-if you want to try a single antenna for everything first (which is what i tried first and gets very good results too):
cm4228hd

The problem is the CM-4228HD does not receive VHF-LO very well, so a separate antenna will be needed for Global anyway, so I would lean towards the HD-8800 and get a separate antenna for VHF.

I absolutely agree.

Or you'd get rabbit ears inside for VHF-Lo/Global, keep cm4228hd for VHF-Hi and merge them with an HLSJ.

Or you'd get rabbit ears inside for VHF-Lo/Global, keep cm4228hd for VHF-Hi and merge them with an HLSJ.

I am not convinced rabbit ears will be able to receive Global's post-transition DTV broadcast.

My attic mounted vip302sr, preamped after about 20 feet of cable between it and the cm7777 on my roof, gets Global OK.

I wonder if anybody here tried to get Global on channel 6 with rabbit ears ? I never got it working myself, so roger is definitely on to something. You really have to wonder why they don't do something about it if nobody in Ottawa will be able to actually receive it !

My attic mounted vip302sr, preamped after about 20 feet of cable between it and the cm7777 on my roof, gets Global OK.

First of all don't forget your VIP-302SR has 4dBd gain on VHF-LO so it has about 4dB more gain than rabbit ears.

Secondly, this is the analog broadcast. IMHO, the post transition DTV broadcast will be much more difficult to receive as the simulations (including TVFool) are overly optimistic regarding VHF-LO.

which is why I ask
I wonder if anybody here tried to get Global on channel 6 with rabbit ears ? I never got it working myself, so roger is definitely on to something. You really have to wonder why they don't do something about it if nobody in Ottawa will be able to actually receive it !

If Rabbitears in Alta Vista has a pre-amped 4228hd outside on his roof facing the USA, don't you think it would still be good enough to pull in Global off the back?

Just FYI...Bought a 'real' antenna and pre-amp for hubby at xmas but we are waiting for spring (yes I know it is already spring...we are slow pokes) to mount it, in the meantime we continue to get most of the ota stations with our rabbit ears (OMEGA UHF/VHF/FM indoor amplifier antenna - model OVA-676A)...sound fancy but is really just a set of rabbit ears with a small built-in amp. We definately get Global.

If Rabbitears in Alta Vista has a pre-amped 4228hd outside on his roof facing the USA, don't you think it would still be good enough to pull in Global off the back?

Not a chance! The CM-4228HD has less than -26dBd gain on channel 6 (off the bottom of the chart) on the front.

So lets do some math.

54.4 dB NM
-20dB (at least) correction for over estimated VHF-LO
-26dB (at least) gain on channel 6
-10dB (?) Front to back ratio
-------
-1.4 dB usable signal BEST CASE (more likely to be -10 or -20 dB)

Thanks to Flavoe for taking time to address some of my concerms:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...8d17b130d01d8c

I'm totally a newbie in this area and have been reading the antenna building threads for a couple of weeks without any clue which antenna to build. I'm more inclined to build a GH*n3 models and spent quite a lot of time in Nikiml's website. Can anyone please tell me which model to pick?

GH4n3
GH6n3
GH8n3
GH10n3?

Also, which preamp to pick? CM7777 or CM7778? I'll use only one TV and the distance between my Balcony antenna and TV would require 30/40 feet cable.

Thanks

my cm4228hd, outdoors, preamped, pointed south at WNYF-LD did not get Global on channel 6 off the back.

No Global using a CM4228hd. This is good to know.

My amped CM4228hd at my cottage in Kazabazua does not get Global off the front. But I never thought it would. Still thinking about what to do about that next year.

Maybe Flavoie's idea VHF Hi & Low antenna + Winegard 8-bay.

Also, which preamp to pick? CM7777 or CM7778? I'll use only one TV and the distance between my Balcony antenna and TV would require 30/40 feet cable.

Assuming you have a good tuner, conventional wisdom says a pre-amp is not beneficial if you have less that 50' of cable and don't have any splits. There are some exceptions for poor tuners, but that is the rule of thumb.

My amped CM4228hd at my cottage in Kazabazua does not get Global off the front. But I never thought it would. Still thinking about what to do about that next year.

Not sure of the elevation at your cottage, but the big problem you will likely have with Global is line of sight since it is the lowest transmitter on the tower. All the other issues with VHF-LO only compound the problem.

Assuming you have a good tuner, conventional wisdom says a pre-amp is not beneficial if you have less that 50' of cable and don't have any splits. There are some exceptions for poor tuners, but that is the rule of thumb.
My own personal experience with an HVR 950Q (this is one of the very best tuners out there) and HVR 1600/1800s is no matter where I placed the preamp, it helped reception, with the only exception being with a HVR2250 which overloaded at the input seeing too much signal from the preamp, in which case I added a 4-way splitter in front of the tuner to attenuate the signal and it fixed it and still gave me better results than not using the preamp.

Let's not forget we get fringe signals and every bit of attenuation from the cable + possible splitters + the tuner itself is offset by preamp gain minus its noise figure. In my case, it helped a lot when testing the PBSes and WNYF.
roger what are your results for those channels ?

My own personal experience with an HVR 950Q (this is one of the very best tuners out there) and HVR 1600/1800s is no matter where I placed the preamp, it helped reception,

Those results were without splitting the signal?

Also, all the positive reviews I have heard about the HVR-950Q are from people with a good pre-amp so I don't know how good its first stage amp is. The quality of the first stage amp is irrelevant with amplified signals, but a noisy one makes a low noise amp beneficial even when conventional wisdom says it won't.

As for the HVR-1600, it doesn't have a very good ATSC tuner, but it is good enough for the locals.

roger what are your results for those channels ?

My current antenna isn't good enough for them, but I hope to replace it with an HD-8800 some day.

With and without splitting
1600\1800: split between those 2 (used to be my main 2 tuners)
950q: on it's own non splitted (other PC)

I have an A/B switch between those 2 setups.
Now a 2250 has replaced the 1600/1800 and I am sad to say it gives me worse results than the 1600/1800 I had.

"Not sure of the elevation at your cottage, but the big problem you will likely have with Global is line of sight since it is the lowest transmitter on the tower. All the other issues with VHF-LO only compound the problem."

Lots of issues at the cottage including achieving antenna height. Compound that with trees and the Gatineau Hills and it's going to take a lot of effort to get Global in Aug 2011.

I put up the 4228hd + 7777 last summer. We got CBOT and CBOFT in digital. It could sense SunTV but never saw anything. I think that might have been all of the digitals at the time. Nothing from Herbert's Corners. Strangely, we got a strong CTV from Cornwall all summer. I'll consider our antenna a success if I can get all of Camp Fortune in digital -- Global being the Holy Grail.

I have asked for people's opinions in the Hull - Gatineau OTA thread but no one has answered.