sorry spider Global is fine.

But my balun position was affecting my Global reception so I moved it. see thread #676

Yeah looked at your picture i have no idea what you did

You did not mention if you were using a preamp with the outside antenna.
I have replaced all my coaxial cable with CM RG6 from the OTA guy cut
to length required. the results have been clear improvements to signal
and reliability. The cheap coax is going in the can.
I make changes and then observe for a few days.
too many bad experiences with flaky stations to make snap judgements.
Good luck.

I was thinking a pre-amp would improve my setup but have not bought one yet.

Global was flakey at 4... It seems, works great now. Ugh survivor...

spider, it could be either than the Expressvu cable is better - an installer needs to use RG6 for satellite installs too. It could also coincidental with the time of day you are trying your tests. You'll naturally get better reception at night than during the day. Some people will get CBS/Fox only at night. From your TVFool, I don't expect you will see it all the time daytime without a preamp. Lastly, you can always try attenuation before the tuner. This is what you are doing already when you add splitters. It may have more to do with you playing with the cable, maybe there is a loose connection in this new cable ? I use compression type connectors for RG6, they work great.

Thanks everyone for replying ...this morning Global is working.! low signal 51 but working.

So about that preamp ...should i go for it. CM7777 ? I would really like to improve CBS and Fox signal about 75-80 this morning.

OTAJuncqui could you explain or show a before or after picture of your mod. Picture is not very clear.... perhaps a small change to my DB8 can improve Global.

spider, double check the connectors on the new cable. It is easy for one strand of the braid to short to the centre conductor. If you have a multimeter, measure the resistance between then centre conductor and the shield with the cable disconnected at the other end. If you see anything other than infinity, you have a problem.

Spider an FM Trap may help your global reception. But you are lucky to get it off a UHF antenna with low gain.

My reception improved by moving the balun "out" of the antenna.
In the pic of a stock HD-8800 at the link below the four aluminum rods that form a "V" in the center are parallel with the antenna components. I bent these back so they are at a 90deg. angle and the balun is now outside the backside and clear of the reflector elements.
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=winegard+hd-8800&hl=en&newwindow=1&safe=off&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=n5zjulIp6wjEBM:&imgrefurl=http://www.youdoitelectronics.com/Winegard/&docid=PGV8_FpSUTVK_M&w=495&h=368&ei=DtWNTou3LuiOsQKUp6G4AQ&zoom=1&biw=1179&bih=737&iact=rc&dur=390&page=4&tbnh=157&tbnw=213&start=54&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:54&tx=497&ty=-3

After a fair bit of discussion on the "DHC OTA Members Meet: Kanata and Area" thread (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=146132), we have finally settled upon a time and place for the (first?) meeting.

It will be next Thursday evening, Oct 13.

Details are in message: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=1332787&postcount=22

Hope to see several of you there! (Let's keep any discussion regarding the meeting on the above thread for consistency.)

Hi All,

I am getting close to getting my system up on the roof, trying to do some tweaking from the ground with the mast attached to the deck before doing the roof mount.

I have been having trouble pulling in 6.1 on a consistent basis, lately it hasn't been coming in at all with the CM 4221. Today I took an old set of rabbit ears and plugged them into the CM 7777 and the rabbit ears pull in 6.1 without any problem. In fact, the rabbit ears are just as effective as the CM 4221 for all 14 channels. I'll have to test it over a couple of days and see if it is consistent at pulling it in.

I have read in a few places where people have roof mounted rabbit ears. I imagine they could be weather proofed a bit and stuck to the top of the mast above the CM 4221 and plugged into the CM 7777 in the VHF input.

Once on the roof, the CM 4221 may very well pull in 6.1. I do have a brick house between the antenna and CF at the moment. On the roof the antenna should have line of sight with CF.

TV Fool: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d60b5ca6e1e72bf

I haven't had any success pulling in any of the US stations, however I have pulled in WNPI from the attic, so I assume I will be able to pull this in once installed on the roof outside.

Any thoughts on using the rabbit ears on the roof?

Good day all,

First, thanks to all the members for all the info presented here.

I have built two antennas. The first was a "one hour" bowtie, which provided results encouraging enough to build another. The second was my attempt at an SBGH. I have been testing it for about a week. From its location in my attic I have been able to receive Canadian stations consistently, and WNPI (RF23) almost every evening and WNYF-LD (RF18) a couple of evenings.

How consistently do others in this area (Bridlewood) receive these two US stations? And do you have your antenna outside? Rooftop? Or some other more easily accessible location :) ?

The two antennas that I have built so far cost me nothing. Rooftop antenna (CM4228HD?), tripod, pre-amplifier etc will cost me a few hundred bucks. I'd consider this if the US stations were solid. I'd be interested in hearing other's reliability results from this area.

TV fool data in my profile.

Thanks in advance

I am getting close to getting my system up on the roof, trying to do some tweaking from the ground with the mast attached to the deck before doing the roof mount. ... I have been having trouble pulling in 6.1 on a consistent basis, lately it hasn't been coming in at all with the CM 4221. Today I took an old set of rabbit ears and plugged them into the CM 7777 and the rabbit ears pull in 6.1 without any problem.

Hi tmac3599, I'm in exactly the same situation as you (experimenting in my backyard before placing it all on the roof). I've experimented with a set of rabbit ears to get channel 6.1 and you can read the post here: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1320254#post1320254.

As you can see, my setup has the rabbit ears below the CM4228. I will be installing this setup on my roof, when I can get a mount and find the time to do the work. I'll report back to everyone how things are with it after it's all done.

Thanks Timojaak, I like your setup pictures... that's just what I was thinking of doing. Having read through the thread, I'm not sure what I'm going to do... probably leave it with the 4221 on the roof and see what I get and if it doesn't work for channel 6.1, I'll have to try and make some changes. I don't want to compromise reception on 13.1 or 9.1, both of which see some use.

I'd been using a roof-mounted Winegard MS-1000 omni antenna with pretty good success, but I would occasionally lose CityTV and the Omnis, so I decided to keep the MS-1000 for VHF and add in an Antennas Direct DB-8 for UHF, combining them with a CM7777.

Just because I like experimenting I tried with just the DB-8 first, and lo and behold, it gets Global (VHF6), COBFT (VHF9) and CTV (VHF13) just as well as the MS-1000 did (between 60% and 80% on my LG). The added bonus is that I now also get WCFE-DT (PBS) at night :D

I could probably get additional channels with a rotor, but I don't really feel like going to that trouble. tvfool is here:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d60b52d0c52b7dd

Guess I've got a MS-1000 for sale... ;)

Splendid evening last night! Due to my location I'm blocked from most US stations except for WCFE on occasion. Last nite thru this AM it was strong and steady (WPTZ too). Here's to clear skies and naked trees, I need my PBS.

Paul, I don't like to spoil your fun, but last couple of nights have been very good for tropo ducting - that's why you were getting WCFE. I saw it too, for the first time in a long while... it's unlikely you'll see it very often.

WNPI is easier to get in your neck of the woods. Try turning your DB8 to South Colton (138 true).

Yep, I figured as much, but thanks. 107 miles away is just too good to be true... I was planning on experimenting with the angle all week, see if I can get WNPI without affecting the rest of the stations too much.

How consistently do others in this area (Bridlewood) receive these two US stations? And do you have your antenna outside? Rooftop? Or some other more easily accessible location :) ?



I have a roof mounted 4228HD in Bridlewood and I get CBS, FOX, PBS 24/7