kccm,

The amplifier may have had a negative impact on your reception of Toronto channels. So far, nothing has changed in Toronto to cause you to have weaker reception.

Do nothing until after sept 1. Re-scan on September 1 and see where you stand.

Your antenna set-up may end up working for you, but it is not the ideal antenna set-up for your situation.

Wait and see after transition and then post here again with questions if you end up losing any channels after sept 1.

By the way, CityTV will have an excellent OTA signal after transition.

And your overload problem with CBC may resolve itself after transition for various reasons even though CBLT is not changing its frequency.

CBLT and CITY are right where they've been for years.
And CBC's staying on the same channel they're on now, come September.

You say you added an amplifier.. perhaps they're too strong now, resulting in your tuner not working.

Luckily we still have analogue channels for they can help us troubleshoot problems.

I would suggest checking your analogue reception of the Toronto stations.
Are they ghosty or perhaps there is some sort of electrical noise or interference? If so that is going to be a problem with your digital reception.

I am grateful some stations are remaining analogue for this reason... without them it is impossible to know what is going with your reception.

Luckily we still have analogue channels for they can help us troubleshoot problems.

I would suggest checking your analogue reception of the Toronto stations.
Are they ghosty or perhaps there is some sort of electrical noise or interference? If so that is going to be a problem with your digital reception.

I am grateful some stations are remaining analogue for this reason... without them it is impossible to know what is going with your reception.
Brightonian, can you clarify what the ghosting of analog broadcasts indicates? I've experienced this since my rooftop digital antenna was connected last fall.

Ghosting is known as multi-path. It is caused when your antenna receives a signal from more than one path. Often reflections off buildings, hills or other objects.
The best way to keep in minimal is to use a directional antenna pointed in the direction of the transmitting signal. There are other factors that can cause it as well, but im no professional on the subject.

Some minor ghosting shouldn't cause too much trouble though.

Digital is much, much more intolerant to multipath [ghosting] than analog was. In analog you would have a poor but watchable signal, whereas on digital it will cause 'annoying pixelation' and/or 'total cancellation' of the signal within the tuner.

CBC HD is moving to channel 20.1 from 5.1 and CITY is 'shuffling the deck' (going to 44.1, while a sister channel there is going to 53.1).
Both CITY and CBC showed up under diagnostics at their old channels, but are too weak to 'lock'. If I still have trouble after the transition, I'll put up a standard square array antenna facing the CN Tower and siamese it into the co-ax with a Y-connector.

P.S.: I'm at Queen and Balsam in the Beach.

CBC HD is moving to channel 20.1 from 5.1...Hasn't CBC-HD, or more correctly CBLT-DT, always been on "physical" channel 20.1 and on logical channel 5.1 since it started broadcasting in 2005? That won't change as you will still tune it on your TV on channel 5.1. In other words all they have to do on Sep 1 is to shut down the analog transmitter and (hopefully) crank up the power on their digital transmitter.

If they moved the digital channel back to channel 5, their old/current analog spot, that would be VHF-Lo which is somewhat problematic for reception, especially if you have a UHF antenna.

Wayne, you are absolutely correct. One thing CBC did right with the transition was the abandoning of VHF-lo.

Hadn't seen CHCH since the switch until today. Usually my Bravia will struggle for awhile to grab the channel but will eventually give up. It finally locked today but it was still too weak to actually watch as the picture was very pixelated. I'm still just using a CM4221 from my balcony facing east/southeast (picking it up off building reflection I'm guessing). I never had a dropout on rf18 and had a very watchable analog rf11 so I'm disappointed that I've lost the channel.

My question is: If I wanted to add a VHF antenna (via a preamp like CM7777 or CM7778) are there any small/cheap options? I am under 1km away from the CN tower so I need to worry about overload somewhat but hopefully not as much once the analogs go away. I know of the C5 but it seems a little large and pricey - I have limited balcony space and I don't think I need a very strong antenna anyways since the UHF 4221 almost pulls it in. Maybe even a pair of rabbit-ears would do? Or just adding the preamp would do the trick? Any suggestions?

A CM4228 would improve VHF while leaving UHF about the same.

jj if it almost comes in then a preamp will help... the pre amp will only not help when there is no signal to boost... but a preamp could also overload if you have a flame thrower transmitter from somewhere. being real close to the CN tower might not mean you have super strong signals as you could be in the tower's shadow... ie they are not blasting full power straight down to the base of the tower.

In urban areas, a preamp is just as likely to make the signal worse as better. A preamp is indicated where all signal levels are low and line or distribution loss makes them unwatchable. At 1Km from the CN tower, a preamp will cause more signal deterioration than improvement, especially for weaker channels. At that distance, RF notch filters for strong channels and FM are indicated. Simple adding a 36" wide reflector of some type, behind the 4221, will likely help with VHF.

I don't think a 4228 is feasible for my space since it is roughly double the size of the 4221 but I'll have to measure it out. The conflicting thoughts on the preamp are interesting - I am aimed at almost 90 degrees to the CN tower (towards Buffalo) so I'm hoping that would cool the strong signals somewhat. I will have to look around the site for some info on reflectors though as I really don't know much about how that would work.

You can make your own reflector with just aluminum foil wrapped around a piece of cardboard. It really does make a difference, although it can't be too close to the antenna or it won't work.

If you're so close I would suggest trying the rabbit ears and seeing if they work. They're cheap and you may even find them at yard sales. You could probably even get away with just a metal coat hanger.

JJMoney, not sure if this is feasible for you, but this is what I'm building for my in-laws attic setup.

a) build a channel 11 folder dipole as described as the Matthews design in this post http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=1042358&postcount=10 Instead of twin lead, I used a piece of solid-core household electrical wiring, straightened and made right angles the way DHCer hkaye describes in this post http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=1099707&postcount=2
b) bought a UVSJ to merge the feeds from their original 4221 and the folded dipole

I've tested it on the ground and it works great (nearly literally "on the ground" from my location the folder dipole receives CHCH strongly just 4 feet above ground level not even pointing at Stoney Creek, while my old 4221 could barely lock it pointing right at Stoney Creek 15 feet above ground level) :eek:

Just need to find a mutually convenient time to move it up to their attic.

Thanks for the input guys. El Gran Chico - I've only looked at the material you posted quickly but I'll try to find some time to give it a shot. Much appreciated..

I have a rooftop CM 4221 antenna, w dedicated coax to one tv (no preamp or amplifier).

The scanner on my HDTV wil typically pick up 23 channels.

What perplexes me is that Buffalo WNED (17.1, 17.2, 17.3 PBS) is more prone to breakup and 'no signal' than other Buffalo stations like WGRZ (2.1), WIVE (4.1), WKBW (7.1) etc - which according to TVFool have a weaker signal at my location than WNED. Why? Does anyone else experience a similar problem?

I live just east of CityTv downtown studios and have an outdoor antenna.

I can receive all of the Toronto stations; PBS Buffalo, WNLO, but that is about it. Late at night I can sometimes get:

WNYB 26 (not until after 1 am)
WKBW
WIVB
WGRZ

Until CHCH changed channels I could get it most of the time except in bad weather.

Recently I have had trouble getting WNLO. I wonder if they are reducing their transmission power?

They were my best station, although there isn't much on it that I watch.

Hi everyone, I've just finished setting up an OTA system, ditched Rogers, very happy to be rid of $80 bills every month.
Question to some one in the know: I'm able to receive all the Toronto stations perfectly, and get PBS, FOX and CW at 100%, but have been unable to pull in CBS (WIVB), ABC (WKBW), and NBC (WGRZ). I believe I'm aimed directly at the WIVB tower in New York State. Based on the tvfool data, I'm receiving all stations with signal NM above 27, but the 3 I'm having trouble with are in the range of 19-22.
Any suggestions would be very much appreciated, I've spent hours rewiring everything and upgrading equipment to no avail, other than to improve signal quality to 100% on all received stations, but can't get more than 5% on the big american 3!?
Current Setup:
CM4228HD aimed at WIVB, mounted to J-Mast on chimney approx 35 feet up
Wineguard HDP-269 preamp
Quad-shield RG6u cabling (approx 60 feet to the basement where power to preamp applied, then split to 2 tvs, both approx 30 feet from high quality digital splitter left by rogers techs)
(Tried a CM7777, lost all US stations?)
(Tried no preamp, amped in basement with a CM3412, same stations, bit weaker FOX and CW signal)
Thanks to anyone and everyone!