http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d0b860c7f266ca8

Hi guys. I'd like your opinions on what type of antenna i should get...I am completely new at this, so bear with me! :)

Here is my tvfool report:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d0b86c37cff38b4

I was thinking of a DB4 ? DB4e maybe to be able to get at the very least TQ, CBC, SRC, V, TVA, CBC, CBS, CTV NBC, GTV, FOX, PBS and hopefully ABC???

I would love to be able to have the antenna in my attic? Any suggestions or thoughts? Also, what is the difference on VHF and UHF? I thought VHF was dead? Do i need an antenna that does both?

Thank you!

To complete my prior post, the folks over at TVFool are suggesting that i use a C5 antenna. My concerns, based on mostly my ignorance in the field of OTA, is that this C5 is a VHF antenna? Don't i "want" UHF signals?

Thanks for clearing it up for me.

Stephan26,
Since no one in your area has replied I can give you my experience.
The cheapest way is to build your own SBGH. I have built 3.
Even easier is to build a bow tie antenna.

I also bought a DB8 which is a little better reception than my own construction.
For some reason DB8 is cheaper than DB4.
In order to get good reception from Montreal I had to get an amp for the DB8. I still only get SRC and CBC with a 23 foot pole.

I have the SBGH aimed at Mt Mansfield only 20 miles away with good reception.

looking at your tvfool you can't get Montreal and Mt Mansfield both without rotating the antenna.
I don't think you can use the attic.

Stephan26,

I'm in St-Hubert and my antenna is in the attic (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=809598&postcount=53). I can get everything I could possibly get (all your mentioned channels), rock solid, including ABC and all Montreal channels without the need of a rotor or multiple antennas.

I've built myself a CM-4221 clone as close as possible to specifications. It's 25 feet high above the ground (in the attic of course), so there is about 40 feets of RG6-Quad cable amplified by a CM-7777 (FM-Trap on). It runs through a 4way splitter, and one end has another cascaded 3way splitter for the 3 tuners on my computer. The rest is connected to TV sets.

So in the end, I end up with 5 ATSC decoders (3 in computer + 2 TVs) and they get their signal all the time rock solid.

Your mileage may vary, but you might expect relatively good results considering the fact that my setup is far from being the most efficient available (especially for the attic location).

And yes, you would "want" an UHF antenna. If you are as close as me from Montréal, no need for a special VHF antenna for TVA and CTV if your UHF antenna has modest VHF gain. However if you are after WVNY, that's another story... Have a look here (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=97121) for recommended antennas based on your situation.

Hi folks.

Thank you both for the input. I appreciate it. St-Hubert is really close to me, we are about 20km apart maybe (st-jean-baptiste). So i should expect something pretty decent as far as connectivity. My only issue is with the antenna choice. I've been suggested a C5 from the helpful folks at Tvfool mentioning that i should point it kinda between Montreal and Mansfield. There was even a respond on Tvfool from a rep of Antenna Direct that mentionned that the C5 would be a good choice for both UHF and VHF even though it is known as a VHF antenna...

I've looked at the chart and notice that the C5 is listed as a Medium Yagi? What is that? I could get a "Good" reception from what it says. Would i be better off with 4221HD which seems to say it would be "excellent" in my case...

I would like to put it in the attic like your installation, which i guess would be fine since you seem happy with the results...

arrrrrrghhh...So many options in antenna choices...

Thanks for the feedback folks! :)

The C5 is a combined VHF and UHF antenna. Its gain is certainly not impressive, particularly in UHF. Also, a combined antenna does not give the flexibility of combining a UHF antenna pointed, say, between Mount Royal and Mount Mansfield, and a VHF Yagi pointed precisely at Mansfield (for ABC).

I would recommend a CM4228HD (or clone) which is a high-gain UHF antenna with some gain in VHF-high. You should be able to receive everything in UHF, plus TVA and CTV on VHF, and you might even be able to get ABC on channel 13. A preamp is always nice to have. If you need more gain for ABC, then you can build a channel-13 Yagi easily (or buy one) and install it in the attic and use a VHF-UHF joiner (or the separate inputs of the preamp if you have one).

Stephan, since you have so many options, why not simply build yourself a CM-4221 clone, which is so easy to build; just throw together some screws, electric wires, metal coat hangers (or more wires), a 2x4 and a cardboard covered with aluminum foil. Buy a balun and your good to go !

This cheap solution could help you decide if your location gives you what you expect. Who knows, you might end up like me, putting your quick-and-dirty build into the attic having surprisingly good results... And never bought what I was supposed to !

But you should get yourself a good preamp anyway; if your plan to receive your TV through OTA is set then you'll most certainly require it anyway.

DJiPi suggestion is the best option... build your own antenna, this way you can find out first hand what best suits you.

Here is what I did: bought a few balums from Dollorama for 1$ each then used coat hangers, a piece of 2x4 and some stripped down rg-59. It was far from pretty but it was effective.

I must have built at least 10 different models/prototypes before I settled on the current one.

Needless to say I enjoyed the experience, and it was inexpensive to boot.

Cheers, K

PS- Still don't know why, but my "whiskers" antenna, lying on its back on top of the fence only gets ABC and at 90%.

When it comes to plans for whisker or bowtie antennas, please consult member mclapp's thread (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=100137) and website (http://m4antenna.eastmasonvilleweather.com/index.html).

Good site. I initially used mclapp's design for the bowtie (real easy to make). Anywho, all this talk I decided this weekend to build a quad bay antenna (deep fringe/tropo purposes). Probably wont make much of a difference but its fun none the less (especially the scanning part).

Cheers, K

Hello,

I'm new to OTA reception and I was looking for some advice since I am a bit lost after many reasearch and readings.

Location

I live in Longueuil, postal code J4K 3X7, and you can find my Tvfool report here: http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d073bbf8c3abfc7

Ideally, I would like to go for both Montreal and U.S. stations in order to maximize channels, but I fear that multidirectional antennas seem to have shorter range and might not pick up U.S. stations (maybe I'm wrong here).

What about the DW 7287 which advertises to possibility to aim in two directions ? But I have also read that this is not as simple as that and it might seem a little "too good to be true"...

Then again, would a directional antenna pointed to the U.S. transmitters still pick up the Canadian channels because it is so close ?

At this point, I am NOT considering two antennas with an A/B switch nor rotors (I'm going for the simple approach first…).

Setup

Again, I will describe ideal setup, but I could also settle for a single TV if this is what works best.

- Antenna will be located on the roof of a duplex (30 feet or so). I have an old mast with, I think, an old LookTV antenna. Obviously, I intend to replace the antenna.
- TV 1 on the main floor (main TV)
- TV 2 in the basement, but it is actually a projector hooked up to a computer and A/V receiver. I believe it is possible to buy some kind of tuner adapter for the computer. Do you have any suggestion ?
- TV 3 on the second floor for the tenant (as a bonus… but I wouldn't care much if it didn't work)

I am not sure if this setup would require amplification.

Thank you for your time and any guidance will be greatly appreciated !

Hi Pauly and welcome...

Looking at your TVfool results, you should be able to aim the antenna between Montreal and US and find the "sweet spot" to get both since your about 30ft off the ground, perhaps even cheating towards the US side (I'd be surprised if you need 2 antennas). Mine's facing the US and the MTL channels are coming in off the side.

A pre-amp would be recommended over an amp.

If you have the time, i'd suggest you build your own antenna first (there are alot of designs and good folks avaulable to help you here at DHC). Its fun, inexpensive and gives you a better idea of what you'll get. Everything i used was already in the garage except for the balumn which was 1$ at Dollarama.

Hope this helps,
Cheers, K

PS- remember, we all started from scratch at one point

Thanks for the reply. I actually went ahead and bought a DG 7287 8 bay antenna. It was relatively cheap for my first experimentation.

Results (fully pointing it towards the U.S. stations and no splitter/amp at this point):

2.1
3.1
3.2
5.1
5.2
6.1
10.1
12.1
15.1
15.2 (Duplicate not HD)
17.1
24.1 (50%) Tele-Quebec duplicate (from sherbrooke ?)
33.1
33.2 (Duplicate not HD)
33.3
33.4
35.1 (75% + skipping)
44.1
44.2
57.1 (75%)
57.2 (75%)
57.3 (75%)
62.1 (75%)

Only missing channel is 22.1 (ABC) and 35.1 (V) signal can be skippy. I haven't done any extensive testing on stability but at this point I consider my first objective a success !! (getting rid of cable TV).

Now I will try to fine tune the reception by trying to point a little more towards Montreal (either the whole antenna or half of it).

I also need to finalize cabling... At this point, I was considering using what I have lying around here, and I'll purchase new pieces as needed. Here's what I was thinking:

Use a coupler, with the TAP (-6db) going to the 2nd floor (tenant). Then split the remaining signal (-1.5db from the coupler and -3.5db from the splitter) for my two TV on the main floor and basement. This way I think I will get a relatively balanced output on all 3 locations (assuming the longer cables give me a slight additional loss on top of the -5db).

Then I will see if I need amplification. You seem to recommend pre-amp over amp and I'm not sure I get the difference, could you give me a little more details ?

Good results considering your first starting...

IIRC, site member Stampeder has a sticky regarding pre-amps vs amps.
http://digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=41102
Check out Post #13

22.1 (ABC) is a torn for a lot of us (inteference). Since its a VHF channel, some have had success on the south shore w/ a Yagi antenna.

When you have a moment, can you please PM me and let me know where you bought the antenna and how much?

Cheers, K

This may not be the correct thread, but here's my situation. Am located in Calgary, will be visiting Longueuil where my mother-in-law has decided she wants to cut the $52/month cord with Videotron. She has a CRT analog TV with a separate VCR, both fairly old. She never uses the latter.

Just for the heck of it, I plugged in her TV fool coordinates (see link below) and much to my surprise it shows at least four analog stations with strong green zone power (ie. rabbit ears territory). Is this true, and if so for how much longer will these be transmitting ? This may be adequate for her needs and for when the family visits.

The alternate is to buy a small LCD set with digital tuner and one of those Channel Master fish skeleton antennas.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d13499c1f7b024b

Hello Tanker,

those seven "green zone" analog stations have all been converted to digital. In fact Global 46 is on DTV 15 (virtual + real) now

That TV Fool info is out of date.

Hi all, first time posting but reading for about 2 months. Great site and thanks a lot! I realized that i love this hobby even if my electronic and antenna knowledge is limited to say the least, it's almost like a drug :D.
I'm from Longueuil, Qc, here's my TVfool:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d13490d4c557bfa

I decided to install a DB4e on my 3½" diam. clothesline galvanized stell pipe which is 12' high (antenna at 20' AG), i use a CM3414 dist. amp. with 40' coax.

After several (i mean alot) of testing i finally choose to aim the DB4e toward WLED Littlton NH which i get (listenable) i'd say half of the time on my Zenith 901 and Zinwell DA converters, my Samsung HDTV doesn't detect it.

I'm quite happy with this setup because i get those viewable channels on the 2 set top boxes, more difficult on the crappy DTV tuner (11,24,30,57):

2 CBFT Mtl
3 (1,2) WCAX Mt-Mansfield
5 (1,2) WPTZ Mt-Mansfield
6 CBMT Mtl
10 CFTM Mtl
11 (1,2,3) WLED NH (not on my tvfool)
12 CFCF Mtl
15 (1,2) CKMI Mtl
17 CIVM Mtl
24 CIVS Sherbrooke
30 CFKS Sherbrooke (very seldom)
33 (1,2,3,4) WETK Mt Mansfield
35 CFJP Mtl
44 (1,2) WFFF Mt-Mansfield
57 (1,2,3) WCFE Lyon Mountain VT
62 CJNT Mtl

What i would like is to get even more channel if possible. I'm not shure if i should install a CM7778 or a 7777 to get the weekest chan. better.
I'd love to buy a XG91, DB8 and maybe an HD8800 for testing but i will not, better ask the experts and learn by the way. I also wouldn't mind making a SBGH or a DBGH if i would be strongly advised to.
I'd appreciate alot if some knowledgeable members (french or english speaking) could give me their opinions for my next tests or moves.
Thanks
Loo

11 (1,2,3) WLED NH (not on my tvfool)
Loogeuil,

WLED is in your TV-Fool. Real channel 48, It's no big deal getting WLED as you already get two PBS stations.

There's one missing in your listing, which is RF29 Canal Savoir ! The real challenge in the Montreal area is to get RF13 ABC.

It's useless to amplify more your setup, you'll overload.

You may get more going with an 8 bay antenna like the CM4228HD.
.

BOUVAL,
Thanks for your reply.
I must be missing something because the channel 48 doesn't appear in my tvfool's "Real" or "Virt" columns, the two other PBS stations on the list are WVTB and WNPI :confused: .
My interest in WLED is because of the different programs and schedule of PBS broadcasting.
Yes the "Canal Savoir" is difficult from my location, i've been able to get it once with my current alignment.
For ABC, i may find a way to do something about it if i find a possible solution that is not too big.
I can understand about the overload risk, because some local ch. are already received 10/10.
What do you think of a Gray-Hoverman model for my case?