rodak, where are you located? is WXXI holding or was it just tropo?

He's updating Post #919

rodak, I'm just a bit north of you at Bathurst & Bloomington and I'm a bit surprised that you are getting 21 but not 51. For me both channels only come in during good conditions, but overall I find 51 to be a stronger and more reliable signal. You may want to rescan on a day with good tropo and see if you can get a lock on 51 and have it stored in your channel list.

rodak, where are you located? is WXXI holding or was it just tropo?
I've updated my profile to include location information. WXXI doesn't seem to be holding, tuner won't lock it in now (signal's at 20-30%).

rodak, I'm just a bit north of you at Bathurst & BloomingtonThanks for the tip DdDave. I did manage to pick up 51 once with the indoor antenna (but never 21), but that got wiped when the CM4221HD went in yesterday and we rescanned. Will rescan periodically, esp. when 21 is stronger...

DdDave, I'm also located at Bloomington and Bathurst and I'm getting my 4221 HD installed on the roof next week. Should i ask that a preamp be installed as well? When you installed your preamp, were you worried that your strongest stations might get overloaded? did you have to add an atennuator?

Mighty_Man, I have a CM7777 and I don't have any overload problems and don't use an attenuator. I'm aiming at NBC 2-1, which is 16° away from Toronto, so I think the reduced gain at that angle is helping prevent overload. I was originally up in the attic and found that adding the pre-amp allowed me to get more channels and a more stable signal. Since I moved my antenna outside I haven't tried without the pre-amp, so I honestly don't know how much different it really makes in our area when used outside. There are people that don't have pre-amps in Oak Ridges, but I'm not sure about our particular neighbourhood.

If you are trying to save some money, you can try without the pre-amp first and compare your results to others or post your results for comparison. It's not a huge deal to add the pre-amp after if you don't mind getting up on the roof, or you can get your installer to give you a quote to come back later for the upgrade.

Don't worry I will bring a preamp and the channel master drop amp next week.

Depending on the signal strength I read from your antenna on the roof I will recommend what you need if you intend to distribute the signal several ways.

Based on the postings of Rodak (we live a few hundrerd yards apart) and DDave I have done a complete rescan which not only brought back channel 49 (lost in transition in mid june and ignored by my Sony TV on the "Add Digital Channel" command) but also channel 51 (1-4), even though Tropo is bad (no 21 today - stable reception most evenings - I love 21-2).

Thanks both of you - Will keep you posted if 51 is stable.

Channelmaster 4221 HD, Sony KDL40V3000, Installation by Yaamon

51 I find picky. Most time its there and some times it not there. For me at my home if I want it all the time I would have to use the rotor and point it towards 140 for max signal.

Currently have my antenna pointed about 170'. From last week 51 has been there but I don't see anything on there to watch that I would like. :)

yep I haven't yet seen any programs of interets on any of the 51 channels either, it is more the "how many channels can I get approach" - but the full rescan brought back 49, so either way I am happy.

21 by the way is pretty stable in the evenings. Any idea how to get this permanently - indoor booster - or is a second antenna, pointing directly to Rochester/rotor necessary? - Not that I would really consider that on my small townhouse!

Thanks again.

P. S. 51 still there and stable - but is has only been half a day, so let's wait!

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CM4221 HD, Sony KDL40V 3000, Install by Yaamon

Definately a good indoor drop amp as if I remember you are splitting your signal in the basement.

I'm moving into a 4th floor condo facing North in Woodbridge. Do you think the CM4221HD would work if I put it in the balcony?

I really don't want to give away my money to Bell or Rogers. I don't watch TV that much and I'm fine with the OTA Channel line-up. If it doesn't work, what are my other options?

TIA.

WillRogersBeach, welcome here but you said something scary for OTAers in your area: facing North! :eek: Any chance that a south condo is open instead? :)

Being on the 4th floor is good, but are there any large buildings immediately outside the balcony that you might catch some signal bounce off of?

Stampeder, I'm just renting and it was the only available unit. :(

There is a parking lot right below my balcony and a 6 or 7 storey condo building about 50 meters at the end of the parking lot. Do you think I can catch some signal bounce off that building?

I'm thinking of getting a CM4221HD and just try it out. If it doesn't work, I can always return it. I don't know the return policy at Save & Play in Mississauga. One other option is to try out my friend's Terk indoor antenna. But based on the discussion here, the CM4221HD would be a better choice. They're actually about the same price. Although as an indoor antenna, the Terk would be easier to blend with the furniture and much less conspicuous. :)

Yep I think signal bounce off that building is your best hope.

Thank you! I'll keep you posted with my progress.

I live probably in what is the highest area of Aurora, half way between Yonge and Bathurst north of Orchard Heights.I live at the corner on Devins and Laurentide, and yeah I can imagine you have a height advantage living near the water tower. I'm easy to spot as I have this setup on my roof;

I had to do this to get enough height to go over my neighbour's house, so don't laugh :p

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/142/att00000eib.jpg

I used to have just the round radio shack antenna, but needed more power. I changed it for a DB-8, and hardly made a difference. So I put an extension on the pole, and used a combiner (not a splitter used backwards) so I get pull from both antennas. I got some improvement, but still not enough.

I then got a Channel Master 3041 DSB pre-amp. better, but still not satisfied.

I read others near got a better spectrum of channels than I have. NBC on 2 is coming in better at night, but not stable, and would really like 29 from buffalo more often than a blue moon.

Can anyone give me some advice?

From the picture it looks like the tree might be in front of the DB8 antenna? Is it, if so that would definately affect reception.

You would need to get the antenna higher or reposition it that it has a clear line of sight towards Buffalo.

Good luck.

There's a couple of maples about 50m away, but not that one in the picture.

I can't raise my DB-8 any higher, as it causes the pole to sway too much dure to top-weight.

How about if I stack another DB-8 or channel master equivalent? Has anyone had success with stacking?