Hello all,

Since my last post, I did change my setup to put a new AntennaDirect DB-8 align to the states with new RG6 minimal length cable and direct connection to my TV set (no ampli): the results are improve at all aspect, including Montreal channels that are not align with the antenna:
2.1 - CBFT / SRC (90+%)
3.1 - WCAX / CBS (90+%)
5.1 - WPTZ / NBC (85%)
6.1 - CBMT / CBC (90+%)
10.1 - CFTM / TVA (90+%)
12.1 - CFCF / CTV (90+%)
15.1 - CKMI (75~80%)
17.1 - CIVM / TQ (90+%)
33.1 - WETK / PBS (85%)
35.1 - CFJP / V (80%)
44.1 - WFFF / FOX (33~50%)
57.1 - WCFE / PBS (85%)
62.1 - CJNT (33~50%)

I still can not catch the 22.1 (WVNY / ABC)

I am happy with the improvement but I am asking my self if:
1) it would provide enough improvement to catch the 22.1 if I add an ampli :confused: ?
2) should I put and mix (with filters ?) a second antenna pointing at Montreal because when ever the weather is bad, the Montreal signals break often, loosing sound and getting a frozen image for a few moments (usually when something important was said... :() ?

I move the antenna a little bit and adjust the height so, this is my current TVFool report:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d60b5c96b29d427

Thanks

Nobody have a reply for post #520? TIA
Regards Bill

Hello all,
With autumn arriving quickly I decided I had better get busy and figure out my best option for an antenna to reach the US stations and local Montreal ones also. See TV fool:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...60b53ffbd3fcb7

Based on your experience with reception from Mont Mansfield etc. could you help me decide between these three antennas?

!. Antennas Direct DB-8
2. Antennas Direct DB-4
Antennas Direct C-4

The DB-4 and C-4 are attractive because of their smaller size but is there enough gain?
Would I preferably need to use a signal amp with any of these antennas? And finally are their beam widths narrow enough to warrant a rotator? or not!

I notice that there is even more than 40 deg difference in azimuth between some stations.
ie. Fox and PBS. Also do you think that the local Montréal stations might swamp the TV tuner?

I would appreciate any advice you can give me. I an sorry for all these questions all at once. I live in St-Bruno.

Thanks Bill

My Advice to you is bigger is better. For the amp: If you a have more then 50 feet of coax, then an pre-amp is needed. Check for a CM7777 or a Winegard AP-8700 both available at Raybel.

also do you think that the local Montréal stations might swamp the TV tuner?

Not in St-Bruno. I live in Beloeil and I don't have that problem. I have a the older CM4228 and a CM7777 for the Mt-Mansfield channels.

I'm not a big fan of rotors.

1) it would provide enough improvement to catch the 22.1 if I add an ampl

You need a Winegard YA-1713 for WVNY and it's must be installed high.

You could loose CFCF and CFTM if you do that.

I finally solved my WVNY problem here at my location. I hired a very good installer that put my Delhi 10y13s on the mast on top of my 40 feet tower.

I finally receive WVNY at around 75 % on the signal meter and I get it now 100 % of the time. No more CBC Trois-Rivières interfering but I lost CFCF and CFTM on that antenna.

I still get them on my 4221 pointed via Montreal, that the installer put higher on the tower.

I remember that some guy on this forum said that by his engineering calculations that putting an antenna much higher, the reception of WVNY would not be better. I tried to put the antenna on other locations on my roof and the reception did improve a bit. I was stuck in front of this problem with WVNY and I decided to gamble and call the installer to climb on my tower.

It paid off generously. Yes, user Schoenbe is right, WVNY is not that hard to get in our area but In my case the antenna is 50 feet in the air.


Intravino

I am also in St Bruno and receive my signals simular to Farsenea - I also have a DB 8 - CM 7777 and also a Wade Ch 13 Yagi ( 10 element ) pointed at Mt Mansfield - I do receive WVNY at 70 % . Note that I also have a camp in Albergh Vt and can almost see the WVNY antenna - unless my Antennacraft HUB 33 antenna is aimed at the transmitter antenna I don't pick up their very weak signal . when rotated 180 I receive all the Montreal stations except 15 CKMI .

intravino- Thx for the reply. I guess I'll go with the DB-8 and hope it has both enough gain and a wide enough beam width so I don't need a rotator. I will experiment a bit at first and see if I need an amp or not. I think I will have only about 50 ft RG-6.
Thx again Bill

Well guys I don't know if this is mentioned anywhere but with local 29 out of the way, I'm receiving a very snowy signal from somewhere in New England. It is an analog repeater of a channel 9 ABC affiliate. Got to google this one up! No sound. Just picture. I had long suspected there was a carrier underneath the French signal but tonight, despite the snowfall, I was able to get a readable picture.

Update: a little googling and wikipidieing reveals this to be WMUR-LP 29 in Littleton NH! Hope this fits. Cannot confirm at this point. Wow, a low-power translator received this far!!!

More info: tower located on Cannon Mountain for those savvy with the area.

Great catch ! If I recall, you can also receive WLED Littleton at your location.

Today I tried out a new DB4e on the end of a swimming pool vacuum pole at 18 feet AGL pointed south southeast towards Mount Mansfield.

DB4e with CM7777 pre-amp, 3db attenuator and 100' feet of RG-6 laying on the floors of the house.

Montreal channels highest at 98% and WFFF lowest at 65-70%

2.1 CBFT-DT
3.1 WCAX-HD
3.2 WCAXtra
5.1 WPTZ-HD
5.2 WPTZ-WX
6.1 CBMT-DT
10.1 CFTM-HD
12.1 CFCF
15.1 CKMI-HD
15.2 CKMI-SD
17.1 CIVM-HD
33.1 VPT-HD
33.2 VPT-2
33.3 VPT-3
33.4 VPT-4
35.1 CFJP-DT
44.1 WFFF-HD
44.2 WFFF-DT
57.1 WCFE-HD
57.2 WCFE-D1
57.3 WCFE-D2
62.1 CJNT-DT

Will be mounting antenna on a 39" J-Mast on roof edge about 6' higher next week. For now the DB4e is back in the garage safe & sound.

Now if only I can get myself psyched to cancel the Videotron cable TV and my 2 fav channels Oasis HD and Discovery HD......

Reefvan- if you are capable of receiving all that at 18 ft AGL in St-Hubert then I might do as good in St-Bruno up on the side of the mountain. I was considering a DB-8 but maybe the DB-4e would be OK. Especially on my roof.
Regards Bill

WGubbe, I get the same amount of channel than reefvan and I'm also in St-Hubert. I have a CM4228HD on a simple tripod on my house, probably at less than 20' high. I don't have any rotor or pre-amp, and I have +75' of RG6 cable.

I get all the Montreal channels from 70% to 100%, even if I catch them from aside.

The only channel I'm not able to get is WVNY (ABC). I can lock on sometimes, but it's very unstable. It was better before the digital transition... :(

For WFFF (Fox), it's never under 50%, and really stable.

Sometimes I also lock 1 or 2 channels from Sherbrooke, usualy at 20-50% (tonight I'm able to watch CIVS at 40-45).

The 4228 is fairly hugly, :rolleyes: but also a really great antenna. I'm really happy with it. If the look doesn't bother you, I would say go for the big model! ;)

WGubbe,

The reason I went with the DB4e was size and sturdyness. Basically when that wind whips up from the west it just roars in between the 2-storey cottages here in my area, so for me its a concern for an antenna installation.

Antennas Direct claim that the performance levels of the DB4e and the DB8 are almost the same, which drove me to a smaller antenna... smaller area, smaller torque moment imparted by wind gusts and therefore lower loads on the mast and attachment hardware.

Already had roofing material damage due to a windstorm a few years back so I kinda am sensitive to the issue.

Pure and simple for me, I was lucky that the DB4e came out recently, otherwise I probably would have bought the DB8, which is also an excellent antenna.

Just as an aside... I pointed the antenna south southeast and adjusted it for Fox HD with my daughter yelling out the signal strength to fine tune the direction. With that done, everything else as far as all the channels I got, just fell into place. Hope that helps.

I have no intention of installing a tower if I can avoid it, so for now I'll install the 39" J-post on the roof eave and live with that. ;)

Just for everyone's info, I fine tuned my antenna by pointing it south southeast with a compass and then tuning the TV to WFFF-HD (FoxHD).

My daughter yelled out the signal strength as I slowly turned the antenna to get the best signal.

All the rest of the channels I got were based on that Fox adjustment. Seems to work for me so that's the method I'll use from now on. Pick up the weakest signal and hope everything else just works from there.

When I tuned my antenna, I didn't even use a compass. I knew roughly what direction Mt. Mansfield was, and tuned into WFFF - and since everything else is higher power on the same mountain, it all falls into place, as you say.

WVNY also falls into place, at least in terms of direction. Antenna performance on channel 13 is another story...

reefvan- Thanks for the reply. Those are the exact same things that I am concerned about. The size is important for all the reasons you mentioned because I intend to use a gable mount on a ~10 foot steel pipe so I want as little twisting as possible. The other thing that bothers me is what is the beam width of the two antennas? Is the beam width of the DB-8 that much less than what I presume the DB-4e would be? I would like to avoid a rotator if possible. ie. the angular difference between CH57 and Ch33 is about 44 deg's Anyway you have given me much food for thought and I thank you very much.
Regards Bill

Sorry I forgot to add this to my last post.

TVFool http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dec12c05b347831

Bill

Hi all,
So I'm thinking of eventually using an outdoor antenna to improve my parents' OTA setup.
Here's the TV Fool report at their location @ 25 feet antenna height.
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d7fb960e94abed9
Trying to avoid using multiple antennas, so I've been eyeing a Clearstream5.
Technical specs from the manufacturer (PDF):
http://www.antennasdirect.com/cmss_files/attachmentlibrary/C5_%20technical_%20data_%20with_uhf.pdf
It appears to have great VHF performance and I wish to be able to receive WVNY-DT from there.
A few questions:
• Co-incidentally, CKTM-TV (co-channel to WVNY-DT) would be in the theoretical nulls along the back lobe. Will this be sufficient at that location?
• Are my parents close enough to Mount Royal that this antenna wouldn't hinder their reception of CFTM-DT and CFCF-DT?
• Is this antenna's theoretical UHF reception pattern sufficient to reliably pick up the UHF stations on Mount Royal, Mount Mansfield and Lyon Mountain? At 0°, there is a slight attenuation for stations above Channel 26.
Thanks for your input.

Hi reefvan, thanks for posting the results for the DB4e! What are your strengths on TVA (10) and CTV (12)? Are they 98% as well?

I'm asking because when I inquired about this antenna's VHF-Hi performance on another thread the consensus was that it was not a good option. I guess the proximity of the transmitters made all the difference?

Also, seeing as it is a smaller antenna, has the weather / temperature affected your reception at all?

Signal from CBFT-Dt Montreal is very bad tonite, almost unwatchtable

Hi interdit_450

They both come in at 98% no matter what the weather. Even the American stations are always 82-88%.

As an update to my last post, I've now cancelled my Videotron TV and have been cable-free since Xmas 2011.

I have a CM7777 pre-amp on the mast below the antenna and use a PCT Multimedia Drop Amplifier Model PCT-MA2-4P to distribute the signal through the existing cable network in the house.

I've drilled a hole through the brick wall next to where the Videotron cable comes in and fed the RG-6 coax into the fuse box area.

I then mounted the CM-7777 pre-amp power supply and the PCT Drop Amp next to each other beside the fuse box. Connected all the old Videoton coaxes to the Drop amp, connected the Pre-Amp output to the Drop Amp input and voila... HDTV on all four tv's in the house without any signal degradation.