Be aware that when they say 450 watts, they presumably mean TPO. The gain in the antenna makes it 6.1 kW ERP.

I remember hearing another station say something like that and it took me a while to figure out they were referring to power out of the transmitter and not power out of the antenna.
Of course. I hope your post clarifies the difference between the 450 and 6.1k watts for people who might otherwise be confused.

Andre

The gain in the antenna makes it 6.1 kW ERP.
That's still quite low compared to other VHF-hi stations in SWO.

CHCH might not have had a choice when it came to frequency. Adjacent, large US and Canadian markets severely restrict the channels available in Hamilton. 18 is probably not available PT due to co-channels in other markets. (TVO London is one.) I would also guess that US stations have grabbed the more desirable UHF assignments since they transitioned sooner.

DrSat follow up
The AP - 4800 with two only terminals it has a vhf by-pass in it not switchable so if any of you are using the AP 4800 in the CHCH area it may be better to remove it for a test and it may make a difference.

That's still quite low compared to other VHF-hi stations in SWO.

Absolutely, I just didn't want people to think they were running at 0.45 kW ERP and that a further increase would be coming in the very near future.

- Trip

Some people using preamps or even a UVSJ might not be able to receive VHF because of the signal being blocked with their setup. As a quick check, try to tune in to channel 9.0 first which is CTV analog from Toronto. If you don't see anything or a very snowy picture then it is possible you have something blocking VHF frequencies.

If you had to use a UVSJ or a channel 11 trap before due to analog 11 in Hamilton overloading your tuner, you will now have to remove it. If you are using a preamp such as the CM7777 or CM7778, make sure it's not blocking VHF by setting it to combined instead of separate if you only have 1 antenna connected on the combined port.

Also, please note that some pre-amps such as the Winegard AP 4800 are UHF only and filter out all VHF frequencies so if you have one of these, you will have to replace it with a pre-amp that supports both VHF and UHF frequencies.

I always believed in ... "If it ain't broke don't fix it"

Channel 18 was working great... now they just made a mess of their digital broadcast... Most people have UHF antennas, like myself, and now I can't even get CHCH because my dat-75 preamp filters out VHF ... :confused:
This is my issue as well :(

I guess I'm going to have to jury-rig a VHF antenna to help with CHCH and CFTO... and I have an 80* split between the two tranmitters. Life sucks big time.

If you had to use a UVSJ or a channel 11 trap before due to analog 11 in Hamilton overloading your tuner, you will now have to remove it.
That's a very good point DrSat.
All one has to do is flip thru the filters/diplexors, etc thread sure u'd find end users in the immediate area of CHCH who have done that in the past to improve their dynamic range. Whether they all removed their UVSJ/Filter or not, is anyone's guess.

I have been following this thread for the last few days for as a lifetime OTA user we had lost CHCH digital. Based on someone's suggestion I took the time to have our Bravia II do a total re-scan of all stations. Prior to this nothing I tried (such as adding digital stations manually) worked. Prior to the transition 11 digital had always showed up on 11.1.

After the re-scan at around 2:30 PM EST, 11.1 was functional again. As a bonus, TVO digital (19.1) and Global digital (41.1) were also available for the first time. I'm no expert on antennas but we recently upgraded from a 2002 Channel Master UHF/VHF monster to a flat 8 bay antenna with rotor. Antenna direction was basically north (same as where it gets the Toronto stations.
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Obviously I am new here and would like to start off by thanking those that run this site and the members here for providing such a great repository of information about OTA.

I put my super duper bi-quad outside my window and I'm *just* getting CHCH now on RF11 - at 36% on the signal meter. All is not lost, just a matter of tweaking a new antenna that can be put inside.

15th floor, Queen & Margarette, Kitchener

some pre-amps such as the Winegard AP 4800 are UHF only and filter out all VHF frequencies so if you have one of these, you will have to replace it with a pre-amp that supports both VHF and UHF frequencies.It does not filter out VHF, it just doesn't amplify it. I can still receive analog CBC through my 4800

If you're currently getting CHCH, perhaps draw up a list of GTA advertisers and share it here for those of us who've lost the channel.

I'm sure the companies would love to hear that their ad dollars aren't going as far.

Really, the last thing you want to do is starve the station of money. They are going to have to petition for more power. Drawing up that document will cost, and changing their transmission plant will cost, too.

As an example of what VHF stations had to do to demonstrate that higher power levels were needed and would work, I refer you to two exhibits filed by WUSA 9 in Washington, DC. The first (https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101349845&qnum=5200&copynum=1&exhcnum=3) is the original request for special authorization for additional power. All the calculations and coverage maps use the allocation model that has been proven to be suspect. The second (https://licensing.fcc.gov/cdbs/CDBS_Attachment/getattachment.jsp?appn=101372718&qnum=5350&copynum=1&exhcnum=4) is a request for an extension of the special authority that includes detailed measurements at predicted interference sites. WUSA is now licensed at the higher power.

CHCH needs to know the scope of their problem and data to back it up if they are to move forward.

CHCH still has a pretty strong signal floating through the air in Toronto. If my antenna is directed towards CHCH the station comes in just fine.

One of the trade-offs that comes with the convenience of an indoor antenna is that some more distant stations aren't going to be attainable.

Members here at Digital Home's OTA forums have long been discussing what was going to happen to all of the people who went with UHF-only antennas in the last few years. We have known for a long time that CHCH and CFTO were going to be on high-vhf (channels 7-13) after the transition. I don't really like that, but we all were informed well ahead of time. VHF requires a different antenna unless you have a really strong signal.

We have to raise our voices to CHCH and all concerned that their signal is not as strong as it should be (not as strong as they had hoped it would be). But if we're using indoor or uhf-only antennas from a long distance, then I don't know how much the outrage will ring-true.

If CHCH can find a way back to UHF I'd hope they would do so. But they probably can't. If they can't then maybe they can up their power because obviously, the signal is not sufficient and many knowledgeable people knew ahead of time that high-vhf stations would need more power than CHCH is at.

But keep in mind that the OTA viewer must make some reasonable efforts on their end.

Indoor antenna/VHF antenna or not, the fact most are angered about is that they received the analog signal just fine.
The digital coverage is supposed to match the previous analog contour, and it isn't.

It shouldn't matter that my antenna is not optimized for receiving their station when it worked just fine to get channel 11 (analog) up until 3 days ago.
This proves the deficiency in providing a footprint to match the analog they once offered.

That's exactly it. The digital coverage was supposed to be equal in most cases to the analog not this un-watchable...

As of today in Beamsville I can now get CHCH on 11-1 at a 70% signal strength but last week I could still catch it but it was so weak my TV will see the foot print of it but when I tune to it it just says there is no content. Why is it so easy to get now rather then before? :confused:
Did they change the power level to cover a larger area?

As suggested earlier in the thread and others have supported, I too did a total re-scan and 11.1 is now coming in at 98 signal strength near Burford ON.
Still no Global 41.1 though.

I get it, I get it, I lose it. I had to rescan again this evening, as this morning when rescanned I got CHCH, but lost CFTO. This evening, I got CFTO, but not CHCH. On a positive note, TVO is now broadcasting because I picked them up.

My ClearStream 2 (used as an indoor antenna) is obviously not going to pull in CHCH on a consistent basis like it did before the transition.

Man, this whole CHCH thing just burns me up.

I'm getting 11.1 up here.
"HDHomeRun tech" says...


ch=auto:11 lock=8vsb ss=80(-12dBmV) snq=57(18dB) seq=77 bps=19394080 pps=1806
ts: bps=19394080 ut=98 te=1254 miss=28 crc=0
flt: bps=18994016

after a 3 minute test recording. ( transport errors = 1254 )
this is coming from DB8 and chan. mas. 7777 aimed at buffalo.
analog 11 used to be very fuzzy.
I had a dedicated UHF/VHF antenna aimed at Hamilton before, for the PVR. May need to try it again.
SNQ 18dB is right on the cliff edge of not usable on this tuner.