Hi Stampeder.

The antenna is about 21' high. There is no amplification or splitting.

Any help is appreciated,
Bill

Hi Stampeder.

The antenna is about 21' high. There is no amplification or splitting.

Any help is appreciated,
Bill
Hi Bill,
Your problem is that Toronto and Buffalo are different directions from where you are. They are about 30 to 40 degrees appart. The easy solution is a rotor. What most people try to do is point directly at Buffalo and try to get Toronto on a side lobe, since its much closer. Finding this compromise can be tricky and like I said, its a compromise.
If you are on high ground, with your antenna above the roofline, you shoulkd get Buffalo south/south-west, Toronto/Hamilton south-west and Rochester south-east.
I went for the complicated solution, my array has been growing. I have combined two 4228's pointed at Buffalo and another pointed at Toronto/hamilton.

It's interesting that you say that, Tom, as I've done the math using google earth and some trig, and using the map of the 4228, I can point due south from my location at fox and get all of the buffalo stations in the main lobe and toronto off in the side lobe at 60 degrees. In ajax, you'd be looking at 55-60 degrees, I'd say, right in the 'sweet spot'.
I'm surprised you didn't have good luck with a single 4228 pointed at Buffalo.
It's certainly not 100% for Toronto, but it's still a lock, and that's all I care about ;)

Long time lurker, had a CM4228 (not CM4228HD) installed last week. Little disappointed on how BIG the antenna appears on my roof, but overall quite satisfied.

2-1 58%
2-2 58%
5-1 100%
7-1 40%
7-2 40%
8-1 98%
17-1 73%
17-2 73%
17-3 73%
18-1 100%
23-1 87%
25-1 92%
29-1 100%
29-2 100%
36-1 100%
44-1 100%
49-1 15% - 40% goes up and down, but mostly down
49-2 15% - 40% goes up and down, but mostly down
57-1 99%
64-1 100%
65-2 100%
66-1 100%

I had wanted to pick up "all" of the Buffalo stations more reliably, missing 4-1 WIVB and the other networks are coming in low. Is this a case of the antenna needing to be aimed slightly more towards Buffalo and away from
Toronto? Last week 25 stations came in, but I did not check the percentages at that time. For now, I am using a converter on my NTSC tv, so could it also be the converter itself? It is a RjTECH RJ 900ATSC.

Located in Ajax ON near the lake.

Thanks!

Hi peanuts,

You'll have to point directly at buffalo to get solid signal from those stations.
Once you do get 4, you'll still find you can loose ch 2 easily with weather. Mist rising from the lake in the evening can wipe out all buffalo stations at times, fog is the worst.

The problem with pointing directly at buffalo is you'll loose most of the toronto stations. They are 50-60 degrees appart from buffalo. Probably closer to 60 since you're by the lake.
Most people try a compromise, pointing mostly at buffalo and try to get toronto stations on the side lobe. (look at the antenna gain pattern to see what i mean).

It will still be a compromise. The easy solution is a rotor. But that only works for 1 tuner. I went for the multi antenna solution, but thats complicated and expensive. (I have 4 TV's and 2 PVR's hooked up, so i needed to be able to get all channels anytime.

Good luck!!

Hopefully conditions will improve, but I find it's either NBC(2) or CBS(4)/ABC(7)
It's hard to achieve both without two antennas, but still possible.
Things may also change with weather - A week ago I was getting NBC but not CBS/ABC, but last night ABC was coming in extra strong, as was CBS.

49 (MyTV) is always weak in the fall/winter/spring, I have yet to receive it outside of Summer.

Thanks for the feedback!

Not sure if this is the right forum to ask, but will it always be the case that broadcasters send their signal in different formats? Eg. some are letter box, some are postage stamp size, some are in the old 4:3 format...I had assumed the picture would always be in letter box format so as to fit the new aspect ratio on most new televisions sold.

Thanks again.

Usually, Broadcasters send the best format available.
I'm not "in" with the wording, so I'll describe it.
True HD programming - 16x9, fills entire signal.
HD channel (1080i or 720p), but 4:3 SD programming showing - black bars on either side; upconverted.
HD channel with only 4:3 video source originally in 16:9 (the worst.. lol) is pretty much 16:9 in a box of black all around. Most TV's have a zoom function to alleviate this.
SD channels are only in 4:3 currently, of all of the ones i've seen. (480i)
They may also show 16:9 programming, but with bars on top/bottom, as per SDTV via ntsc.

One would hope that in the future all stations will get HD source, or at the very least "zoom" the picture to fill and not broadcast the black border on SD 16:9 material.

Hey there. I'm in whitby and I have a beautiful view of the lake (unobstructed) from my rooftop. Just wondering if I install an antenna, would I be able to use the existing Rogers cables that are already there? I know this can be done with satellite cabling using a switch thingy on both ends. It's just that I'd rather not drill into the brick if I don't have to. Any help appreciated.

Hello all,

I live in scarborough and about 22 Km from the CN tower (as per google maps). Diagonal measurement would be even less.

I have been trying out a few indoor antennas over a couple of months. Namely, the philips MANT 510 and SDV model (from walmart). They both looked the same but were complete POS. The signal was inconsistent and when I finally found a sweet spot it would last a day before channels would drop.

Next I borrowed a Samsung Axcession from a friend. I just laid it down in the same place as the Philips, and I got good and consistent signal strength. I get about 17 DTV channels.

I am unable to find the Samsung anywhere on the net or locally. However, I have read these are clones of the Silver sensor PHDTV1 and ZHDTV1 which are fairly good antennas with great reviews on amazon as well as by Stampeder's chart. However the Silver sensor are not amplified. When I remove the Samsung from the electric outlet I lose all channels. So I am assuming I need an amplified antenna.

Is there anyone out here from Scarborough or 22 km from the CN tower that is using a Silver sensor and can comment if it works well without amplification? or can recommend something else. Any comment on the CM 4020 (which is recommeneded by Stampeder) ?

Thanks for reading guys

It should be okay to reuse the existing runs.

If they're still active with Rogers on them, no. But if your cable is inactive, it's fine.
(or just disconnect one line from the splitter where the cable comes in to use it for your antenna, if you wish)

Hi all,

I have enjoyed all the advice in this thread. I am currently in Ajax in Nottingham Dev. off Westney north of Rossland. The area I am is valley and I was wondering if there are any OTA-ers in the same area. If so, what kind of equipment are you using and what channels are you picking up?

I have built one of those basic coat hanger bow tie antennas that is sitting in a southwest facing 2nd story window and am getting the following:

if point West:

5-1
9-1
25-1
Omni 2 HD
CityTV Analog

If I point my bowtie south I'm not getting anything.

I want to see if its worth the investment to get a outdoor antenna mounted on a gable outsite in the near future. Do I have any neighbors that have had any success?

Thanks!

Hi chalaky, welcome to Ajax.
I live at kingston and harwood, but i drive by your subdivision regularly and i've wondered how reception would be in there. It is in quite a valley.
The only thing that would help is height. A tall tower. Being a new subdivision, you might check the rules on that.

sfernan, which major street corner are you nearest, and have you looked through this thread for someone close to your location to see what they've done? Are you looking for just an indoor antenna, or do you want all the OTA channels?

First off, apologies for writing in multiple threads.

Stampeder, I am at lawrence and Kennedy in Scarborough ON. As of now, I can pull in about 16 HDTV channels consistently. I am not counting the analog ones. Currently, I am using a borrowed Samsung axcession.

However, i have tried the philips MANT510 and another similar looking SDV one from walmart. They were inconsitent and had to be tweaked almost every day or two.

So far I have only used the amplified versions of antennas. I want to buy a philips HDTV1 or Zenith HDTV1 preferably. But these are not amplified and thus was wondering if these will be good enough or should I go for something like PHDTV3.

Thanks

Hi gentlemen, I have read a ton of threads regarding ganging and stacking but I am still a bit confused. I bought one Channel Master 4228 to aim between Buffalo and Toronto with the understanding of not being able to get all the channels available. If I purchase one more 4228(cheaper than a rotor) and separate them 25 inches apart on the same mast and feed them into the same cable will I be able to aim one at Buffalo and one at Toronto with good results or am I better off trying an amplifier first. Has anyone tried this in the Whitby Ont area, I live at Rossland and Country Lane. Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance
Rob

Hi Rob, and first of all please read through this thread for your area first to see how others have handled the exact same situation you're describing:

This is the same thread that another moderator, Cyclism, had already provided you when you asked about Samsung tuners. I am positive that you will find your answers here as they are not unusual for Whitby.

Also please see Post #16 in the OTA Knowledge Base & FAQ for very specific information on using more that one OTA antenna for your reception needs:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=41102

Tom F.1,


My homemade bowtie was made just so I could get my hockey in HD on saturdays.

My actual plan was to get some sort of gable mount and put a Channel master antenna up clearing my roof by 3' or 4'. If I remember correctly you have 2 antennas up? How many channels are you getting? And are you using a pre-amp?

Thanks for the info.

Tom F.1,
My homemade bowtie was made just so I could get my hockey in HD on saturdays.
My actual plan was to get some sort of gable mount and put a Channel master antenna up clearing my roof by 3' or 4'. If I remember correctly you have 2 antennas up? How many channels are you getting? And are you using a pre-amp?
Thanks for the info.
I went from 2 antennas to 3. :) I get all the available DTV channels from Buffalo, Toronto and Hamilton. I don't use a pre-amp, I use a 4 way distribution amp to feed multiple tuners. Very rare dropouts on Buffalo channels with bad weather. Fog is the worst.
CBC is Torontos strongest station, so you should be able to get that fairly easily.