RG,
I thought it was CBC you were having trouble with. Yes 13 is quite a bit farther away from you, and a city in between doesn't help. Some extra height will go a long way. Your TVfool chart shows a basic antenna should pick up all the channels except maybe 12, so maybe another 10' would do the trick, and the other channels will come in better too.
-C.

CBC audio:
Not hearing a center channel on their audio. Working on the other channels just fine. Observing this on both English and French channels. Audio system says dolby 5.1.
-C.

Reed: not changing antenna. we just got it last spring before the digital switch. It's the Antennacraft HDVIEW360 R Mini-State R Antenna

Cham: cbc is the problem channel right now. CityTV was in the summer. I do think that we'll have to raise it up higher. Those oaks in the back yard in summer will cause signal problems. I'm thinking a 40' tower should do the trick. Get this, CBC came in beautifully this afternoon. It's now pixellating again. Go figure.

CBC coming in at 20% tonight in Morden. They must be fiddling with stuff, it was remapping to 6.1, and then it switched to 27.3. Center channel not working either on this end. If they were running at low power, they must have upped the wattage.

Gd afternoon HayBomber,
Tinker they must... I guess. Checked the C-band downlink for Winnipeg, 1080i and full 5.1 audio complete with center channel. Must be doing something at the Winnipeg studio. OTA signal not locking right now on my test antenna, was earlier.

Back in September I reconnected an old 12 element VHF/UHF antenna in the attic space of my garage to take advantage of the new digital signals. CKND, CKY along with CIIT came in not too bad, CHMI on the other hand was iffy at best. Given the large span of the elements and the limited attic space I had to work with, I decided to go with a smaller RCA ANT751 and mount it on a J arm, which was already installed (and wired) up on my roof.

Albeit not an ideal location, I figured any outdoor install was better than an indoor one. Overall the signals I was receiving on that little RCA antenna were quite good. And then CBC showed up to the DT party. 0% signal strength for CBWT given my antennas current positioning. Great, looks like it’s back up the ladder one more time. CBC wasn’t a deal breaker, but it would be nice to watch the Jets in HD on HNIC. So after a little realignment and some playing around with an RCA pre amp (TVPRAMP1R) I was able to boost the numbers to my satisfaction for all channels.

In the end I opted to go with my original indoor garage mounted antenna with a pre amp, routed through an OnQ home distribution system. My goal has always been to have a discrete antenna installation without sacrificing signal quality, and I think I’ve achieved that, at least for now anyway.

The following numbers are based on readings from my Sony TV. Though the signal strength on my Insignia show better numbers than the Sony. Go figure.

CKY-DT----------85%
CHMI-DT--------65%
CBWT-DT-------75%
CIIT-DT---------95%
CKND-DT-------70%
CBWFT-DT------75%

For completeness I will repost my results now that CBC has finally gotten around to digital:

Channel Strength Quality
7 90% 100%
13 87% 100%
27 86% 100%
35 80% 94%
40 94% 80%-100%
51 63% 75%

Again, the signal strength is not all that representative, there is a 4 way splitter and a 2 way splitter (for ch 7 13) in the signal path.

The interesting channel is 51. I don't know how it is possible to get a signal that low with an outside antenna when the transmitter is only 3 km away.

The antenna I used to get these results is described in some detail here (http://59.ca/weblog/tv/12p12_implementation.html).

Is anybody having problems with CBC? As of yesterday, it's not coming in at all. It had been sort of coming in since then. :confused:

RottieGirl, normal CBC English and French reception in Winnipeg (Signal strength and SNR). Maybe your problems are related to distance and the light snow we've been having since yesterday evening.

that could very well be. It started coming in again, once the temps dropped. :o :confused: We're going to have to put our antenna up higher in spring, once the ground is thawed. I guess a tower that clears the height of the trees should help.

It seems the CBC doesn't have any HD cameras in Buffalo for the Jets game tonight??? Picture quality for the game is brutal :(

When the Toronto vs. Detroit game ended on CBC Toronto, they cut over to the Buffalo/Winnipeg game. Looks to be 16x9 standard definition to me.

I've noticed that over the last few weeks, Global Regina's local morning news and information show as well as the supper hour newscast are all in HD, which is nice to see. (I'm rather enjoying the morning show. Regina HD still isn't on Access cable so I'm watching it over the air.)

I believe Access was waiting until the local stations had local HD content, so they've now officially run out of excuses. :)

Bit of an inversion this morning, nice signals from WDAZ and PPB on 16. Bit of the CBS station from Fargo as well..
C.

I live in south Winnipeg and I'm currently using a TERK HDTVa Amplified Directional Indoor HDTV Antenna.

I was skeptical at first, but I do pick up the following channels with awesome picture:

006.1 CBWT-D-------100%
035.1 CIIT-D---------70% (only digital stereo sound)
009.1 CKND-H-------98%
003.1 CBWFT-D------100%

I have no luck picking up either CKY-D or CHMI-D.

In fact it doesn't even register them when I scan for them.

Does anyone have any ideas without resorting to an outdoor antenna (I'm new to off-air)?

I have no luck picking up either CKY-D or CHMI-D.

In fact it doesn't even register them when I scan for them.

Does anyone have any ideas without resorting to an outdoor antenna (I'm new to off-air)?


The only way to pick up CHMI/Citytv indoors from my location, about 65 ft. above ground in South River Heights, is to place the antenna next to a west-facing window. Or, strange as it might sound, sometimes by putting the antenna underneath a dresser. (Perhaps it reduces interference?)

I have never been able to pick up CKY-DT/CTV indoors. Got them once or twice on my laptop using an AverMedia adapter while sitting out on the balcony, and that was it. In fact, when I did a scan this weekend, it didn't even pause on Channel 7, which makes me wonder if CKY-DT was off the air for some reason.

Yeah I have no luck while scanning either...no % at all for either one of them.

OK...then I guess that's all I get with a small indoor antenna.

My main concern was getting CBWT-HD to watch HNIC when the Jets play and we get that at 100%.

I hooked up a Sanyo HD antenna to the top of my shed in the back yard. Ran the cable and hooked into the cables for the satellite dish. Turned on the TV and I am able to receive CTV, Global, CBC and CBC French at 93%.
Time now to wean off the big cable bill.

I find unless you are only a few KM from the transmitter you really need to have an outdoor antenna. The digital signals need a much higher signal to noise ratio in order for the receiver to "lock" than analog. Too many noise sources inside most houses interferes with the signal. The TV itself can often be the culprit, creating RF noise that is picked up by the indoor antenna close by.

Try moving your indoor antenna away from noise sources; the TV, CFL & fluorescent lights, computers, and other electronics. If your house uses stucco or metal siding/roofing, it is then shielded from outside RF (TV) sources making it more difficult for the signals to get though, and makes the interference worse inside. A location close to a window might help.

Thanks for the suggestions...and yes I know this is probably not the right thread for this question but:
The EPG for my 4 channels always says Digital Service.

I'm assuming this is always the case since I have my HDTVa hooked up to a Bell 9242 Satellite Receiver?

Yes I'm real new to OTA...and thanks for putting up with silly questions.