having a CM4228 installed over the weekend along with a CM7777 and a CM rotor as well. This is going on a tower 36ft high on the side of the house. Any tips you have for this install in terms of getting good signal and HD channels from toronto and the US

I am also having this split into 4 ways

thx

Approx 11 Miles South of Brantford Ontario
Humax HA100 digital receiver
CM 4228 Ant
Channel Master Titan 7777 duel input masthead preamp
Rotor 9521A
Now on a 60' towerWhat happened to the Toronto stations?

Captain Jack!
Where abouts is your tower going? AFAIK the Black Pearl is lying on the floor of the Carribean Sea. ;)
Looks like you got all the gear. Just make sure the install is done with good quality RG6 with solid moisture tight connections, with no frays. Seal all of your connections (after you are happy with the install), and remember to ground the RG6 before coming in the house and ensure the tower itself is also grounded:
OTA Antenna Grounding Info & Standards (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=561217#post561217)
good luck.

What happened to the Toronto stations?I'm not sure what you mean. He is only missing SUNTV-DT and CityTV-DT, but from tricky's location they might not be attainable (distance plus Niagara Escarpment). I'm not sure if SUNTV-DT was broadcasting yet when he made that post, but he has CKXT which is the SUN-TV in Hamilton.

make sure you post your results!!

aye aye gecko, how is the geico gig going? :D Thx for the tips, I'll be sure to make sure everything is grounded. It's going to be a big job, as am moving my free to air dishes onto the tower after, and somehow connect all the cables up using an EMP Centuari diseqc switch, diplex switch and splitter for the 4 ways the cable has to run

I'll be sure to post pics after. Thx to Ham for hooking me up with an installer ;)

;) Cheers Jack!

How many channels do you pull in Ham Clan, and how many of those are in HD?

Well, being in Dundas, I didn't want to fork out a bunch of cash only to find I can't get good reception. So, I decided to build my own antenna. It is a 4 bay antenna that resembles a CM 4221.

With a short run of RG6 and the antenna located in my living room, I was able to pick up 2 digital channels. CBC and Sun TV! Sorry, not sure how to determine signal strength on my Viewsonic but I can say the picture was great...No pixelation at all. I wasn't able to pick up any Buffalo stations though :-(

I am not sure if I will invest in a preamp or just mount the antenna high and hope for the best? Any suggestions for a pre-amp on a budget?

Thanks

TyeRant

tyerant, I think Dundas will require a fairly high antenna for Buffalo because of the valley and the Escarpment, as you can see in previous posts in this thread.

Also here's the thread all about amps and preamps:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42426

Well I just bought a Terk and I can't get anything digital. I can get analogue with my rabbit ears better then the Terk. Any suggestions I don't think I can mount an outdoor antenna.

John

Well, John, it's like this...you are in a very difficult area. The escarpment hides Buffalo and Toronto signals have their share of obstacles to get to you. You should, at least get the repeater signal from Stoney Creek of SUN-TV on 15-1. Try a manual lock. By the way, Terk isn't known to be the best either. Sigh.

I just bought a TerkWhat is the Terk's model number? If its a ZSS clone it is a good one, but almost anything else they sell in the Indoor category is not worth the trouble.

Hi thanks for jumping in here. The Terk doesn't have a model #. It is the HDTVi Antenna Pro Indoor antenna. Looks like the ZSS. Funny it doesn't even pull in any analogue stations above 11 so I wonder if the UHF section is not working properly.

John

Yep, that's a ZSS clone. Suffice it to say that from your location down below the Escarpment I don't have a lot of optimism that you'll get anything worthwhile with an indoor antenna, and if you do it will be with a lot of trial and error.

An outdoor antenna like a Delhi 4BT-1483 or CM 4221 will get you Toronto stations, and the higher you can mount the antenna the better, but if you put it on a rotor and turn it towards Buffalo your results might be iffy. You can see some posts in this thread and in the Niagara thread about the effect of the Escarpment on receiving Buffalo stations.

So I built the DYI 2 bow tie antenna and I get 2 channels CBC and Sun TV from my second floor window in Hamilton below the escarpment. I am going to find some more cable and see what happens from the attic and then maybe outside.

John

I would like to hear from anyone who has OTA in the Woodstock area. Would like the opportunity to see how you set things up and to see picture quality.

Thanks

I'm having some problems getting stations I think I ought to be able to get. I'm technically in Dundas, but above the escarpment (on the north side). With whatever antenna is up on the roof (we moved in recently and the antenna was there previously and I can't easily access it), I get SunTV (on 15-3 - on a side note, I keep reading here that it should be 15-1 but it's definitely coming in on 15-3 for me), 23-1, and 42-1,2,3 (but the PBS ones are heavily pixelated). What has me confused is that I get absolutely nothing from CBC HD on 20-1 despite the fact that I get a very strong analog CBC signal on 5 and from what I've read here I would expect a much better signal from CBC than from the Buffalo stations that I'm getting (the other strong analog signals I get are CH on 11, CTV on 9, PBS on 17, some religious network on 36, and Fox on 29). The antenna is pointed more or less towards Toronto (but slightly south).

There is some slighty ghosting on the CBC analog signal - could that be related? If so, and there's absolutely nothing around that the signal could be bouncing off (like I said, I'm above the escarpment and there are no tall buildings around), what might be causing it? (the wiring is all twin lead and has a couple of splices, in case that's relevant). Thanks.

[TMB]

Hi TMB,

I don't know how old the existing antenna and wiring are but it seems like scrap to me from what you've said. You might want to get a pro to evaluate whether it is in good shape or not, or you could post a photo of it here hopefully with some closeups so that we might be able to comment on it.

Now the good news: with the results you've already gotten from it, including SunTV (which people all over cannot seem to get even on the best of days) I feel comfortable in recommending that a top-line antenna like a CM4228 will bring in lots of solid Toronto and Buffalo area signals for you, but from your location you'd probably need a rotor or go through the difficulties of aiming a 2-antenna system.

TMB,

I have a home built CM4228 clone that you can try out if you wish. I am 1/2 way in the valley but get decent results from my 1st floor and indoors. See Post #349. You should get great results at your elevation.

PM me if you want to try it out.

Regards,
TyeRant

cm4228 mounted on a mast on a first floor chimney (second storey chimney is too high for me at this time), so it is about 20' high, pointing at Toronto.
100' of new RG6 to a Sony Bravia KDL40S2010 LCD.
CBC, CTV and CITY come in stunningly good, I'm absolutely delighted with OTA.
TVfool suggests PBS (WNED) and CHCH should come in as well but nothing.
Do I need a preamp, or more height? I've tried pretty much every angle. The antenna is behind the main part of the house on an addition, so the line to Buffalo either for direct or one of the antenna lobes is blocked by that, but there are also the usual escarpment issues. I do get WNED PBS snowy on analog with the 4228. Not much else from Buffalo. The CH thing is weird, unless they aren't broadcasting digital.

It will really depend where you're located and what is between you and toronto/buffalo. Do you get ABC / NBC / FOX?