StephenT

Check out this other, lesser known part of TV Fool:

http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=1

In this tool of TV Fool you plug in your address and then it gives you a map centred above your home. You then click on the station you wish to find out about. Then the station's OTA contours appear over the map with colour shading. If you're lucky, your house will be covered by the station's contours.

In my case, my neighbourhood is faintly covered by pink - almost a fluke.
In your case, it appears your neighbourhood is in a blank spot.

Don't forget to indicate the height of your antenna. The default height is 10ft about ground level.

Good luck!

While I'm watching ION, qubo, and ION Life, I'll be thinking of you (okay, NOW I'm rubbing it in your nose). hee hee

Heard from a friend (nearby) that ION disappeared this weekend.

Anyone else in the GTA with the same experience?
---
Steve

We're still getting ION WPXJ 51.1 (rf23) at 80%-100%.
I keep waiting for the channel to fade away for the winter but it is still coming in.
We installed OTA in early June and the channel has been very reliable. Since we like that channel, I'm nervous about what the changing weather has in store for us.
Nervous about ION and NBC WGRZ 2.1. It also comes in around 80-100%. Most other stations are 100%. Hamilton CHCH is my iffiest channel.

Still here as well!

My reception improved markedly when those analog channels were shut off.

Before I was getting glitchy reception on 5 and 11 (0-60% with constant dropouts). Now 11 is stable between 60-70% with virtually no dropouts and 5 is steady at 70-80%. Also 49 suddenly works too. Before it was 0-30% and virtually never worked, now a steady 60-70%.

I'm in Etobicoke with the old CM4228 pointed directly at the NBC tower
and now get 15 "good" channels (2,4,5,7,9,11,17,23,29,41,44,49,57,64,66)

I use an HDhomerun with Sagetv to 3 pc's and a laptop.
JmanGTA, I think you are quite close to me. How's your WNYO 49.1/2 been lately? It's unreliable for me and I can't find any way to improve it (moved my antenna, raised it, lowered it, nothing works :-( )

That and WPXJ 51.1/2/3 are my trouble stations.

Hello,

I'm wondering if there is anyone is Toronto currently getting a decent watchable signal on CKVR "A" Channel Barrie on rf3?

My TV scans and detects channel 3 but there is so much noise the channel is unwatchable. But I don't have the proper antenna.

Can anybody get a decent CKVR here in central (central east) Toronto?

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3da362ba13bf1a3c

Can anyone here predict if we in Toronto will be getting another clear digital channel (CKVR) if we have a good hi-vhf antenna after the transition?

Thinking ahead to after the transition...

If you look at the TV Fool report above, what do you think about having a 4221hd directed at Toronto and Hamilton and having a 4228hd directed at Buffalo. The idea would be that CKVR might be caught of the back of the 4228hd if it moves to high VHF. Also, WNGS rf7 might get picked up off the front of the 4228hd if they increase their signal. It is assumed that a 4221 directed straight at Toronto and Hamilton would manage to get CFTO 9 and CHCH 11 post transition. Is that a safe assumption?

If I figured out the beamwidth of the 4228 and 4221 and directed them in such a way that their beamwidths don't overlap, would that work?

Hello,

I'm wondering if there is anyone is Toronto currently getting a decent watchable signal on CKVR "A" Channel Barrie on rf3?

Well, i'm in Maple and using a set of amplified rabbit ears in the attic to 50 ft of rg59 then to a 2 way splitter. Then a 15 ft length of coax. Picture quality is acceptable though I guess some would object.

P.S. According to my tvfool it's in the yellow portion with a 20.1 NM(db). It's 2 edge and 37.2 miles distance.
The audio is good(no distortion) but the picture seems to have some type of rainbowy bands that are very very faint. That's not so bad. What is slightly worse is that there are some sparklies. The picture has a kind of matted look to it. The channel is prone to fluttering. I don't watch it much.

If you got amplified rabbit ears throw them up in the attic. You might be surprised.

P.S2-- I should say that it is a "decent watchable signal". I don't want to imply that it sucks.

P.S3-- As for the second part of your post it might work and its worth a try. But we really won't know until it happens. Sorry I can't be more definitive. I'm in the same boat.

JmanGTA, I think you are quite close to me. How's your WNYO 49.1/2 been lately? It's unreliable for me and I can't find any way to improve it (moved my antenna, raised it, lowered it, nothing works :-( )

That and WPXJ 51.1/2/3 are my trouble stations.
49 only started working for me when those analog channels were turned off. It's generally around 60%, sometimes as high as 80% and sometimes it dips in the 0-40% range. 51 is zero for me.

I also have an uneven signal split of -3db to tv, -6db to each hdhomerun port. I'm thinking of getting another hdhomerun but that still leaves me with 5 devices and 1 empty if I get a 6 way splitter.

I have two antennas, one is an 8 bay outdoor clone antenna and the other is a homemade coathanger antenna i built. The 8 bay is on the east side of my roof and the coathanger one is on the west side of my roof. I pointed both towards the cn tower. The antennas are combined into one line using a 2 way splitter, (the 2 antennas are plugged into the 2 "OUT" ports on the splitter, while the "IN" port actually goes out towards TV's). That one line is then resplit to 2 lines in order to feed 2 different tvs.

I used to have 1 antenna connected to 1 tv with no splitter and alot more channels. The splitters i used are old (10 years or older) pieces of junk i found lying around and probably arent designed to carry UHF signals. I also realize that if i used a splitter with 2 ins and 2 outs i would eliminate the need for a second splitter and it would help with signal loss. I heard that it doesnt matter what part of a splitter you use for your ins and outs which is why i am using the outs as ins and the ins as outs.

Also i thought an amplified splitter might help but i heard taht it can disrupt signal. Some people have mentioned that the Channel Master Titan 7777 Preamp might help with loss, although i have no idea how that would work with my setup since there are no outlets on my roof. So, basically I am wondering what splitter would be best for my setup and in what other ways could i improve it?

nodyarg,

Welcome to the forum. You obviously have some enthusiasm for OTA. By reading-up on many of the OTA forums here you will learn a lot. How is your view of the south sky? Does your roof have a clear view of Buffalo?

You might save money and be better off if you didn't buy an amplifier and instead bought a single channel master 4221hd antenna and directed it toward Buffalo and removed your two existing antennas. If you aren't satisfied with the results with the 4221hd, you could then opt for a Channel Master 7778 (not 7777 - it is for fringe areas) or even a ground level distribution amplifier.

I believe that a very good piece of advice is don't spend extra money on additional accessories to amplify your reception until you know you have absolute confidence that you've got the right antenna on your roof. If you have a sub-par antenna that fails to pick-up a good signal from the TV station, your amplifier will not have any signal to amplify.

If you're keen to build an antenna, members here at Digital Home have designed a very effective home-built antenna. The plans are available here.

Again, welcome to the forum and best of luck with your OTA.

I'm new here and was thinking of going OTA 100% but I'm not quite sure what kind of reception I will get. I leave in Toronto, Steeles and Bathurst area and am on the top floor of my condo, 11th floor, with a wide open view from southeast to southwest. I have a clear view of the CN Tower.

If I were to use an indoor or outdoor antenna, what kind of reception would I get? I was thinking of upgrading my HTPC in order to do this.

I leave in Toronto, Steeles and Bathurst area and am on the top floor of my condo, 11th floor, with a wide open view from southeast to southwest. I have a clear view of the CN Tower.
B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. You are in luck.

If I were to use an indoor or outdoor antenna, what kind of reception would I get? I was thinking of upgrading my HTPC in order to do this.
I don't think condos allow residents to put up an antenna outdoors. An indoor antenna at a south-facing window is just as good, and no need for weatherproofing.

I'm in a 6th-floor condo at Dufferin+Steeles, a 30-minute leisurely stroll from your place. Using a good indoor antenna at a window, I get a whole bunch of digital stations (listed below) plus the Canadian analogue stations for the next few months. If you want, I can bring over a spare antenna for you to try before you buy anything. PM me if you're interested.

My digital reception (plus analogue TVO). These are the Toronto and Buffalo stations. I have to point the antenna in a different direction to get Hamilton.

2.1 HD NBC WGRZ
2.2 SD NBC Universal Sports
2.3 SD RTV Retro TV
4.1 HD CBS WIVB
5.1 HD CBC English CBLT
7.1 HD ABC WKBW
9.1 HD CTV CFTO
17.1 HD PBS WNED
17.2 SD PBS WNED
17.3 SD Thinkbright
19.0 Analogue TVO
23.1 The CW WNLO
25.1 CBC French CBLFT
29.1 HD FOX WUTV
29.2 SD FOX WUTV
41.1 HD Global CIII
44.1 HD OMNI
49.1 HD WNYO
49.2 SD The Cool TV
57.1 HD CITY
64.1 HD OMNI
66.1 HD SUN CKXT

I'm new here and was thinking of going OTA 100% but I'm not quite sure what kind of reception I will get. I leave in Toronto, Steeles and Bathurst area and am on the top floor of my condo, 11th floor, with a wide open view from southeast to southwest. I have a clear view of the CN Tower.

If I were to use an indoor or outdoor antenna, what kind of reception would I get? I was thinking of upgrading my HTPC in order to do this.
I too was in that area until my move a year or so ago (I was between Bathurst/Dufferin just north of Steeles) and like WalterDNS, who I communicated with numerous times. For me, WIVB and WUTV was always the hardest to get a consistent signal. Good days and bad. The rest were normally ok. This was with an original CM 4228 mounted aside a chimney on a 2 story house. I could never get WNYO until they moved transmission sites, but then I had a pretty good signal. Also, for me if I had CITY, I would lost CKXT, but if I had CKXT I often lost CITY. It was rather annoying and even DHC'r Yammon couldn't figure it out.

I was also never able to get and tropo signal's.

Hi. I'm new here.
I live on the 11th floor facing east. I'm on the east side of Toronto, so I do not have any line of sight to the CN Tower.

Given my direction, where I am, is it worth it at all to buy an "HD" antenna? I want to stop paying Rogers.

BTW ... here is my TV Fool report.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3da362c583d48fb8

I was one of you. I thought to myself, "is it worth it buying an antenna when I don't know what kind of results I might get?"

In my case, I felt inspired and built a bowtie antenna off of youtube and got unexpectedly good results. The results were so good that I went ahead and bought the equipment and paid an installer to put it on my house. No regrets.

I have since figured out that my Youtube bowtie antenna was nothing special. At this point, I'm convinced that anyone who is curious about whether it is worth it to buy an antenna should either go out and buy one, or just plug in a coax cable and at the other end remove about twelve inches of insulation exposing the copper clad cable.

A Channel Master 4221 will cost you around $50. If your attempt fails, if you can't return the antenna, you can sell it for $35 to $40 online - even in this forum. Net, buying an antenna and changing one's mind amounts to roughly a $20 gamble. Satisfying the curiosity of what your reception might be is surely worth $20.

Are you already paying for cable? How much is that costing you each month? Buying an antenna as an experiment should be a no-brainer. The antenna cost is the equivalent of one month of cable or less. You might be so satisfied with your results that you might end up saving $50 to $100 per month if you end up cancelling your cable. The sooner you gamble on the purchase of an antenna, the better.

Remember, you don't have to buy an antenna. Try my idea of exposing a short length of coax cable in the air to see what you get. Don't expect the same results as a real antenna. But if the experiment gives you hope, go and try the antenna idea.

Finally, I would encourage you to not buy a clone. If you buy a clone and your results are not what you had hoped, how will you know if it is truly your location that is limiting your potential for reception? If you have an antenna of unknown or untrustworthy specs, how can you know the source of your reception issues? Keep it simple, I recommend a Channel Master 4221hd for experimental purposes. If you don't like it, there will be plenty of people willing to take it off your hands. If the 4221 experiment is successful then you can read more deeply in the Digital Home forums to find out if the 4221 is best or if there might be a different antenna that is even better for you.

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Pitman, Welcome to the forum. Try what I've described above. You have a lot of elevation. The signals west of you in Toronto are strong. You'll get something. Buffalo is mostly south. You'll probably get many stations. You might even get ION's three digital channels (51.1, 51.2, and 51.3). Your results might be the envy of many. Best of luck and please report on your results.
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Okay, I have an idea. I want to share my enthusiasm for OTA and spread the good news about it.

I own an extra Channel Master 4221hd. If anyone wants to borrow my antenna to test at their location, Private Message me, and you can arrange to come pick it up from me.

I will provide the antenna and a length of coax cable. Cost is free, but you must leave me a $60 deposit so I can drown my sorrows if it does not return.

Upon the safe return of my stuff, you can have your $60 back.

Mod, if this is inappropriate, please delete. This offer is being made in the spirit of wanting to help others find out about OTA TV.

HWP, thanks for the quick response. Much appreciated. My situation is I cancelled my Rogers cable and internet as of this upcoming Nov. 2. So I will am looking around for other means. I am going with Teksavvy for internet as they are cheaper and I can get a 200GB bandwidth cap per month over Roger's Extreme 95GB which is now reduced to 80GB cap I believe. What a rip off.

As for cable TV, I'm paying $77 for the VIP HD package with Rogers. Which is after a 30% discount I worked out with them a year ago as they scrambled to keep me as their customer. But this time I'm determined to get off Rogers!

Your suggestions are very good. This is quite exciting now to see what I can get with an antenna. I think I'll pop down to Active Surplus on Queen street and see what they have. I'll just hook up something simple to get a feel for it.

My main need for streaming live TV is the NFL. If I can find a way to access the stations that broadcast the football games I would be a happy camper. All other TV shows I watch I can download from EZTV and watch at my leisure.

I'm at Mortimer / Greenwood.

There is tons of NFL on OTA TV in HD. You will get your fill. Don't worry. Cancel your cable, go OTA. See if what you get is enough NFL. If not, figure something out using the magic of the internet. But I bet you'll be plenty happy.

Beware the clone antennas. Pay a few bucks extra for the real thing.

Walter Dnes:
I don't think condos allow residents to put up an antenna outdoors. An indoor antenna at a south-facing window is just as good, and no need for weatherproofing. If the resident owns the condo unit, then that would include the balcony, right? Why wouldn't a resident be able to install an antenna outside?

You cannot use the same active coax feed as your cable provider for your OTA signals. Even if the line is filtered to allow for internet traffic only. Cable systems use the same frequencies as OTA channels.