Hi Guy,

Im am new in this group. I'am planning get a free channe using antenna device. I read about what type of antenna that i need to buy. Right now the only antenna that is available on Save & Replay are the CM4221HD or CM4228HD and i read the review about this antenna. If you compare the CM4221 to CM4221hd and CM4228 and CM4228HD, most of you prefer antenna with out HD. My problem is CM dont produce it any more.

Do you know a store that still selling CM4221 or CM4228.

Thanks,

Rodney2009
I'm pretty sure the old ones are sold out. Everywhere.
4221HD works pretty good in North York. If you want higher gain, the Antennas Direct DB8 (now on sale @ save and replay) is better than the 4228HD. IMHO. :)

Right now the only antenna that is available on Save & Replay are the CM4221HD or CM4228HD and i read the review about this antenna. If you compare the CM4221 to CM4221hd and CM4228 and CM4228HD, most of you prefer antenna with out HD. My problem is CM dont produce it any more.

if you go to the "antenna research and development" subforum of OTA right here at this site, you will learn how to "hack" both the 4221HD and the 4228HD (there is a thread for each) to get better performance by making some slight modifications (and it seems that the "hacked" 4228HD outperforms the unhacked original 4228 and is about the same as the "hacked" original 4228)

I've moved my 4221 to a roof-mount tripod for a few months now. Previously it was just on a mast ~18ft above ground.

18 ft mast :

All Toronto channels banged in 10/10 except CityHD and CBLFT 7-8/10.

Buffalo channels were spotty, received NBC only on Superbowl night @ 3-4/10 LOL. FOX, CBS, ABC all weak in decending order and I saw them 50:50 of the time and the strength was never >5/10.

tripod @ roof peak :

Toronto channels are incidently weaker with OMNI 1/2 still @10/10; CBC,CTV next @8/10. Global, Sun @5/10 and City @4/10. There is no issue with dopping out unless the tower is not transmitting.

Buffalo channels fluctuate a lot, NBC,CBS from 3-8/10; ABC fairly consistently 2-3 bars less; FOX 4-7/10; MyTV @1-5/10. ION comes in also but doesn't last more than 30 minutes.

My aim is almost identical. The locations are 20 feet apart. The main difference is the 4221 is slightly aimed UP on the tripod and that seems to kill some of the signal from Toronto !!

Folks in Brampton or anybody living on the straight line explolated from GI and CN Tower can give it a try if you're overloading on Torontos but not getting the Buffalos good enough.

YMMV

PS - I also use CM7778

How long has your antenna location been moved for? You might want to make sure it isn't weather related first.

I moved it just before the US Open Golf :), so it has been a few months.
It has greatly improved reception.

I just wasn't expecting the signals of the Toronto channels to be slightly weakened with the added 12ft elevation. It might have previously been in a 'sweet spot' for TO channels.

Aiming the antenna slightly up is another variable I thought I would throw it out there as it improved my Buffalo channels slightly but seems to have 'hurt' the TO channels a tiny bit as well.

I have 20 channels DTV when I search on my TV.The stable ones with good reception are only 12.The 8 channels are on and off.
What would be the best signal improvement option?

Getting one more antenna for more gain or getting an amplifier for the existing antenna?(generic 4 bay bow tie antenna is that I use now outdoors).

I am located in Midtown Toronto.:confused:

beer_wisdom, what is your nearest major street corner, and do you have line of site to the CN Tower and/or Buffalo?

Hey, I hate to be that guy who knows too little and asks too much, but I'm trying to sell the wife on OTA, and have set up the outdoor antenna, the ota pvr (dtvpal dvr), etc. I still cannot get global reliably! Interesting enough, my best signal for global was captured when I pointed my antenna at about 125 degrees se! (Note, the cn tower is 213 degrees sw). Same for suntv (66). So it seems that for some reason, the channels in the 60's are only coming in off of the back of my antenna (4 bay), or alternatively, aren't coming through straight on but are bouncing off of something close by. I have LOS to the CN tower, and as noted, I tune all other canadian channels reliably (cbc and ctv in the 90s, city and others depend on orientation). I get most buffalo channels clean, with wnlo, wned and wivb the clearest, wkbw solid, fox typically reliable, and nbc is only bad in bad weather. So last night, we had to go to cable (blech) to watch heroes.

If it was overload, I figure that the other channels would be an issue. I'm thinking that maybe for channels in the 60's (I've already pointed directly to the tower, no better), these signals might be more likely to overload the tuner?

If I turn the antenna that far left, it affects my buffalo stations, and still isn't that reliable. Why is this happening?

As an option, I considered setting up my phillips mant and running my outdoor antenna through this, running it then into my tuner. If I turn it to 'cable', it passes through the outdoor signal. If I turn it to 'antenna, then it changes to the indoor antenna signal, which might give me more luck with the channels in the 60's. I assume I'll suffer a bit of loss since the signal from outside will be running through an extra connection, but has anyone else tried something like this? (Running outdoor signal through indoor antenna that has passthrough capability)?

Sorry for the long post. If I nail down global I'm home free (mostly as a bad weather safety valve for the us nets).

beer_wisdom, what is your nearest major street corner, and do you have line of site to the CN Tower and/or Buffalo?
Yonge and Davisville,Yonge and St Clair.
Yes I have line of site to CN Tower (I am on the South side of the 3rd floor).

I have a 4 bay outdoor antenna similar to the Channel Master 4221 (Antra?). I have been having trouble tuning Global, so I have considered using an indoor antenna to tune that one channel (only need it when weather is affecting my signal from NBC/ABC/Fox/CBS, and I need to watch the simsub).

Anyways, I have a Phillips MANT-510 indoor antenna. I can get Global on this antenna. This has an antenna/cable switch, and a cable input. What I have found is that if I connect my outdoor antenna through the cable input (coax-RG6), and then put the output from the Phillips into the input for my tuner (DTVPAL DVR), I can then choose between "Antenna", which runs the signal from the indoor antenna, and "Cable", which cuts the signal from the indoor antenna, and runs the signal from the outdoor antenna.

Do you expect a significant loss of gain from using this in this way, or can I just expect the same amount of loss as if I were using a splitter? Any other suggestions? Will the fact that an antenna signal is running through the 'cable' switch affect the quality of the output from the indoor antenna?

This may seem confusing, but in a nutshell, I think it might be easiest, since I can already get the local channels through this indoor antenna, to point my 4 bay towards the towers in Buffalo (153-155 true north), and then the mini out my window towards the CN tower (213 or so), and use the switch to switch between the inputs for the couple of stations that I lose from the outdoor directional antenna facing far east (CTV, CBC and OMNI 2 boom no matter what, City and Omni 1 fade as I turn east, and Global is nowhere to be found anywhere...no idea why!!!)

Anyways, anyone else experiment with this indoor/outdoor setup?

Scottyp99, what you are proposing should work just fine. As long as your two antennas are on a separate side of an A-B switch you will not have problems, but if you connect them actively via a reversed splitter or other means you will have big problems.

See Post #16 in the OTA FAQ for a great deal of info on this topic.

I'll give it a shot. Interestingly enough, I'm now getting Global, on the right channel, and in the mid to high 60s. Just odd. Thanks for the confirmation!

That's maybe something to do with the technical glitches they've had recently that are being fixed.

I just put up my GH10 antenna on my chimney, attached to a KitzTech preamp with gain setting about halfway between min and max. It's pointed at Buffalo. I get all 9 Toronto stations, and all the Buffalo network affiliates (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, MyTV, PBS). Hamilton channels CTS (36) and CHCH (18) are outside my reception lobes, and WNYB is missing too but I don't really care about that one. No ION either. All signals are at 100% as reported by my CM7000, except WNYO which is around 40-70%.

There are trees blocking my signal, and lately I've been dropping WUTV in this weather. That's odd because it's one of the stronger Buffalo signals, and I get WNYO (my weakest at a NM of 5.5dB) just fine. It might have to do with it being the lowest possible UHF channel.

I guess I'm just posting this to post good results and confirm that my area (Don Mills + Sheppard) is great for reception!

I just put up my GH10 antenna on my chimney, attached to a KitzTech preamp with gain setting about halfway between min and max. It's pointed at Buffalo. I get all 9 Toronto stations, and all the Buffalo network affiliates (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, MyTV, PBS). Hamilton channels CTS (36) and CHCH (18) are outside my reception lobes, and WNYB is missing too but I don't really care about that one. No ION either. All signals are at 100% as reported by my CM7000, except WNYO which is around 40-70%.

There are trees blocking my signal, and lately I've been dropping WUTV in this weather. That's odd because it's one of the stronger Buffalo signals, and I get WNYO (my weakest at a NM of 5.5dB) just fine. It might have to do with it being the lowest possible UHF channel.

I guess I'm just posting this to post good results and confirm that my area (Don Mills + Sheppard) is great for reception!
Cut the trees!!!:)

Hey, just setup antenna, pointing south to CN Tower.
One Channel i wanted was "A Channel" but it's tower is in Barrie, North.
Is there anyway to get this channel, besides getting another antenna and pointing North?
Any chance it'll broadcast from CN Tower, when digital switchover happens? like Sun TV, which broadcasts from Hamilton and Toronto.

the solution is a rotor. I grew up in Etobicoke with an antenna system with a rotor. Buffalo is south, Toronto East, CKVR Barrie north. Not much has changed in 40 years. :) Yeah we got more stations, and most are digital. Rotors got better. They even have remotes now!
Does CKVR still play re-runs of 'Emergency'?

No, Emergency is not on CKVR anymore- but is on another channel- see Buffalo thread.

I use to watch the 3 Stooges on the CKVR.

I'm At Keele/Sheppard area.
I live right next to park with lots of trees facing North.
I'm more intested in A Channel when it goes digital, but that's still 2 years away, if there still around.

Hello all,

trying to set up OTA for a buddy...before we go out to get the gear, will it work in the following building on a fairly high floor(>18th floor). Condo is facing due south overlooking the lake.

Do we need line of site to the CN-tower? What channels can I expect to get? Your help is greatly appreciated.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=3+Navy+Wharf+Ct,+Toronto,+ON,+Canada&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.335236,56.162109&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=3+Navy+Wharf+Ct,+Toronto,+Toronto+Division,+Ontario,+C anada&ll=43.639259,-79.391134&spn=0.007205,0.013711&t=h&z=16