Captain,

After analysing your pictures, I think adding another 5-6 feet to the mast may get you over the borderline reception.

Anyway to show a picture of your antenna mounting in relation to your roof? I just want to see what is clearance of the pipe above your roof.

koo,

http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/4766/img0453uk.jpg

The mast is 6 ft above the roof line and 4 ft below.

Captain,

ok...thanks for the picture.

I can see you don't have height for your antenna setup. If my setup was like that I also will not get most of the US channels since I have some big trees (abt 40-45' tall) about 150' from my house.


Not sure yours is a gable roof...If it is, I usually recommend to mount the antenna on the peak (side mount or tripod) of the roof for maximum antenna height.

Can you take the antenna with your 10' mast and stand on the roof, aim at US stations? If you have good reception, then we can try the following options:

Since you cannot relocate your antenna, do one of these:
1. Use a channel master CM 1810 (10') mast and then a CM 1607 (5'). These two masts can be joined together for 15' feet. So even with 4-5' down, you still have about 10' above roof line.

2. A CM 1820 (20') telescopic mast. You don't have to extend all section, just about 10' above roof line.

You will need guy wire if more than 10 above roof line.

I highly reccomend a distribution amp to improve your US signal reception. Distributon amp is easier to work with since it is usually located inside the house.

bybye,

about 15-25 degrees

For stacked 4221's, that's a significant delta because of the compression in the vertical reception pattern.

In my view these are the things that will help you;

A. A quality pre-amp.
B. More height.
C. Pointing the array (your stacked 4221's) at the buildings top.

If you can work on (preferably) all three of these, I think your chances for trouble-free Buffalo/Toronto stations is good. Stacked 4221's are a great antenna.

Here, I have a line of tree's in the way, no stacking & I still get Buffalo reliably. I point right at Buffalo though, separate antenna for Toronto.

Hi, I am very new to this and just decided over the weekend to pick up a $10 antenna at the flea market and see what I can get.

I bought an RCA CANT585 for $10 at the Pickering Flea Market.

I have it sitting on my dresser in my bedroom, facing southwest out my window. I am in north Oshawa, at Harmony and Adelaide.

The results for just a $10 investment really amazed me!

At 10pm Sunday night, I am getting 25 channels:

Perfect Crystal Clear Recpetion:
2-1
2-2
2-3
4-1
7-1
17-1
17-2
17-3
23-1
49-1
49-2

Very Fuzzy Reception, but watchable if I don't mind the snow:
5
9
19
22
25
36
41
47
57
69

Channel says it's picked up, but no picture:
29-1
29-2
43-8
43-9


Not bad for $10. I am still very new to this and would like to learn more try to get enough understanding to make a smart decision about buying an even better indoor antenna, or perhaps an outdoor antenna I could mount indoors, since I live in a townhome condo. I've been looking at either the Terk Indoor HDTV which is on sale half price for $40 at The Source right now, or the CM 4221 bay style which is also on sale but does not seem to be amplified. Well I am very new and have much to read and learn. Any suggustions regarding antenna choice are welcome. Thank you, and glad to be a part of this community!

@Bradbarian: Welcome to the forum!
Could you please share your TV Fool report with us?
http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29
I'm wondering why you seem to have no reception of Toronto DTV stations.
As for antenna suggestions, have you seen Stampeder's antenna chart?
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=97121

byebye & kooguy

Thanks for your advice. I'll work on increasing the antenna height first. Undecided about a distribution amp or preamp. I'll report back when I make some progress.

Captain,

You are welcome.

Do some thinking on minimum effort required in terms of cost and effectiveness to increase the height, and take safety into consideration.

If you are not sure about certain approach, just post questions here before attempting.

Hi everyone,

I am trying to fine tune an antenna at my dad's house in Scarborough and I am having a hard time with CHCH (11.1) channel & Fox (29.1).

We currently have a CM-4228HD (not modified) and a CM-7777 pre-amp. I can pretty much get all the channels but 11.1 & 29.1 is either one or the other. I either have to adjust to 29.1 or 11.1 and will lose one of them to get the other working properly.

I guess the beam width of 4228HD is too narrow. What would you suggest we should do? mod the 4228HD (doesn't seem to help channel below 20, CHCH is 18 and Fox is 14)?. stack another 4228HD? Get another 4228HD, point one to Buffalo and one to Hamilton?

This is the tvfool report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d2193baf92f065a

Edit: I should mention the house is in a valley and 4228HD is used to get better signals. I do have 2 4BAY antenna that I can try and stack but not sure how well it'll be.

thanks!

Bradbarian:i wouldnt hesitate to grab the Terk HDTVA antenna.i bought one last fall and it is a fantastic indoor antenna.im in south oshawa(park and bloor) in an apt facing north and im getting the majority of the Buffalo stations,Toronto,and lately Rochester as well.last week i was picking up Syracuse(due to tropo effect),but still,for the money and convenience,you cant beat it.if you have any questions,feel free to ask them here,lots of helpful people on this site.

Petah - I would hold off to find out what September brings with the new frequencies and power levels.
Unless you're within the return period of the 4228 and you're thinking of returning it.

Thanks! I'll tell my dad to wait and see. Hopefully 11.1 will get more power then.

Hello

I was planning on getting an CM 4221HD to replace an old inherited antenna currently atop a tower. I was planning to direct the antenna towards south to pickup a better signal from Buffalo while still receiving the Canadian channels from the CN Tower.

My TVFool report is:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d001b3d9b8bc2ad

Is the 4221 a good choice or can you recommend any other antenna?

Thank you

Your TV Fool looks great for using a 4221HD. If you aim it at WGRZ or perhaps slightly east of that, you should pick up everything up to ION no problem, with the exception of WNGS (VHF) and possibly CITY (currently broadcasting with a very weak signal, so the loss from using the side lobes of the antenna for the CN Tower might be too much to overcome). I wouldn't count on reliable CHCH, though I could be wrong!

From Scarborough and points east, some installers recommend two 4221hds. One towards Toronto and one towards Buffalo.

A pre-amp would probably help.

Keep in mind, we're only three months away from the analog shut-off. And at that time, CFTO CTV Toronto will move from UHF to channel 9 on VHF AND CHCH from Hamilton will switch from UHF to channel 11 on VHF.

So we're a couple of months away from fiinding out if people who are relying on a single 4221hd (UHF) antenna will still be able to pick up VHF signals. UHF antennas that are not designed to work efficiently for those VHF frequencies is a gamble. It might work though. If you're in an area with strong signals even a paperclip will work.

If you go with the single 4221hd let us know your results and let us know again in September if/if not CFTO and CHCH work for you.

The solution will be the purchase of a second inexpensive high vhf antenna, so don't worry much about this. Good luck!

Magnum,

If you have LOS (no trees or tall building) then one CM4221 is all you need for channels from CN tower and Buffalo. You can certainly go up to CM4228 for more stable reception in those bad weather days.

For ION, you will need a dedicated antenna for it. We (from our area) get the ION channels signals around 3/4 of the year.

A pre-amp or distribution amp is a good investment to enhance signal reception.

I have deployed in that area (Altona/Sheppard). 4221 is all you need for instant and reliable 20 channels. no CHCH, CITY.

Thanks for all the replies. I think I will go ahead with the 4221.

Hey folks. This is my first post here, and I am new to the idea of OTA tv, so please bear with me if this is a stupid bunch of gibberish. Anyhoo, here goes:

I am moving to Oshawa Ontario (harmony and taunton road area) in the mid summer. I want to get an OTA antenna to mount on my roof in hopes of getting OTA digital HD channels.

I was thinking of putting a winegard squareshooter on the roof.

Does anyone have experience with this product? Is it a good product?

I would also like to split the signal to 2-3 televisions off of the one antenna. Is that possible to do with amplifiers?

Last question: Does anyone have any experience with Skyview Electronics out of durham region? I am thinking of using them as installers.

Thanks in advance!

kingdarb- squareshooter is more of an indoor antenna, is it not? i think if you're going for rooftop there are better choices out there. reading this forum thread should give you some ideas.

what development are you in in that area? just curious as i'm in one of the great gulf homes.

good luck