :)

Anyone in the milton area it can be done. I am pretty happy with my setup.

I had some RG59 in my original install 2 years ago. Some sections seemed ok, some I lost 1/2 my channels. I redid everything in RG6 and all channels come in everywhere. If you've got cheap RG59, a preamp may not help.

I plugged in COAX cable, plugged in adapter that came with it to power outlet, ran cable to outside of window, did AIR Channel search on my new Samsung HDTV and 15 HD channels popped up.( plus maybe 5 SD channels)
The clarity on the HD is amazing!!! Better than Cogeco!

In the summer I will put the antenna on the chimney and assume i will get more channels.

Here is what I get for now :

4.1 WIBV-DT CBS Buffalo, NY
5.1 CBLT-DT CBC Toronto, ON
9.1 CFTO-DT CTV Toronto, ON
11.1 CHCH-DT E! Hamilton, ON
17.1 WNED-DT PBS-HD Buffalo, NY
17.2 PBS-SD
17.3 Think Bright PBS SD (children's channel)
23.1 WNLO-DT CW Buffalo, NY
25.1 CBLFT-DT SRC Toronto, ON
36.1 CITS-DT CTS Hamilton, ON
41.1 CIII-DT GLOBAL Toronto, ON
44.1 CJMT-DT OMNI2 Toronto, ON
57.1 CITY-DT CITY Toronto, ON
64.1 CFMT-DT OMNI1 Toronto, ON
66.1 CKXT-DT SUN Toronto, ON

I figure we are saving $800/yr on cable now, for $22!

QUESTION:
How does one connect two antennas together?
I wonder if I can get two antenna's and point one to Buffalo and one to Toronto, run into a splitter or something and then to the TV, to get more channels. thoughts?

Question: is there a SWEET SPOT to point the antenna you are finding? ie. Between Toronto & Buffalo?

HAPPY HD'er!:)

burl, the OTA FAQ describes how to use 2 or more antennas together. Also take a look at the Antenna Chart so that you get the best gear.

Located in Milton.
CM 4221HD Gen 2
CM 7778
50ft RG6
25+25ft of RG59
40" LED Samsung HDTV

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d3cf4309a6c4105

I am very happy with the results. I get all the HD channels I am supposed to except for NBC (2.1). In the spring I may go up to the roof to try and tweak it.

Thanks for a good forum.

Hi everyone - it's time to go OTA for my new HDTV! I've been monitoring this forum for a while and I need an antenna recommendation. I have looked over all the resource info in the site and its helped a lot.

Live in an apartment on 7th floor (look through tops of trees) overlooking the Bay. I could put an antenna just inside the top corner of the window for Buffalo reception. For Toronto reception I'd have to either mount outside on balcony wall corner or put a second antenna in the other bedroom that faces that direction. I'd like to also use the antenna for FM radio primarily to get WNED-FM 94.5 (that has been a problem using a ribbon antenna since an adjacent station CIWV 94.7 is closer and in the same direction; fmfool shows only 8 degrees difference). The antenna cable will have to go 30' around the perimeter of the room to the tv (which is on a full swivel mount against a south/east corner of an interior wall 12' from window).

My tv fool is:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d3cf4d64fb23467

Your feedback is appreciated! Thanks :D

I've been lurking in this forum for a while with the intent of getting on my roof and installing an antenna. It never happened. The builder of my house had installed a RG6 run from the attic to my family room TV outlet so I finally thought I would give it a try. I'm in the orchard, NE corner of Burlington. I first installed a CM4221HD in the attic and hooked it up to the TV. I wanted FOX for the super bowl but no luck. I rcv'd ABC/NBC/CBS, PBS, CBC, a bunch of religious networks and CHCH, no 29.1. So I moved the antenna to a location closer to the gable-end of my attic, Buffalo is almost exactly out the side of my house so it's not going through shingles, and added a 7777 preamp. This brought success! I'm now rcv'g FOX and CITY-TV in addition to the above channels. Still not CTV and Global, but they are 90 degrees to my antenna direction.
Thanks for all of the information on this forum and the people sharing their experience.

Fox and Global are difficult to get at the same time from my experience and that of my neighbours (just a few km away from you).

I found a "sweet spot" with my outdoor mounted CM4221 that picks up everything, although Fox can be spotty at times. From what I've read that seems to be a Burlington problem.

One of my neighbours solved the problem with two antennas, I'm willing to give up Fox on occasion if it means I don't have to mess around with my antenna.

Preliminary results of our new attic-mounted setup (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1231984#post1231984). This is connected to a single LG TV only for now. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide any info on signal strength, so I don't have any numbers...

2.1 - NBC
2.2
2.3
4.1 - CBS
5.1 - CBC
7.1 - ABC
9.1 - CTV
11.1 - CHCH
17.1 - PBS
17.2
17.3
23.1 - CW23
25.1 - SRC
26.1 - TCT
26.2
26.3
29.1 - FOX
29.2
36.1 - CTS
41.1 - Global
44.1 - OMNI2
49.1 - MyTV
49.2
51.1 - ION
51.2
51.3
51.4
57.1 - CityTV
64.1 - OMNI1

Mind = blown. I wasn't expecting ION in the slightest. It's locked on perfectly; everything is locked on perfectly except for Sun TV (66.1). A slight nudge towards the CN tower should hopefully do the trick :)

You have similar results to me only I'm not getting ION. http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=1060344&postcount=734

Thanks for the post, I was wondering if adding the preamp would help bring in ION and this kind of answers my question.

Hello all,

I am new (as of today) to the OTA Forum.

We are moving forward with an OTA set-up. I have spent the last 24 hours combing through this site for information and feel the following set up will meet our needs:

Two 4228HD antenna's ganged together (one pointed towards the CN Tower and the other pointed towards Buffalo). Winegard CC7870 2-way antenna joiner/coupler to connect the two together. Channel Master 7777 pre-amp (as the signal will be traveling down about 50' of RG-6 coaxial cable to main junction in basement and then disseminated outwards another 50' to various cable/coaxial jacks in the house).

I am looking at an attic set-up for a couple of reasons. The builder (it is a new house) included a run of RG-6 cable from the attic to the basement already. I have no problems with mounting the antenna on the outside of the house, but there are some homes behind and to the sides of my place (in line with Toronto and Buffalo) and I think I would actually be able to mount them in the attic about 5' higher than if they were on the side of my house - and I am assuming any signal loss from having them in the attic might serve me better than signal loss from having them mounted lower on the outside of the house.

If the 4228HD's won't fit in the attic then I would default to the 4221HD's.

The back of my house pretty much face South East right now - so I am thinking one would face this direction towards Buffalo/Grand Island while the other would face North East towards CN Tower.

I have already read so much helpful information on here (e.g. how to gang multiple antenna etc...), but there is one piece of the puzzle that eludes me and I am looking for advice.

Right now I have TV's in all the bedrooms and on the main floor (one to go in basement when that is done as well). The TV on our mainfloor and in our master bedroom have all the 'associated' components (blu-ray, PS3, Xbox360 etc...) connected through a receiver. A single HDMI cable then connects the receiver (which is typically hidden off to the side of the room) to the wall mounted TV via a hidden conduit in the wall.

I like having everything hooked up through the receiver so I can get sound through the surround speaker system (even if it is 2 channel audio piped through all of them).

All my TV's have a built in ATSC tuner, but the receivers do not have a coaxial input for audio and video (just coaxial for FM audio).

I am loath to try and run coaxial to each wall mount TV separately (the 60" on the fireplace specifically does not sound like fun to go this route) and then use the audio out from the TV to the receiver.

So I am wondering if anyone can suggest other options or enlighten me on what they may have done?

The only thing I could come up with, is to sell the HD PVR Cogeco receivers I now have (I bought two when we moved in) and the use the $ from these to finance the purchase of a digital converter box (like the centronics ZAT502) and then just connect the output from this to the receiver.

Can anyone comment on this approach or suggest anything else that might work?

Many thanks!

Can anyone comment on this approach or suggest anything else that might work?
I have a couple suggestions :) Welcome to the forum.
the 4228hd doesn't normally fit thru the attic opening. The DB-8 comes in pieces, but can be assembled in the attic.
Roof mount, like with a tripod on the peak, will be higher and clear the nieghbouring houses.
If you're keeping cogeco, you'll need the antenna feed direct to each TV, then use the optical out of your TV for 5.1 surround to your AVR.
If you're cancelling Cogeco and going OTA only, since you're used to having a PVR, sell your cogeco boxes and buy the CM7000Pal DVR, then use your existing HDMI to your AVR and TV.