I rewired my house six years ago - long before I knew about OTA. I wish I could go back in time.

I would have run two RG6 cables to every room so you can have both Rogers and OTA (or a future house owner will have the opportunity to discover OTA).

I think you should leave your existing RG6 wire in the attic for a future roof install. Also run the new wire to the attic and why not throw in a permanent attic installation while you're at it? It might be good enough and it won't be subjected to wind rain and ice.

Also, don't worry about how many splits you have. In my house using a ground-level Kitztech KT100 amp, I have successfully split nine times without losing any channels.

This is your chance. Go for it!

Which neighbourhood are you in, slim_511, or what is your nearest major intersection?

Slim, with a preamp you can feed multiple tvs, and you don't need to run power to the attic either. The preamp sits close to the antenna but the power is fed through the same coax you are using for receiving the signal. A power inserter will be added just before your tv splitter in the basement, where a power plug should be available.

I live in a high rise downtown. Using the Terk Amplified indoor antenna for the Source By Circuit city. I am also using the digital to analogue cable box from Digital Stream. I am able to pull in both OMNI stations, CBC, CBC French, City TV and Sun TV with good reception. Can't wait for the conversion in August. Hopefully I can get more of the Canadian channels. I am having trouble getting the American stations. None at all. Any suggestions?

Hi,
here is my tvfool.com results
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d001b12d2e5b386

I was thinking of purchasing a Channel Master CM 3020 Deep Fringe Advantage TV Antenna to put on my Bungalow roof.

Do you think this would work for me without a pre amp and rotator.
I'm in Bourget Ontario area.
Thanks
Mary-Jane

Hi everybody,

My top priority is to pull in TFO (for my pre-school kids) but it's transmitted out of Hawkesbury and my TVFool results (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d001b016dbcc984) don't look promising.

I have a few questions:

1) Is it even possible to reliably pull the Hawkesbury TFO signal into Orleans?
2) If so, how can I do it with the least grief and risk as an OTA first-timer? Will an amplified attic antenna do the trick (we're in a two-story town house) or am I looking at mounting an antenna on the roof? Are there any local zoning issues I should be concerned about (i.e. do I need a permit to mount an antenna on the roof?)
3) Can we get one or more of the US networks from here? T'would be nice.

Thanks a million,

T

Hi Teelord,

I have written various people to try to convince TFO to let them broadcast OTA in Ottawa through a partnership with TVO or any other station. Looking at your TVFool, TFO is too far away for reliable reception, as is the case for virtually everybody in Ottawa.

I suggest you ask TFO why they don't have a signal in Ottawa but have one it in Pembroke, Hawksbury, ... when all they possibly could have to do is making an agreement with another station to get them carried as a subchannel.

new to the forum / orleans user near Trim and Innes.

I have already bought a few analog to digital converter and some rabbit ears but it's so so for most tv's.

I was thinking of running an antenna from the attic of the townhouse and run rg6 cable to the basement where the normal cable lines are all connected.

right now, getting 4-1, 9-1, 17-1 and 20-1.

tks

Robin,
what is your A/D for? Do you mean preamp/amplifier or digital tuner?

Anyway read through the forum and take note of suggested antenna types for your area/application. There is an antenna chart (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=97121) available on the first page of this thread... it is highly recommended to get an antenna from this list -- other antennas have been shown to give inconsistent results.

Even better read through this forum, search for Orleans, and see what has & has not worked in your area.

... don't forget to go to TVfool.com and post your results (make it your homepage).

maryjane

Welcome to the forum.

Every antenna will work for something. What is missing from your post is some statement of a problem you're experiencing or what your goal is and what channels you are hoping to receive. The TVFool website provides help on interpreting the information provided, reading channel strength and the likelihood of receiving a specific channel.

@Robin2: Welcome to the forum.
Please check out our welcome message …
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=125161
… for some invaluable instructions on how you can help us help you better.

Thanks for the Welcome amac,

I'm basically just looking to receive the surrounding channels 4-1, 9-1,20.1 etc if more even better.

Someone mentioned to me that the Channel Master 4228 would probably be all I need since I'm not that far from Ottawa.

But I notice that everyone is selling the new 4228 hd is this one as good?

I have a regular antenna tha'ts not on the roof so this winter I was getting those hd channels. But since spring I don't get them I believe because the antenna is too low and leaves on the trees are blocking the signals I do get the analog ones 13,4,11 etc...

The antenna I have now is an older shogun too heavy to put on the roof that's why I'm now looking at maybe the 4228.

Thanks
Mary-Jane

maryjane, use the Search This Thread tool to the upper right beside Thread Tools and put in your neighbourhood name or local street names as search terms, and if there are results already posted from where you live you can compare to see what works best. That's the beauty of these local threads. :) As for best antennas, the Antenna Chart has them all listed for you so we don't use these local reception threads to go over all that here.

hi maryjane,

I'm still not sure how to answer your question.
The bad is you're quite east and you have 48 degrees between Camp Forture and Herbert's Corner, the 2 Ottawa towers. I am not sure how well a 4228hd would pick up both towers because it is a very directional antenna with a narrow beam width. On one hand, a cm4221hd would help cover the wider angle between CF and HC, but on the other hand, a 4228hd would help picking up CTV on channel 13.

You'd likely have the same beam width problem with a very directional yagi antenna such as the Channel Master 3020 you mentioned. And you'd have a very big antenna in your hands...

Using a 4221hd or 4228hd will probably not be good enough for channel 6 (Global)

You are close to WCFE, but you'd get it off the back of the antenna. You may or may not get it when pointed east.

I just moved to Crysler and am totally new to OTA!!!

Here are my TVfool results:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d001b59b0535039

I have an old expressvu dish on my roof that I would like to replace with an outdoor antenna.

What antenna should I buy??

Hi crysler and welcome
You mention you want an antenna on your roof but you input 8 feet high in tvfool. Is this the real height the antenna would be ?
You should know trees and other houses around you may block the signal especially worse if they are close to you, the signal doesn't come the same way as satellite, it is a more horizontal transmission.

Channel 4.1 (for example) ... typically has signal str of around 70-77%. At moments, I however lose the channel even though the signal str remains the same. At other times, I also see the odd drop in signal str to 50%. My TV seems to get channels with approx. 35 signal str (sharp aquos 52").

Any ideas why I see such variations in the signal str and drops despite a signal that should allow solid reception? I have noted that as soon as I change the channel, the reception comes back.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac97/yrocmorf/DSC05186.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac97/yrocmorf/DSC05187.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac97/yrocmorf/DSC05185.jpg

43% good picture on 17.1. 70% good picture on 4.1, 48% on 4.1 no picture.

Yroc-

Sounds like a multipath issue. I have that here. I change the channel, then come back to it, and all is fine. It has to do with the tuner trying to be intelligent and cancelling out the multipath.

Check TV channel 24 in analog and see if there are ghost images. It may also change as you move around. Signal strength wont go down but the stream will break.

Seems you are right about ghosting.

http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac97/yrocmorf/DSC05188.jpg
http://i889.photobucket.com/albums/ac97/yrocmorf/DSC05190.jpg

What can I do to fix it?

Move your antenna around by a few inches and look for minimal ghosting on 24. Then tune to 25 CBC