For the benefit of future comparisons, the 4 tuners I tested with are the Hauppauge HVR-1600, HVR-1800, HVR-950Q, HVR-2250.
As roger pointed out in a previous post, if the first stage amp noise figure of any tuner (including the one in your TV) is higher than the preamp you plan to use, you'd be a winner. The case he had pointed out was my 950Q's first stage amp noise figure which was worse than the 7777.

The big question is, what tuner will YOU use and then you could maybe search what kind of tuner components it uses if you're lucky.

The separate VHF and UHF inputs won't be of as much use if he wants to use the same antenna for both VHF-HI and UHF (he would have to split the VHF-HI and UHF signals and then combine the VHF-HI and VHF-LO signals. Certainly one option, but may not be the best one.

As for overload, with the antenna pointed towards the south-east it shouldn't be a problem for you as HC is east and CF is north so the antenna will attenuate the signals from both towers. The worst problems occur when both weak and strong signals are in the same direction.

The 4228 was held out a 2nd floor window and pointed toward South Colton. The reception on WNPI was good and I think WNYF was fairly stable. In the attic they dropped off.

I'd be up for building something but I don't know how to choose a design based on my objectives and TVFool results:confused:

bowtie, if you stay in the attic you are in an uphill battle for the US stations. I don't think you'll get WNYF reliably from the attic even with a better antenna.
Maybe you can pick WNPI with a better antenna, that's if you manage to build something better than the 4228hd. Lots of people have done worse when trying their own antennas, even if it looked better on paper. Check the antenna building threads for recommendations on that front.

Thanks for the replies. I'll keep reading.

The other thing to consider is have you modified your CM-4228HD? See CM4228HD Hardware Hacks (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=103749) for details.

flavoie is correct though and it may be an uphill battle if you have to keep the antenna in the attic. Any chance of keeping it in that second story window or even attaching it to the south side of the house?

I just borrowed the 4228 for one night to test it. I wish I could have tried it with a 7777 or 7778 pre-amp.

I think I'm pretty well stuck with the attic install.

Not having the 4228hd on hand is good since you're now completely free to select the antenna you like. You can even check jrmclean's reception results in Kanata and compare his attic WNYF reception vs your TVFool. You could be lucky.

Try to set yourself with a base of reference when you select what antenna you wish to build. In your case, I think it could be a Windegard HD8800 pointed at the US stations & a VHF antenna (covering VHF HI & LO) like the vip302sr pointed at CF. I'd combine them using a cm7777 preamp.

Your future DIY antenna would need to, at the very least, have a better net gain at UHF channel 18 than the HD8800 if you wish to do better with WNYF.

I will second flavoie's recommendation of a HD8800 and a VIP-302SR. The big question is how well the VIP-302SR will do with channel 6 post transition, but there aren't many better options readily available. A VHF-LO Yagi might be better for it, but that is throwing an third antenna into the mix.

Hey guys, I'm a complete newbie to the world of OTA and hoping you guys can help. I live in a 2-story with a chimney. Here is the TVfool based on my long/lat:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8d173204e73e28

I'd like to get as much DTV as I can to 3 TVs. I'd love to get American channels if possible but don't have a sense of what's reasonable based on my TVfool results. In my limited knowledge and from reading this thread, it sounds like WNPI might be doable but WWNY probably isn't.

If you guys could provide any recommendations, it would be much appreciated.

Aryall hi and welcome
Do you get different results for WNYF (a wwny repeater closer to Ottawa)
When you input different heights into TVFool ? I don't see a specific height in your current tvfool report

Hi flavoie. I left it blank as I wasn't sure what I should enter. Should it be the height from the ground to where my antenna will be mounted? I've been meaning to get up on my roof anyway (to check on my shingles after the wind last week) so I could measure the height this weekend.

yes, the height for TVFool is the height above ground. The terrain database doesn't know about your house :-)

Looking at the profile view for WNYF in aryall's TVFool report, I don't think it will change much with different antenna heights, but it is always worth checking. Since he will likely be able to receive WNPI, my antenna recommendation would be the same either way.

I would say a Winegard HD8800 pointed towards WNPI and a VHF antenna towards Camp Fortune. As always Global post transition is a bit of an unknown since VHF-LO has performed so poorly for DTV in the US. The best option would be to have separate VHF-LO and VHF-HI Yagi antennas, but a single VHF LPDA antenna (such as the VIP-302SR) may be okay.

roger is right. Whether you wish to get WNPI (PBS, 1 main HD channel + 2 SD channels) only and/or get WNYF once in a while when weather conditions are good, the antenna recommendation would be the same. I prefer 2 antennas (UHF & VHF) combined with a dual-input preamp, it's a simple and effective setup.

So I'd go with a Winegard HD-8800 (1st choice) or Channel Master 4228hd (2nd choice for the UHF antenna). Those are some of the UHF antennas with the largest net gain (that I know of) for channels 18(WNYF) and 23(WNPI).

And I'd go with a Delhi vip302sr for VHF (all of VHF) because it's small and available locally. But you could go with a larger VHF antenna with a stronger gain for channel 6 if you wanted.

Then use a Channel Master 7777 preamp to combine the antennas. The high gain would be helpful since you plan on using 3 TVs, as well as knowing you usually need to attenuate FM in this region and the 7777 comes with an FM trap. It is probably the lowest noise margin preamp which contains an embedded FM trap.

If Aryall does manage to get WNPI then I'll know I'm in a hole or I need to improve my setup (which is likely a given).

I still only get PBS (WNPI) on warm summer nights and my TVfool results indicate a stronger signal than Aryall has.
http://http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8d17c6fb49520c (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8d17c6fb49520c)

Not too long ago I tried a 4228HD (in place of my 4221HD) to no avail. My signal strength didn't change.

amac how is your Kitz doing ?
Is it better with an fm trap in front ?
Did you manage to get a distance from those huge trees in the way ?

That is one thing, TVFool knows nothing about is trees and buildings so if they are in the way, your results will be worse than it predicts.

Good morning guys,

Any of you guys ever get channel 45? it scanned in last night but no video lock. Its not on my tvfool report.

Thanks

Flavoie,
The kitz is fine but no FM trap. I actually meant to go shopping for one today but got distracted with exterior cleanups causing low back pain.
My mount points will likely always be at one of my chimneys (ah yes, need to get proper chimney mounts too) which are behind the trees.
Not convinced the trees are the problem though. I have walked around the roof to various corners with little difference.

The push is on however as I'm dropping Bell TV in mid-May. I'm not really hopeful though that I'll succeed at getting PBS outside of tropo nights ...