Well, I made another change to the antenna this weekend! After much discussion here in the forum, and after trying more height, better aiming and more height, I decided it was time to add a CM 7777 pre-amp.

I had been nervous about the CM 7777 being too powerful and maybe overpowering the Toronto stations. These fears were unfounded.

I got awesome results by adding the pre-amp! Signal was a little weak on some channels on Friday when I added the pre-amp, but here's my results:

CH Strength %
Grand Island channels
17.1 15? 40
23.1 68 75
29.1 40 50
49.1 0 40

South of Buffalo channels
2.1 15? 80
4.1 50 88
7.1 40 80
51.1 0 35 (comes and goes)

CN Tower Toronto & Hamilton channels
5.1 100 100
9.1 40 70
11.1 0 45
41.1 0 40
36.1 0 15
44.1 50 62
57.1 40 68
64.1 0 30

Based on my history of reception, and given this was a poor reception day, I was most thrilled by Global 41.1 suddenly tuning in after adding the pre-amp! My goal in adding the pre-amp was to stabilize PBS 17.1 which would come in as strong as 40% sometimes but then go away at other times or fluctuate a lot; after adding the pre-amp it went from a come-and-go 15% up to a solid 40%. And I was quite impressed to see all the south Buffalo stations increase in strength and for WNYO 49.1 to appear from nothing at 40%.

Setup: CM 4221HD + CM 7777 + 65ft cable + Tivax T8
Result: :)

Congratulations, and that's great info for others in this thread too. It doesn't surprise me that ION (51.x) is too far to the left of Buffalo from where your antenna points. Some day if you ever find that it is a "must have" station you could dedicate a preamped 91XG peaked towards it.

In Scarborough I get ION with a 4221 pointed between Buffalo & Batavia over 100' of RG6. It's 97% reliable, I am considering the pre-amp. We like this channel in our house!

One other q - once you have the "standard" Buffalo/Toronto channels - and you have acknowledged this is your :p new hobby :p what "extra" measures can you take to bring in additional channels? I have a large VHS antenna & I'm considering trying to get WHEC & WHAM from Rochester - but are there other ideas out there for our location? :cool:

Yes, by all means, go for the two Rochester locals. On a good day, you can also swing your array toward Watertown, and try to get WWNY 7. You can also swing it toward Erie, PA, and go for RF12. Always good to go fully loaded, when your doing some DXing.

Yes, by all means, go for the two Rochester locals. On a good day, you can also swing your array toward Watertown, and try to get WWNY 7. You can also swing it toward Erie, PA, and go for RF12. Always good to go fully loaded, when your doing some DXing.

Thank you...but as a newbie I do not fully understand:

First, RF12 - I googled this & got "Project title: Inflationary cosmology, reheating and the cosmic microwave background". :eek:

Next "Always good to go fully loaded, when your doing some DXing." - does this mean the pre-amp is a good idea? What do pre-loaded mean is this context? :confused:

Please excuse me while I wipe the drool off my chin with my dragging knuckles.

byebye_cable, if you haven't done so already just go through the links I'm providing here in the bottom-right of this post to get a sense of what is required for serious DXing gear.

The 23+ posts within the OTA FAQ are geared to everyone from the casual to the most avid OTAer. If you are a do-it-yourselfer you can build antennas too at very low cost! :)

"RF12" is slang for "Real Channel on Radio Frequency Spectrum VHF-HI Channel 12", as opposed to the virtual channel number used in "PSIP Remapping" (explained in the OTA FAQ).

Always good to have a good preamp, and rotor, to go for the DX gold. Usually, higher is better, but not always. If you do go with a preamp, make sure you put the FM trap, that is usually built in, to good use so you don't overload the preamp. It is usually the off season right now for DXing, but we are experiencing some bonus DX right now. You will find the local OTA channels more stable while DX activity is low. As a person new to the hobby, now is a good time to tweek your equipment for optimal use of the local channels that are available. Once peaked, you will be ready for the long range stuff, when it is available. Good luck with your new hobby, it's great, especially now that almost all of the U.S. signals have gone digital.

Hello

Can someone help me with picking an Antenna to get most channels from Scarborough (Markham & Steels). I have read about CM 4221, 4228 and DB8 but not sure which one will be the best choice.


Thank you

menan, saying you want the "most" channels is a tall order, because you can really go all-out and have multiple antennae to get a bunch of duplicate channels from various locations. If you want to get the "typical" channels you are probably in a good location to get a CM4221HD and aim it south or possibly a bit west of south to pick up both the Toronto and Buffalo stations.

Post a link to your TV Fool results. And put your location in the title of your post (unless Stampeder beats you to it ;))

Post a link to your TV Fool results. And put your location in the title of your post (unless Stampeder beats you to it )

Hey
Sorry, don't know what you mean there.....sorry i am new to the forum and the antenna..

Thank you for all your help

menan, go to Post #10 in the OTA FAQ and it gives you step-by-step instructions on how to get your TVFool report and share it with us so that we can help you better. :)

Hope I did it right

http://www.tvfool.com/modeling/tmp/bc27/c0c/2885f7b/Radar-All.png

Looking at your results, I would still go with a CM4221HD and aim it pretty much due south. It has a wide enough coverage to get both Toronto and Buffalo stations with that separation. The only one that might be a bit of trouble is Ion on Real 23, it might be a bit too far to the east for reliable reception. You may also need a pre-amp or distribution amp depending on how long your coax run is and how many splits you have.

I agree with DdDave, being a newbie here I didn't want to be the first to answer though.:)

Your TVFool results look similar to mine. I have a 4221 pointed at Buffalo & Crossfire (ancient) for Toronto.

Since I can dedicate my 4221 to Buffalo I'm able to pull in ION (WPJX) 95% of the time. I intend to add a pre-amp & hope to improve this to 99%.

The advantage of the 4221 is that it accepts a wide beam while other more powerful antenna's tend to have a more narrow sweep. If you were into having a rotor (I am not) you could go for the 4228.

Incidentally I canceled Rogers a couple weeks ago, and with the channels we get now the kids aren't in the slightest upset about it.

Basically, up to about pickering, 4-bay (à la 4221) is best.
Ajax, whitby, oshawa, 8-bay's give you side+front reception nicely.

Obviously that's a gross generalization - may not actually be true for all.
The angle in east oshawa might be just too much to get buffalo and toronto with one antenna. It's pushing close to the edge even here in central whitby.

South of port perry, amongst the trees, behind a ridge (no los).
4228hd pointed at buffalo (tilted up). I get:
2-1, 4-1, 5-1 (sometimes), 7-1, 17-1, 23-1, 49-1, 51-1 (sometimes)

I added a kitztech preamp and now:
5-1 and 51-1 are locked in, also 29-1 (solid), and a small peice of 9-1.

I'm hoping the hardware mod will lock in 9-1.
This hobby is a little addictive - why else would I be planning to climb a 35' ladder in sub 0 temps with snow on the ground:rolleyes:

Whoa! Major reception problems tonight. I've lost almost all channels except 5.1 CBC and 57.1 CITY. All Buffalo and US are gone and almost everything else. I don't get it. I panicked ran outside to see if my antenna was still there. It is and looks ok so far as I can see at night. I don't get it. Generally I got the full list of channels, but there's no way I could be getting 57.1 if there was a problem with the antenna. It looks like a clear night too. Am I missing something? Anyone else having problems? Any ideas, anyone?

Oddly enough, a couple hours later, reception seemed to be back to normal. I'm puzzled. What could cause such a massive loss in reception (Buffalo, Grand Island and some of Toronto) for a two or three hours?

Some weather anomaly. Doubt it was tropo this time of year, but perhaps some snow over buffalo? (doesn't explain TO reception, though)
Do you use an amp?
I've had similar situations happen only to find my amp's power connection wasn't working. Checking the connections made everything work again.

Oddly enough, a couple hours later, reception seemed to be back to normal. I'm puzzled. What could cause such a massive loss in reception (Buffalo, Grand Island and some of Toronto) for a two or three hours?
Ken, That is Exactly the same symptoms i had when I tried to use one antenna to compromise between Toronto and Buffalo.
And for me, when I used a high gain preamp, during good weather it was great and during bad weather, like fog over the lake, or even mist rising from the lake in the evening, it definatly made things worse, worser and worstest. i threw the amp off the roof. never did find it.
Andhow, that was when i started experimently with multiple antennas and used a distribution amp to feed multiple tuners.
The problem with the compromise is that the antenna is NOT pointing at Toronto and its NOT pointing at buffalo.