The antenna is just a few inches wider than the chimney. I was more concerned about the NAF - neighbour acceptance factor! Not being able to see it from the road helps the curb appeal. I don't think snow will be a problem. You can't see it in the pic but the high roof is very steep, and snow just doesn't stay up there. The house is 22 years old and has a traditional masonry fireplace, handy for extended winter power outages we see from time to time. I'm not going to bother with Global - too much effort and cost for one channel. I'll wait for them to fix their crummy transmitter first.

At $3 for a dipole on clearace from the source a couple bucks for a balin and $20 for an outdoor UVSJ from FTAtronix I don't think it costs that much. Who knows if or when global will "fix" their transmitter.

I'll give it a shot. But based on what jihenry told me, it's going to take more than a simple dipole on the roof to pull in Global in my area reliably. I honestly can't think of any Global carried programming I've watched since they lost NFL rights to CTV. Their rebroadcasted American series are online anyway.

I have never tried a dipole myself and you have more height than I do so it is certainly worth a try, but for me Global is a weak signal using VIP302SR VHF antenna.

Outdoors makes things easier but if you can post a link to your TVFool report, we can better advise you. My rule of thumb for Global is if the noise margin is above 30dB an outdoor dipole should work, between 20 and 30dB it might be okay and below 20 dB you will need something better. The thing is, the best antenna gain I have seen for VHF-LO is 10 dBd and good luck getting that so anyone with a NM below about 25dB may be in for a tough ride.

The VIP302SR does provide more gain than a dipole (supposedly 4dBd on VHF-LO), but elevation and other factors can compensate for that.

I tried making a simple folded dipole using some scrap wire and a balun I had in my parts drawer, sized specifically for channel 6. With it I was able to pick up 9.1, 13.1, and 65.1 perfectly, which was surprising. But not even a sniff of Global.

I've taken the TVfool result for my area which lists 6.1 at a 36db NM with a few grains of salt, especially with the experience of jihenry not pulling it in reliably even using a VIP302.

I tried my hack-in-tenna again, and only by holding it up above the high roof line, next to my 4221, I was able to get Global at about 25% signal strength which seemed good enough for an error free picture and sound. If I drop it down three feet from there, no signal! So putting up a proper VHF antenna might work after all.

Has something changed with Global on RF6? I've always been able to receive RF6 off the backside of my no-name 4-bay, but now I have to point it towards CF to get decode.

Antenna work at CF?

CIII-DT-6 is coming in fine for me. I think you are lucky to receive it with a UHF antenna at all. Trees are starting to get their leaves so that may be your problem. You might want to concider getting a VHF antenna (even if only a dipole) for reliable reception.

Thanks. I've had consistently good reception since July of last year, so I don't think foliage is a concern. I'll check all the connections on my system.

If the transmitter hasn't changed, then something in my system has...

It could be interference, either an increase in impulse noise or skip is causing CJOH-TV-6 to come in.

I'm looking to upgrade my no-name 4 bay antenna and move from a 14 foot high backyard mount to a roof-top setup. I'm near the corner of Hunt Club and Hawthorne. I'm currently pointed just off CF and getting all the locals at 75-100% for CF and 50-75% for HC except for 6.1 which is only around 25.

Was thinking of getting a Wingard HD8800 and an Antenacraft Y5-2-6 with a CM777 pre-amp. I'm hoping to improve signal strength from HC and pick up some of the American channels.

My tvfool results http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_content&task=view&id=57

user23456, welcome!

Could you please post a link to your TVFool report so we can advise you better?

my results http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d7fcf55c5a50747

Does anybody have an OTA ATSC Signal Meter I could borrow for optimizing my antenna position? It would be easier to do this from the rooftop rather than having a 2-man communication using built-in TV meter.

Trying to make the best of my multi-path situation. If you have one I could borrow, please PM me. I will take kind care of it.

~millergd~

user23456, A HD8800 sounds like a good plan. You have a very good shot at receiving WCFE. As for WNPI and WNYF-LD, adjacent channel interference from CHCH and CITY respectively may cause problems, as there is only 22 degrees between the two towers, but you will have to try it to know for sure. WNYF-LD is also on the weak side and may not be reliable anyway.

As for the Y5-2-6, you may not want reconsider that as Global applied on Monday to move to channel 14. Not sure when that will happen though (if it is approved, which I expect it will be). My guess would be 6 months to a year.

Thanks for the info roger1818, I'll have the HD8800 setup shortly and will post my results.

One other question, my TV reports different virtual channel numbers than TVFool for CHCH, CITY and both omni stations. Is TVFool incorrect or is something else going on here?

Industry Canada (which TVFool gets is Canadian data from), doesn't record virtual channel numbers in their database, so TVFool is unable to know what they are unless they are manually updated.

I've posted an album of my TV displaying Digital OTA signals and all the special features that my Samsung TV provides for DTV. I want to show others that receiving TV over-the-air with an antenna is a viable alternative to subscription TV services, and is not as stone-age as it might sound!

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/album.php?albumid=991

NOTE: Each TV is different and might have more or fewer features than what is pictured here.