It also means that you may not need (or want) a preamp, unless you have a lot of concrete between your antenna and Camp Fortune.

I wonder if we can make an assessment based on a preamped antenna pointed to the States.
1-Taking in consideration the signal would be off the back of the antenna = lower gain
2-The signal strengths in TVFool vs the overload specs of a cm7777.

So I finally did the big move. I'm finally a cable cutter. Goodbye cable, hello OTA.

I've finally decided to setup my antenna outside on the roof over the weekend. As a starter, I've installed a cheap (which means free GE Futura Canadian Tire) antenna just to see if I can get things to work.

I've got 3 tv's that I'm splitting to with a booster for the analog channels as they weren't coming in clear. I'm able to get all channels from CF very clear at 100% for the digital ones but can't get the HC channels. I'm guessing the cheapo antenna might have something to do with that.

Now for the real question, I'm obviously looking forward to the DTV switch and am wondering what's the best setup for my location. As I've said, I'm splitting to 3 TV's. I'm looking to get the VHF and UHF channels and I'm not really bothered at getting the US channels.

I will be putting the antenna on a mast on the roof so I'm clear of any obstructions. No trees or apartments in my way. Here's my TV Fool data:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d001ba1b8d45c65

I've been enjoying watching the playoffs on CBC and it looks beautiful. Can't wait for Wednesday. Go Canucks! :D

So last night I took my stripped coax and hung it off my eavestrough...
I must say, I was impressed with what a little copper loop 15 feet in the air was picking up.

Digital
4.1 (varied from 70-80%)
9.1 (70-80 %)
17.1
20.1
27.1
and a CRC test channel (don't remember which the number tho)

Analogue: (of varying fuzziness)
4
6
9
11
13
14
30
34
40
43
60
65

When I pulled the "antenna" off the eaves and hung it back in my basement window, my CBC and SRC signals actually increased to 100%.
Anyway, I thought I would share some preliminary results with everyone.

up periscope!

flavoie: to skip quite a few chapters in the story, i ended up realizing that my missing channel (getting 5 out of 6 digital, omni2 being 'mia') was not because of a weak or bad antenna, but rather because of the coax.

my initial testing in the (hot!) attic was with some "omega" branded rg6/u cable bought at rona/réno-dépôt. i obviously needed something better. since h-d cannot sell bulk cable anymore (and 'rca' changed suppliers anyways, as the spool the clerk showed me was definitively more 'dollar store' quality than what i bought months before), i ended up going to a certain ota store in ottawa to buy some channelmaster-branded bulk cable.

and that made quite a difference. moral of the story, kids, don't cheap out on the coax you will use. not a good plan.

so, to recap, a lone 4-bay antenna (db4) aimed at h-c will/should work for all local ota digital channels. i only need the winegard 8700 pre-amp because of a 4-way splitter (and the power injector for the pre-amp, surely?): without the pre-amp, only cbc-dt was barely picked up by the hauppauge 1250 used for testing. otherwise, a 'singular' connection (antenna ---> tv) needs only good coax, imho.

it would be nice to be able to get pbs (channel 23 wnpi, which, from my point of view, is just 'besides' h-c), but i don't think any antenna in my attic could pull it, no matter what some reviews on found here and there on the web will say. though i wouldn't mind being proved wrong. ;-)


p.s.: i should have asked this before, but do pre-amps deal gracefully with the high temperatures that can be found in attics?

Sorry tarchanjan I havent been online in a while,

My results with the american channels are constant , as you are a fellow Aylmer resident you know that we just got a ass kicking from mother nature and its still a heavy overcast at the moment and im watching pbs from norwood. I can move my antenna and pick up Pbs mountainlake 24 hours a day
fox and cbs i pick up after 4pm but im not home during the day.

To pick up these stations from the US do you have one of those tower antennas in Aylmer?

no towers, my antenna combo is on my roof mounted on a 5 foot tripod and a 7 foot galvanized fence pole. its ugly for the neighbors but it works :-)

Thanks for letting me know Xilbus - sounds like i have some roof top tinkering to do this weekend! :)

just to let you know, my parents place is a few blocks away from my place, they are right in front of the aylmer high school in a 1 story bungalow house. My dad installed a 4228 at the top of his chimney and no american channels, even tried a 91xg. If your on a 1 story house in aylmer , you may not have much luck.

Thanks xilbus. It's good information. I wonder if there is some way to determine if you might get signal before going to the effort of erecting an antenna on the roof. Maybe there's some device that could be placed above the roof that would report the signal.

For me, I won't go on a rooftop. Scared to death of heights. So I doubt I'll ever know.

There are hardware signal meters discussed here: Signal Analyzers, Meters, Testers for OTA (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=96705)

And of course there is the TVFool reception prediction web site described in here: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=125161

Well I can tell you that the area xilbus is in sits about 50m above the river which will just clear all of Ottawa to the south. In fact the school sits on a nice bump at about 108m. Another sweet spot would be on Antoine Boucher which sits at about 140m. His parents must have an obstruction (not sure if he meant the school). Trees maybe.

Jake is right, my parents neightbors to the south have major maple trees all around them , most houses in that area have huge trees.

I have the two biggest appartment buildings in aylmer south of me but the sweet spot for watertown is right in the middle of the two buildings.
Thats the nice thing of having a rotor, no need to go back up on the roof to try out different positions.

Funky , if you have a two story house, go for it on the roof , get a tripod and do a scan before bolting it down, sit down besides it and hold it and have someone els scan for channels from inside. If you happy go ahead and bolt it down and if your not then no damage was done.

I could barely read what you said. Chills went down my back. I could never sit on the roof or go anywhere near it. I'm completely terrified of heights. I may eventually hire someone to do this for me though. I'll have to weigh what it's worth. I understand that the US stations only come in once in a while.

FunkyTown, instead of wondering what you could get or not get with an antenna on the roof, I suggest you create your TVFool report and post it here. Have a look at WCFE, WNPI, WNYF and check if they are above -10dB of NM.

Sure. Here's my tvfool report:

TV Fool for Funkytown (http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d03d970243bfcd7)

FunkyTown, now you know !
I'd say pointing an 8-bay with preamp on the roof, you'd only get WNPI reliably.
Cheers !

Yeah, and I think I might even be lucky to get WNPI. Right now I have the CM4228HD in the attic at the very top pointed kind of in the middle between the Quebec and Ontario broadcast antenna. I seem to pick up all of the Canadian channels well except for CHCH - it is very snowy. I'm not getting any US stations regardless of day/night or rain/sunshine. Putting it up on the roof would is not much higher than where it is, and it may not be worth the effort considering getting something is very ify.

Maybe I'll get lucky and one of my neighbors will install an antenna high on the roof and I can ask them what sort of reception they get.

Since tropospheric skip, ducting, and other weird effects can radically change reception during uncertain times in the hot summer months the information and discussion is kept totally separate from regular reception threads.

The reason for that is in order to help new or inexperienced members differentiate between what is realistic and to be expected throughout the year versus what might be seen during those unusual events.

Several posts have been moved to the tropo thread for the Ottawa and surrounding area: OTA: Eastern Ontario & Quebec DXing, Tropo, Odd Reception: 2011 (https://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=139033)

cheers