This really has nothing to do with the local or national feed. By the way, Jeopardy is a syndicated show. Local stations receive the feed, and decide when to place syndicated shows.

The ATSC tuner chips are not all the same. Some are better than others. I have a Sharp TV as well. The OTA tuner in it is great. Very sensitive and able to lock on most stations. I have also a TIVAX box, and a CURTIS VHS/DVD-R with a ATSC tuner in it. Neither of those two can match the channel lock ability of my Sharp TV. What I do have though is a CM3412 connected to my set-up. This helps in locking into channels a bit better. It can't solve all problems, but it can help. My big problem has always been WFFF-DT. But, the CM3412 really helped in cutting down the number of times I would get pixel break up. I went from daily problems done to once in while due to weather issues.

Channel Master has several models. CM3410, CM3412, CM3414, CM3418. Look into them. They might be able to give you that extra channel lock ability when the signal starts to break up due to things out of your control.

Thanks for the tips, I'll look into those for sure. The big question of course is how to combine an extra antenna in a setup in which I already have 2. Combining antennas can be a major headache. And a rotor is out of the question for me because I hate rotors.

This problem is especially baffling to me because WPTZ is one of the strongest channels in the lineup. If my tuner should have serious reception problems, it would be with the weaker ones like Fox or ABC. And on some days, I'm getting some major pixellation and breakup on NBC.

Also, I installed my antennas in June and never had ANY problems with NBC during the summer and the fall. Even ABC was stable. These events started in mid-december and are sporadic. For example, this morning, WPTZ is coming in just fine and strong. Last night, it was unwatchable. ABC was also acting up (contrarily to what I said in my last post).

WPTZ is transmitted on channel 14 and WVNY on channel 13. Could this be related? Only those 2 were affected last night. Tropospheric conditions allowing interference from CKTM-13 from Trois-Rivières? (which is normally too weak to affect anything in the Montreal area).

Is that possible?

Lose WCAX last evening, WPTZ drop to 40%, no WETK, no FOX, even difficult to have a lock with WCFE...
Cold temperatures ?
This winter have been bad for me in terms of reception from our southern neighbors

Ah, so I'm not the only one then. I was beginning to think there might be something wrong with my equipment... But unusual atmospheric conditions sound much more likely to me. We have been getting colder than usual weather this winter and that's when the problems started for me too.

Wirenut...

Channels 13 & 14 are not actually next to each other on the frequency.

The CM3410, CM3412, CM3414, CM3418 are not antennas.

Perhaps you should also verify your wires. Are you using a splitter? Does it have a greater weakness on certain parts of the frequency?

Thanks blackburst.

Yeah I just realized the cm3412, et al. are distribution amps. My setup is a CM4228 with a homemade 6 foot Yagi for channel 13. Both are hooked up to a CM7777 antenna amp. Not sure how I could insert another amp in that loop. Or whether I should or not.

Another strange event occured early this evening.

All channels were working fine on my Tivo, WPTZ, WVNY, no problem. Then I tune to Fox and .... nothing.... I get a message "Searching Signal on this channel" and a blank white screen.

I walk over to the room where my Sharp Aquos is and sure enough, WFFF is coming in just fine with a signal strength of about 72-74.

About 10 minutes ago, I try tuning in to WFFF on my Tivo again. Now it's working just fine. I go back to the Aquos and the signal strength is still the same: around 74.

So it's definitely not a signal strength issue. I'm starting to fear that my Tivo's tuner might be the culprit. I hope it's just a splitter... those are cheap to replace. And I hope it's doesn't act up like that tomorrow during the Super Bowl :o

Edit: oh and yes I have 2 splitters after the CM7777. My signal travels through 2 splitters to go to the Aquos TV but only one to go to the Tivo. If the Tivo starts acting up, I'll try bypassing the splitter entirely. I'll change it for a better quality one as soon as I can.

In St.Bruno with my Antennas Direct DB8 & CM 7777 pre-amp CH 3.1 is normal ( 92% ) - 5.1 down about 30% from last month ( 71 % ) 22.1 is showing 70% ( using a Wade CH 13 10 element yagi ) 33.1 is at 87% and 44.1 is at 97% -57.1 is showing 72% CFCF 51.1 does not show up at all -I normally get a lock at 45-49% only between 7 and 9AM .

seaspray, how is the VHF performance on your AD DB8? Different sites state different specs in terms of its performance, hency why am asking for your first hand experience.

As for myself, am moving to Candiac (from Laprairie) this summer. The antenna (home made SBGH in the attic) will be replaced w/ a CM4228HD which will be on top of the fancy shed (the spouse forbids me from drilling in the new house). The antenna, being outdoors as opposed to in the attic, am anxious to see how much the performance will improve (not to mention upgrading antennas).

A slight advantage so far is WVNY comes in at 2db stronger...will it make a difference before CFCF12 shuts down... who knows.

Cheers, K

The DB8 picks up hi band VHF for locals 12 & 10 but is useless for WVNY 22 also I have a major multipath ( ghost ) issue for analog 12 so installed a Winegard HD 1080 hi-band VHF & UHF antenna aimed at Montreal ( using a combiner/splitter ) in line with the Wade VHF CH 13 Yagi - this plugs into the VHF input on the CM7777 pre amp - no more ghosts and this setup should work for CFCF 12 when they go to digital on CH 12 VHF Hi .

Hi all! I'm new around here and was hoping for a little expert advice. We live on the 3rd floor. We have an omni directional antenna with 3 converter boxes.

Our problem seems to be that if we put the antenna on our back balcony(facing south) we are able to pull in all the American stations but no Canadian ones and if we put the antenna on the front balcony facing north) we are able to get Canadian stations but no American ones :(

We do not have access to the roof but we recently tried putting the antenna up on a longer extension which went over the roof and we got nothing at all!!

Any ideas how we would be able to get all the stations American and Canadian at the same time???

I just googled mapped your location, interesting problem as North you have Montreal and South the States.

Without access to the roof, you might have to buy two antennas and try merging the signals with a two way splitter IN REVERSE. You will also need to purchase the EXACT SAME ANTENNA for the "other direction".

Have you tried putting the antenna in "the middle of the house" (I know it sounds crazy but you might catch both). Also: "Omni directional antenna"? I hope this isn't a "Canadian Tire" or "Walmart Antenna". That won't help the cause :)

Suzanne, I agree with Yuprules that you might want to try using two antennas (one on each balcony). You can either merge the feed-lines as he suggested or use an A/B switch. I disagree with him though when he says they need to be exactly the same antenna. This is important when stacking antennas (two pointed in the same direction), but when ganging antennas it is irrelevant as both antennas will be receiving different signals at different times anyway (especially since they are on opposite sides of the building).

I do recommend using antennas that are more directional though to be sure that the antenna on the front won't receive any signals from the back and vice versa. It will also improve the antenna gain to give you better reception. For more info on ganging antennas see the thread Stacking, Ganging, Combining TV Antennas (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=95148).

Also, to help us recommend what antenna to use, please post a link to the TVFool (http://tvfool.com) report for your exact address (don't worry, it hides what your address is).

Thanks guys.I read a bit in the stacking and ganging antennas forum but what I don't understand is,if we use a second antenna out the front will we lose the good signal we have now out the back or because they are facing in 2 different directions will they not cancel each other out??

As requested please post your TVFool results so that we can help you better: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=125161

Suzanne: one thing that is almost certain is that you need two separate antennas, one for the front and one for the south balcony. From there the 2 antennas could be handled in 2 separate manners:

1- using the A/B Switch and manually flip it to chose which antenna to use at a time
2- using a combiner in reverse

For both options, the hardware and wiring is identical except for the switch itself. I don't think both antennas need to be identical in your case.

Suzanne, as long as at the front doesn't receive any of the same channels as the antenna at the back (and vice-versa) they won't cancel each other out. If the same channel was received by both antennas, there would be some phase interference which could case some signal cancellation for that channel.

Due to reflections inside the combiner and normal insertion loss, the you will get about a 3.5 to 4 dB signal loss, but that can be more than made up by using antennas better than your current omnidirectional one.

Thanks so much guys for all your help.We bought another antenna and set it up on the front balcony today!! It's great we're now getting our Canadian stations with the exception of digital CTV but we can get it very well on analog and Global is no existent but that's ok! So very happy I'm able to watch the hockey game:) Thanks again

I have a place in Ayer's Cliff on Lake Massawippi. Last summer, I tried to get the Burlington stations "playing" with a corner reflector antenna at various heights and locations without much success. I was only able to receive WCAX. Nothing on the other channels. I even tried a channel 13 Yagi for WVNY. No success.

This weekend, I wanted to watch something on CBS and decided to use the corner reflector antenna because I then get a better picture than Bell TV. I put the antenna on a flower pot, with some elements touching the soil, hoping that it would do. Surprise ! I can now receive WCAX, WPTZ and WETK with a very reliable signal. I tried to improve the signal raisong the antenna : no signal. Slightly further from the house : no signal. Closer to the house : no signal. The flower pot is the only way to go. Next step will be testing a CM 4228HD on the flower pot hoping to get WFFF.

:cool:

You found THE sweet spot !

interesting to see how the waves are reacting depending of the location.

For my self, in the Laurentians, at the cottage, i found THE sweet spot in the opposite way of the Mt-Mansfield !
I have to aim the antenna at a precise point at a mountain located north of the cottage, not south....

Following your suggestion, I tried pointing my corner reflector antenna at a mountain NNE from my house. I now get an even better signal from WCAX, WPTZ and WETK (roughly 2/3 on my TV's scale, from 1/2 aiming directly at Mansfield). But still no signal on WFFF or WVNY though.:o

The weather was not cooperating last weekend. I will do more testing next weekend.