Well that fix didn't last long, so I took the coax of the splitter that feeds the upstairs tv, (the one having the problems) and I could see there was a strand of the shielding lying across and touching the copper coax inside. I have fixed it, but haven't had a chance to see if the problem is fixed. Wife is watching desperate housewives. Could this have been the problem?

Also,is it necessary to have that stranded shield folded back over the coax so it comes in touch with the outside of the connector? I've cut mine off even with the end. Thanks.

Ok! Did my connectors over again the right way, all is good now. :D
Here is what I am recieving

Digital:
2-1 WGRZ-HD
2-2 WGRZ-US
2-3 WGRZ-RT
4-1 WIVB-HD
5-1 CBLT-HD (CBC)
7-1 WKBW-HD
11-1 CHCH-HD
15-1 CKXT-2 HD (SUN)
17-1 WNED-HD
17-2 WNED-SD
17-3 WNED-TH
23-1 WNLO-HD
25-1 CBLFT-HD
26-1 WNYB-SD
26-2 WNYB-HD
36-1 CTS-HD
40-4 CTV-HD
44-1 OMNI 2-HD
57-1 CITY-HD
64-1 OMNI 1-HD

Analog:
19
25
36
41
45
47
57
69

Not to bad I would say. My cable TV has been canceled! YES!!!!!! :D

Ahhh! Yes,... I'm always pleased to hear that another BDU connection has been dropped :p

Quick question. Will your picture also break up if you are over loading your tuner? (signal to strong).
Thanks! My 15-1 out of Hamilton has full strength but is breaking up.
Seem to be ok now.

Hey all, i've been lurking here for a while done a lot of reading! I just got up my CM4228HD modified it with help from all of you. I have it mounted on my chimney maybe 20 feet in the air just clears my roof and the neighbors roof, I’ve also got a rotor.

Digital Channels I Get all the time:
4.1
7.1
11.1
15.1
26.1
26.2
36.1

Channels I Get in the Evening
2.1
2.2
2.3
5.1 (almost never got it like 3 times)
8.1
17.1
17.2
17.3
23.1
49.1
51.1 – 51.2 – 51.3 found it but never seen a picture

so not bad I have a 45 foot tower I plan on putting up and I’m going to put a CM-7777 preamp up when I get the tower up

Hi Bill,

If you're not running any pre-amp at this point, you'll certainly notice a big improvement when you get one installed. I'm in Ayr, and without an amp get very unreliable digital. I tried a cheap RCA amp, and it helped. I've since swapped it out for a Winegard HDP-269, and things have improved even further.

Glad to hear you are getting good results with the 4228HD. I tried one, did the mods to convert to twin high quality baluns, and it still won't equal my hacked 4221 clone.

I get similar channel listings to what you have, and I also cannot seem to get CBC from CN tower. Strangely, another guy in Ayr says CBC 5-1 is his most reliable signal. He's about a mile away, and sits a bit lower in elevation than I do. The other night I did end up getting 53.1 and subchannels from Erie. It must have been a fluke due to tropo effect, as I've never seen it prior or since.

I do have issues with the RF6/28/56 transmission tower a couple miles south. You're in a better position in that regard.

Ya i'm hoping my reception increases alot with the tower and preamp, kind of expecting it will or at least make it alot more reliable. You say your in Ayr and can't get CBC eh. Funny thing is my uncle lives just outside of mount pleasant and he gets CBC from off the CN Tower and alot more so he says i'm going over to his place tommorow going to check out what he's really getting now that i'm in the game. Nothing better then getting those HD channels for ZERO dollars though, they look fantastic on my 40" Sony LCD!

So I canceled my cable like I said, my older tube tv gets about 10 channels. This is working out very nicely! :D

Congrats on going cable free- that's atleast 30 to 40 dollars a month in savings, plus you are getting HD channels via OTA that are arguably the clearest compared to BDUs. Just get ready for the cable co. calls and "incredible deals"... Cheers!

I don't expect to get WNYO or ION, but I do have extreme issues with WUTV. I am thinking that I'm going to have to make an antenna specifically for ch 14.

I get WKBW / WGRZ clear and consistently, summer and winter... and as for Fox, my wife wants American Idol when it comes on again.

For laughs and giggles, here's my TV Fool http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9fbe507ad57219 (my house)

link doesn't work.

Hello,

what an awesome forum!

I am just now making the transition from Satellite to OTA. I am very impressed so far with my results - here is my situation

I bought my place 8 years ago and it had a big old antenna already in use.

I live in Norfolk county, near Simcoe, ON.

Here is what I know:

1) I have a pre-amp up at the antenna
2) The line goes from the pre-amp to another little box in my house - I take it that is another amplifier of sorts?
3) I have a rotor. All items are Channel master and they look pretty old, lol...

Here are the channels I can get regularly:

12.1
12.2
12.3
24.1
26.1
26.2
35.1 *same as 12.3
35.2 *same as 12.2
54.1
54.2
54.3
66.1

On weird days I have picked up the following:

2.1
2.2
2.3
4.1
5.1
7.1
8.1
11.1
17.1
17.2
17.3
23.1
29.1
38.1 *like this one - only time I got it, 'Cheers' was on all day...
56.1
56.2
56.3

So...what can I do to improve my situation? Should I replace all the cable with new RG6 - will that help?

Or am I at the best I can get?

Also, what would make the signal pulse - from good to bad? That drives me nuts...I don't touch anything and sometimes the signal shoots all over the place.

This is such a fun hobby though...I love when I do a scan and new channels appear, lol. Also, anyone else notice the reception is always better on the weekends? Wonder why???

Thanks for any help or suggestions....

Please review the FAQ thread here:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=41102

It will answer some of your questions.

The box inside the house is most likely a power supply for the pre-amp at the antenna. This is to make up for line loss.

If your cable is RG59, then it might be advantageous to swap that with RG6.

Can you give us a TVFool report (tvfool.com), as this will give us a better understanding of what TV signals are indeed in your area. It can also help determine what type of antenna you should be using...by the way, what type of antenna is currently installed?

There's a nice big escarpment in the direction of buffalo. Do you think it would be possible to point a single antenna to Buffalo and get Toronto via reflection off the escarpment?

I'm thinking of building a DBGH, does that seem sufficient given my location? (see tvfool link)

Thanks for the help!

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9fbeb3efe5c0a2

Not really. You would have better luck in getting a reflection signal for TO off a neighbour's roof.

Thanks, goforit... unfortunately, I can't edit that post, so let's try this again:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9fbe507ad57219

Your TV Fool report shows WUTV to be pretty good- should be receiveable. Reasons why you might not be getting it is because of a crowded dial, i.e., there are plenty of channels around 14.1, namely 15.1 Sun, and CKCO 13.0, as well as having to go through CHCH 11.0. You might benefit from a UVSJ splitter- this little device will knock down 13.0 and 11.0 when you feed the coax through the UHF port, two of these should really help in knocking down these signals. The forum sponsor has them.

Hi, I live in Dundas and I am using a Clearstream 4 mounted on a mast on my roof. I have a rotor so I can receive Buffalo and Toronto stations. Presently I can only receive, 5.1, 11, 11.1 15.1, 17.1, 17.2,17.3 23.1,36 and 36.1 with a clear picture. The quality is excellent on these stations although CHCH is a touch on the fuzzy side on the 11.1 frequency. I cannot receive, CFTO, TVO or Global from Toronto or any of the other U.S. stations out of Buffalo. When you installed the trap for channel 11, can you now receive the other Toronto stations? Thank you.

A channel 11 (RF11) trap would effect the 198 to 204MHz frequency range primarily. Depending on the quality of the trap, it could also affect RF frequencies from its surrounding channels as well.

Because of the signal strength of RF11 from your location, trapping this channel could help the tuner in the reception of some Buffalo channels that come in that same direction.

It most likely won't help out for receiving other TO stations as:
A) its frequency is in the VHF range where the majority of TO stations are in the higher UHF range.
B) the TO stations are in a different direction from which you are pointed at (ooppss sorry, just notice that you are already using a rotator).

You can pick up CBC because of the power that they are transmitting at, its hard NOT to pick them up. From what I've read, the C4 antenna has a very wide beamwidth, so even if you aren't pointing directly at TO, CBC would be picked up off a side lobe.

Where the trap could possibly help is to allow for the pickup of the hard to get Buffalo stations like WUTV.

Since you live in Dundas, which is relatively in a bowl surrounded by the escarpment, to which will block alot of signals, two things will help you out. How high is the mast on your roof? More height the better. And though the C4 is a very capable antenna, there are better ones that that may suit your setup more adequately (i.e. a DB8, Gray Hoverman, M4).

Thanks for your reply. Do you receive Global, CTV, TVO etc. out of TO? I had a DB4 and changed it out for the Clearstream4. Although I did not have the rotator at the time. It did not bring in any more channels than I already receive. Do you feel that the DB8 will increase the range significantly? I have pulled in WUTV on very rare occasions because of the Tropospheric effect with the Clearstream. My antenna is up about 15 feet above the roof. I suppose I could extend it a little more, I have 3 guide wires on it attached into the roof so it is quite stable. We have a large pond across the street from us so there is no interference from other houses. Like I mentioned I am mostly interested inadding more of the Toronto stations. Thanks again.