Sounds like overload. Try spinning your antenna 180 degrees and point toward Herbert's Corners and see what happens. You're still using the cheap attic yagi, right?

I was thinking the same as HWP, overload. You can test this theory using a variable attenuator, a series of fixed attenuators or a series of splitters acting as attenuators. You put them inline in front of your tv tuner and you add attenuation until your 80% strength goes Up !

CBC is Camp Fortune in Gatineau. I'm not having any issues with it at all. I watch it at least once per day - 6 pm news.

My antenna's pointed at Manotick Station (Herbert's Corners). It's still the cheap Radio Shack yagi in the attic. I get Camp Fortune (CBC/SRC/Sun) off the side of the antenna. It's the only way I can get the HC channels (CityTV and Omni1, I don't get Omni2).

Interestingly the problems only seem to occur during the NHL games. I watch the news just fine. It makes no sense! I watched it all winter with zero issues whatsoever, CBC was always my most reliable channel.

Any comments or advice regarding my antenna choice question?

At what time do you watch the news ? The signal would be strongest at night, overloading could be depending on the signal strength.

What kind of tuner do you have ? Is it an integrated tuner in your TV or a PC tuner ? If it's a PC tuner, have a look if anything is overheating with the fast moving action of hockey in HD. If your PC Components can't keep up, they could overheat. In my case, for another reason (low signal) it would freeze up, which would allow it to cool down, and go through the same frustrating cycle again.

Regarding your antenna, having one with a narrower beam width can be good if you think you have a lot of signal coming from HC and wish to avoid overload. But you haven't tested that theory just yet.

Was there a reason for not going with a CM 4221hd, 4228hd or Winegard HD8800 ? Size ?

The CS4 looks like a fine antenna, but you ought to check out stampeder's antenna chart to look at a broader range of options.

That's a fair point, I watch the news at 18h. However, the image problem seems to get better as the night wears on, not worse. For example, it was almost unwatchable last night when the Canucks game started (at 21h) but by the 3rd period, when the signal was presumably stronger, it was fine. It also seems better during commercials, strangely enough (though that might just be a mistaken impression born of frustration).

I'm seeing the problem on both my LG and Samsung TVs, though it's not as bad on the Samsung (which clearly has a better quality tuner). I also have a PC tuner so I'll check that and see what its results are.

My setup is:


antenna

~40-50ft RG6

splitter (from Rogers)

~20ft RG6

LG TV

~20ft RG6

splitter (from Rogers)

Samsung TV
PC Tuner







Thanks for your suggestions. :)

I've read some negative reviews on the new 4220 and 4228 "HD" antennas, and I've have a bad experience with buying some Channel Master kit that was defective.

I had some exchanges with some of the people at Save & Replay and they pointed me to the Antennas Direct antennas, which seemed like a good pick. The reviews here and elsewhere online are all very positive.

Even though my antenna's pointed straight at it, I don't get a very good signal from HC (see tvfool.com output, above) so that's what I'm trying to remedy, but not at the cost of losing CBC/SRC and eventually Global and CTV. Then again, those are very powerful (comparatively) to begin with, so maybe I'm just thinking too much and trying to be too clever.

Paul, another thing you can think about is macroblocking. You'd get this especially in fast moving scenes, not necessarily on the whole picture, and really depends on the station and how they encode a specific show and not related at all with your setup. I have seen it at various occasions and I assume you are potentially at a greater risk of seeing it during sports. Depends on how CBC is encoding then retransmitting it.

I'll have to google that, never heard of it ;)

I had the signal strength meter up on the TV while this was happening, and the signal strength does temporarily drop to 0% when I lose the image.

Use our Digital Home FAQs (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=30) here instead - you'll get the best info and much quicker. :)

the macroblocking definition is under "acronyms and definitions"

Thanks for that, you guys are awesome. It doesn't look quite like the sample macroblocking image in that post, but it might still be what's happening (although then wouldn't more people be commenting on it?)

Wouldn't you know it it's been pretty good tonight, just happened a few times so far.

I can't believe I'd never seen Stampeder's chart before, it's excellent. CS2 it is!

Just another stupid question: How is the ClearStream5 at picking up ch6 (Global?) Is it worth getting, or would I be okay with bunny ears (which is what I'm using for VHF at the moment). Also, damn you Global for sticking with ch6.

CS2/CS4 being UHF antennas, don't expect VHF channels 6,9,13 from these antennas, especially channel 6. Maybe a bit from channel 13 (CTV) from the CS4. You should also forget that CS5 for VHF Lo (channels 2-6) as it's clearly not made for that. VHF Lo (2-6) and VHF Hi (7-13) sit in very different frequency ranges, unrelated to their channel number...

But you're lucky, you have that yagi in the attic... you should rotate it at CF and see what VHF reception is like at channels 6 & 13. It should give you an idea if it's good enough for you for when they turn digital in september. And remember SRC is also moving at channel 9 this september. Rabbit ears are also an option for VHF.

Then you can merge both antennas with a UVSJ or a dual input preamp like the cm7777.

I like my vip 302sr which i bought locally and is reasonably small at 9 feet wide max in the attic. It does all VHF channels (2-13) and was easy to add to my 4228hd with a cm7777.

I should have never mentioned that attic antenna, it's not that good ;) It's the Terk ZSS clone.

Just wanted to get something cheap and easy to try OTA before I cut the cord, and never looked back. Got it on sale, of course...

The VHF component from that antenna is actually from separate bunny ears that come out the back, which aren't obvious in the picture. As an aside, I'd be curious to see how one of those Winegard Metrostar "UFO" style antennas that claim to do ch2-69 would fare.

I have a CM 7778 pre-amp that can be configured for dual inputs to combine a VHF and UHF antenna.

Once again, damn you Global.

You might be interested in the hdtvprimer comparison of commercial antennas. It would put in perspective the different gains of the various antennas you are considering. Looks at net gain charts. Have a look at how none of the UHF antennas are listed under the VHF range. Also notice how big the channels 2-69 antennas are...

Hi all,

I need some help/advice for my setup. Here are TVfool results (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d5747290eac1bc5)

At the moment I have CM4221 knock off mounted in the lower attic over garage. Probably not the best placement for antenna.

From there I’m going with a long cable 50ft or so to go to 1-2 splitter and to my HTPC in the basement (el cheapo USB atsc on wmc7). Then the run continues to the distribution box in the basement another 30ft or so and I use 1-3 splitter (for my bedroom, living room, computer rooms) another 20ft – 40ft per run.

My main problem is that sometimes I drop/lose CBC HD channel… Last night when watching hockey, I had 55% signal strength and 100% signal quality according to atsc tuner in LG 32LD450 TV. I cannot even scan in CITYTV HD on it. It is quiet possible my CM4221 needs a readjustment… However I have a feeling using 2 splitters (db drop) along with 100 – 120ft cable run is not helping…

1) I was wondering if buying CM7777 preamp would help my situation. I believe CM7777 should help me to add VHF antenna to dial upcoming VHF channels.

2) Also I was wondering if I should built a quick and dirty DIY 4-bay (I did it before) out of coat hangers on 2x4” (or even vertical 8-bay) would help over CM4221 knock over?

3) I believe the rottor would be best, but could I use 1-2 splitter to use it as combiner (to point to both Ottawa region towers)?

4) Or Perhaps I should just buy omnidriectional antenna such as Channel-Master-3000A-Amplified-Omnidirectional and I should call it a day?

I do apologize for so many questions and thanks for your help/direction in advance…

Thanks so much ;)

amd111, hi and welcome.

From your TVFool, you have a shot at some US channels:
WCFE (PBS) WNPI (PBS) WNYF (CBS in HD, Fox in SD widescreen)

If you want those US channels, you'd need a roof mounted Winegard HD8800 or Channel Master 4228hd with a cm7777 preamp.

If you don't care about those US channels and wish to stick with the local channels, and considering you have so many splits, I would definitely suggest a cm7777 preamp BUT also change your antenna to a real brand name Channel Master 4221hd. You will not believe the difference. Just aim it at HC and you should get the CF channels from the back. No rotor needed.

With either of these UHF antennas, you won't get channels 6 (Global) & 9 (SRC in september). Channel 13 might be OK with a 4228hd but it's an exception. Using a separate VHF antenna pointed at CF that you hook up to the cm7777 would add those VHF channels. The vip302sr is not that big and available locally.
EDIT: not that big for a VHF antenna: 9 foot wide on its widest spot !

Finally, a hd8800, 4228hd or 4221hd with cm7777 preamp will be a lot better than this omnidirectional antenna for your situation.

@flavoie

thanks so much for your excellent feedback...

So getting HD7777 is a no brainer... I'll have to re-think what antenna to get, at least like you suggest I will go with a legit 4221. As for US stations, if one the antennas you suggested would be mounted on the roof, will I have problems with picking up both local and US stations?

For VHF I was thinking about using "rabbit ears” in my lower attic.. I guess it won’t work :P… and I need something bigger/better…

thanks a lot ;)

If you point your UHF antenna to WNYF/WNPI in the US and you're on the roof outside with no major obstructions I think you'll have no problems getting the locals as well.

For VHF, rabbit ears in your lower attic may still work. Global is a strong signal in your TVFool. You can try it out before spending anything on a VHF antenna. You can either have a second preamp for the attic or simulate having a longer coax up from the attic going all the way to the roof if you use a single cm7777 to combine the rabbit ears to the uhf antenna on the roof. Just point the VHF antenna to get the best Global reception possible, it will be the hardest channel to get locally.