Thanks Auto Dub.

So, in a nutshell, I should get an 8 bay antenna and point it at the weakest Buffalo station. Sounds logical.

My goal is to spend the least amount of $ to get all the stations I can possibly get from my location... So, what is the best 8 bay antenna in my case? I've read that the clones are garbage, but I've also read that they're just as good if not better in some cases.

So, would it be worth it to invest in a 4228hd, or is there a cheaper solution that would be just as effective?

Much appreciated!

*edit to add:
someone posted on another forum that the $20 ******** ANT-2084 8 bay antenna totally outperformed the 4228HD! But I've also read that anything from this company is not to be trusted. I'm so confused. lol

OK, I thought it might be easier for the experts on here to help me pick an antenna by visually seeing what I'm up against. I took a quick shot of the view from my balcony... As I stated earlier, my balcony faces south.

The green dots are my estimates of where the CN Tower is (on the right, no line of sight) and where I think Buffalo probably is.

http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/z454/jonnybass9/viewfrombalcony.jpg

There are no leaves on the trees now, but in the summer, the trees are dense with leaves. So, what do you guys think? Any other recommendations?

Greetings to all from Thornhill (Dufferin & Rutherford)!

Now that we're in 2012 and I have a brand spanking new TV with an ATSC tuner, I'll be installing an antenna at the first signs of spring!

Would anyone have any recommendations for an antenna with a TV Fool map that looks like the following? I'm looking to pick up the CN Tower and Buffalo channels; any others are bonus.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d7fb9ee7fbddf29

I'm considering an attic installation for Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF), but I haven't ruled out a roof mount since it'd be on the backside of our house and therefore not visible from the street. :)

IMHO use a Channel Master 'eight bay'. Directed 1/2way between buff & cntower. I'd go with the roof mount so you don't have your reception vanish when you have snow on your roof. Not sure you'll see CTV2_Barrie off the back of the antenna, you may need a rotor[?].

I'm considering an attic installation for Wife Acceptance Factor (WAF), but I haven't ruled out a roof mount since it'd be on the backside of our house and therefore not visible from the street. :)

I'm at Keele and Rutherford with an attic install. You shouldn't have a problem with most of the buffalo channels. I get 2,4,7,17,23,49 good for the most part. 29 is a problem, still playing with that. You'll need an antenna with some vhf-hi performance for rf11 at least. rf10 CKVR I get from the backside but its at the edge so not that easy to get. You'll need an amp of some type as that really seems to help. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

P.S. I'm using the following KROSS antenna in my attic. It has a folded dipole for vhf-hi that gets rf11. Here's the url

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=148698

My comments are on page 3 of that thread.

Hello All,

I am very new to this forum and I can see there is lots of information to digest. Having said that, loads of information are there to give a person heads up.

I would like any advice for OTA set up for my location, I live in Markham, Ontario (16th avenue and Markham Road (HWY 48)). Below is the report from TV fool :

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d7fb996f9dce1cc

I am planning to setup the Antenna in the Attic, what is the type of antenna, preamp (if necessary) best suited for my location?

I have a Samsung LCD TV (Model No:LN40A450C1D-4series)...do I need seperate OTA tuner? if yes, could you please suggest that as well? :confused: (best price and reliable)

Another question is, should I have to buy two antennas? one for Toronto and one for Buffalo?:confused:

Any advice is highly appreciated. Thanks in Advance. And I apologize for such a long post.:)

j vedant. I have friends who live a little bit east of you and they get pretty good results. I think you should be able to get the T.O. and Buffalo stations using a single antenna without a preamp. Start off with a 4 bay like the Channel Master 4221HD and aim it to get both Buffalo and Toronto. If you don't get all of the channels you want then you can think of adding a preamp or second antenna ie...start simple and add more as required. Your TV has a ATSC tuner, so you won't need another tuner. Good luck and post your results after you do your install.

Thanks Geo35. I appreciate your answers and informations.

Well, as you have stated, I might start up with an antenna installation and move up.

Another question based on your reply would be in this forum, I have seen lot about 8 bay antennas, but you are recommending 4 bay is there a reason behind it? Also, Markham is bit far away to pickup buffalo stations, do you think 4 bay is really enough?

Also, you havent mentioned whether your friends have attic setup using 4 bay antenna or over the roof setup?

Thanks for any advice.

Hi everybody!

I have done my research through this website as well as other websites regarding to antenna setup for OTA.
I am in Aurora, facing west. I have attached 3 TV-fool reports for different height of antenna.
I was thinking about DB8+preamp or CM 4228HD 8 bay antenna+preamp based on TV-fool reports.
Any recommendations/advices regarding antenna or setup?

Am I gonna be able to watch any channels in "background color" GREY with this setup or not?

Thank you all

10feet
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d67d98470e7447f

20feet
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d67d96ad63ce6a8

40feet
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d67d9135e31cf74

j vedant, my friends are using an indoor amplified antenna pointing outside a 3rd story window, that's why I am pretty sure that a 4 bay attic or outdoor mounted, would work well. 4 bay antennas have a wider beamwidth than 8 bay antennas. Since you are going to want to receive both Buffalo and Toronto channels, the wider beamwidth helps ...ie aim at Buffalo and pick up Toronto channels from the side. An 8 bay antenna has better gain which is important in deep fringe areas, but does not have as good reception off the sides, therefore a rotor helps with receiving from a wider range. For most people in the GTA, a 4 bay works well.

Anyone know of a good roof installer that services Newmarket? Thanks.

@threeflags: Please see our OTA: Ontario Parts, Sales, Service, Installers (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=23984) forum in the Where Can I Buy forum.

Hi all,

about a week ago we lost audio on Fox 29-1 and i can't get it back. all other channels are fine, including 29-2. Signal is 80% and other than PBS, Fox is normally the strongest signal.

Any ideas? I'm in Ajax.

Mike

^^^^^^
Try doing a complete reset of your tuner? Or a complete rescan?!

I want to thank Hugh and all the contributors for all the useful information! I am overwhelmed to say the least. I am a newbie to OTA. So after a few days of reading I would like some confirmation that my thinking is correct.

The following are reports from tvfool.com at 15‘ & 35’ elevation.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d0b86b9bd12291c
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d0b8606491ace61
Location: Richmond Hill, Ontario
Bayview & Major Mackenzie (slightly north and east)
Specifics: Wall or roof mounted, about 60’ run RG6. Single splitter to 2 tv’s.

So from what I’ve read on this blog, and from the selection chart, I am thinking of installing a roof or wall mounted DB8.
a) I am thinking of going with DB8 or 4228HD instead of 4221. My thinking is, in poorer signal days that I would have a better chance of not losing signal lock, since Buffalo is far away. I don`t think that the signal would become too strong that this would be an issue. Since the DB8/4228 has a narrower sweep how will this affect local stations?
b) I plan to aim the DB towards Buffalo as others have done. So am I better with BD8 or 4228 or 4221? I’m also guessing that the DB8 is better because the 4228HD is just not as good as the old 4228. But from what I see most are using either 4221 or 4228.
c) Some have reported having difficulty with receiving some local channels, at times, with the antenna pointing towards Buffalo so I have a kross 4 bay as a backup for local channels. Currently, with the 4 bay (attached to satellite mount with no extension and facing the wrong way, slightly southwest , I currently get channels 5, 9, 19, 25, 41, 47, 57, 69; 100% of the time (only for a short time), but no Sun, Chch. So if I use the secondary antenna (the 4 bay) off the side of my house, or off the same roof/wall mount, to pick up local stations, with an AB switch, and the DB8/4228 for the US stations, would this setup be the most reliable?

I want to use a setup that will give me the most channels without adding (ie changing much in the future) except for occasional peaking when necessary.

Again thanks all for your contributions to these threads!

On review of this thread, now I'm thinking that a DB4e is the way to go.
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=41076&page=26

I think the DB4e is a good way to go. Please report on your results. You may want a pre-amp. I'd go with a Winegard 269. Good luck.

greg111r, don't worry about not getting SunTV, as it no longer broadcasts over the air. It still shows up in TVFool because, for some reason, Industry Canada marked it as 'operating' in its database instead of just deleting the entries for all the SunTV OTA stations.

Just wondering if anyone had done an attic install in this area, but looking for general advice too.

Here's Mom's TVFool:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d0b86f9cf171bcc

Any suggestions on an antenna type? Would building a Super Stealh work for the VHF and UHF signals or is there a good combo antenna she can buy for maximum channels?

Thanks.

I think the DB4e is a good way to go. Please report on your results. You may want a pre-amp. I'd go with a Winegard 269. Good luck.
Thanks, I'm still doing my research, I never imagined there would be so much involved in what I thought was something relatively simple. I have a lot of reading and probably many more questions to come.