I'm getting Fox with a cheapo 4 bay and a pre amp. I am on Hamilton Mtn. It depends on where you are in Stoney Creek. Do a TV Fool check to see if you can get the channel. If your on the Mtn you should have no problem with some decent equipment.

Thank you for the help. With an 8-bay, will I get fox?
Can't guarantee it, but the 8-bay will give you the best shot at it.

I'm having trouble trying to position my antennae (cm4228hd) 30ft on my rooftop. getting only 5.1 9.1 11.1 36.1

here's my TVFOOl report: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d574748c664dc9c

I have read many post relating to reception and am wondering about adding a preamp?

thanks

Lynden_OTA,

Just comparing TVFool results, I'd say you should be able to lock on to all the main Buffalo channels with no trouble at all. I have the same antenna on my roof with a CM7777 mast-mounted pre-amp, and pick up several Buffalo stations reliably from a location about 30km farther away. Without the pre-amp, I found Buffalo signals too weak in my location to watch consistently. I've got a run of about 150 ft of RG6 between the antenna/pre-amp and TV.

Do you have a rotor, and have you experimented with angle as well? The 4228hd doesn't have a very wide reception range, and may have difficulty picking up both Toronto and Buffalo signals with the aim locked in one position.

thanks for replying,posting is new to me,great stuff! No I don't have a rotor and from what I've read so far I don't expect to get Buffalo stations because of Toronto and Buffalo being two different directions,I'm ok with that and expect to add another antennae in the future for Buffalo,I just put up my new antennae three days ago and was dissapointed that I received so few Toronto digital stations,I have tried aiming adjustments but have two large maple trees directly east of my house on my property 50ft away!thats why I asked about getting a preamp,I have 75ft of RG6.can't get sun tv 15.1.
I know I'll need to experiment with aiming to get what I think I should get but am not sure how to tell how my house sits on the map because tvfool doesn't accept my address when I type it in,it only acepts the town and postal code?
any help is appreciated!
thanks

tvfool doesn't accept my address when I type it inIt will accept your map coordinates instead of your address. You can get those by going into the big menu on the left of the TVFool page and clicking on "Online TV Maps" to put in your town and province, then when the map comes up move the marker with your mouse to where your house is, then make note of your coordinates so that you can enter them whenever needed.

LyndenOTA,
Assuming the coordinates are right, looks to me like ur main problem is the escarpment between u & the CN Tower, causing TO stations to be 2 Edge? Obviously must be pretty rural around there. I would try the preamp route first (cheapest option first). I use a Winegard AP-8700 works OK for me, and I'm in more of a suburban environment. You'd probably do well with a CM-7777 too. No risk of overload out there 'eh.
You could also get your antenna up a little higher for some improvement. To see this plug in say 50 ft, then 60 ft to TVfool, and you'll see some improvement. Some 2 edge become 1 edge, and some 1 edge become LOS.
Also keep in mind the post transition situation should be better for you. To visualise flip back & forth between "Current all digital" and "pending all digital" in your tvfool. Again, you'll see a few 2 edge become one edge, and 1 edge may become LOS. Even better if ur antenna can get up higher (translated Tower install).
So, in a nutshell, I'd probably live with what I can get for now, after installing a decent preamp. Then re-evaluate after the transition is complete on Aug 31st when the TO digital stations will be at their higher Rad center on the CN Tower, and at higher power.

...I have tried aiming adjustments but have two large maple trees directly east of my house on my property 50ft away!thats why I asked about getting a preamp,I have 75ft of RG6.can't get sun tv 15.1...
Not surprised you can't get 15.1- that channel is whacked! I'm less than 5 miles from the transmitting tower and it goes black on a regular basis- lots of signal strength but no picture. Something must be wrong with the signal. I have 45.0 programmed in because 15.1 is so unpredictable.

thanks,I'll try that next

where will i see the coordinates?
thanks

at the bottom of the map that stampeder referred to. follow his steps verbatim, and it should jump right out at ya.

Besides LydenOTA, you've got 75' of coax cable. Combine the losses with that length of cable with the weak signals, your bound to loose some channels. The preamp will for sure help in this case.

Make sure you use one from a good reputable manufacturer. You want one with a low noise figure (NF). Ones from Radio Shack, or RCA brands from Canadian Tire just won't cut it.

Also keep in mind that channels like City, Global, and OMNI1 are high up on the frequency scale and have a dismal ERP. After the transition, these stations should have considerably better reception.

Please note that discussion on where to buy OTA parts and services should be limited to a special thread devoted to the subject in our Where To Buy forum:
OTA: Ontario Parts, Sales, Service, Installers
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=23984
Thanks for your co-operation.

Hi guys.....

just wanted to get your opinion on something.

I am on Hamilton mountain. Due to a wind storm we had in February, I had to change my HD antenna set up.
I have moved it from outside on a mast to inside my attic. What I have gained in the process is about 8 feet in height.

I have set it up so that there is a CM4228 pointing towards Buffalo and a CM4228 pointing to TO. At the same elevation, one is on one roof truss stud and the other is about 8 feet away on another stud. Joined together with a signal combiner and then a CM Amplifier.

What I notice is that I have lost some of the closer stations. I used to be at around 21-23 channels. I am now down to about 16 or 17.

Gone are CHCH(11), CityTV, Omni 1&2, CBLFT, and CTV. Even SunTV is very faint and goes in and out, as does CBC.

Any ideas why I would lose the locals just by moving inside the attic?

Gone are CHCH(11), CityTV, Omni 1&2, CBLFT, and CTV. Even SunTV is very faint and goes in and out, as does CBC.

Most of those are pretty self explanatory:
City and OMNI 1 - they transmit at such a low ERP, that the roofing materials will kill the signals right off. Don't fret, as of August they will be moving down the frequency spectrum and pumping up their power, so it shouldn't be so much of an issue.

OMNI2 and CBLFT - Their frequencies are fine, but they also transmit at a low ERP, though not as low as the two above. You will find both good and bad days with them, depending on the weather.

Which SunTV? - the TO one is like City and OMNI1, its ERP is horrendous, and it is at a very high frequency. SunTV Hamilton is a funny one. Sometimes it just doesn't seem to work. Good signal and everything, but just no picture and sound. I wouldn't be too concerned with either as they will be going off the air soon enough.

The troubling ones are CBC and CH. CBC is transmitting at a decent level, and has never caused me any issues. CH is close enough that it to has always been good. The only thing I can think of, especially concerning CH is that its overdriving your tuner, and with CBC close in frequency, it is affecting it as well. If you are overdriving your tuner with CH, it could also affect the other channels too, but you will still have the issues as noted above.

WOW!!

Thanks for that!

You mention that CH may be overdriving the tuner. Is there a way for me to adjust this?

I am using a Soncview HD8000 as my tuner.

The other thing I thought about too now, and I can't remember your TVFool report, is if CH isn't in the direction of your two antennas (one aimed at TO the other at Buffalo and CH is positioned in between), and you were picking it up off a side lobe of one antenna, now add in the roofing material, and you could be loosing the signal that way.

Giovanii, apparently you had good results when the antennas were outside but you lost Toronto signals when you moved inside. You do not report loss of signal from any of the Buffalo stations. I suggest that you look hard at your installation for the antenna pointing toward Toronto. Loss of signal on one antenna but not the other would make me look for bad connectors and cable, or possibly antenna damage from the windstorm.

You should make certain that the two antennas are both connected correctly to your combiner. If by some chance you connected the Buffalo antenna to the common port of the combiner, and fed your amplifier from one of the antenna ports, you would get the Buffalo signals about 3.5 dB down and the Toronto signals severely attenuated.

For testing purposes, if you can turn the 'Buffalo' antenna toward Toronto and feed the preamp directly then you will be able to determine if the problem is the 'Toronto' antenna or something else.

I wouldn't spend time chasing overload from CHCH when you say that you can't receive the station on the same antenna that won't bring in Toronto. If you didn't have an overload problem when the antenna was outdoors, why would you have one now?

I've been enjoying OTA HD almost 2 years now getting the complement of channels except ION which rarely came in and the few odd times 2.x not coming in.

Well, 2 days ago, lightning finally hit my setup and blew out the HDP269.
It was properly grounded and nothing inside was damaged, thank God.

Anyway, I'm shopping for a preamp again and wondering if I should go CM7778 instead. I'm in the meadowlands and perhaps I was initially too conservative with getting the HDP269 with fears of obliterating 11.1, however, it's tower is actually in Stoney Creek, a fair distance away from me, right?

What do you guys think?

My setup is two 4221HD ganged, one at CN.Tower, the other at Buffalo. It's feeds 4 cables to 5 TVs, and maybe 3 TVs "on" at once at the most.
My other question is should I get a distribution amp?

So...
1. CM7778?
2. CM3414?

Thanks guys

Hey Ancaster, I think you could get away with the 7778- you are far enough from the CHCH tower. I had better luck with the CM3414, but then CHCH is very close to me; come September things should be better when the analogs shut down. Using a pre-amp usually gives a better chance for more signal since you are amplifying closer to the source, drop amps further away- more signal loss. HDP-269 is rather fragile, not surprised you lost one.

goforit, nice to hear from you, instrumental in helping me at the beginning and now again, lol.

Think I should do both 7778 and 3414?

I'm thinking of ordering from sunnydirect but nobody has answered me yet in this (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1270488#post1270488) thread.