Hi Ron, thanks for the compliment. :)

Your reception is decent considering you are in a valley(dip can't even see the cn tower), and the distance all the way up to Davis with a single 4228.

Once you get a preamp it should help with a strong signal strength to the tuner.

I have not used those cheaper antenna but for what the channel master antenna cost and the results they produce, it's a no brainer to go for a better built antenna that has proven results.

Reading your post you must have done something wrong with your install or setup. Especially if all you can get is just Cbc with noise? Do you mean it's pixelating?

A digital signal has no noise other than pixelation from low or too much signal.

Good luck.

I was walking my dog this morning and noticed a house with a 4228HD chimney mounted and pointed south-southwest (we're at Bathurst and Rutherford). Basically it's pointed towards Oakville?!?!

I almost wonder if they just pointed their antenna the way they see most people have their satellite dishes pointed?

Maybe I should knock on the door and ask what they're actually getting. :)

Maybe 11.1 or 36.1 in Hamilton.

Hello, just joined in. This is a great site! :p

I hope I can post a question here (as a result of a bad reception in my area).

Would anybody be able to comment as to why I lost my digital channels? :confused:

When I first set the antenna up, I was getting 4 digital and about 6 analog channels, and that was about a year ago.
A few months in, I lost reception to all of my digital channels and some analog. Right now I only have 2 good analog channels.

I have a Super Delhi Too mounted on the roof. I have tried adjusting it, thinking perhaps it moved, but that made not difference.

I know there are a couple of appartment buildings in the way, perhaps that's why I was only getting so few channels to begin with, but why would I loose my digital all of a sudden?

Any ideas, comments, suggestions, more info?

Thanks!

What channels were you getting?

If some were from Buffalo, the analogue is now gone for good. Have you rescanned your TV Tuner to account for recent changes in channel numbers as well?

Please let us know what you had and lost and we can help a bit better.

I can't remember all the channels I had and lost (I think I had 3.1, 5.1 and 19.1). All I have right now is A channel (3), CBC (5) and CTV (9) that are of fairly good quality (analog).

I did rescan the channels many times.

Even tried with a home built antenna (built from coat hangers from a YouTube video, a budy of mine is getting 11 HD channes with it in Bolton!) and got only one bad channel.

silverunner, definitely build a better antenna. ;) In Aurora you need at least an SBGH or M4 (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=186) to get DTV stations reliably. Throw away that coathanger thing and tell your buddy in Bolton to do the same thing too! Mount your newly built antenna up on the roof, feed it into a good preamp, and you will have much better results.I have a Super Delhi Too mounted on the roofThat's a good one but unfortunately it is more of a suburban antenna than what you need, as you can see in the Antenna Chart.

Please do the step-by-step instructions in Post #10 of the OTA FAQ and post your results here so that we can analyze your situation better.

Thanks for the reply, the amount of info here is unbelievable!!!

I will try to go over the stuff in FAQ and post the results.

I'm pretty new to this OTA stuff and need some little help
I live in Aurora that's 50 km north of CN tower and I installed a CM 4228 hd on the roof using a tripod. I use rg6 cable maybe 12 meters long to one tv.
I get all the Toronto stations but my problem is with the US stations 2-1, 4-1 and 7-1 I get them sometimes good, sometimes with interruptions the 17-1, 29-1 and 23-1 I get them good 90% of the times and 11-1 and 49-1 never watchable.
My question is can I use something to improve the reception for the US channels like a amplifier or anything else ?

2.x and 49.x are a little challenging due to broadcast technical issue from south of border...many of GTA folks have some problem with those two stations. How high is your antenna from the ground, and any obstruction in LOS to us stations?

That isn't necessairly true. With my setup, WGRZ (2-1) and WNYO (49-1) are two of the most solid stations I get. Heck, WGRZ is 11 or 12 out of 12 bars all the time. Yaamon set that up for me well! If anything, its WIVB, WNED and WUTV that give me the most drop outs from Buffalo. Even with just 1 bar, CHCH comes in well for me as well.

alebogm,

Interesting, you must be in sweet spot for 2.x and 49.x! I'm a little surprise that you have high drop outs at your location for WIVB, WNEB and WUTV where most of us can easily get them in 90-100% strength.

Well I never said high drop outs, what I am saying is, if any station is going to give me a hissy fit, its going to be one of those three most of the time. Heck, even right now WNED isnt coming in. Most I can ever get is 4/12 bars. But I am also pointed towards WGRZ and not Grand Island as the Superbowl was on WGRZ this past year and I dont have a rotor... it may be something that I get added later in the season if Yaamon has time and stock...

My question is can I use something to improve the reception for the US channels like a amplifier or anything else ?

You should look at the CM7777 preamp. There's a whole thread for amps here if you want to read up on them:

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

I use one and it makes a huge difference. From Aurora you shouldn't have to worry about overloading you tuner with this powerful of an amp, just point to the Buffalo stations and the TO stations will be fine.

d1gitalh0me,

11-1 is CHCH and is in Hamilton, which is more to the west than the CN tower and Buffalo, so it's a bit tricky to get all of them. I'm in Richmond Hill, so the angle between Hamilton and Buffalo is probably a bit higher for me than for you, but I am closer and I get it around 40-45% fairly consistently. (In my case I also have the 4228HD but it is in my attic for now)

Many people on the board have successfully made use of a preamp to improve their reception. Stick to a unit from the pre-amp chart in the pre-amp thread. Avoid the amps you see at Home Depot, RONA, Canadian Tire etc like the plague. I am leaning toward getting one of the Research Communications pre-amps, due to its extremely low noise figure. I haven't had the chance to do a test by bringing my antenna on the roof. I keep getting flak from my wife about this and that and mistaken beliefs that wind and birds will cause interference.

I'm looking for a solution that will force me to relocate the antenna to the roof. Hmmmm..... I've been thinking of installing some radiant barrier (2-ply plasticised aluminum foil with bubble wrap between) on the underside of my rafters (actually they are truss top chords) to help reduce the attic temperature? That would surely block signals from coming through wouldn't it? Then I could say "See honey? Now our AC will run less often, and we'll have better reception"

d1gitalh0me,

Where are you in Aurora? I'm up the hill off Orchard Hts, so there's lots of elevation here. I've got 21 crystal clear HD channels on a CM 4228HD with NO preamp. (I bought the preamp thinking I would need it, as it turns out, it was returned)

gin

ginsoaker,

I'm at Bayview and Hollidge just north of Wellington...I think the elevation here is lower then yours. Maybe I should try a preamp, where is a good place to buy one?

Hi All, I'm new to this game of course and I am worried that I may have jumped into this before I "looked".

Here are some details.

Antenna: Antennas Direct DB2
TV: Sony with ATSC tuner built in.
Potential Mount location: outside between 1st and 2nd level where the ExpressVU dish used to be.

Situation. After 5 years of billing isses (on and off) with Bell, I decided that I'm going to divorce them. I sold my HD PVR and cancelled my service. My brother switched to OTA with a indoor antenna (he lives second floor condo at Younge and Sheppard). After learning about OTA from him I decided I will give it a try. So I go out and buy a antenna (Antennas Direct DB2).

Now, I didn't join this forum until after I bought the Antenna and recycled the box so I cannot return it. BIG MISTAKE????

Currently I have the antenna set up in the house beside my tv away from any windows etc. Pointing in the South / South West direction and I am getting 3 digital channels and some analog ones - I forgot which ones they were as they did not interest me.

What I want: An antenna / set up to pick up the Toronto and American Networks (Buffalo) in HD.

Now, before I set this up outside, I have some questions.

1) Should I stick with this antenna or try to sell it and buy a 4221HD?
2) Would this antenna have a large enough range to pick up the US networks?
3) Any other suggestions on what I should do?

Thanks in advance.

Hi i3kc and welcome here - a pity that you hadn't seen the OTA Forum beforehand, but let's get you set up so that you can enjoy as many channels as possible! :)


buy a CM4221HD and sell the DB2
yes, read through this thread and use the Search This Thread tool to the upper right beside Thread Tools and put in your street names as search terms to see how others have done
read the OTA FAQ since it has years worth of great info in it