xilbus,

I've never had 45, but occasionally have had 54 (logical 46) which is a test from the CRC

i did a google search for the channel 45 in the new york state and it came up with WCWN Channel 45 out of Troy New York. Hopefully ill get lucky tonight and it will scan in again

Channel 45 is WROC-8 out of Rochester. If you have a clear enough line of sight toward the southwest like I do and you're up high enough, you will probably see this channel on average a few nights a week over the summer. It tends to come in with the Watertown channels but is a bit different. Usually after 10 pm it is strongest, after a clear day and not too windy. Any morning around 5 - 7 AM when it is sunny/hazy and weak jetstream the channel should be very strong.

Thanks Gerry, again last night it scanned in but no video

That means that the SNR (noise) and BER (error) rates are too high even if the lock can be made. This is understandable given the distance from Rochester! :)

thanks Stamp,
whats weird is that im pointed towards norwood and Rochester is way off hehe

so i was able to pull in a bit of that channel 45 thats been elluding me
and its another Omni channel.
i dont know if its just my tv thats putting a omni on that channel or if theres really a omni channel 45. it was really snowy but i could make out that it was the same programing as 66.5

so i was able to pull in a bit of that channel 45 thats been elluding me
and its another Omni channel.
i dont know if its just my tv thats putting a omni on that channel or if theres really a omni channel 45. it was really snowy but i could make out that it was the same programing as 66.5
There is no OMNI programming on analog channel 45.
Since you are close to Camp Fortune, and I seem to recall that you are using a preamp, 45 would be an intermod product between channel 9 from Camp Fortune and Channel 14 from Herberts Corners. (The difference between channels 14 and 45 is 186 MHz, which is the bottom of channel 9.)

thanks for the information Tvlurker :-)

Hi All,

I'm knew to this forum, and contrary to what my handle might suggest, I'm not familiar with antenna theory. But I'm planning on building a SBGH and I'm wondering if anybody has ever tried building one with two driven elements, one on each side of the reflector array.

My problem is that here in Ottawa south, I live smack dab between two major broadcast towers in my area, one to the north-west, and one to the south-south-east. But my real goal is to pick up PBS stations 23 or 38.

I'm wondering, if I direct the antenna south, will the reflectors attenuate the signals coming from the norther tower? And so if I add another driven element to the other side of the reflector array, I'll have an awesome bidirectional antenna. Yes? No? Overkill? Any idea's would be much appreciated.

here's my dilemma:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2283/5722479534_ea1b257721_b.jpg

Hello, your situation is a common one. :) Please read through this thread for a ton of info on how others have fared and what steps they've taken to get the same stations. What is your neighbourhood's name, or your nearest major intersection?

The best way to make a GH bidirectional is to build it in reflectorless form. You will lose some gain, so it may or may not be able to get one or both of the PBS stations. Also be aware of the different bands (VHF-LO, VHF-HI, UHF) that the Ottawa stations will be on after the DTV transition so that you build the correct antenna(s): http://www.user.dccnet.com/jonleblanc/Canada_TV_Stations/

Definitely pose your question about using "two driven elements, one on each side of the reflector " in the Antenna R&D Forum (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=186) for a solid explanation of why that doesn't work well, but please avoid discussing your local reception in there - we'll keep discussing that here in this thread for your area.

It's better if the OP would post a link to the TVFool plot. so we could see the pending trasnmitters.

In any case, for an outdoor antenna pointing towards Herberts Corners and South Colton, I would recommend an antenna with a reflector. The reflector will only attenuate the Camp Fortune signals by 10 to 30 dB, which would still make all the UHF signals receivable.
If you still have an issue with the VHF signals, I would add a separate VHF antenna for 6, 9 amd 13, which are all from Camp Fortune.

At an NM ofr -11dB, WNPI will be barely receivable, and you'll need all the help you can get, so DO NOT omit the reflectors. WNPI on channel 23 will already be suffering from adjacent channel interference form CHCH at Herberts Corners -- do not add the adjacent channel interference from CICO-DT-24 on channel 24 to your PBS reception woes.

Be careful with preamps, too, as 23 can be susceptible to intermod interference from CITY on 17, and CJMT on 20, both broadcasting from Herberts Corners.

Luckily, for you both WCFE and WNPI are to the east of Herberts Corners for you, so I would aim the antenna at WCFE, to get a dB or two attenuation of the local signals from Herberts Corners.

I agree with tvlurker and providing a link to TVfool results is much more helpful. There are so many things you can do with the link that you can't do with an image.

In my opinion, with a lot of work Maxwells_Eqns may be able to receive one of the PBS stations but reception may not be reliable. I can't help but wonder if a high gain Yagi would be a better option to minimize interference from locals.

I would go for a yagi as well. When going for long range american channels a well built yagi antenna is the way to go. Theres a local ottawa shop that sells the 91 xg for around 90 -95$ i would try that.

Thanks all for the response. I'm in South keys and here's my tvfool (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8d17b65adbed22)link.

roger1818 said

I can't help but wonder if a high gain Yagi would be a better option to minimize interference from locals.

Thanks for the suggestion, all. I'm not sure what "minimize interference from locals" means. Would the Yagi be exclusively for the PBS stations? So if I use a Yagi to get the PBS stations, would I also then need to build a reflector-less GH for the nearer broadcast antennas (i.e. Camp Fortune and Greely)?

i built my own antenna, the popular coat hanger antenna and it was great for the locals. but if you get a yagi you will still probably pick up the locals if your pointing towards pbs.

Right now im pointing to watertown to get fox and cbs and im getting all locals

I'm slowly inching my way to improving my chances with WNPI. Cabling is better. Still probably need an FM trap for my Kitz.

I'm also thinking of changing my antenna and at a loss which way to go. I already have the CM 4221HD with which I occasionally lock down WNPI. The Antenna Chart 7.2 has dropped the CM4228HD.

Many here seem to feel that the Winegard HD8800 is best for WNPI (I suspect based on Ken Nist's model results). However, this other location http://www.antennahacks.com/Comparisons/CM4228_vs_DB8_vs_HD8800.htm would suggest strongly against the Winegard and favour the CM4228HD.

Anyone actually use both or care to comment?

Hi,

I just discovered this forum - I hope I am in the right spot to ask my question!

I live in Ottawa (Vanier) and I just bought a new HD TV. I am considering the OTA route and I need some expert advice on the best way to proceed...

Here's the TV signal analysis report I got from TV Fool: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d574756d194ddc0

Given this info, am I likely to get good results with an indoor antenna (the only way to go in my situation) such as the Zenith Silver Sensor (or clones from Terk or Philips)?

Any tips or advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

I've seen both sites. For channel 23, you do have that gain drop, from the modeled antenna. I personnally prefer the models a la Nist. But what that really means, to me, is if you got a cm4228hd (like me) and sometime later you find the HD-8800 model would have been a bit better at 18 & 23, you won't lose much sleep about it when you see these experimental results between 2 sample antennas. If allowed a larger sample, who knows what those experimentals results would be.