After getting a little discouraged once all the trees popped open, I've been pleasantly surprised the last few days. At first I thought it was a fluke but reception has been fantastic every evening for the last 3-4 nights! It would be great it reception would stay this good but I'm not holding my breath :-)

I'm a little blessed with a good high location in old Barrhaven but reception has been much better than expected before ditching the dish and going 100% OTA.

I'll post my results during hockey intermission. Basically all but a few analogs are between excellent and watchable.

Cheers.

My Sony set pulls in the weaker stations better than the HDHomerun. Most local analogs are excellent-vgood except TVO. Hopefully after August it will be better too!

Excellent - Digital
===========================================
(us-bcast:66) PROGRAM 3: 66.1 OMNI2HD
(us-bcast:38) PROGRAM 3: 57.1 WCFE-HD (PBS)
(us-bcast:38) PROGRAM 4: 57.2 WCFE-D1 (PBS)
(us-bcast:38) PROGRAM 5: 57.3 WCFE-D2 (PBS)
(us-bcast:27) PROGRAM 2: 27.1 OMNI1HD
(us-bcast:25) PROGRAM 10: 4.1 CBOT-DT (CBC English)
(us-bcast:23) PROGRAM 1: 18.1 WNPI-DT (PBS)
(us-bcast:23) PROGRAM 2: 18.2 WNPI-DT (PBS)
(us-bcast:23) PROGRAM 3: 18.3 WNPI-HD (PBS)
(us-bcast:22) PROGRAM 11: 9.1 CBOFT-D (CBC french)
(us-bcast:20) PROGRAM 2: 20.1 CKXTDT3 (Sun)
(us-bcast:18) PROGRAM 3: 28.1 WNYF-SD (Fox)
(us-bcast:18) PROGRAM 4: 28.2 WWNY-HD (CBS)
(us-bcast:17) PROGRAM 2: 17.1 CITYHD

Good-VGood - Digital
===========================================
(us-bcast:21) PROGRAM ?: 50.1 WWTI-DT (ABC)
(us-bcast:21) PROGRAM ?: 50.1 WWTI-2 (CW something?)
(us-bcast:41) PROGRAM ?: 16.1 WPBS1 (PBS)
(us-bcast:41) PROGRAM ?: 16.1 WPBS2 (PBS)
(us-bcast:41) PROGRAM ?: 16.1 WPBS-HD (PBS)

Good - Digital
===========================================
(us-bcast:07) PROGRAM ?: 7.1 WWNY-HD (CBS)
(us-bcast:07) PROGRAM ?: 7.2 WNYF-SD (Fox)

Wow you get a lot in Barrhaven. Out in Carp I cannot get the US stations although I'm thinking maybe with a pre-amp I can....

I did a channel scan on my HVR-950q last night and it locked onto 7 but no channels were found, so it is finding some type of signal but it is too weak to actually get the channel, perhaps with a pre-amp it would pick it up.

jimbob5, your antenna roof mounted? You get a ton of US channels, I'm in Bridlewood Kanata and get none of them with an attic mounted HD8800 (get all the local channels no problem). Thinking about roof mounting it and seeing if I can at least get CBS.

I'm roof mounted and I get none... he must be... Please more info on the setup.

Hey becks and wing

I have a CM4228 and CM7777 mounted on my chimney and pointed towards Massena new york. I haven't measured the total height but I'd guess it's about 25-30' above the ground.

It took some trial and error getting it pointed correctly. Also I'm not convinced that the CM7777 preamp is really needed in my location but I'm going to leave on for now and try some experiments later this summer.

Tuner wise my Sony TV is the best for the weaker signals. Both a HDHomerun and small refurbished Haier 10" are better than I expected but not as good as the Sony. I'd like to pickup a HVR-950Q sometime to test.

Here's my TVFool report --> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3db9c9ca7ae5a011

My rig --> http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg612/scaled.php?tn=0&server=612&filename=t9rnm.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

Thanks jimbob

Hey Jimbob, I am in Old Barrhaven(same setup as you) but have never received ABC -- I will have to try to do a channel search again but at -18.3dB NM I don't put much hope in getting it.

...which version of the HDHomerun do you use? How did you rate the quality of the digital signal that you receive -- from early descriptions it sounds like you only get some of the stations in the evenings?

Jimbob, we had a mild tropo in the last 3-4 days over our region, and your good reception may be in part is related to that. The tropo effect should be gone by now, so I'll be interested to see if you still get the same result as before?

skipticum you were correct. Last night no luck locking in 50(21), 16(41) or 7(7) :(

These only seem to come in on "good" nights. All others are steady, day or night. Maybe if I raise my antenna another 4' might help....maybe.

My HDHome run is the older dual-input tuner model. I purchased it from Save-and-Replay (great service) when I was there getting a CM4221 and a CM7000 PAL DVR for my parents in North Oakville over Easter. Now that's a great location for reception!!

I'm going camping for the weekend but will test reception again Sunday night.

For fun and from scrap parts I did build Stealth Hawk #289…

I’ve used a round #8 aluminum grounding wire, some washers, dollar store 300Ohm balun… and after 30 minutes, it looks like $0.50, but it works like $50 antenna…
I did compare results over my rabbit ears on the 2nd floor in a living room. On average it improved all channels by 2-17% and I get now stable Sun TV.
Next I’ll try to put it to test against my 4221 knock-off in the garage attic, this time I’ll hook up CM7777 pre-amp…

I have 3 questions:
1) For adjusting antenna I’ll use portable DVD player with video inputs and Hisense ATSC tuner in the garage, while adjusting antenna on the attic… Should use
CM7777 connected when adjusting this close to the display? With short cable and no splitter, I’m afraid the signal coming from CM7777 pre-amp will give me
Too strong signal… and it might affect my installation efforts… So should I have CM7777 or not when adjusting anteanna?

2) can someone please point me to schematics on how to build a good VHF antenna to catch future Global channel, so I can combine it with my UHF antenna using CM7777

2) With Flavoie suggestion I’m still thinking about buying a good 8 bay UHF antenna and mount it outside above roof line. If I got that route… what would we recommended
for my situation Winegard HD8800, CM4228 or DB8 along CM7777 preamp? The prices are pretty close $70 - $100 between the three… From my understanding DM4228 would be best, but
the latest model is not the greatest… My goal is to lock PBS and CBS, hopefully more…. If needed please see my TVFool results (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d5747290eac1bc5)
Thanks so much…. ;)

Helped my neighbour last fall to improve his OTA reception. Up to that time he was using an amplified set of bunny ears with very noisy reception on most channels. So he got a 4 bay knock off for $20 and I added a dipole optimised for CHCH channel 11 from HC. A UVSJ was used to join the two antennas. We installed it on his deck with a fairly clear view of HC but with some leafless (at the time of installation)trees between the antenna and CF. The two towers are 98 degrees apart and in order to get the best of TVO channel 24 for him, I pointed the centre of the main lobe about 10 degrees south of HC to line the channel 20 side lobe to CF. I used my 17" portable to help with the alignment and pulled all the local digital channels pretty much as strong as they are with my amplified attic setup.

My neighbour does not have a digital receiver (yet) , but is getting everything from channel 4 up to 65 better than he has ever seen it, including the (sometimes difficult with other setups) channel 6. No FM trap, no pre-amp, just the antennas. A week ago I asked him if the leaves had any noticeable effect because my backup plan was to move the antennas to the other side of his house(with additional 50ft run of RG-6) if it had an effect . His answer - "No problem!"

Now the purists may argue that this is not the best setup for the scenario. Sure, but it certainly is good enough. The nice thing about using the side lobe was that I could tune a ghost image from CF out that apparently came in from the right. Or as my first mentor used to say " Better is the enemy of good enough" :D

This is what the setup looked like a week or three back. (I got his permission to take the photo)
http://img860.imageshack.us/img860/585/antenna.jpg

amd111, Your TVfool is almost identical to mine. You should have no trouble getting at least 1 of 2 PBS feeds plus CBS. I'm currently using CM4228 and pick up two PBS feeds (three sub-channels each) plus CBS and FOX day or night. I'm sure any of the models you mention should be fine. If I had the money and time I'd try them all.

I'd love to get ABC more often,even if only at night. I could point a little more South but I'm afraid I loose other stations. Anyone else have any luck getting ABC?

Here is my TVFool.

Currently I get everything green with the 4228HD mounted on the roof, except 66.1 I had that once when I directly cabled to my TV on initial install. Then lost it when I added a grounding block, a coupler and a powered splitter which is suppose to get me +10db per output. Perhaps a pre-amp would help.

What do you guys think, is there a hope getting anything from the US?

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d001bf8f8f5a118

Edit: Just noticed I'll lose TVO when the analog shuts down :(

Here is my TVFool.
What do you guys think, is there a hope getting anything from the US?

Nope.

Edit: Just noticed I'll lose TVO when the analog shuts down :(
Why do you say that? If you click on "Pending Applications", you'll see that TVO (CICO-DT) will come in better than CBOFT-DT does today.
TVO Digital should be available August 16, when it replaces the analog signal from the same antenna.

amd111, if you go for an additional VHF antenna no matter what, go with a Winegard HD8800, it is the better UHF only antenna by a slight margin for the US channels we care about in Ottawa.

If you wish to try a single antenna solution for the time being, pick the cm4228hd, it's almost as good and has decent(not abysmal) VHF Hi (7-13) gain for a UHF antenna. The problem is it may not be good enough for channel 6 or lower. It was not good enough for me so I bought an additional VHF antenna.

wing, that power splitter is potentially worse than using a normal splitter as it adds noise. A preamp close to the antenna and a normal non-powered splitter where you need it will be better. Just put the preamp power inserter between the preamp and splitter to make sure the splitter is not blocking power as some models do. The inserter would usually be right next to the splitter, in the house near an available wall outlet.

Anyone else have any luck getting ABC?

I'm in Bridlewood. I only get ABC (WWTI 50.1 RF21) occasionally during the summer tropo season. At -17.4NM, it is just out of my reach...

ABC (WWTI 50.1 RF21) is coming in great tonight. WPBS (16.1 RF 41) is also very good while 7 is ok but not great with some pixelation.

As for analog Ch6 (Global) i can pick-up without issue at my location any time with my CM4228 + CM7777. To be honest, I doubt the preamp is helping me here except for the FM trap. For amd111 I would not expect any issues getting Ch6. I'm waiting for the full digital switchover before I invest in another antenna.

I had WWTI last night and tonight but for some reason seemed weaker than WNYF-CD which I have again tonight, along with a few Syracuse channels. WNYF-CD 28.1 rf35 is once again stronger than WWTI. Im up on the 12th floor in downtown ottawa, and my tvfool puts WWTI at -26 but WNYF at less than -40 (in fact it isnt even on the list). I dont think TVfool is entirely accurate.

http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/cc44/gbriggs12/IMG-20110615-00040.jpg

I had this channel pretty much from 9 pm onward last night and seems to be from even earlier tonight. I am using a new homemade super low noise preamp so it could explain some of the differences with my old setup, where WWTI was stronger.

My antenna points straight at Lansdowne Park (bright lights in the photo) so it is pretty much line of sight to the horizon

http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/cc44/gbriggs12/IMG-20110615-00042.jpg

Good tropo like last night, getting WTVH along with WSYT and WNYS:

http://s214.photobucket.com/albums/cc44/gbriggs12/IMG-20110615-00044.jpg