The signal is split a total of 5 times.

One splitter in the attic to feed the bedroom TV, the other continues to the basement.
About 50 feet of cable to the basement.
3-way split in the basement to two HDHR tuners, the third branch continues to the family room.
About 30 feet of cable to the family room.
2-way splitter in the family room, one to the TV the other to the HTPC.

Then you may wish to upgrade to a VHF/UHF pre-amp. Though again I'd caution against the CM7777.

That was my gut feel as well, the CM7777 has too much gain. I'll try posting in the preamp section to see if anyone can verify the VHF-HI gain from the UHF input on the Winegard.

Heh, nevermind CH and TVO, I'm getting some pretty cool tropo right now.

Pulling in WROC on 8.1 for the first time ever right now :D

The signal is split a total of 5 times.

One splitter in the attic to feed the bedroom TV, the other continues to the basement.
About 50 feet of cable to the basement.
3-way split in the basement to two HDHR tuners, the third branch continues to the family room.
About 30 feet of cable to the family room.
2-way splitter in the family room, one to the TV the other to the HTPC.
Honestly, I’m surprised if you are getting *any* reception from the weaker Buffalo and Toronto stations with that many splits without using any distribution amplifiers. I would start off by fixing your inside distribution network first by at least replacing your 3 way splitter with a 4 (or more) output distribution amplifier and running another coax from your basement to your HTPC.

However, it would be even better if you could run another coax from the attic to your basement as well and use it for your bedroom TV. This way, you could run your antenna directly to your distribution amp and split from there which would be better than losing half your signal by splitting before your distribution amp.

Hi everyone,

This past weekend I finally placed my CM4228HD on a j-pole mount about 20 feet up on the side of my house. Admittedly I am new to OTA, but I've been having some strange signal issues that I'm wondering if anyone can help me diagnose.

On Sunday I was getting Fox 29, CTN, CBS and ABC. Yesterday I completely lost Fox 29, CTN, ABC but retained CBS and gained NBC. Is it normal for signals to drop in and out like that in a 24 hour time period? Would Hurricane Irene have impacted my reception and if so why would I lose Fox 29 and gain NBC? According to my TV fool results all of the channels should be within range for me.

Even last night while watching Hawaii 5.0 in crystal clear CBS HD :D the signal progressively got worse until it was almost unwatchable around 11. Is this normal behavior?

I've read the OTA FAQ and Stampeder's post #23 gave some insight, but I still wasn't expecting such a dramatic change over night in both better and worse signals.

Can I expect this kind of inconsistency on a regular basis?

Currently I do not have a pre-amp installed but I am considering one if OTA proves worthwhile for me. Would a pre-amp be likely to level out my signal?

If any more info on my part is required, just let me know.

Thanks in advance.

I have pre-amps on both antennas in south Burlington, but keep in mind that the amps won't get you signals that aren't there, they will help minimize losses from long cable runs and splitters and things.

It would help if you posted your tvfool results.

jgconnor:

Here you go: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9e74fa46aea657

The 4 channels in question are WUTV, WIVB, WKBW and WGRZ.

As interested as I am in getting the best signal possible, I'm equally curious as to whether or not signal drops like the ones I described are normal.

Thanks.

wear_dark,

Your tvfool numbers look quite good. Better noise margins than mine.

As with most folks in our neck of the woods getting Toronto and Buffalo with one antenna is the holy grail.

If you aim your antenna at about 125 degrees magnetic you should get pretty consistent results out of Buffalo but you might not get much out of Toronto, at least not today.

If you have trees, buildings or other obstructions you may have issues.

But as you have no doubt read here, everything is in flux due to the Canadian analogue shutdown, so what you get today is very like not what you will get tomorrow.

I'm assuming that you are using good quality cable (RG6) and it's not excessively long.

You may want to consider reading about hacking your CM4228HD to improve its performance.

wear_dark,

It depends where in north Burlington you are, but I'm in the WUTV-DT 'dead zone' where 29 disappears quite regularly in the evening if it's been a warm, sunny day... pretty much any time that happens between May and September. This is due to tropo effects causing the signal to bend away from my location. Lucky me. ;) :rolleyes:

Today I replaced my UHF-only preamp with a UHF/VHF preamp. Although my antenna is UHF-only, I am able to receive CFTO on channel 9 with acceptable quality. Here are my new stats with stacked Channel Master 4221 antennas in the attic and a Kitztech KT-100VG preamp.

Actl Virt Callsign Strength Quality
7 67.1 WBBZ-DT 56% 0%
9 9.1 CFTO 98% 88%
11 11.1 CHCH 83% 72%
13 CKCO 63% 52%
14 29.1 WUTV 71% 78%
15 15.1 CKXT 50% 0%
19 19.1 TVO 100% 100%
20 5.1 CBLT 100% 100%
23 51.1 WPXJ 46% 0%
24 25.1 CBLFT 76% 86%
26 26 WNYB 57% 43%
32 23.1 WNLO 100% 98%
33 2.1 WGRZ 74% 86%
35 36.1 CTS 94% 100%
38 7.1 WKBW 90% 100%
39 4.1 WIVB 86% 89%
41 41.1 CIII 99% 96%
43 17.1 WNED 100% 100%
44 44.1 OMNI 80% 96%
49 49.1 WNYO 55% 67%
51 29%
53 57.1 CITY 71% 63%
64 64.1 OMNI 75% 80%
66 66.1 CKXT 72% 94%All measurements made with a HDHomerun3 tuner using the SignGH iPad app.

Another NE Burlington OTA newbie here! Very similar results to other people in same area here. But just two general questions for now, that I haven't been able to find yet.

I wanted to play around with OTA before really committing to it, see how it would fly with the wife and kids, without spending serious money. So I bought an indoor Terk antenna, and am getting 6-8 stations. We were blown away by the quality of the HD, and we're all pretty sure we can live with this. So I'm ready to return my tester and get a real roof setup.

My two questions are;

1) is it normal for it two take 3-4 seconds between channel changes? Or is it just my crappy indoor antenna's issue?

2) when wiring up, I know to use RG6, which I have a few runs of in various lengths, but will it be detrimental to attach them together? Or is it best to spend the coin and get one long run of cable? We're a one TV family, so no splitters or anything for us.

Thanks!

3-4 seconds does seem long, I would think it has to do more with the TV tuner then the antenna itself, though I'm not an expert on that.

One long cable would be better, especially if by a 'few' you mean 3 or more. Not sure how much cable you need, but it shouldn't cost you that much at all. As you are in NE Burlington, check out a store called Sayal, they'll have most everything you'll need including cheap cable. It's on Harvester between Appleby and Walkers.

I have also completely lost City Tv , Omni 1 & Omni 2 .. & now also getting extremely pixelated Sun Tv ( it was very clear with no loss of signal before ) .

I think City Tv , Omni 1 & Omni 2 are not up on CN tower yet ..so I haven't lost hope for them yet ..hopefully I get them back again .

Omni 1 & 2 and City TV have all changed channels or frequencies, you will need to do a rescan to find them again, but they are all working well.

I have also lost CHCH which sucks.

Moosebox -- glad to hear someone in the area is getting City and the OMNIs from TO. I'm not having luck so far. Got a glimpse of them last night in the wee hours, just enough to lock them in, but nothing today.

The other TO signals (CBCs, CTV, Global, TVO) are loud and clear for me, as is CHCH. Sun has been good today, but varies day by day.

W

Moosebox -- glad to hear someone in the area is getting City and the OMNIs from TOYea, they are pretty strong a clear for me, just took awhile to figure out how to get them locked on in Windows Media Centre. Unforunately I just realized I no longer get CHCH and CTV, guessing because they are VHF now, so I need a new atenna I guess?

Moosebox,

I'm in Burlington too, I'm getting CFTO and CHCH more or less with CM4221HDs.
I plan to wait for a while to let both these stations work their kinks out, then I'm going to try tweaking my antenna. Only if all that fails will I consider getting a VHF-only antenna.

Actually I just relized I have a UHF only preamp on the antenna that gets CHCH and CTV, I removed the amp and now receive these channels 100%. Though I lost Fox/MyTv/ION without the amp, so I'll have to buy a UHF/VHF one now, though this is better than getting a new antenna!

Live in North Halton -- top end of Acton.

Home made Grey-Hoverman GH6, rev.0 -- just my prototype. Selected it based on good rear rejection and reduced directionality. I have tried several other newer GH designs but that are too direction IMHO for my needs.

Connected to an HDHomeRun (tuner0 on OTA, tuner1 on soon-to-go-geco cable) over ~25m of RG6.

Currently ZERO amplification. Antenna hangs in my garage from an eye hook and points directly at the southern tier of Buffalo (i.e. where WGRZ, WIVB and WKBW live).

Toronto is essentially due East and I can "see" the CN Tower and BMO building through an opening in the treeline and houses in my subdivision. Buffalo is mostly 1 edge diff in my location.

Signals (again ZERO pre-amping so far) are typically (signal/quality/distance in KM):
Actual Channel in parentheses
CFTO (9): 75/90/60
CHCH (11): no luck so far
SunTV Hamilton (15.1): no luck sitting at 19-25 signal
WXXI (16): 45-47/65/171 -- high weather dependency early AM/primetime
TVO (19): 78/95/60
CBLT (20): 80/98/60
WPXJ (23): 50/60/110 -- lose during the day on humid days
CBLFT (25): 75/90/60
WNYB (26): 46/65/100 -- sporadic
WUHF (28): 50/65/171 -- same as WXXI -- but I can get Rochester!!!
WNLO (32): 50/70/110 -- seems to be rock solid for me
WGRZ (33): 45-50/60/162 -- I get this in all but the worst weather
CITS (36): nada
WKBW (38): 39-43/45-50/162 -- only get in ideal conditions
WIVB (39): 40-48/50/162 -- not quite as good as WGRZ
SunTV Toronto (40): squot so far -- sits at 33% signal
Global (41): 65/75-90/60 -- rock solid now
WNED (43): 45-55/55-70/110 -- get this routinely -- humidity affects like today
CITY (44): helloooo I should get you -- stuck at 33% signal
WROC (45): sporadic as WXXI but it's Rochester. Cool tropo
CFMT (47): nada just like CITY
WNYO (49): get it very sporadically early in the morning and overnight on clear nights
CJMT (51): Houston, we have a problem -- nothing locked at 19% signal

I wonder how I'll do if I stack another GH6, rev.0 below and add a pre-amp. I find WXXI and WUHF in Rochester surprisingly easy to get morning/evening and this is with an "attic" type unit that is not particularly well built (ahem). I am a Grey-Hoverman convert.

My neighbours are somewhat vocal concerning an outdoor antenna. I'll keep everyone posted once I get a preamp and finalize my install.

I am welcoming choice one-liners for NoCogeco when I call them in October to cancel my service. Not sure what the prize will be for the best one.

The Squiffy

Transition has been interesting here in Burlington in the Tyandaga area. Prior to the transition I had a combined signal for my Buffalo and Toronto antennas and I boosted my Toronto signal with my Kitstech low noise pre-amp before combining.

However, after the transition I couldn't pick up City TV or OMN1 1 or 2 but I discovered my problem. Once I removed the pre-amp on my Toronto antenna my problems went away. I guess I don't need the pre-amp anymore!

I'm now getting rock solid signals on all 26 Canadian and US channels, I got City TV back (on 57-1) and also got OMNI 1 back (but on a different channel 47-1). Global TV HD still scans in (on 41-1) but the signal is too low in summer...but the strength normally improves in winter. For whatever reason I no longer get OMNI 2 even though it scans in at 69-1. I don't watch OMNI anyway so who cares. Further to this, I finally get Sun TV (15-1) at about 80 %. Because I'm so close to Hamilton, the signal was always too strong with the pre-amp. All is good.