diy and it will cost you less than 50 bucks...start with the stealth hawk design...pretty simple

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=1149902&postcount=304

Hi,im new here, please help. sorry for my bad English. thanks

i live downtown Vancouver, Howe n davie, an apartment facing south east on 8th floor. i have a Toshiba 40 inch HDTV, im trying to get some free hd ota Vancouver channels like CBC,ctv, omni...etc. i want to get an indoor antenna around 50 bucks or less, what should i buy? can i buy it from future shop or London drugs etc? thank you very much.
Welcome to this forum.

50 buck is not enough to get a better antenna in those store you've mentioned(And since you live in an apartment, an outdoor antenna is not a good option)

And you're facing Southeast in Downtown, well... Since most of the TV channels serving Vancouver are from Mt. Seymour, which is the Northeast of downtown, any windows facing North or NorthEast would be a better option.

I think it would be a better idea to describe what's surrounding your apartment since other tall buliding and tall trees may affacted your reception, You can also post your TVfool result here to let us to know more about how's the reception from your apartment,it's safe and we won't know your actual address even you need to type it in.

leepenguin
Lets start with what not to buy have a read here first.
As odd as it sounds luck location luck plays a fair bit of the possibilities of reception success.
Do a search on indoor antennas and perhaps you find some items worth thinking about good luck to you. :)
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=35083

Thank you for your reply.

I wonder if the Terk HDTVi will do the job and it would cost me around $50, if not I can get something else under $100.

Okay I live 8th floor of my apartment, all my windows are facing south east, there are 3-5 building blocking my view.

Here's my fool tv Analysis Results
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8387f894224263

I use a TerkHD amplified and it is very directional and brings in all my stations reliable locks.
I got it reg price the next week is was on sale to 43ish dollars and the Source.
I hope this helps.
My TV FOOL
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8387800a1319f2

RE: leepenguin: So...yeah, the TVfool shows that most of the channel are from your NE of your apartment. And three apartment blockage sounds bad too. The only think we can do is buy on antenna and try if there are any channel you can get. You may get some, but not all in this case. If there are just too few channel you get and you didn't feel good to it: Return the antenna with full box back to the store with your receipt in a week.

yea thanks
i have ordered turk hdtvi from the source, waiting for the item.
hope i can get some good channels.

Don't be afraid to aim it in ridiculous directions. From the 17th floor of a downtown office block, I got my best reception aiming 180 deg. from Mt Seymour and presumably picking up a bounce from the building opposite.

Michael:
thanks for the tip, gonna try different directions.

1 question, i notice the terk hdtvi has a short antenna cable(like 1 meter), should i extend it or not? just put near my tv n far from my windows?

leepenguin:

The answer for your first question is:Yes,you may need a extension if it's unreachable from your antenna and your TV(If you have some HDMI cable plugged into your TV, be sure you need to buy those extension with better shielding, dollar store's extension won't work well in this case), and don't be too long (no more than 10 feet).

The second answer is NO, the antenna should be near your Windows since your apartment itself did block the signal. The quick proof is you can tune up a radio channel and move away from the windows, you can hear the signal goes weaker and weaker (FM: volume goes lower and lower, AM: more buzzing).

Hey guys i got my Terk HDTVa, and it works pretty good!

I live Downtown Vancouver, an apartment facing south east on 8th floor.

I got CBC HD, GLOBAL HD, CTV HD, CTV TWO HD, CBC FRENCH HD, and OMNI HD. signal is around 40-60%. However, i could not get City TV. The picture quality is awesome. CBC HD is 720i, the others are 1080i. Is that normal?

nice to hear that you can get most of the channel.(It's better than I think you can get actually). And Both CBC channel are broadcasting in 720p(not 720i, but i believe it's just a typo), so. yeah, it's normal.

and don't forget to try channel 33-1 to see if Citytv is really unavailable or not.

Thanks. Yea CBC is 720p.
Most channels are pretty stable except CTV and CTV two.

Oh i just found City TV, its digital 33, but it set at 10-1, got 1 more channel yayayay

very fine movement 1/4 of an inch may get CKVU and do a scan :)
Even ctv can improve as you know fine tune it takes a little upfront time but you may find that sweet spot but again I say very fine (small re aims )

CTV is the most unstable, i need to watch big bang theory next week LOL, gonna fix that.

Hey. I'm new here, and I want to know if there is anyway to get Sportsnet Pacific over the air. I know that I have to first get a antenna.

Sportsnet Pacific unavailable Over The Air

Sportsnet is not an over-the-air broadcaster. You will need a cable or satellite subscription if you want to watch Sportsnet. There may be some sports programming available OTA, depending on the station (e.g. CBC for HNIC).

Input your address into TVfool.com's signal analysis to find what OTA channels are available in your area.

Several off-topic posts regarding VPN service and Sportsnet have been removed.

I get CBC HD, GLOBAL HD, CTV HD, CTV TWO HD, CityTV HD, and OMNI HD, and some SD US channels from my little $15 antenna in North Vancouver.

I was wondering the guys with the higher end antennas, do you get any of the major US (Seattle) network channels like ABC, NBC, CBS?

Thanks