@ Panamark.
Yes i have my aerial tilted to the sky.

As for channel 24. I have a huge overload issue with CBC on that channel. For some reason I picked up 24 as CBC. Im like 6.6 miles from the Byron tower. 2.5 miles from the CFPL tower.

Oh your using a panasonic such as myself. Any did you notice on the "auto detect screen" for digital TV then corner turn to squares when a digital channel is found. I dont like the % scan. I wish they used some thing like channel 4 being scanned. etc.

As for Erie, Theres a 4 story building at 60 feet that i need to overcome.

@Fox.

Use a VHF aerial. Then use a VHF/UHF combiner. Or use a preamp that has VHF & UHF inputs. (My use would be to point the VHF aerial towards Kitchener & UHF one towards Cleveland.)

Read ya l8r,
Al.

@Emerald Boar
Indeed you are overloading for sure. I cannot even use the Phillips pre amp I picked up because it has to much gain for my simple set up. I speculate the same for you to. Have you considered taking it out of the loop? I find the sensitivity of the Panasonic tuners to be excellent for Dxing but they overload easily. I have a list of the channels from the surrounding 200 miles. Armed with these, on good weather condition evenings I check to see if a channel says "Program not available 1". If I get this then I switch to signal meter level to see if it is getting near picture showing levels (squares that break up on screen) This starts around 25% to 30%. Above 30% the picture is solid with no break ups. Now that I have the two clones set up it has been nice not running up to the attic all the time.
There should be no way that channel 40 CBLN analog CBC shows up on channel 24. BTW it is nice to have someone in the area to share reception reports with. Take Care
Mark

@Ringtailedfox
This forum has a sponser that I would suggest, but I would pick it up in Mississauga as to save in shipping costs. You are in the heart of one of Canada's most premier Americian OTA DTV choices. Perhaps being in downtown Windsor is hampering your reception results. Darn it, move to the country, lol

Panamark / Emerald Boar,

Your results are tempting me to invest in OTA again.
Years ago I had a massive vhf/uhf combo antenna (Delhi 929) which gave me acceptable but not great results most of the year until summertime when DXing brought in many far far away networks, over the years I saw networks from Green Bay, Kentucky, Fort Wayne Indiana, Toledo, Rochestor NY and the usuals from Cleveland, Erie and Detroit. I still have vcr tapes with recordings of Thomas the Tank Engine from WVIZ which my kids loved...but they grew up and wanted their MTV! so the arial came down and Sat/cable took its place.

I recently moved to Byron area (Boler/Southdale) and had run a RG6 up to the attic when the house was being built, just in case ;)

keep up the good work!

believe me, i'd love to move to the country!

I recently moved to Byron area (Boler/Southdale) and had run a RG6 up to the attic when the house was being built, just in case
Stu,
Smart man thinking of this. I recently ran some down from the attic through the cold air return and boy was I thinking "I should have done this when I was building the house". Just the notion to do this makes me think that you have had the fever for OTA well thought out already. You just needed someone to push you ahead.
Well let me tell you; it is a fun hobby. Just like when I was younger, the thrill of success or failure of receiving a signal captures you.
London doesn't really offer any real stock of OTA equipment per say. What you'll find is people can get it for you (at a mark up of course) so I would consider making a trip towards Guelph just off of number 6 HWY (there's a place there) or just head into T.O.
OTA enthusiast's in our parts are far but few. As you would know, here in the city there are not much antenna's. It's sorta cable country.
I may live among them but my passion lives on.
Hope to here more about your progress to our side.
Mark

@stucatz
Free Tv is well worth it.

When your picking OTA. It comes in clean, sharp images. Of course there are issues.

OTA signals come in at No signal, "poor signal", Pixelation or clean. WEWS comes in clean @ 40%. whereas WJW has pixelation @ 70% (Then again this is just WJW test channel.)

Since, you ran RG6. If you wanted to do. You can set up a FTA satellite system. There are dozens of channels you can choice from.

Best thing about OTA. its free & no simsubbing.

Read ya l8r,
Al

I think PanaMark you should pair you antennas, that give you more gain.And what about preamplifiers for your antennas. If you get one transistor preamplifiers, those don't overload as two transistor. If overload is still problem try lovering electric voltage of power supply.You will also need galvanic continuous combiner, so power gets thru, but it should work. :o) well then you will need rotor to,,,,,,,,,perhaps tilter to:p

@Ringtailedfox
I had the same situation except without a rotor. I picked up a second identical antenna and ganged them. I could not stack the two on top of each other due to height restrictions in my attic; so I cut to equal length's of RG6 (31 inches) and feed them to a splitter used backwards as a combiner. I spaced the two antenna's about 25 inches apart and pointed one towards Cleveland and the other towards Detroit. Over the course of two weeks I was able to tweak the directions and angles to a point where now I believe I get the strongest receptions from both markets.
I live close to two television towers here in London so I don't have a pre amp in the loop, but I get decent reception from both markets at the same time.
I understand this is probably not the greatest set up for you considering you have it up on a tower but just so you know; it works.
Mark

Hi. What if you point both antennas to same direction? You should get more gain ?????

@kgb
I tried pointing them in the same direction. I really did not notice a difference in signal strength on the channels I was receiving so I settled on the set up I 've got. If I had the room to stack (one on top of each other) I'm sure I would gain some dB's.

@ring
Yes it is technically possible to merge 2 antenna.

Use a single channel insert. (This can be used to block a strong local signal)
Use a VHF/UHF combiner. (Point a VHF antenna towards Toledo)
Run multiple cables (one cable per antenna) then use a switch to combine.
Use Filters to block channels from each antenna then combine.
Stack antennas and use a rotor.

Read ya l8r,
Al

PS, Cant wait for june 12.

PS, Cant wait for june 12.
what's happening June 12?
lol, just kidding.
You just have to watch PBS station's to get the low down from the "This Old House" guys tutorial on DTV transition. At this point I'm a little tired of the repeativeness of there message.

update:

I got a call from my wife's cousin whom had come over and seen some of my OTA channel's on my television. She lives in downtown London in an apartment and she didn't have cable nor satellite and was craving NHL playoff games. I told her I would sell her one of my 4221HD clones to get channel 40 CBLN CBC.
I didn't know what to expect as I had no idea of what direction she faced.
As it worked out she had an excellent LOS of both towers in our region. I figured heck "this should be favourable".
Boy was I surprised when I did an auto scan...........
30 some odd channels showed up in the early afternoon.
My excitement was that 5-1 WEWS Cleveland was at good signal strength in the early afternoon, as I am used to this channel being an evening, overnight thing. More surprises showed up with some of the other Cleveland channel's were blooming
25 WVIZ analog almost clear, 43 WUAB analog almost clear, and 55 WBNX almost clear. There DTV signals where just short of picking up.
I was so excited I was stumbling my words till my wife told me to calm down.
I left her a list of DTV channels that I was able to pick up from my home and told her to check them in in the early evening.
I gave her cousin a call later that night to see if she was enjoying her new set up.
She was so thankful and also updated me that most of the channel's I left for her to check had indeed come in.

Now:
I am left with one 4221HD clone antenna which I have set up towards Cleveland/Youngstown Ohio.
This is temporary as I have seen the light:rolleyes:
I will be going to Save n Replay soon and picking up two authentic 4228HD Channel Master's and ganging them. Here's the big thing.
I'm going to the roof with a tripod. I am now a firm believer of height and getting out the attic.

Spreading the word in a cable town......

regards
Mark

Mark: You might have better luck with one single antenna. Ganging antennas can be tricky and can result in signal loss about 3.5 db. I would try just one antenna mounted outside on a rotor, and a Channel Master 4221HD that has been hacked (just my two cents).

Appreciate your enthusiasm- my wife fought over getting an OTA set-up, but loves it now- free, crystal clear, and all the shows she wants.

It's a great hobby- knowing that all Canadians use a TV everyday- so our hobby is very practical and financially beneficial. Good luck on you set up.

(I'm forever tweaking mine.)

G

conditions from London Airport c/o The Weather Network at 10:30 P.M.
15 degrees c
a few clouds
wind: S 11km/hr
R.H. 48%
pressure: 102.58 and climbing
visibility: 24 km's
ceiling: unlimited

well.... now that I'm down to one antenna again; I went up in the attic earlier today and I pointed it towards Youngstown, Oh, on account when I get them they offer my best bet for getting the big American networks CBS 27-1, FOX 27-2, 33-1 ABC, 33-2 CW.
I must be off my bearings because for the first time ever I received
24-1 WJET-DT Erie, Pa ABC
also 54-1 WQLN-HD PBS, WQLN-S1 Create, WQLN-S2
and 66-1 WFXP-DT
Perhaps if I had the antenna this way earlier I might have got these more often.
London is an interesting area for DTV. I have been able to pull from Detroit (105 miles), to Cleveland (110 miles) and Erie (90 miles).
I could use some help regarding posting a picture right on this page with "insert image". Perhaps if someone could send me a PM regarding how to do this so that I may post my longest DX picture.
@goforit
you might have sold me now with buying a 4221HD authentic Channel Master.
What I am trying to accomplish is more stable signal strength's and reliability.
I hope to achieve this with with a better antenna and height. thanks for the suggestion.
Mark

I will be going to Save n Replay soon and picking up two authentic 4228HD Channel Master's and ganging them. Here's the big thing.
I'm going to the roof with a tripod. I am now a firm believer of height and getting out the attic.

Two 4228's on a roof mounted tripod, would have quite a wind load. I would think it would make you a prime candidate for a leaky roof down the road.

@EmeraldBoar and friends
Well I went and did it. I stopped by this sites' sponsor and purchased 2 4221HD Channel Master antenna's, a tripod, and accessories, ie: grounding block and a Winegard CC-7870 2 way antenna coupler.
These guys are super nice people! They made me fell welcomed and have the same passion about OTA. I would recommend these guys in a heartbeat. If you get a chance check em out. It worked out that I had a service calls in Vaughn and Ajax so I stopped by on my lunch. I felt like a kid in a candy store.
I don't know when I will be setting up on the roof as my wife reminded me of other pressing projects around the house but I will be sure to let you's know the progress.

Mark

@Mark

Grats,
Did you get a antenna installion guide? Usually there are some things to look out for.

good Luck,
Al

Hello, I'm completely new to all of this, but am wondering if I would be able to pick up any stations from St. Thomas. I have an HD TV with a built in tuner, and was considering getting an antenna to mount to my roof. Could someone let me know if this would be worth my while, and if so, what channels I could expect to get. I began to read through the first few pages of this forum, and it appeared as though London could not receive anything really. In some of the more recent posts however, it appears as though some people in London are picking up stations. So I'm not a bit confused as to whether or not I should invest in an antenna or not.
Thanks in advance for any help.

It appears that you may have a good chance at several digital stations after the June 12th US cutoff. There seems to be many stations within a 60 mile range from St. Thomas.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d61b45a656575bd

Note: I used 'n5p 3v7' as an estimated St. Thomas postal code. You can go to the tvfool.com site and enter your actual postal code for more accurate results.
_________________________________

Some station ID's are marked with an ... I don't know what this means.:confused:

Jmartinx, you will get many stations from Cleveland, Ohio and Erie, Pennsylvania very easily. Depending on the weather, you may also get stations from Detroit (unlikely) or Buffalo (also unlikely, blocked by the height of the land). your basic channel lineup should look like this:
CIII-TV 6 (Global, Paris, ON)
CFPL-TV 10 (A, London)
WICU-DT 12 (NBC, Erie, PA)
CKCO-TV 13 (CTV, Kitchener)
CITS-TV-2 14 (CTS, London)
WEWS-DT 15 (ABC Cleveland)
WKYC-DT 17 (NBC, Cleveland)
CICO-TV-18 18 (TVO, London)
CKXT-DT-3 19 (SunTV, London)
CJMT-TV-2 20 (OMNI.2, London)
WFXP-DT 22 (FOX, Erie)
WJET-DT 24 (ABC, Erie, PA)
WUAB-DT 28 (My Network TV, Cleveland)
CITY-TV 31 (Citytv, Woodstock)
WSEE-DT 35 (CBS, The CW on DT2, Erie)
CBLN-TV 40 (CBC, London)
CBLN-TV-6 44 (CBC, Normandale/Norfolk County)
WQLN-DT 50 (PBS, Erie)
CHCH-TV-2 51 (E! Canada, Alvinston, ON)
CBLFT-TV-9 53 (CBC French, London)
CFMT-TV-2 69 (OMNI.1, London, ON)

the london transmitters are to your NNW, while CITY-TV-2 comes in from woodstock, to your NE. Erie is to your SE, while Cleveland is to your SSW.