Wilspin,
I rescanned and now I get 43.1 and 43.2 as new additions to my lot!!

I don't get the 17's and 43's. For now, I've got the antenna installed on top of my garage. Its roughly 30 feet from ground and other houses in its way. Maybe some day I can get the antenna installed on the top of my roof.. and get the 17s, 43s and 21s.

I have a two storey house and my roof is way too high for me to reach and noone seems to have a ladder that long. My neighbour's roof was being redone and I asked those guys and the response was 'your roof is too high and i'm scared to get up there'.

Greetings All,

At the end of this month I'll be moving to Markham (Markham road and Highway 7 area). I'm looking to get OTA setup. My thinking right now is this:

Rooftop mounted antenna connected to a preamp(cm7777) down to a simple 4 way splitter (if there is too much loss then upgrade to a distribution amp). My connections will go to the following devices:

1 - Main TV
2 - HDhomerun to allow for simple streaming to things like my ipad
3,4 - Mythtv backend with a hauppauge 2250 for pvring and live tv to atom ion xbmc with the mythtv frontend


So I do have a couple of questions:

1 - A lot of people seem to be using the CM4221HD and the CM4228HD both modified and unmodified with varying degrees of success. Stampeders antenna chart lists the the DB8 as best in class. Would there be any detrimental affect by getting the DB8 or would I be better served by following everyone else path and just get the CM4228HD and modify it. Here is my tvfool report btw:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d03d90c6545c705

2 - Do you recommend that I install a CM Rotor ? I'm not looking to move the antenna around all that often just slight calibration changes as the seasons change.

3 - Has anyone done a similar setup with the mythtv, hdhomerum, xbmc, etc? How do you like it? How seamless is it ? The wife doesn't care about the magic in the background. She just wants to click a button and have it work. :)

4 - Are there any recommended installers in the Markham area? I've seen a couple of posters who seem to do installs. Maybe you can drop me a line if you are interested in doing the install in October/Novemberish since that appears to be the best time to configure an antenna due to the change in tropo

Any input would be appreciated.
Regards,

ZZtop I am at Bullock and Hwy 48. My set up is an original CM4221 with a CM7778 preamp feeding a Sony LCD and a Samsung LCD. The only channel I have trouble with is NBC out of Buffalo. It is hit or miss. The rest are very stable. Having said that this spring into summer has been the worse for reception since I went OTA 4 years ago. Some days are fine and I have had other times when all my Buffalo stations drop out. This has happened far more often lately than I have ever seen before. For that reason I would agree that you leave things to the fall. Reception issues should be better then. As for installers I used one of the guys that posts here, was very happy with him and he ended up doing a neighbour's set up as well.

I live around Warden and Hwy 7. I have a rather specific problem: I just can't capture 41-1 (I have 41-0). I setup an AntennaCraft HDMS9100 Mini-State Multi-Directional antenna very high up in the attic. It is in reality a directional antenna with a rotator built-in, so it is multi-directional instead of omni-directional. It captured most of the local digital channels, except 41-1. It is so weird because it captures weaker stations such as 23-1, 11-1 but just not Global TV HD. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks.

41-1 Global, until Aug 31 2011 is really on channel 65. And currently Global is one of your weaker stations. Wait until Aug 31 when Global will move to real channel 41. You'll probably start getting it. If you're otherwise happy with your setup, just wait and the problem will likely solve itself.

Agreed with HWP above. Global Toronto digital is currently broadcasting with an average ERP of 1200 watts--about the equivalent strength of a microwave oven. After the transition, they move to channel 41 (from 65), and dramatically increase ERP to 100,000 watts.

My experience has been that some antennae just don't achieve as strong a gain with very high UHF channels. And you're likely experiencing some attenuation by mounting the antenna in the attic.

ZZtop, as I've pointed out in the Antenna Chart thread, the best antenna is the one from the Chart that people in your local reception thread nearby you have had the best results with. :)

Thanks HWP and Jase88 for the tips. I am happy enough with my existing set up, so I will wait 2 more months and see. Glad there are so many people here who are generous with their knowledge.

Hi all,

I have a home-made fractal antenna (bare 12 gauge copper with two long central poles, and four branches which are bent into a repetitive 60 degree/120 degree angles). I have a basement apartment in Richmond Hill, but my kitchen window actually gives me a (slight) view of the CN tower.

I receive 5, 5.1, 9, 9.1, 11 (fuzzy), 19, 41, 47, 52 (Sun - very fuzzy), 57, and 69. I don't get any Buffalo stations, despite repeated scans, so I may have to get an outdoor antenna. But I do get 23.1 WNLO occasionally. Some times it comes in clear as a bell; other times, I just get a "No signal" message. Same thing with CFMT-2 44.1 - some times it's perfect, other times "No signal".

I haven't noticed that rain makes any difference if there's no lightning. It just seems to be the luck of the draw. What factors influence reception? It seems strange to have it there one nice day, and then not have it the next, especially when CFMT is broadcasting from the same tower as everyone else.

We have an existing triangular tower which is quite sturdy, but we still need grounding and a pass-through into the house. I'm handy enough to rig the cable across the basement to my room by myself.

Thanks in advance for any advice and information.

KevinB, basements are notorious signal killers so you definitely need an outdoor antenna! Try putting your fractal up about 10 feet off the ground and see what happens. Better yet, if you are avid about building your own antenna, choose the most appropriate one of these designs: Best Do-It-Yourself OTA Antennas (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=140206)

Hi everyone,
I am new to OTA and just had a DB-8 installed on a 2-storey house roof top on a tripod.
I can get all Buffalo and local channels with the exception of Ch. 51 ION.
I can even get Ch. 26 60% of the time, ch. 49 is 80% of the time.

I want to add CM 7778 pre-amp to improve the stability of those Buffalo channels, and also hoping to maybe get ch. 51 ION, but concerned if it might have an impact on the local channels since the signals for local channels are very strong.

Any advice is appreciated.
Thanks.

Install the pre-amp. Wait until Sept 1 when the analogs shut down. See how things stand without the analogs in the air. Then go with the pre-amp. I have a 7778 and I'm closer to Toronto than you are and my reception is much better with the pre-amp.

Good luck!

I live in The Hwy 48, Hwy 7 area. I have been OTA for 4 years now. My set up is an original CM4221 with a Cm7778 preamp feeding a Sony LCD and a Samsung LCD. In the past only problem station has been NBC which I got about 50% of the time. This past summer I have noticed multiple times where I have lost some or all of my Buffalo stations. I put this down to weather conditions. However it seems to have gotten worse lately. This morning all my Buffalo stations are gone on the Samsung except CW and Fox. The Sony gets those and CBS and ABC although none are at anywhere near their normal signal levels. I am wondering if this is still atmosphere related or if I could have an equipment issue.Normally if one set gets a channel so does the other one. I wondered if maybe the preamp was faulty or failing. If so how do you check for this? The other thing is to re aim the antenna. Anyone got any ideas.

Maybe water getting into the cable via the connections. Mine have been a relatively weaker as well this summer - I was thinking it also could be tropo interference.

I'm new to OTA. Just set up my 8 panel - on my chimney (30 ft up). four panels are facing the CN Tower (140 degrees) and the other four are set at 230 degrees.

Is this the optimum set up? My four panels facing the CN Tower should pick up Toronto channels as well as the buffalo stations, as the these locations are in linear pattern with my antenna .I currently get 18 digital channels.

Does anyone have a similar setup? Should i redirect both panels to the to 140 degrees. I currently receive these dirgiatl channels as well as a handful of analog (until Aug 31 of course) :
2-1
2-2
2-3
4-1
5-1
7-1
9-1
17-1
17-2
17-3
19-1
23-1
25-1
41-1
44-1
57-1
64-1
66-1

Any help or comments would be appreciated.
Thank you
Litor

litor is that one of those folding antennas like this: Clones of CM4228 That Fold / Bifurcate (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=114608&highlight=bifurcate)?

Stampeder..thats the one.There are two panels and they are adjustable. Given my location and set up should i be expecting more channels? For example if I point both panels at the CN Tower, would I receive more channels than if i were to have just one panel pointed in that direction?

litor,

Where in Woodbridge are you located? I'm in the Pinevalley & Hwy 7 area and I use a 4221HD (4bay antenna) pointed towards just west of the CN Tower in order to get the Buffalo stations a little better. From your list I noticed that you're missing Fox on 29.1 & .2. There are a couple of other stations I sometimes pickup but it's not consistent so I don't rely on them.

Lobo

I am at Major Mackenzie & Islington & I pick up all the Buffalo stations as well as the major Canadian ones (City TV, Global, CBC, CTV) with no problem (don't care for the rest as I have my antenna plugged into my BEV 9242 PVR). I use a DB8 on the roof facing somewhere between the CN tower and Buffalo, if that helps.

Paul

Thanks for the feedback. I'm at Ansley Grove and Hwy 7 and figured i should be getting a few more channels with the 8 bay. I'm going to redirect one part of the attena (4 bays) pointing closer to the cn tower and see if that will get me the fox channels.