With a roof-mounted antenna in the middle of winter? I'd consider the Kitztech KT100-VG low-noise amp mounted indoors at ground level wherever your splitters are.

It will recover your problem channels and solidify everything else and you don't have to go up on your roof.

Yep it's a bit of an ice climb right now. I've got an amp on order!

I feel kind of like an idiot but I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out what stations I could get and what antenna would be best for me. I have spend all evening trying to decode my TVFools results but I can't seem to figure it out.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3db9c9172cb384ed

Is there anybody who could help me out.

macdo170 does this help?
Your radar plot has two lines of blips (They are the Camp Fortune tower at 303 degrees and Herberts Corners tower at 235 degrees) The other blips aren't important - except you might want to think about the two PBS channels from the US - look for them in the Netwk column. If you want PBS you will need a more serious antenna (big, on the roof, rotor etc) For just Ottawa it might be good to let us know how ambitious you want to be (on the roof, in the attic etc). I don't know a lot about antennas but assuming you will want to pick up from both towers you will have to deal somehow with the fact that they are 68 degrees apart. There may be an antenna that can pick up that wide enough - my guess is one of the midrange antennas (see the antenna chart in the FAQ - maybe the CM4221HD) aimed between the towers from your roof might work fine. (But this is your experiment, not mine!!!) Antennas apart, be aware that everything will go digital later this year (lots already is) so your TV will need to be capable of digital or you won't get anything in September, however good your antenna is!

macd0170, are you still in Russell? If so, here's your earlier post and a reply for the benefit of other members:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=33034 Post #235 and 236

macd0170, I am also in Russell and my TVFool results look almost identical to yours. I have a CM4221HD antenna sitting on a stand in my living room in a north facing window and pick up all of the local digital channels with no problem. My antenna is pointed towards Camp Fortune and I pick up the Herberts Corners channels with no problem. To get the PBS stations I need to rotate the antenna to point south for WNPI and south east to get WCFE. I can get WCFE day or night even in the winter. WNPI is a bit more difficult, generally I get it at night only. I can also get WNYF (CBS and Fox) at night sometimes, but only if I move my antenna to a south facing window, I am hoping that once I get my antenna up on the roof I will have better luck with WNYF, and improve the reception for WNPI.

Analog is a mixed bag right now, Global is unwatchable no mater which way I point the antenna but then the CM4221HD is a UHF antenna so no surprise there, might consider getting a VHF low attenna after they switch to digital at the end of August.

I have an indoor antenna to pick up CBC Ottawa HD (it's the only OTA channel I need). Usually the displayed signal strength is 88-92 but recently it's been dropping to as low as 70 (and consequent signal loss) for a while, up to several hours. Have there been transmitter problems, or is, perhaps, my antenna failing? What impact does weather have on OTA digital? I don't want to install an outdoor antenna.

I live in Barrhaven, BTW.

The weather does affect the signal you receive, thus can impact your reception if you don't have enough SNR margin to allow for bad weather.

Suggested reading, the OTA FAQ and Knowledge Base:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=41102

I hope this is the correct place to ask such a question.

This is my tvfool: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d5979a0a944267c

I am looking for an antenna that will get me as many digital channels as possible. I live in a condo but I have access to the attic which is above the 2nd floor (approx 20-25 feet off the ground). My unit is a south side end unit (nothing south, east or west). Only tall building near is south east.

From what I read on the forums the RCA ANT-751 seems to be what is recommended most.... can someone with more experience at this confirm before I spend the money. Right now I have an ANT-4008 but I can only get 4.1, 9.1 and 20.1. I can however get 17.1 and 27.1 on rare occasions by moving the antenna around (but the hot spots are random). I was hoping to get them all the time along with 66.1. I also want to ensure I am covered for what the future might bring.

A bit of advice before I make the plunge.... Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

Purchased a Channel Master 4221 today from OTA Ottawa. Results are good. I am getting all 6 HD channels.

Very nice choice for your location.

If you have times where you think you're losing channels because you are splitting the signal to too many TVs, you can always add a preamp later.

It was suggested to me that I would not pick PBS up from my location... especially given that I cannot have an outdoor antenna.

It is otherwise perfect.

And it was a wise suggestion !
I think you will be fine with UHF locals.

At -6 tvfool snr for your strongest PBS it would be hard getting it from the attic. In comparison, I need a roof mounted 4228 with preamp to get a -8 channel.

Lost 17.1 this morn.

Are you aiming at the HC tower south south east ?

Directly south. Tried moving it slightly and did not make a diff. Could 17.1 be down?

17.1 Working fine here

Had a solid connection yesterday and last night. Showing 38% strength atm, coming in and out. Appears 38% gives me a picture whereas less does not.

27.1 is at 48%
66.1 is at 50%

Could it simply be the overcast weather? Aren't these channels all from the same tower?

Ultimately, is there anything I can do to fix it?

A preamp can help mitigate all signal losses between your antenna and your tuner. It the case where your tuner is not very good it would also help.

What type of tuner do you have ?

Better aiming can help a lot and should be looked at first.
Have somebody look at your signal level for 17.1 and optimize antenna aiming for the best signal level on your weakest channel

And to answer your other questions you can always check the OTA FAQ and knowledge base but yes weather will affect reception. Even though they come from the same tower they are at different height on the tower, probable at different powers and their UHF channels would have slightly different propagation.

Tuner is Sharp LC52D85U