Hi Stephen, and welcome here. My primary concern about your situation is the trees. UHF signals don't do so well in such treed areas, so you'll probably need to put your antenna up as high as possible, such as on a 20 foot mast or tower. Maybe others know the area better than I do and can give better advice.

Hi Stephen, if your house is similar to your neighbour then I would buy a set of 4" brackets, 10' pole and mount the antenna against the chimney.

From the picture I can see your neighbour and it does not look that tall and difficult of a job

Go on the roof to gain access to the chimney much easier than trying to do the install from a ladder.

Good luck.

Thanks for the quick replies! Unfortunately, I can't go with the tower route. I'm going to have to use the limited height of the deck (3ft) and stick the antenna on maybe a 10 foot pole. I've shot a quick little mpeg video (http://www.blogofboredom.com/files/back.mpg), so you can get a look at the back of my house.

I just viewed it, and are you sure you can't go up on that 2nd floor roof? As the fighter pilots say, "Altitude = Options".

I just can't do it :eek:

I guess I'm wondering how bad it will reduce my ability to get the Buffalo channels. Sure I won't know until I stick it up, but I'd like to think that 13 feet off the ground, isn't bad at all?

I haven't been able to pick anything up outside of CBC HD. what would be best way to get OTA HD from a student house close to Keyes?

I really just want the buffalo NBC CBS and ABC channels but i'll take anything i can get!

I have a dinky antenna that came with my HVR 950 ASTC usb stick. anyway im on the bottom of the hill in hamilton at the very end of emerson and im able to pull in cbc hd but nothing else ctv gives a reading but no picture.

Next year im moving towards school and close to main, is there any chance of pulling in a buffalo station? or should i just give up. I'm willing to get an outdoor antenna.

that antenna is definitely not going to get you anything. you need a very good set of rabbit ears, even better an outdoor antenna. You'll probably be able to get some of the G.I. stations like PBS and CW, but the other Buffalo stations will be very very touchy

Ok, so if i got the outdoor antenna would i get say an nbc? or abc? or cbs? I really want these stations if i can't get them that really spoils the deal for me.

well, either way your a good 70 miles from the transmitters of ABC, CBS and NBC. And when you have the escarpment in the way that doesn't help either. If you could get your antenna up high, you might have a chance at all three, but i would expect to only get one or two of them, at best, even with an outdoor antenna, because of the location your in. A outdoor antenna should get you all of Toronto however.

Agreed - that signal shadow from the Escarpment has been a problem for people in the past so if at all possible it would be nice if someone could test your site for you.

Am in Brantford Ontario, what are my chances of getting the CN tower and Buffalo stations, and am I better off with a 50ft tower?

Check post #168.

Cheer mate. Ham Clan....any updates to the channels you are pulling in from where you are?

Cheer mate. Ham Clan....any updates to the channels you are pulling in from where you are?Hey england.
I haven't been watching a great deal of OTA in the last while.
As you know, I'm not far from Brantford and I can get both TO and NY easily with my rig.
But then again, I have that CM 4228 perched up on a 40' tower with the preamp.

Am contemplating 40 vs 50 ft tower, well of course the less ugly the better. The city already told me the max one can go without a permit is 54ft. I already have 2 dishes on the roof, and am sure the neighbours will have something to talk about, once the tower goes up :o

england,
just tell your neighbours it's there to get ITV, BBC1 & 2 - let us know their reaction.

You left out channel 4, the station that brings you all those Brit home makeover shows :-)

What antenna would you guys recommend for someone in the west end of the hamilton mountain? postal code is L9C5S8, shows up pretty much exact in google maps.

I'd like to get all the buffalo and toronto stations if possible.

I built a 4 bay antenna from these instructions (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=500393&postcount=75)

it's sitting in the basement... Right now I get 11, 25, 36, 41 and 47 fairly clearly, weak signal on 9 and 57. Also evidence of a signal on 17. Next step is to get a longer run of coaxial cable and try the antenna upstairs, in the attic and then outside once some snow melts.

Is a home built 4 bay good enough? Or do you think I'd be much better served with a CM 4228 or similar 8 bay?

I'm hopefully picking up a Samsung DTB-H260F this weekend.

thanks

mnx

Hi mnx, you have a few choices if you are interested in receiving stations from Toronto and Buffalo together.

One setup is a dual 4 bay antenna home made or 4221. One pointed at Toronto and the other at Buffalo.

A single 4228 with a rotor would be the best setup but also the most costly.

I did a install in Burlington last year summer with a single 4228. With some fine tuning the antenna could get almost all the stations from Toronto and Buffalo. With this setup the signals were not strong mid levels, so you would encounter drop outs.

I ended up with the antenna pointed towards Buffalo for 80-90% signal and he would worry about the Toronto from a silver sensor using a a/b switch.

Good luck.

An a/b switch setup sounds like a good idea. Does a fixed 4221 have enough gain to recieve the stations from South Buffalo? http://www.remotecentral.com/hdtv/distances.htm shows that I'm 77 miles away. Or do I need a 4228 to pickup those signals?

Where'd you get your 4228 btw?

- mnx