Hi All,


Just a question that I hope someone can answer.

I just mounted a 4221HD (all mods done) on my roof, approx 30 ft high.

Location : 9th & Britannia

I used a 'j mount' on the side of the peak and can only be mounted so the bottom of the reflector is a few inches above the peak.
But it has a clear line of sight south.

At night after 7:00pm and in the morning till approx 11:00am my Buffalo stations ABC,NBC,FOX etc..are approx 85%

BUT...in the afternoon they pixelated and even no-signal.


I looked thru the 'Tropo' thread and could not find an answer.

Is the hot weather causing some strange lake effect ?

Does anyone else get this problem ?


thx

This is entirely common and very normal during the summer months.

It is likely atmospheric 'turnover' over the lake. You can reduce the impact however, by making sure your aim is precise and if you do not have one installed already, adding a good pre-amp.

Porky,

"I used a 'j mount' on the side of the peak and can only be mounted so the bottom of the reflector is a few inches above the peak.
But it has a clear line of sight south."

If I understand your setup correctly, this means your antenna is close to the roof shingles.. Based on my experience, I would recommend the antenna (bottom reflector) be at least 5' above the roof for consistent/stable reception.

I have an amp conected to the feed, should I also have a pre-amp?
Or maybe I should return the amp. and try just the pre amp?

Please help!

It's better to have a pre-amp which has two parts: One piece goes right under the antenna (the pre-amp), and the second piece (the power injector) usually goes inside your house so it can be plugged into an outlet.

Try the amp before you return it- see if you like the results.

Thanks for the feedback Tenstu & Kooguy,


Yes, it is mounted very close to the shingles and what I have decided to do before mounting a tripod (don't want to drill more holes into the roof) I'll change the j-pipe to a 39" one (existing is 28") This at least increases the height to abit over a 1 ft above the peak.

If this helps great....if not, then I'll just have to live with it for the summer.

Good thing is most TV, all for that matter is watched at night.

Thanks again for the replies !

I have the amp on there and it works well. BUT, I lose some chanels during the day. Same as Porky's question. Example being... ION was 85% this morning, but after 11am until 7 or 8pm it going down to 1 to 24%.
Which would work best Pre-amp or Amp?

I also plan to shortent the COAX from about 110 feet to 25 feet.
Maybe that will make a difference also?

A good quality pre-amp should work better.

I'll bring back the amp and get a preamp.

I also plan to shortent the COAX from about 110 feet to 25 feet.
Maybe that will make a difference also?Yes, that's important to do! If the coax is RG-6 you'll get back about 5dB in signal you were losing, and if it is RG-59 about 7 or 8db! :)

Porky,

Not sure the type of roof you have (gable or heap), can you not do wall mount which will give you more height for your antenna? I find that more height gives me the ability to get fringe channels like ION.

My following setup survive a freak thunderstorm in early May...
- CM9032, 6" wall mount
- 10' 1 1/4 EMT pipe (it is 1.5", OD) from Home Depot
- a 2x6 in attic for the mounting screws to hold on to

Hi Kooguy,

I've seen the type of setup you have. But unfortunately in my case , the safest method was the j-mount. I was lucky to have a sub-roof to climb up to my 2nd floor. (I'm not good with heights). Plus, its at the back and cannot be seen from the street (which makes the wife happy :) )

Thx for the suggestion though.

My following setup survive a freak thunderstorm in early May...
- CM9032, 6" wall mount
- 10' 1 1/4 EMT pipe (it is 1.5", OD) from Home Depot
- a 2x6 in attic for the mounting screws to hold on to
That's a good combination. I also use the 6" wall mount lag-bolted to 2x4 CCA pieces which are screwed to my "chimney" (essentially a wooden box surrounding the stove pipe).

I use 1.5" OD aluminum pipe (1/8" wall thickness) purchased at Metal Supermarket for my mast. Yes, it's more money than EMT pipe but it's a lot lighter and won't rust. :)

The antenna sits about 30' above ground.

Porky,

I find that more height gives me the ability to get fringe channels like ION.


And you're in Ajax. I would think that most people in this thread should not be looking at ION as an everyday channel. It's too far from the west end.


I have the amp on there and it works well. BUT, I lose some chanels during the day. Same as Porky's question. Example being... ION was 85% this morning, but after 11am until 7 or 8pm it going down to 1 to 24%.
Which would work best Pre-amp or Amp?

I also plan to shortent the COAX from about 110 feet to 25 feet.
Maybe that will make a difference also?

Certainly shorten the cable, but as I said above, ION will not be an option for many in the west end. You don't list your location. What does TV fool show the ION signal being at your house?

All of sudden I am getting 2.3 without scanning..

Any 1 else getting this channel?

Thanks

It's been there almost a week. At first as WGRZ-SD, then as RTN return on Friday.

Hello all,
I'm a newbie and have had enough with my cable bill!

I'm in a tight subdivision and didn't want to invest in a large outdoor
antenna setup.
I'm located in Georgetown.

I have found great reviews for the Terk HDTVi indoor antenna and was thinking on giving it a try. Only $50

I have an older television that does not have a built in ATSC tuner and is not HDTV compatible.
Will I require a digital to analogue converter?
I'm assuming I would also need a HDTV tuner to get any HD channels or a box that does both??

Would I be wasting my money and time by trying the indoor antenna?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Jay

JayW,

Antenna setup is not large if you are considering a CM4221HD. Any chance that you can find a location outside the house such as above garage, deck, under the roof eve or side of the house ? You can see the 'pimp my gear' thread for some ideas. I have one CM4221HD mounted 15' above ground on my deck for testing, only missing 1-2 channels compare to my other CM4221HD mounted on the roof.

As for indoor antenna, you can also pick one up at Walmart and try it out. If it doesn't work out, just return it. The SaveAndReplay folks have some good indoor antennas. Just contact them for advice.

You can try the RCA DT800B (Walmart) tuner for your analog TV. I used one, very impress with its reception performance, better than my high-end HD TV. It has basic TV guide built-in as well.

I'm in the HeartLake Kennedy & Sandlewood. I'll take a look at TVfool also.

I just bout a 10Db amp to replace my 5DB and it seems to have worked. Mind you, this morning, with the clouds, ION was off again.

I am looking at the Pre Amp. what is the least expensive that I can buy. I'm on a budget.

At present, I have a hacked CM42211HD and pre-amp 7777. I get pretty much all the channels but some channels are unstable, especially US channels. For instance, channel 2.1 (NBC) sometimes has 80-90% signal but at other time it is 0% (like today, June 22 at about 5.30 pm). I get channel 49.1 okay (60%) but not ION (51.1 - 51.4). Also, I have a week Global 41.1 (at about 26%) and Sun TV Toronto 66.1 (at about 38%). On top of that, I also have interference/breakout from airplane (airplane flutter).

So, I tried to tweak my antenna and it seems that it's kind of at the border already. If I aim it a little bit toward CN Tower (to get stronger Global and Sun TV signals), channel 49.1 (MyTV Buffalo) will get weaken. If I aim it a litlle bit toward Buffalo (to get stronger US channels signal), I lose Global and Sun TV. So, to get stable channels, I think I need 2 antennas, i.e one to Buffalo and the other to CN Tower.

I was thinking of getting a high gain antenna (especially thinking about airplane flutter) toward Buffalo and the existing hacked CM4221HD toward CN Tower. But, which high gain antenna should I get? Reading from this forum, CM4228HD and Antennas Direct DB8 seem to be not quite good. So, may be I should get Antennas Direct 91XG for Buffalo channels? Or, perhaps another (hacked) CM4221HD? If I get Antennas Direct 91XG for Buffalo channels, how do I combine it with the hacked CM4221HD? Does the same distance (i.e. 25") between antennas apply?

I would appreciate some advise. Thanks.