If you are looking for better HD ota reception from your location what you need is a external outdoor antenna mounted outside, especially if you were thinking of receiving Buffalo stations.

The sharp 19" will not make that much difference with your current antenna. If your Toronto reception is strong and stable that pretty good as City from your location with a indoor antenna can be difficult.

Good luck.

I'm down by the 401 & brock, its pretty much wide open to the lake (any houses below the 401 are alot lower elevation, so it worked well for me.
Up where you are, you're in a dense subdivision area (I presume.. thats all I can remember in the area)
Your BEST bet will be an outdoor antenna, or a SS clone
I also have the hvr-950 and use my laptop + 22" LCD as my tv..
the hvr-950 is a nice tuner, however it can be something high in its signal req. I'm not sure what other pc tuners require, but the hvr-950 needs ~50% signal to lock.
I've read that some tv tuners can do it with ~35%, so that could be worth looking into.
With the included antenna, put in my window, I could receive all the US stations except fox/NBC (this was summer however, when i seem to get better reception)
I would suggest a SS clone - it works much better than regular UHF antennas.
Also, if you havent even tried it, try the included antenna, its alot better than it seems. (also, pull up the top.. lol whenever i Used it I had it collapsed, I didn't even know the top came up! I probably could've gotten much better reception)

okay so i want a hd vhf/uhf antenna and i need some help deciding the one i need. i read that PDF chart and i want to get the wine gard square shooter ss-2000. the problem is that when i was looking around, i noticed that i had to choose a blue zone or a yellow zone and red zone. which do i need if i live in pickering ontario (21 miles from cn tower).

i have a hd tv with a built-in tuner so i am ready to go i just need to know which hd antenna is best for me.

thanks;)

Hi twan, is stealth the most important factor? If so, the Square Shooter will be fine for the Toronto stations but might give you difficulties with Buffalo. If the best reception is the most important factor, you should put up a Channel Master 4228 outdoor antenna.

You should forget about those confusing colour zone ratings. We don't use them much in Canada. We just look up our area in these threads so that we can see what to expect and usually what gear to use.

At the upper right of this post in the blue bar is the "Search this Thread" tool, and you can put in Pickering to see several previous posts in this thread about your area.

Hi

I've hooked up my Viewsonic 3735 to an external mounted RCA hotdog type antenna CANT711 with a little box amplifier that cam with it. I am trying to get the Buffalo digital stations. I get WNED, WNLO but NBC and ABC is weak. Any members in the area willing to give me some advice would be appreciated. I'm located nr. Harwood & Rossland.

Btw, I don't see no signal strength meter on this TV

Thanks

Welcome TV Addict, you have to realise with the small indoor antenna's you can't expect good results you are lucky to get more than a few stations.

Indoor antenna's are only good if you have good elevation and close to the transmitters.

You need to buy a good outdoor antenna and mount it outdoors.

Good luck.

TV Addict, see these links, especially the Antenna Chart. Also look through the thread you've posted in to see what other people in Ajax and the surrounding area are using. I hope you can take that RCA antenna back for a refund because it is a piece of garbage, unfortunately.

Hi TVAddict, we're Neighbors!

I live at Harwood and Kingston Rd.
a CM 4228 will get you all 7 networks from Buffalo, if you mount it above the roofline.
I had a hard time finding a compromise between Buffalo and Toronto stations, so i got a second antenna and combined them.

I'm still on the edge with FOX and NBC and I can loose them with bad weather or evening, which causes dropouts due to mist over the lake and/or temperature changes. (really annoying when i'm recording)

Anyway, if your really a TV addict, you want the best antenna you can afford, as high above the roof as possible.

:)

Good luck,
Tom

I live at Harwood and Kingston Rd.Well, I am not as far east as you guys (Kingston Rd & Markham Rd) but I can get all Buffalo stations plus CBC with a 4228 in my attic. When I was playing around inititally with the antenna on my deck I was also able to get Rochester when I pointed it more to the East. I haven't been able to reliably pull in any other T.O stations other than CBC and SRC but I haven't played around with it for a little while now.

Hi,

I am thinking of picking up the Philips phdtv3 zss clone w/ amp from dell when I get a new TV. I was wondering if these zss clones have to be pointed in a certain direction?

My house faces the CN Tower direction very well, the back of my house is the closest to the CN Tower and the front of the house is where the TV is... Will it be a problem if I leave the indoor antenna on the floor at the front of the house? What is a good placement for an indoor antenna?

My house is in Scarborough, near Malvern Town Center (Neilson Road/401)

Should I expect good signal strengths?

Hello All,

Great site and I was so inspired by you folks that I bought the Samsung
DTB-H260F and a indoor antenna from the Source to play with.

Pointing the antenna to the West right by the window in my walkout basement about 4 feet above ground. I am suprised to get 4 channels. Although they are all only showing 5 out of 10 bars of signal strength, the quality of the HD picture is very good on my DIY 110" screen.

It show in the Samsung Guide as
5-1 CBLT-DT
9-1 CFTO HD
57-1 CITYHD----occasional drop out if the other 3 channels are solid
66-1 CKXT-DT

Now I have to figuare out a way to get more channels. How do you folks get the cable up to the attic from the basement?

Best Regards,
The Butcher

Welcome here to Dough and The Butcher :) and please read through this entire thread for info on OTA in Scarborough, and you will see how others have done and the equipment they are using.

Dough - the ZSS is very directional, and you point it towards the station like an arrow. An outdoor antenna would give you many more stations, but even with an indoor antenna they are all best put up as high as possible. The floor is never a good place for an antenna.

The Butcher - have a look at the OTA Equipment & Vendors forum for some great threads on the actual wiring of peoples homes for OTA. Trade your antenna from The Source for a ZSS unless you can go for an outdoor antenna.

For more specific info please start by reading these links:

i'm having amazing results and i presume it's because of my location, south ajax right by the hospital, 17th floor, facing south. Just bought a Samsung H260F off ebay, first one was busted so i had to get a replacement. Using a simple indoor terk/phillips/whatever antenna. I get 21 stations, 13 HD, 2 of which i don't watch, global test station and french cbc. Here's the stations:

2-1 WGRZ - HD
2-1 CIII Global - HD
2-2 WGRZ - SD
4-1 WIVB - HD
5-1 CBLT - DT
7-1 WKBW - HD
7-2 WNGS
7-3 WCSN
9-1 CFTO - HD
23-1 WNCO - HD
25-1 CBLFT - HD
29-1 WUTV - HD
29-2 WUTV - SD
35-2
43-1 WNED - HD
43-2 WNED - SD
43-3 WNED - TH
49-1 WNYO - HD
49-2 WNYO - SD
57-1 CITY - HD
66-1 CKXT - DT

these are amazing results consider i used to be in central Whitby on the 3rd floor and get 2-3 stations.

Just want to report that I bought the CM4228 and CM7775 yesterday. Replace my indoor antenna (bought from The Source) in the same location and pointing same direction in the basement. To my suprise the indoor antenna was much much better performed than the CM4228.

I have put away the CM4228 and CM7775 in storage and may be one day I will try putting it outside to see if there is any improvement.

Best Regards,
The Butcher

A powerful outdoor antenna, especially with a preamp attached, is not at all suitable for indoors use. Sorry that you didn't get that info beforehand. Also the basement is never a good place to put an antenna of any sort if you can help it. :) When you get your CM4228 with preamp mounted outdoors and up high you will see a massive improvement in reception.

The Butcher, sorry to hear but if you bought it yest maybe the store will take it back.

Why sit on it if you are not using it.

Basement and ground level will not give any decen result for hd ota.

Good luck.

What would generally work better?

Indoor antenna (zss clone) in attic
or
Outdoor antenna in attic


Thanks alot!

A proper outdoor antenna will give the best results.

A outdoor antenna like a 4221 in the attic is the next best option.

Good luck.

I'm in Oshawa and I wonder if I should bother investing in a store bought antenna if my homemade effort gets me 9 HDTV channels which comes in clearer than my Rogers HDTV!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a321/wee-haggis/Clipboard-1.jpg

weehaggis, which channels do you get, and can you let us know which part of Oshawa you are in - have you spotted anyone in this thread nearby to you?