That's the one all right.

Yes, I had it pointed as if Seymour would be to the upper right of the picture.

If this antenna isn't working, does that mean I wouldn't have much more luck with a CM4228?

DVS,
Dont forget the anteannae are not at the peak of Mt Seymour, but on the south shoulder of that mountain(s). I am down in the dip towards Edgemont Village (evelation 400'), and definitely cannot see the peak of Mt Seymour, or where the antennae are

Using a 4228, I get CBC at 95+% and CTV at 68-92% on a DVICO card
I have had trouble editing/processing both with PC programs like MPEGRepair, HDTV2MPEG, Elecard Remux and VideoRedo, so I seem to be having a problem with true signal integrity

While the DVICO will generally get constant reception of both, an Expressvu 9200 receiver doesnt have a good enough tuner to get CTV reliably, particularly in poorer weather

Hi All,

I'm interested in picking up the 2 HD OTA channels in Vancouver. No access to the outside of the condo, so I'm hoping a Silver Sensor will do the trick. I live at Commercial & Broadway. North facing window, but view of the mountains is obscured by trees / buildings.

Any predictions on whether this antenna will be enough to get me the 2 HD channels I want?

Thanks,

coreyinoz

Hi coreyinoz and welcome here - with a north-facing window I'm sure you'll do fine with a ZSS-type antenna for CBC HD and CTV HD. About the only thing that could go wrong would be other buildings or structures blocking the signals. Only a test with an actual antenna will tell for sure. :)

Stampeder - thanks for the quick answer. This is totally new to me.

I Recently got an HDTV and was happy to see that I may be able to get CBC HD for the price of a small antenna! Ideally I'd like to hide the antenna behind the TV. SWMBO doesn't really dig such devices in plain sight in our living room.

I'll try it out and let you know.

coreyinoz

Hi All,

Mission accomplished! Grabbed the Terk SS clone from London Drugs, and was able to grab CTV and CBC in beautiful HD.

The antenna is directional, but because CBC is so strong, I can point it 70/30 at CTV and grab them both.

Of interest is the fact that I have to lift the blinds in the window about 1" to have any hope of getting CTV. If I draw the blinds, I can still get CBC, but CTV disappears. Still, the 1" of open blinds does no harm and it's all good.

BTW - The documentary on Dubai last night had some mind-blowing images. It was like watching a store demo!

coreyinoz

Most likely they are aluminum blinds, right? If they are you might want to put up some non-metallic ones so that you don't have to bother with them.

This is a great thread, thanks for the good read.

I have an west facing 3rd floor condo in the west end. I was hoping to pick up an ZSS and try my luck with OTA HD, where can I find one locally and how much can I expect to pay? Do I have a chance at picking any HD channels up?

Much appreciated.

Hi mirek, with a west-facing window you are unfortunately not going to have luck with Mt. Seymour as far as direct aiming, but if there is a tall building to your west you might get a good signal reflection and get CBC & CTV in digital OTA. London Drugs has a ZSS clone and hopefully a good return policy. :)

Yeah there are quite a few big tall buildings around, I am hoping for something!

I'll check out LD today. Much appreciated!

Strata won't let me install a satellite on my roof, so let's see how they like my bright pink spray painted ZSS clone sticking out my window :D Would spray paint hinder the reception of the antenna at all?

I was at the London Drugs, couldn't find anything, all they had was a pair of RCA rabbit ears? for 19.99$

so I bought it to test.

If you can, ask LD to get more of the Terk HDTVi antenna in. That's a ZSS clone.

I would not try to spray paint an antenna unless I was absolutely certain that the paint had no metallic content or counter-electromagnetic properties (lead, boron, etc.).

It's been some time since I updated my reception info for new address, so here it goes.

Location:
Downtown, 11th floor facing straight north (line of sight to parts of Mt Seymour but not to towers).

Results:
Putting antenna (came with ATI HDTV Wonder card) anywhere inside apartment or balcony produces no lockable signal. Inside the bedroom, there were a few spots (in the middle of the room) where I could get CBC. Putting antenna on window or outside pointing towards Mt Seymour showed nothing. Later found one spot that gets CTV, but completely looses signal if I move antenna even 1 mm. Later also got a lock for KVOS and KBCB but with much difficulty. I got almost all local analogs with no problem, some with very good picture at same location.
Later bought a better antenna - CM4221, which to my surprise showed little or no improvement from a small 20 cm antenna, so my advice to everyone unable to get direct digital signal, but reflections instead - better antenna will not always help you.

Total results:
CBC: 61%, with CM4221: upto 64% (pointing straight north through window)
CTV: 57%, with CM4221: upto 59% (pointing northeast through the wall and through another apartment)
KVOS: 54-59%, with CM4221: upto 61%
KBCB: 57-59%, with CM4221: upto 61%
(both pointing straight west towards Vancouver Island, through a wall)

Then I recently moved into another apartment in same building, but on opposite side, facing straight south. I knew this was going to be a complete loss of CBC and CTV, but I would at least be able to firmly get KVOS and KBCB.
When I settled in, I was very surprised with results.
With clear view straight south to Granville Bridge and West Broadway and beyond, these are my current results (same with both antennas, but I use the little one due to indoors convenience):
KVOS: 0% - absolutely no signal
KBCB: 0% - absolutely no signal
CBC: 64% (signal stable and ok, antenna pointed south)
CTV: 54% (signal unstable and frequently lost, antenna pointed south)
I assume the signal for both CBC and CTV is reflected from one of the glass buildings south of me, towards which I point the antenna - straight south). I am still surprised about KVOS.

Also, an interesting detail: I loose signal whenever mixer is used in the kitchen, also have problems when hair-dryer is used and some other kitchen devices.

I got the RCA ANT585 from Future Shop for $60. I'm by the PNE facing north but not exactly a straight line to Seymour Mtn.

Anyone know where I can find a Silver Sensor in Vancouver? Please tell me soon so I can return the RCA in time. Will I be able to get other channels with the SS?

Markenstein, it looks like London Drugs isn't carrying its ZSS clone anymore:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=51079

I'm not sure who else carries one around here anymore, so you might have to buy one online such as at sensuz dot com.

Which channels are you getting now and at what strength/level of quality?

VBC1, is it possible that your building has metallic windows? If so, they may be behind the strange disturbances and the weird loss of Bellingham signals.

I'm not sure about the strength of the reception as my tv does not display it numerically but rather with bars. I'd say somewhere in the range of 60-75%. I don't pay for cable right now so having hd content for free is awesome.

I get CTV & CBC right now.

Markenstein in that case you should just stay with the antenna you've got and wait for more stations to come up in the future. :) You can check station status in this thread:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42734

My building has just normal windows, like on most older buildings (with metal frame and drywall material around/walls). There is only one building in the direct way of 'south', but much clear space otherwise. It may be the cause, but only if the signal happens to travel with sniper precision, but still makes no sense to me.

I also forgot to mention an important detail.
In both apartments, I only got to lock to signal of CTV if I use the amplifier. The one I use is a black one by RadioShack, but I also tried some other ones including one by Channel Master, producing same results.
When connected through amplifier, CTV reaches 54%, without it is at 0% and shows absolutely no signal. It makes almost no difference for CBC however.
These reflections of digital signals are much more tricky then I ever would have imagined.

Ok, so we bought our first HDTV because our CRT died on us, we had no choice. I connected the Sony 37M3000 to our regular Shaw NON HDTV SD box and the picture isn't as bad as I expected it.

I am in the Metro Vancouver area and I would like to know how to access over the air HDTV channels, I know Global and maybe a few have this available but I dunno if we can get it in our part of our town.

How do I go about tuning in to these over the air HDTV stations? I see that some have weird channels, frequencies like 2.1, 33.2 etc.

Thanks