what was tropo like last night? I was playing with my ministate and picked up these:

D2-1 NBC
D2-2 Weather
D4-1 CBS
D4-2 Radar
D7-1 ABC HD
D7-2 ABC SD

but I Lost CBC-HD in the process of rescaning.

That's good results for the distance. I'd guess that you'd get better results once you get that 4228, but still it's going to be very dependent on weather. You're on far side of the escarpment, so buffalo and toronto stations will come and go.
You might want to look into the threads on deepest fringe antennas, some people have stacked 2 or even 4, 4228 antennas, on heavy duty rotors, and even with inclination adjustments.

I thought tropo was a summer thing? I'm still playing with my Mini-State and learning about my TV, picking up these right now:

D2-1 WGRZ-HD NBC (84-87%)
D2-2 Weather
D4-1 WIVB-HD CBS (52-64%)
D4-2 Radar
D7-1 WKBW-HD ABC (80-86%)
D7-2 WNSG-SD
D31-2 WNLO-HD CW (66-74%)

I've seen these too!!
D5-1 CBC-HD
D61-1 ????

Using a WinTV-HVR 950 USB stick with a radioshack ministate antenna on my roof.
I'm in the west end of waterloo.
I get my normal analog channels

6-global
11-ch
13-ctv
19-tfo
28-tvo
36-cts
47-omni 1
56-cbc
57-city

I'm only able to pull in one digital channel
20 CBLT-DT 70-80%

when it scans through it finds more but the signal strength is only around 30%or so. what could I do other than buying a new antenna?

thanks

wait for the digitals to go higher power.


i guess you could try adding more height to your antenna, but from your location, your 60 miles away from the Toronto transmitters, and about 100 miles away from the Buffalo transmitters. A ministate antenna like that just isn't going to pick stuff up reliably. If you want anything from Buffalo, your going to need a new antenna.

i was hoping i would at least get global hd and ctv hd, guess i'll have to wait till they go higher power.

^^ just a tip, never use the words 'global' and 'hd' in the same sentence when talking about OTA.

CTV would probably be one of the channels that you were getting some reading on but not enough to pull in a lock. If you wanted to get CTV, you could try:

- preamp
- shorten your cable run to as short as possible, upgrade to RG6 if necessary
- see if you can't add any height to your ministate antenna
- move your antenna to a different location (perhaps with better path to CN Tower)

you might be able to pull in CTV with the same antenna. Basically, CBC is at 40kW, CTV is at 17kW and the rest of the Toronto's are at around 2kW. The other you might have a chance at is the CW off grand island in Buffalo. They are running at 1000kW

frubsen, sorry to say that unless you are ready and able to swap that antenna for a better one you are stuck with what you've got... I'm hesitant to recommend using a preamp with your present antenna - it might give the boost needed to lock onto more stations, but your UFO antenna is inherently subject to multipath interference and so preamping one of those often results in a real mess.

In your case I suggest my usual deep-to-deepest fringe UHF prescription:

Channel Master 4228 antenna with Channel Master 7777 or Winegard AP8275 preamp.

hmm, was hoping to see what i could squeeze out of my ministate...not quite ready to buy a whole new antenna.

right now ctv hd, is coming in, on and off, the signal is hovering around 50% so it cuts in and out.

you said pre-amping is not a good idea with my antenna? just out of curiousity, what would happen? would it damage anything?

no it wouldn't damage anything, it's just that a preamp would amplify the bad signal just as much as it would amplify the good signal (with a ministate antenna like that) so the results good get better or worse. If you could find a way to purchase a preamp and take it back if you don't get the results your looking for, that would be the best plan. I wouldn't reccomend spending money on a preamp though if you can't take it back, it could easily be a wase of money, better putting it towards a new antenna.

well the weather must have changed, now pulling in

20-1 CBLT-DT
24-1 CBLFT-D
38-1 WKBW-HD
38-2 WNGS-SD
39-1 WIVB-HD
39-2 Radar
40-1 CFTO-HD

now pulling in

33-1 WGRZ-HD
33-2 WGRZ-SD
53-1 CITYHD

along with the others

How big is that antenna might I ask frusben... If only I was on the other side of my building, I think I could get a decent signal if you can get that kind of signal from the west of waterloo...

He's using a Ministate UFO antenna, which is not at all suitable for deep fringe reception, which is what Kitchener-Waterloo requires for Buffalo stations. See post #218.

The exact model is Ministate 5MS740, bought it back in 1995. it has a motor built in to change direction. either way the only signal i can pull in all the time is cbc hd, all the others are intermittant

ya actually i was finding that this morning the weather was affecting reception and making certain channels stronger than usual. you should be able to get a good idea of what you 'actually' get by checking your signals on a regular basis over the course of a week or two.

well i caved and bought a cm4228 antenna, hopefully going to install it this afternoon or tomorrow, and i'll post back with the results

well i installed it, and all i can say right now is that i am not impressed.

i am not even able to get all the channels i was able to get before with my ministate. i have to keep rotating the antenna to get them all. i have tried pointing the antenna towards Toronto and Buffalo and still the only digital channel I can pick up is CBC. CFTO has a little more strength but still not enough to display a picture. What am I doing wrong?

note: i do not have a preamp

update: now i have CFTO-DT coming in at about 50-60% strength, so the picture is fairly stable with dropouts. CBLT-DT is around 85-90%, but those are the only 2 i can pull in

I hope you weren't misunderstanding about multidirectional vs. directional antennas - judging from your comments I'm not sure what your expectations were. The Knowledge Base and FAQ deals with the different designs, and your old and new antennas are completely different in their reception patterns - the CM4228 needs to be aimed at the broadcast transmission sites and when it is properly aimed its performance is excellent.

As for why the CM4228 isn't performing to your satisfaction at this time, lets work on your setup together and see what people here can offer you for advice.

A preamp would be the first addition I'd make.