are NBC and FOX the two of the harder (hardest) Buffalo stations to receive? and how much lower in signal strength are the compared to the buffalo stations i can receive right now?

so early evening yesterday, i went back into my attic to fiddle with the antenna to see if i could get better reception. if anything, i thought i made it worst. however later in the evening i found i actually got some better signal strengths from the existing buffalo channels. so i did a scan and came up with another five channels (total of 16)

2.1 WGRZ-HD NBC
2.2 WGRZ-SD NBC
4.1 WIVB-HD CBS
29.1 WUTV-HD FOX
29.2 WUTV-SD FOX

the Fox channels were very weak. NBC would be fairly consistent but would drop out at times.

but not this morning, i seems to be losing those channels. Fox is gone and NBC/CBS comes in and out sporadicly. Oh well, at least these are promising results and gives hope that I'll be able to get them consistently when I finally mount the antenna properly.

yup, NBC and Fox are harder to get consistantly.
Its really amazing we get Fox at all, their signal is directional, to the south.
NBC isn't as high in power as most buffalo stations, nor are they as high in elevation. I'm thinking of doubling and stacking my 4228. :)

Maxwedge, what do you mean channel master box by the antenna, do you mean a rotor or preamp ?Thanks Yamon,
I presume it is a preamp - There was a rotor but it was pooched - it was spinning around in the wind and was removed and the antenna was solidly affixed. I am guessing the antenna is pointed somewhere near the CN Tower. Before I got any HD tv's the repairman positioned it for the best reception for Global, CTV, CBC and Omni. City, NBC, CHCH (E?) and Barrie are a little snowy. When I hooked it up to my new Sony with a built-in tuner I picked up CBC, CTV, WNLO, City and 25 (french) in HD - all come in nicely. The other night (very clear sky) I actually received WIVB, NBC and some other Buffalo station that I did not recognize. These were freezing every now and then and were not stable.

Being a total newbie to all of this I can only describe my antenna as a fairly large, horizontal triangular bottom assembly with an "arrow" top section. A good old "traditional" style all in all. I imagine the tower height to be 35 - 45' (3 sections - traditional triangular tower). The run would exceed 60' for sure. Is a 4228 good for VHF as well as UHF? I would like to retain the analog channels as not all the tv's hooked to the antenna are HD (small kitchen tv that my wife watches...can't mess with that :eek:)
I am in the Woodbine/Aurora Road area.
Thanks! Jim

I can only describe my antenna as a fairly large, horizontal triangular bottom assembly with an "arrow" top section... Is a 4228 good for VHF as well as UHF? ...I would like to retain the analog channels...Maxwedge, if you look at the diagrams in Post #1 of the Knowledge Base & FAQ does it look like a VHF/FM/UHF Combination antenna?

My antenna looks like a combo of a VHF/FM bottom and a Yagi style top section. The point of the Yagi "arrow" seems to be pointed toward the CN Tower area which according to the FAQ is 180 degrees wrong. I will try to find a good expert/installer in my area and get their advice.
Thanks!

So its a classic VHF/FM lower on the pole and at the top of the pole is a corner-reflector yagi UHF. I think you are all set for what you want, so now its a matter of aiming both antennas to suit your channel needs.

My only concern is the age of the antennas - if they are older and there is a lot of rust, grime, etc. up there it can be really unpleasant trying to adjust things. Also it is almost impossible to reach an upper antenna separately through the lower one... :(

If it looks like there will be too many problems like that you might want to look at a new Delhi 935 or 936 combo (or similar style) antenna to replace all that. Hopefully things are fine as they are.

Thanks Stampeder - I will give those Delhi's a look-see....I am about 50 kms north of the CN Tower - Would I need a pre-amp as well?
Thanks Again!

With the height of your tower the downlead will show a fair bit of line loss, so yes you should look into a preamp mounted right up there with the antenna. It will have to be a VHF/FM/UHF preamp.

Check out the signal amps thread for more info:

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

So, I returned from Buffalo today with my Samsung - HDTV Digital Terrestrial Receiver Model: DTB-H260F SKU: 8102796.

I bought an antenna a few weeks ago and connected it to the box and I got nothing. I moved the antenna upstairs and reconfigured the cable to join the antenna in my bedroom to my tv on the main floor....

I received 2 channels: CTV & CH 4 Buffalo (i think)

I then repositioned the rabbit ears of the antenna and got 6 channels: CTV, CITYTV, CH4 Buffalo and some other US stations (and one was broadcasting in SD and DT).

I tried again at repositioning the rabbit ears and ended up with 4 channels but lost all the US stations: CTV, CITYTV, CBC and CBC french.

Tomorrow, I plan on moving the antenna to the attic where I laid a piece of coaxial from the attic to the family room. Let's see what we can get with that!

Here's what I'm getting as of right now with my current setup:

WIVB
CBLT
WKBW
WNGS-SD
CFTO
WNLO
CBLFT
WNED-HD
WNED-SD
WNED-Th
CITYHD
SUNTV

salc75, dont expect good results from your location if you are using a indoor antenna on the first or second floor.

You will have a better chance with your attic install if you are using a 4 bay antenna like a 4221. If your cable length is long you will lose more precious signal from a attic install. Don't expect to pull in Nbc and Fox from a attic install from your location.

Your best results from your location would be a outdoor install with a clear view south towards Buffalo. A 4221 is capable of pulling in Buffalo from your location as I had a customer buy one with a preamp mounted on his chimney that lives in Aurora. A 4228 would be recommended.

He tried mounting the antenna under his eaves and got only the Toronto stations till he mounted it on this chimney.

You have to realise you are much further north than those in the gta area.

Good luck.

Yaamon,

Thanks for the advice. If I had a chimney I'd install an antenna off it but I don't have a chimney. What I will pick up soon is the 4221.

Sal..

Is there anyone able to grab WUTV north of Bloomington Road? I just want to know my chances for when I pick one of those CM4221s.

:D

salc75, have a customer at Yonge and Bloomington and only with a 4221 mounted on his chimney and a preamp was he able to get most of the Buffalo channels and all the Toronto channels.

He was not able to get MyTv. Signal on a samsung T351 was about 5-6 bars on the Buffalo stations and 7-8 on the Toronto.

A better choice would be a larger 4228 outdoors.

I got 4221/100ft/attic set up, and here is what I got:

2-1 (nbc) 88% -97%
2-2 (nbc weather) 78% -95%
4-1 ( CBS) 74% -95
5-1 (cbc) 98%
7-1 (ABC) 88%
9-1 (CTV) 82%
23-1 ? 82%
25-1 CBC FRENCH 82%
29-1 ? 68%
43-1 PBS 68%
57-1 CITYTV 57%

49-1 (mytv) 15% (unwatchable)
66-3 (suntv) 15% (unwatchable)

1) Since the preamp(7778/7777) are so expensive and hard to get, do you think the Distr amp (12db-30db) from THE SOURCE would help if the cable was shorten to 50 ft?
2) Can I connect my preamp or dist amp after 50 ft of cable because there isn't an electric outlet in the attic?
3) Is those two channels 's programings worth the efforts to get?

Thanks in advance.

Vincent

1) Since the preamp(7778/7777) are so expensive and hard to get, do you think the Distr amp (12db-30db) from THE SOURCE would help if the cable was shorten to 50 ft?sbobcat, using a distribution amp after 50' of cable is unlikely to give you satisfactory results. You want the amplifier to be where the signal is strongest.

2) Can I connect my preamp or dist amp after 50 ft of cable because there isn't an electric outlet in the attic?sbobcat, you need to read the thread dedicated to preamps and amps to get familiarized with some of the basics like Roger was mentioning. You do not need a power socket up near the antenna for a preamp, as you'll see. :)

Thanks for the responses, after the reading I think shorten the cable to 35-50ft might be the correct option for me since I only connect to my panasonic px42.
tonight the 2-1, 4-1 and 7-1 all come in rock solid 82 to 97%. 49-1 even came in pixielized at the morning. I think shorten the length and repeak might get me the 66-3 too.

Once again , thank you very much.


Vincent

without doing anything with my 4221/attic/100' set upye, but this afternoon I got more channels with my rescan. I gam getting these channels
8-1
10-1
21-1
21-2
21-3
21-4
31-1
would it be they testing or increasing their boadcasting power that i don't know? but most of them are gone now.

Its good tropo time where you are. See the DX/Tropo thread for info.