That's what I have and I'm very happy with it. The noise margin is nice and low, which is very important. If you haven't already looked at it, there's a pre-amp comparison chart you can look at in the first post of this thread: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42426
based on the signal strength I'm getting. (some fairly strong, most weak). Would a CM7778 work better for me?

based on the signal strength I'm getting. (some fairly strong, most weak). Would a CM7778 work better for me?

I don't know if you would really see much of a difference between them in your situation. The noise margin is only 0.2 difference, and there is only a 3dB gain difference. If you ran into a problem with overload you could rotate your antenna a bit more to the east towards Rochester to reduce the Toronto signal strength and improve the US stations.

Thanks for all the information! Looks like I'm going up on my roof this weekend!

Hi.
Please could you draw the line on the map, I live in Woodbridge (Hwy 7 & Weston Rd.)
At the moment I get almost all channels, but no luck with NBC, Fox and 49.1
Channels 4.1, 7.1 and 51.1 the signal isn't very strong, sometimes signal gets to 24 %.
I have a DB8 Multidirectional HDTV Antenna and my husband put 2 amplifiers , 1amp is 28db low noise and the other is 10 db, the antenna is in the attic.
Any help is really appreciated.
Thanks.

Silvy, wecome to the forums. To start with, the best thing you could do is to move the antenna outside. It will give you a big boost in signal strength and quality.

The double amplifiers may not be helping you out. The noise margin is the most important aspect of a digital signal, and whenever you add an amplifier you add noise. I assume the the 28db gain amp is a pre-amp in the attic. Is the other amp is a distribution amp? You may be able substitute the distribution amp for a good quality splitter and find that you get better reception because you will be eliminating a source of noise.

As for aiming, you can go to tvfool.com and they will tell you the direction to the transmitters you are trying to receive, and then you can use a compass to aim. Drawing a line on a map doesn't help much when you are in the attic and can't see any landmarks to aim towards.

Silvy, I agree with dave, the pre-amp feeding the distribution amp usually causes overload. I've done installs where i needed an antenuator before the distribution amp.
antennaweb dot com will draw a line on a map. Put your address and pick the station you want to aim at.

Both amplifiers are together, first the 28 db to the antenna and then the 10 db to the 28, from the 10db I have R6 cable that runs around 200 feet, I'm using the cable that was installed in the house plus the R6 cable that we installed from the attic to the basement to connect together to the company cable that runs to 5 tv.
I live in a Condo and we aren't allow to install the antenna outside, the attic is my best choice.
With the antenna from the attic since we put the 2 amplifiers together I lost channels 5.1. 9.1. adn 11.1 in my bedroom.
Also my husband he built a hanger antenna and that one is in our bedroom facing to CN Tower and I get all Toronto channels also 11.1 from Hamilton.
We will follow your advice and thank you for your help.

Hey folks,

Great forum. I just spent the last five days reading through this entire thread, and I learned lots, not just from this thread, but from all the referrals and links posted by others. So, thanks everyone.

I'm a bit of a newbie to this OTA stuff, and in fact, I just got my first LCD tv a few weeks back. Anyway, to make a long story short, I went and bought a Terk amplified indoor antenna (the stylish looking one that looks like a sideways Christmas tree). This was before I found this forum. But after reading the wealth of info here I was planning to purchase a CM4221 and mount it on the side of the house.

However, then I read the part about grounding the outdoor antenna, and I thought maybe I can stick it in the attic. So I did. This is what I got: (Sorry, I don't have signal strength display)

2-1,2,3 (NBC)
4-1 (CBS)
5-1 (CBC)
7-1 (ABC)
9-1 (CTV)
10-1,2 (NBC Rochester, I think)
12 (CHEX)-analogue, bit snowy
16-7,9 (audio program), reception is not consistent
19 (TVO) analogue
21-1,2,3 (WXXI) reception not consistent
23-1 (CW)
25-1 (CBC French)
27 analogue and bit snowy, don't know what network
31-1 (FOX, I think), reception not consistent
36 analogue
41-1 (Global)
44-1 (OMNI 2)
47 analogue OMNI 1
49-1 (My TV) but not consistent
51-1,2-3,4 (ION) Never heard of this one, seems pretty stable though
52 analogue SunTV
57-1 (City)
64-1 (OMNI 1)
66-1 (SunTV)
69 analogue OMNI 2

So far the reception is pretty stable, on the ones I didn't write comments to. I was quite surprise by these results. I could probably get more consistent results with an outdoor mount of CM4221HD, but this was way easier.

Thanks again everyone.

BTW, should I still ground in the attic?

mcours, where in RH are you located?

I could probably get more consistent results with an outdoor mount of CM4221HD, but this was way easier.


Did you use the terk in the attic, or did you get a 4221? In any case, yes, you will get better reception without the roofing materials blocking your signal.

BTW, should I still ground in the attic?

There's a thread about grounding over here:

http://digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=62265

Geographically I am near the centre of the block bound by Bayview, Maj. Mac., Elgin Mills, and Leslie.

I still have the Terk, but I keep thinking about mounting a CM4221 on the side of the house which faces south/west. It would be at a lower position than my current setup, but it would be outdoors, and from what I've read I am confident that I'd get better results.

Having said that, though, I am still quite happy with the results.

Would the cold temperatures in the coming months affect the reception or the antenna in any way, because it is in the attic where it's not insulated?

Would the cold temperatures in the coming months affect the reception or the antenna in any way, because it is in the attic where it's not insulated?

The air temp will not affect the reception directly, however the effect known as Tropospheric Ducting (tropo) will be gone in the winter. Here's the tropo forecast site with explainations if you are interested:

http://www.dxinfocentre.com/tropo.html

Thanks for the link, Dave. I've no idea how to interpret those pictures tho.

I am intending to get myself a CM4221HD and mount it outside. But I have two questions with regard to reception:

1) If I mount the CM4221, an outdoor antenna, in the attic in the same place where I have the indoor Terk, in your opinion, would I get any improvement in reception?

2) With the CM4221, which would give me better reception, mounting in the attic where I have the advantage of height, or mounting it on the side of the house, some 10-12 feet lower than where it would be in the attic?

I realize this is not an exact science, but I wanted your opinion. Do I go with the highest possible mount (indoor), or sacrifice height in favour of the outdoors?

Thanks again.

I put the link there more for the description of what tropo is in case you wanted to read up on it. For your other questions:

1) I'm not too familiar with the Terk models, but I think they are pretty much the same as a Silver Sensor, which has a gain of about 7dBi (plus a built in amplifier). The 4221 has a net gain of around 12-14 dBi, so it should easily outperform the Terk. The 4221 has no built-in amplifier so you would probably want to investigate if you need to add one. If you are up to it you could even take a look at modifying the 4221 (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=104837) to improve the gain.

2) My opinion is move the antenna outside, as long as you have a clear path and will not be aiming directly at the side of another house. Height is good, but shingles are terrible. To get more height you can use wall-mount brackets with a length of pipe that will extend up over your gutters to get the antenna up to the same height as your roof. My antenna is mounted on the side of the wall at pretty much the same height it was when I had it in the attic.

Thanks. I will keep you posted in the coming weeks.

I'm a newbie in the game.
I reside in a two storey house in Woodbridge Ontario and am contemplating installing an OTA Antenna on the highest point of my brick chiminey that faces south. The two antennas I'm considering are:
Channel Master 4228HD (about $ 90 plus taxes)
Nippon UDF80 (about $ 150 plus taxes)
Will I need an an amplifier and if so which one?
I installed a 4 bay electronic master EMANT-2084 without an amplifier at my place of work located at Steeles & Weston with suprising results.
Any feedback would greatly be apprieciated. Thanks

What's your nearest major intersection as that will give users an idea of what to suggest (local geography can play a big role).

Also, your thread will probably be moved to the "north of 407" sub-forum.

Hi Dave and Tom:
My husband moved DB8 Multidirectional HDTV Antenna to a higher place in the attic and he added the 28 db amplifier, then he installed a hanger antenna with the 10 db amplifier and now we are able to get more channels
2.1
2.2
2.3
4.1
5.1
7.1
9.1
11.1
17.1
17.2
17.3
19
23.1
25.1
41.1
44.1
49.1
49.2
57.1
64.1
66.1

After conecting the the antennas I missed 51.1,51.2, 51.3 and 51.4.
Do you have any idea why I can't get 29.1 Fox , considering that I'm getting 17.1, 23.1 and 49.1 that are in the same location?
Do you think if I install a second better antenna quality will help instead the coat hanger one?
Thank you.

Hi Free Tv
I'm also in Woodbridge and I'm very happy with the result, just read my other post, also I forgot to mention that I'm getting the analog channels that are also in digital.
If you install the antenna on your roof for sure you will get a stronger signal, you need a good quality antenna because Vaughan is appr. at 150 km from Buffalo (NBC).

After conecting the the antennas I missed 51.1,51.2, 51.3 and 51.4.
Do you have any idea why I can't get 29.1 Fox , considering that I'm getting 17.1, 23.1 and 49.1 that are in the same location?
Do you think if I install a second better antenna quality will help instead the coat hanger one?

51 is a pretty far-off signal to get in the attic, and now that the days are getting cooler there is less tropo so it will be even harder to get. You might be out of luck until next summer for that one.

Antenna locations can be very sensitive for individual channels, You can try moving the antenna around within your attic and you may find you gain or loose channels depending on where you put it.

As for the coat hanger antenna, if you got the plans of U-tube or it's anything you throw together in less than half and hour it's probably not worth the cost of the hangers. It might actually be hurting your system. Have you tried just the db8 without the second antenna? If your antenna is in the OTA Clone & Coat Hanger Antennas - Avoid Most Of Them (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=106108) thread then you should remove or replace it.

Please post your tvfools results.

I just put up a DB2 on the chimney for my folks the afternoon.

Location is just North of Bayview Golf Club. Clear view of CN Tower. Our big tall tree in the front yard is blocking the LOS to Buffalo. We aim at WGRZ so it is right at the tree.

~60ft of RG6, no amp, no splitter.
HDTV : LG 42PC5D plasma.

All Toronto channels banged in like a gang buster. LG only has a POOR/NORMAL/GOOD signal meter and all are in the GOOD range.

Buffalo channels : so far only got 7.1, 23.1, 29.1 but all seemed stable in the middle of NORMAL. Got a flicker of 4.1 only enough to ID the channel. I was totally surprised PBS 17.x were MIA. No MyTV nor IONs as expected.

No 11.1 either.

I may play around with fine aim and a few more feet of elevation. I am going to try aim a little upward also.