Anyone using OTA in Wellington County North? , Ontario
(area of Mount Forest, Shelburne, northwest of Orangeville, northwest of Guelph.)

Friends of mine live just west of Mount Forest. They have no access to cable TV, currently have an old analog TV with rabbit ears receiving just two or three channels. They want to buy a new HDTV, and I'm wondering if a good antenna would get any digital TV for them OTA.

Any local experience would be useful to know about.

Go to the TV Fool website and type in the address- you'll see what you can get.

What am I missing? The tools at that TV Fool site appear to allow selection of only U.S. states, not Canadian provinces. How did you search Canadian locations?

Put the city and the province into the city slot, as recent posts here can help with:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=103476

Thanks

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I'm hoping some ppl in Waterloo can let me know if I'm unrealistic or just incompetent.

Last weekend I put a DB8 up on my roof, with a CM 68DSB pre-amp, into a new 42" LG. No splitters, etc. I used a compass (and TV Fool) to point it straight to Toronto.

The only channels I've been able to pick up are CBC and CHCH, both rock solid. CTV came in for a few seconds one night, with signal strength at only 30% if I'm lucky, which doesn't seem to be nearly enough.

Based on others' experiences, should I be able to get CTV in HD in Waterloo, or is this wishful thinking? No obstructions in the way and the antenna is about 30 ft off the ground.

Would switching to a CM 4228HD antenna or using a more expensive preamp make a significant difference? It's not like the image is pixelated, it's not there at all. If everyone else in the area is getting CTV, I assume there's something wrong with the antenna itself, or my setup.

Any thoughts?

Can you post your TVFool link here? It may be that you have to take further measures like stacking a second DB8, but the TVFool data would be helpful.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3dbc2797b68dfb77

Appreciate the help, let me know what you think...

Hi EVD;

I am in Heidelberg with a similar setup. The DB8 looks similar to my 4228 but I don't know the specs.

I get CBC (5 and 25) 100% reliability, CHCH and CTS about 90% and CTV about 80%.

I think if we want to improve our reception us deep-fringers have to go to a double antenna or a better pre-amp (if there is one better than the 7777).

Scott

EDV: CTV (RF 40) is quite strong in this area. It should easily be received with a roof top setup (in most cases).

I recommend using the mapping feature of TV fool: It draws a line between the transmitter and your antenna location. Follow the line to see if it hits any buildings, hills, etc. It could be that moving your setup a few feet might be the trick.

However, I suspect that you're pointing slightly in the wrong direction. Don't use a compass, as they point to magnetic north which varies all of the time (unless you've calculated the current correct declination).

Will do, I appreciate the tips. Fingers crossed!

Good luck!
I just remembered that TVFOOL calculates magnetic north for you (as well as actual). Either way, ensure that you're using the correct direction for your application.

It helps to have two people work this scenario: One on the roof managing the direction of the antenna (if you don't have a rotor), and one scanning at the set for channels. Use cell phones or FRS/GMRS radios to communicate during the process.

I am now in pursuit of trying to get channel 11, CHCH. I live in cambridge, ontario, here's my TV Fool report, http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d741c17423b7eed

Anyways, I am wondering which way I should point my antenna for channel 11 CHCH? Also, is it a hard channel to receive decent picture quality for Cambridge, ON? One more final question, I am sure some of you remember my JVC remote problem, I havent bought a replacement, so I am stuck in cable mode for the time being. My question is, what cable channel is channel 11 analog on in cable mode? Thanks in advance, everyone. :)

hamid14: Point your antenna at 113° actual, which is roughly ESE. Though I've always been able to receive CHCH regardless of antenna position. YMMV.

Cable channel 11 analog is equal to channel 11 over the air (201MHz).

And, depending on your setup, you should have good picture quality, as the transmitter for CHCH is around 23 miles from Cambridge.

Ok will do. Thanks for the suggestions, will report my results after. Thanks again.

Will do, I appreciate the tips. Fingers crossed!
Your TVFool report shows that CBLN analog CBC ch. 40 from London comes in at your location 4 times stronger (6dB) than CTV digital on ch. 40. This could cause problems if you don't aim the antenna precisely, as you need a 15 to 20 dB better signal on CTV than CBLN to get a good ATSC lock.

Try tuning to channel 40 analog, and aim your antenna in the general direction of Toronto. Then make some minor tweaks to the direction until you get the worst picture possible (or preferably no picture or sound at all) on analog 40. This should give you the best chance at 40 digital from Toronto.

Quick question: if you install a pre-amp to boost your reception of stations further out, and you have a local station in your area at that comes in 100 percent, will the pre-amp cause an overload on that local station?

Yep, that's entirely possible, requiring filtering, attenuation, or other measures. Post #14 in the OTA FAQ gives you the terminology and info on what to do, and from there you can read through these threads and others for solutions:

Splitters, Attenuators, Filters, Diplexers, Other Signal Gear (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42428)

Signal Amplifiers (Amps, Preamps, Distro Amps) (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42426)

Thanks. I did read about attenuation a little bit last night when reading multiple pages here on this great site. The band pass filter sounds like something I might use.

But if I don't get that, can I bypass scanning the local station somehow, or just let it scan in maybe and don't tune into it at all. Or would scanning it in damage things as well?

I always advocate testing first without any unusual measures to see if your OTA gear will already handle the situation adequately. Most or all new tuners have built-in AGC circuits that automatically adjust the gain to suit weak vs. strong signals. Test first.

There is always the issue of whether that local station's power is causing trouble with the amp's general capabilities on some or all of the other channels. Probably the easiest way to knock down that one local station's signal is with a simple home-made stub filter. That's a very narrow technical question suited for the attenuation thread though. :)