(an ANT7287 from Durham Radio) up an running.
After plugging the feed into my ancient Radio Shack four way distribution amplifier I found myself getting every channel I expected. Even ION came in at around 63% based on my soon to be returned Bell dual tuner PVR.
Dileas
Sounds like you got good results. That's definately not the recommended antenna.
And yes, conditions are better than normal with our good weather.
I kepy my Bell service, and OTA. I can record 3 three programs and play back another.
I prefere the OTA to avoid simsubs, and sometimes better picture. But i can't get much NASCAR OTA.
Good Luck!

The time to make note of your reception is when the weather is not in our favour as that would be your 'worst case'. Knowing that, you can adjust your antenna accordingly.
Since you're setting up at the start of summer, it's very difficult to know if your setup is good, or if it's just the warm weather.
Once fall/winter rolls around you'll know for sure how things will go.

Until then, sit tight and enjoy your HD! :p

Does anyone else watch analog 52 (SunTV) and 69 (OMNI)?

Those two are a little fuzzy for me - not sure if it's my DIY or not.

52 & 69 are fuzzy for me here in Kitchener as well.

Seems like the normal amount of fuzziness to me.
69's usually really clear, just the slightest bit fuzzy right now.
Sun looks as it usually does, more or less.
It's never been perfectly clear because I aim at buffalo. Only the 1.21jiggawatt UHF stations come in without static (19, 41, 47 and 69)

Though, since you're like half the distance away, you probably should see a very clear picture.
How does 57 come in? that might be an indication of your upper frequency performance and if it's affecting 69

57 is perfect! So, does this mean it's likely my DIY? There are <cough cough> coat hangers involved...

Jase, how is your 57?

I have setup my CM 4221 and here are the HD channels I am getting:

2.1 | NBC
2.2 | NBC Universal Sports
2.3 | Retro Television Network
4.1 | CBS
5.1 | CBC
7.1 | ABC
9.1 | CTV – Not getting this one
11.1 | CHCH
17.1 | PBS
17.2 | PBS
17.3 | PBS
23.1 | The CW
25.1 | CBC Fr
26.1 | TCT
26.2 | TCT
29.1 | FOX
36.1 | CITS-DT
41.1 | GLOBAL – Channel shows in listing but no reception
44.1 | OMNI 2 – Channel is a little scrambled
49.1 | My TV
57.1 | CITY TV
64.1 | OMNI 1 – Not getting this one
66.1 | SUN TV – Not getting this one

When doing a scan for channels, I get:

Analog: 16
Digital: 19

Questions:

1. What do I need to do to get the missing ones?
2. How does one type 5.x or 7.x, etc on a remote?
3. I have an older Sony Bravia that is HD ready, but has no ATSC tuner. What tuner can I get for the older HDTV?
4. Where can I get an RF AB switch to alternate between Rogers Cable and the Antenna?
5. The non HD channels are snowy. What is the quality of these channels for others?

Thanks!

My reception has gotten worst since the nice weather arrive :(

On daily basis I can't get a stable signal from CBS 4-1 ABC 7-1 and CHCH 11-1 disappeared completely ever since spring/summer is here.

FOX 29-1 and PBS 17-1 are not as stable as they use too also :confused:
The rest of the channel line up are pretty stable and strong for most part but these few channel are acting like little brats ;)

I have a DBGH aimed at Buffalo and a CM4221 (old style) aimed at downtown Toronto (CN tower)

Did I did something wrong?

my location St-Clair / Kennedy

@shaf77: Look for a hyphen on your keypad. That would represent the dot separating the main channel from the sub-channel. On mine, the hyphen is right under 7 key.
Additionally, for many brands, the hyphen also works to force the TV to tune an analog channel. Typing 5-0, for example, would get you CBLT-TV on analog channel 5.

Questions:

1. What do I need to do to get the missing ones?
2. How does one type 5.x or 7.x, etc on a remote?
3. I have an older Sony Bravia that is HD ready, but has no ATSC tuner. What tuner can I get for the older HDTV?
4. Where can I get an RF AB switch to alternate between Rogers Cable and the Antenna?
5. The non HD channels are snowy. What is the quality of these channels for others?


Possible answers:
1. You can try rotating your antenna closer to Toronto to try and get a bit more signal, or look into a pre-amp or distribution amp (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42426). You can also try the 4221 hack (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=104837)
2. See downbeat's response
3. See the this thread about HD capable tuners (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=108740)
4. Home depot, possibly Sal's, which is close to you
5. Do you mean the analogue channels? Any digital station should not be snowy. Did you try cleaning the dust off the tv screen?:D

DdDave,

Thank you very much for your responses!

Yes, I meant the analogue channels are snowy (non HD). Is this generally the case? That's why I wanted to be able to switch between OTA and Rogers Cable...

Depends how you define snowy. If you mean not 100% clear, then yes.
But there should be next to no snow or specks visible if you have it properly aimed and amped. Keep in mind that not all channels will be received the same, so you may only get a handful of analogs in "near-perfect", while the rest may have some imperfections or multipath, etc.

(the fact that you see snow means you have low signal - you need to re-aim the antenna and/or amp the signal to get rid of that snow and then you'll probably see the digital stations that are missing)

How do I aim? What direction? My wall is facing south and I am at Port Union and Lawrence. I have currently aimed it towards the SW direction. Does it have to be vertical or point up?

When I say snowy - I mean it's almost not viewable at all. The analogue channels are really bad...

TVFool will tell you the exact directions to aim:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=125161

If your Toronto analogs are snowy, there is a problem somewhere other than your antenna. That indeed indicates low signal.

And if you're in the Metro area, that's definitely a concern. Ghosty, wobbly, is possible if aimed incorrectly, but if they're really snowy then perhaps you have a bad cable or connection somewhere?

Even indoors you should have plenty of signal, just with rabbit ears.

Hi DLP, I'm an addict too,
if you lost signal in the spring, do you think maybe trees have anything to do with blocking your signals? Higher is better is a kind of rule of thumb for mounting antennas.
Another rule of thumb, when combining antennas, is they have to be exactly the same make/model to have a reasonable shot of getting them in phase. You might have too much signal from the toronto antenna, and i usually suggest pointing the TO antenna more south so it combines sum (pun intended) with the buffalo antenna, but that might backfire with 2 different antennas.

How do I aim? What direction? My wall is facing south and I am at Port Union and Lawrence. I have currently aimed it towards the SW direction. Does it have to be vertical or point up?

To answer your last question first, keep the antenna vertical so it's aiming for the horizon. How high up is the antenna, and is there anything in front or does it have a clear line of sight to the lake?

You are aiming in the correct direction for your area and are getting almost all the right channels. From your area you should be able to get both 11.1 and 51.1,2,3, but since you are missing the 51.x I suspect you are aiming more to Toronto than Buffalo.

Do you have a preamp or distribution amp? How much cable do you have between your antenna and the tv's, and are you splitting the signal at all? You may need to boost the signal depending on what's happening inside your house.

How do I aim? What direction? My wall is facing south and I am at Port Union and Lawrence. I have currently aimed it towards the SW direction. Does it have to be vertical or point up?

When I say snowy - I mean it's almost not viewable at all. The analogue channels are really bad...
Hi Shaf, good job so far if you get most of the Buffalo stations.
If it was me, I'd start off with the antenna pointing directly at WGRZ, 169 degrees magnetic. (The dollar store carries a compass). That will give you best signal for most of the Buffalo stations.
Then, if you don't have all the Toronto stations, rotate the antenna slightly west and try again. I usually go about 5 degrees at a time. When you do get all the toronto stations, you can fine tune. You do NOT need max signal for the toronto stations, just enough that you get signal lock. The Toronto staions are only 16 miles, ABC is 82 miles. You want to point mostly at buffalo, and just enough so you get toronto on the west side-lobe.
Some people get lucky and get ION on the other side lobe, but I certainly wouldn't compromise the Toronto channels for ION.
And, on the snowy part, yes, analog is going to be snowy because you want to pick up the toronto DTV stations from the side.
I suggest you give up on the analog altogether. No need for it at all, unless you want TVO, and it's usually pretty good, i get it with just a small ghost outline. For an HD ready TV, if it has an HDMI input, I've used the centronics Zat tuner, worked pretty good.
Good Luck.

My neighbor two door down to me have a big maple tree in front of there lawn facing kind of south west.
But last year the reception was pretty good with few drops in signal.

You might be right about putting two different antenna I will try to disconnect
one and see or re-aim the one facing Toronto and aiming it toward the south like the DGHB.

The DGHB is about 30-35 feet above ground (maybe a little bit higher) and the CM4221 is a few feet below the DGHB on a different pole both
attached to my chimney.

I will play around with both antenna ;)

Thanks for the tips Tom.F.1

Thanks for the help... I am trying tonight to redirect the antenna. I am now able to get 51.x but not 11.x

I am running RG6 cable (about 40ft)... this is the same cable I was using for my FTA. I have no preamp or distribution amp and am only connected to one TV.