After months of reading this forum and listening to the words of wisdom of stampeder and tigerbangs and all of the other members, I finally had a CM 4228, CM 7777 pre-amp and CM 9521a rotator installed on a 40' tower at my cottage in the Kawartha Lakes over the Thanksgiving weekend. I didn't have too much time to do a complete scan of the area but here are some preliminary results:

Toronto: most analogue stations + CBC HD (110 kms)
Buffalo: WGRZ, WIVB, WNED, WKBW, WNLO all in digital, WNYB analogue
Peterborough: CHEX, CFTO, CICO, CIII all analogue (30-80 kms)
Barrie: CKVR analogue (70 kms)
Rochester: a couple of analogue stations, WUHF, WHEC - I couldn't seem to get a digital lock, probably didn't have the antenna pointed perfectly
Syracuse - WCNY analogue

I was quite stunned by the Buffalo reception since I am 170-180 kms from the broadcast towers and the signals were coming in with relatively few drop-outs - amazing! WNYB is 240 km. WCNY is 280 km. It will be interesting to see if I am able to receive these stations when the weather turns cold. Maybe there was some DXing going on.

However, I was somewhat disappointed that I was not able to receive CFTO in HD from Toronto. Perhaps this was due to the lower power compared to CBC.

Does anyone know if the power will be increased to the Toronto stations such as CFTO after the August 2011 analogue shutdown? I am hoping that cottage country will not be negatively affected by the shutdown since I can receive many analogue stations now.

Thanks again to Hugh for creating such a useful forum and to the members for sharing your knowledge. I will keep you posted on future reception.

here is a link to my log ( in addition to Sun TV Ottawa on 20.
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=795612#post795612

Cottager, that's amazing reception, but lately its been like July in your part of Canada so I have to wonder if much of it might be due to tropo activity. I hope your reception stays nice and strong!

Thanks stampeder, I also hope it stays strong, especially during the winter. It was great watching the Leafs vs. Canadians game (or should I say debacle) last Saturday in HD.

Before committing to the installation, I was a little concerned about the reception in cottage country after reading about elevation in another thread.
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=44809
I was particularly concerned with Yaamon's comment that reception was probably limited to Newmarket. However my reception results prove that it is possible to receive north of the ridge, at least during warmer weather.
I was also concerned with losing CKVR since it is broadcast on low VHF (channel 3). However, I had no problem receiving it or other high VHF channels, some at great distances.

Hey Cottager,

I'm in Dunsford. Where are you?

My 64 ft tower is up and expect to have the CM 4228 and Wade VIP 306 up by next week.

What is your elevation?

Hi chungdokwan,

I am on Balsam Lake, south of the park. According to Earthtools, I am at 837' plus the tower which is 40'. You must be close to the CFTO tower in Dunsford. With a 64' tower, your reception should be even better than mine. I decided not to go with a VHF antenna like you since most channels I want are UHF and after August 2011, all the low VHF channels in the area will disappear.

I would be interested in seeing your reception results.

Here are two pics of my install so far: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=24755 (Post #299)

okay install was completed yesterday. Going to scan this weekend and wee what i get. preliminary results look promising. pics posted in "pimp my gear"

Here are my results so far. Will be playing around this weekend and may update the results.

Toronto: most analog stations + CBC HD
Buffalo: WGRZ, WIVB, WKBW, WKBW-weather, WNLO and WUTV (barely) all in digital, some snowy analog channels as well
Peterborough: CHEX, CFTO, CICO, CIII all analog
Barrie: CKVR analog
Rochester: snowy analog stations

This is with a CS 8100. when scanning, i see some strong signal and quality but not enough to lock in. I also have 4 televisions hookup up right now. I am going to see if a direct feed to one TV only makes a difference.

Mr. Weather was kind enough to show me this link for a frequencies- channel concordance which makes a manual scan nice. Thanks Mr. Weather!

http://home.tampabay.rr.com/k4lk/info/ntscfreq.htm

chungdokwan, what a terrific effort you've made! :) What kind of preamp did you use?

Here's the frequency chart I rely on, courtesy of Tin Lee Electronics:

http://www.tinlee.com/FreqChart.php

Good job, chungdokwan. Considering you're 100+ miles from most Buffalo stations you should be happy with the results.

I'm very envious of your 64 feet of Delhi tower goodness! :D

I am seeing similar results as chungdokwan in the Kawartha Lakes. On Saturday I was able to get the following:

Toronto: most analog stations but couldn't get a lock on CBC HD :(
Buffalo: WGRZ, WIVB, WKBW, WNGS (detected but not able to get a lock)
Peterborough: CHEX, CFTO, CICO, CIII all analog
Barrie: CKVR analog

The conditions on Saturday were quite different from my previous post which was warm and clear - it was 9 degrees and raining - so no help from the weather.

Cottager, which model of UHF antenna are you using?

Cottager, which model of UHF antenna are you using?

CM4228 with CM7777 pre-amp and CM 9521a rotor on a 40' tower

Cottager, here are some options for better UHF reception:

trim down every surplus inch of RG6 coax cable through your whole system, leaving a bit of flex length and drip loops as needed
go with a Deepest Fringe setup: stack a second CM4228 (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=675713&postcount=15)
take down the CM4228 (sell it?) and replace with a DBGH (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=81982)

Thanks stampeder.

1) I have trimmed as much RG6 as I can.
2) Any info on using a CM9521a rotor with stacked CM4228's? I need to point the antenna in multiple directions.
3) Not all of us are handy building things!

Since my set-up is primarily used in the warmer months, I might just make do with my current reception.

Your rotor would handle two stacked CM4228s just fine. :)

I am thinking this will be my next try to ensure consistent quality signal. Question- i bought my 4228 last year and now hear they are being made in China and are a bit different. Will that be a problem or am I mispeaking?

Thanks Stampeder. you and this forum were the inspiration to go OTA. I have been successful with my C-band as well thanks to you.

For a preamp, I used the CM 7777. I also had my installer put in a flooded commercial grade (he tells me 5x better than RG11) from the tower to the house (about a 170 foot run).

bought my 4228 last year and now hear they are being made in China and are a bit different. Will that be a problem or am I mispeaking?

Good question. When stacking antennas, it's best to use identical antennas, and since the new model is a different design, I would try to find an old model to stack together with your existing one. (The new model has a different number, so you should be able to tell the difference when ordering.)

I'm not sure if the new model is shipping yet, but you should be able find old stock if you act quickly.