Hey Walter, thanks for the reply. I do live in a house, I'm on the north side of Finch, in between Yonge and bathurst, so I'm away from all the condos, atm none will be going up south of me, because its all developed homes. facing the CN from my house, can't see any buildings except the condos at yonge and finch, which is a far distance away (20 minute walk away). Most people i talk to recommended the CM4221HD, one person told me the CM4228HD 8 bay version would be better for me, what do u think??

Most people i talk to recommended the CM4221HD, one person told me the CM4228HD 8 bay version would be better for me, what do u think??
The 4228 (8 bays) is probably overkill in your situation. It would be more necessary out in Richmond Hill or Newmarket. The 4221 is optimal for your situation.

Another possible option... there is a separate thread on this site, dedicated to indoor antennas. Click http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42391 to read it. If you can position an indoor antenna looking through a south-facing window, but not behind a metal screen, you might get the locals from the CN Tower. If you have questions about indoor antennas, post them to that thread.

I have tried so many different antennas over the years. I found the multi bay CM 4221 or 4228 work best for me. I have tried several yagi's from Radio Shack, Delhi, Channel Master and Winegard, none of which performed as well as the CM4228. I even tried one of the monster 7' Channel master dish antenns and it did worse in my area than the Yagi's.

I use to have 4 sections of tower, a 5' mast, rotator and another 5' mast with a CM4228 I use to pull in all the local analog UHF Toronto stations as well as channel 35 WSEE & WQLN Erie PA, a few stations from the eastern part of Ontario as well as the Buffalo - Rochester area stations and even a few from Michigan the odd time. I since took one section of tower out and am using two CM 4221's aiming different directions tied together with a backwards 2 way splitter and I only pick up Toronto & Buffalo UHF stations. I hope to put up a 50' free standing tower in the spring or summer to regain the stations I use to pick up, especially now that they are digital.

Bruce.

thank you Walter, I think I'm leaning towards the external. But i'll look at price difference and install cost and try to figure out what i want.

I'm a bit lost in choice of antenna - there seem to be so many options and personal circumstance seems to matter so much.

Any advice for this one?
I live in the Toronto core (Bloor and Christie). In winter I can easily see the CN Tower from my rooftop, though in summer that direct view is obscured by a single tree about 50ft away. I'd like to post the antenna on my roof. And my main goal is to receive the major Canadian and American Networks (CBC, CTV, CITY, Global, NBC, CBS, ABC and Fox).

My TV Fool profile is here:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d27ee68c2050a1d

Thanks!

Hopefully someone can help me out here. I'm on the 20th floor of an apartment building with pretty clear view south/southeast from my balcony. I currently have an Antennas Direct DB-8 antenna, but I'm tired of having to rotate it to receive different channels, so I'm planning to replace it with a modified Channel Master CM4221HD. As I understand it the CM4221HD is a lot less directional.

At the same time I'd like to split the signal - one for my USB tuner, one for my TV, and at least one extra for a future TV. My cable run is pretty short - maybe 20 or 30 feet. Am I better off with a preamp and a splitter or distribution amp? Am I going to overload the tuner with a preamp?

rag, try with no amp, then try a preamp only if you need one. A distribution amp would be too noisy.

Thanks. I'll pick up a splitter and see what I get.

I think a building to the south of me may be part of my "directional problem". Does combining two antennas at different angles work?

Yes it does but with a lot of testing. See Post #16 in the OTA FAQ and also this thread if you're interested in trying 2 antennas:

Stacking, Ganging, Combining Antennas (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=95148)

We've just purchased a flat-panel TV. We're currently renting the basic cable and thinking OTA would make our viewing much better. Above all, we're interested in getting a good signal for TVO, WNED and CBC. We're in the Kingston Road/Victoria Park area of the Beaches in Toronto's east end.
I'd like to hear from anyone else near that part of the city to learn what kind of results they're getting with their OTA aerial.
I realise there are many factors, but any details would be much appreciated.
We live in a two-storey semi that could accept a SE-pointing aerial.
Cheers,
Blackbird

No need to wait for replies, blackbird - just read through this existing thread. :)

I have CM 4221HD Antenna and I'm on the South side of 3rd floor of apartment building in midtown Toronto.
I would like to install the same antenna for my neighbor on the same floor but NORTH side.
How do I point the antenna on his balcony?
Thank you.

I have CM 4221HD Antenna and I'm on the South side of 3rd floor of apartment building in midtown Toronto.
I would like to install the same antenna for my neighbor on the same floor but NORTH side.
How do I point the antenna on his balcony?
Thank you.
Its NOT going to work WELL on the north side of the building. Best thing to do is try walking around holding it, till you get some channels. Then pick a station you want, and walk around with the antenna till you get best signal strength.
I did that at my daughters place a couple yrs ago, tried everything inside, including pointing up. The best results were outside on the balcony, pointing southwest, through the building. I suspect most of the signal was reflected from surrounding buildings.
Good Luck!

Its NOT going to work WELL on the north side of the building. Best thing to do is try walking around holding it, till you get some channels. Then pick a station you want, and walk around with the antenna till you get best signal strength.
I did that at my daughters place a couple yrs ago, tried everything inside, including pointing up. The best results were outside on the balcony, pointing southwest, through the building. I suspect most of the signal was reflected from surrounding buildings.
Good Luck!
Tom.F.1 thanks for the info. So basically people who are on the North side don't have a choice?
That's was my guess to point through the building.
You said that most of the signal comes from reflection,so would it be better signal if I point North to get this reflection from surrounding buildings?

You said that most of the signal comes from reflection,so would it be better signal if I point North to get this reflection from surrounding buildings?
I said in the particular instance where my daughter used to live on the wrong side of her building, with bulings behind, that i Guessed, most of the signal comes from reflection. You could try that and let us know if its better, I have no guess at what would work, or work better from the wrong side of the building, its a trial and error thing. My guess is mostly error. :)
We all know direct 'Line of Sight' works. Anything else is a Crap Shoot.

So basically people who are on the North side don't have a choice?Its all about testing your local conditions, so Tom.F.1's advice makes perfect sense.

There is likely enough signal bounce from adjacent buildings to get some or all of the CN Tower stations, but if I were you I'd try to use a high quality antenna that I could take back for a refund or sell here easily if it turns out you can't find a "sweet spot" for OTA channels.

I said in the particular instance where my daughter used to live on the wrong side of her building, with bulings behind, that i Guessed, most of the signal comes from reflection. You could try that and let us know if its better, I have no guess at what would work, or work better from the wrong side of the building, its a trial and error thing. My guess is mostly error. :)
We all know direct 'Line of Sight' works. Anything else is a Crap Shoot.
"Wrong Side" LOL.
Ok I will try and post my results...

I have a CM 4221 mounted about 15 feet off the ground in my backyard (long story...I'll be moving it to the roof once I decide on the best way to mount it) with a 8 ft coax linked to a 50 ft coax that runs into my LG70 TV located in the basement.

Regardless of where I point my antenna I can't seem to to get a signal above "normal" stength (why LG went with Bad, Normal, and Good instead of a percentage readout for signal strength I don't know).

I used Google Earth to locate all the buffalo transmitters and calculated that I should point my antenna at a bearing of 250 degrees to pick up buffalo stations directly.

Here's my actual question. Why does my signal from WKBW (ABC) seem to randomly drop signal strength from "Normal" to "Bad" and what can I do to fix the problem (other than raising the height of the antenna, which I will do soon anyway). I've considered getting a pre-amp, but I don't want to overload my local stations.

Any advice is appreciated.

I live just North East of Victoria Park and Kingston Road.
Any advice is appreciated.
Hi Northview and welcome here.
I've installed in your area and the only trick is height. You need to be above the roof and treeline. Have you heard of a site called TVfool? There are instructions in the OTA faqs but here is a link. When you click on 'Only Digital' channels, the lists is much easier to read. (I picked a locaton on Parkland Rd., you can pick your real location)
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3db7c8f0f6bff60f
I put in 15 ft and it says 1 or 2 edge for All Buffalo stations; I put in 35 ft and it says All Buffalo stations are LOS (line of site). That has been my experience.
Toronto Stations are at 251 degrees magnetic. NBC buffalo is at 162 degrees magnetic. Yes, that's 89 degrees apart, but once you get above the treeline, it's so easy to get toronto stations, that you'll only need to point directly at buffalo and toronto will be there anyway. If need be, you can point a few dregrees west to get hamilton and better strength on the low power toronto channels.
I've done some who have antennas pointing directly into trees and don't get much reliably. Then a pre-amp helps a lot, but still not great.
I'd recommend a 5ft tripod on the peak of your roof, with a 10 ft mast. Get out a compass and have short walk around your block. If the trees are bigger than you can get from 10 ft above the peak of your roof, then you need a tower.
Good Luck!!

Sounds like great advice. Thanks for your help Tom.F.1