AB - Edmonton, Northern Alberta - OTA

[j0dest3r]

I am not completely sold on my RCA as of yet. It appears my tweaking did help keep it stable but it is still too low IMO. I'm concerned when the conditions are not as good it will start to wig out.

[audacity]

Originally Posted by j0dest3r

I'm concerned when the conditions are not as good it will start to wig out.

Add a (additional?) two-way splitter to cut the signal strength in half and see if your tuners still work for 12.1 and 13.1. If they still work then I suspect you'll be fine.

[Mordak]

miquelonlake,

I'm not an expert, but if you're getting 30.1 then you should be able to get 12.1 and 13.1 since they're coming from the same direction. The only difference is 12 and 13 are VHF channels, and I don't think the Terk HDTV is going to pick that up unless you have the version with the rabbit ears attached. Try breaking out your old rabbit ears and see how that works for 12.1 and 13.1. If you can get those two then you've pretty much got everything except for OMNI on 56.1.

Also, if you haven't already, you might want to consider moving your antenna near a window or something. I only got good reception when I mounted my antenna in a south facing window and I'm over on 87 Ave and 101 St. Depending on the construction of your house you might be having some issues like I did.

[rlester]

Was messing around with the cable from my tv to the wall outlet which goes out to the antennae. Ever since then, I can't pick up the new CBC 5.1 channel. All other channels work, even CBC channel 5, but no 5.1.

Is it me, or is it down tonight?

[rlester]

if channel 5.1 is still working or not? I've been messing around with cabling all evening and with a broken leg, its not much fun. ;-)

I suspect either their digital is down today, or my new Samsung TV is having a problem. Channel auto scan does not pick it up and even if you tune it manually, it just goes to the analog channel.

[DTVGuy]

5.1 works!

As does:

12.1 (CFRN)
13.1 (CITV)
17.1 (CKEM)
30.1 (CTS)

I'm sure when the PSIP for CFRN is straightened out, it'll be 3.1 at it's final resting place.

All signals are strong and good using an outdoor VHF/UHF antenna.

[j0dest3r]

My RCA in Spruce grove is still wigging out. Watching the news on CITV the bars on my Samsung go between 5 and 4 bars then hit 3 then all of a sudden will get 1 and 0 and the audio kicks out for a couple of seconds and blocks appear on the picture and then it goes black. I've even had the weak or no signal screen pop up. I either have to replace my RCA or get it up another 5 feet.

All the UHF stations have been rock solid for months. Even CTS is 7 bars.

[ChineseEh]

This is what I have so far:

5-1 CBXT (CBC Edmonton) 88%
12-1 DTV (CTV) 85%
13-1 CITV (Global Edmonton) 94%
17-1 CKEM (City TV) 88%
30-1 CTS 83%
56-1 CJEO (Omni2 Edmonton) 85%

My setup is Bell 9200 receiver with a 8-bay OTA antenna facing SE direction. Location is SW Edmonton.

[hwgasdfasdf]

Kati3

Yes, you should definitely try to get OTA reception, especially if you already have an ATSC equipped TV or converter box. If you are slightly mechanically inclined, and don't mind tinkering a little, in probably an hour, and for < $10, you can build a simple antenna to see what you can get. You might be surprised at the results!

You face the right direction for most of the stations in Edmonton, as the majority of the stations are to the southeast of the city.

You can build a fairly simple UHF antenna out of simple copper wire bent in the right shape, and a 300 ohm to 75 ohm balun (maybe $3 or $4 in the store - this is a little transformer that has a F type connector at one end, like a normal cable wire would screw on to, and two separate wires at the other end - typically found on really old TVs, or on stereos for the FM tuners), a piece of coax, and a piece of cardboard.

See the thread about the Gray Hoverman antenna here at Digital Home: http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna/

If you want to read the whole description, great, if not, skip directly to the plan / instructions http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna/design.htm. To start with, don't worry about building the entire antenna with the reflector rods, just build the 2 active elements (the pink lines) out of copper wire (I used surplus 14 gauge house wire, found in a dumpster from renovations at an office), tape them on to a piece of cardboard, attach the balun, and the cable to the TV, and see what you can get.

I have the full version of this antenna (with the reflectors), built out of 14 gauge copper wire, and a pallet board, mounted on my roof, and get all of the digital channels available. I should really finish building my more permanent version of this antenna, but for over a year and a half (since shortly after Global started on their low power transmitter) the ghetto version has been up there, and it continues to work great!

If you don't want to fiddle around, you could see if someone you know that already has an antenna would be willing to bring it to you, and see what channels you can get at your location.

Of course, if you don't have an ATSC capable TV or converter box, that's another thing you'll have to borrow, or get, to see what your reception results would be.

If you want some copper wire to try making an antenna, I have a fair bit of it! I have no portable ATSC tuner currently, but will have one soon, when Canada Post decides they're going to get around to delivering it!

Good luck - free HD tv is definitely worth a little effort upfront to see what your reception situation is like!

[audacity]

Originally Posted by j0dest3r

My RCA in Spruce grove is still wigging out. Watching the news on CITV the bars on my Samsung go between 5 and 4 bars then hit 3 then all of a sudden will get 1 and 0 and the audio kicks out for a couple of seconds and blocks appear on the picture and then it goes black. I've even had the weak or no signal screen pop up. I either have to replace my RCA or get it up another 5 feet.

Do you have the same problems with 12.1 and 13.1?

I'm curious why the signal you get would be fine for a while and then drop significantly, even if it is just a brief drop. Trying a different antenna would be a reasonable thing to do, but I suspect you would need an extremely sensitive antenna to be able to get a good signal during the "dropped" portion. Maybe some sort of specialized VHF antenna would do the trick.

[Rhine77]

I have the same issue with 13.1 coming in really strong - "65" signal strength on my Sharp Aquos - and then coming in at "48" next time I flip to 13.1.

I think it might be because they're still broadcasting on 47 and 13, with both broadcasts having a station ID of 13.1. I have 2 13.1 stations in my "found channels" list, and even though I've set my TV to skip the one on 47, my TV still seems to go to that one instead of 13 on occasion.

I suspect these problems will vanish once they've turned off their 47 broadcast.

[dtvman1]

My signal readings for AUG 24.

AUG 24 9pm 12.1 cfrn 54% , 13.1 global 48% 9 pm

AUG 24 10:04 PM 12.1 cfrn 68% , 13.1 global 68% 10:04PM


AUG 25 6:19AM 12.1 cfrn 57 % , 13.1 global 58% 6:19 AM

AUG 25 7:56AM 12.1 cfrn 56% , 13.1 global 52% 7:56 AM

[rlester]

I noticed that 12-1 is now moved to 3-1 and it has some problems. Major pixellation. I take it that the problems I've been having are not with my new tv (thankfully) and are just the TV stations fine tuning things on their end.

3-1 is so bad right now its not even watchable. Mind you they do have a full description of the shows that are currently on, none of the other channels have that yet.

Right now I have audio, but no picture.

Just have to wait out these glitches I guess. ;-)

[rlester]

How do I get the signal strength on my Samsung 42 inch tv? Don't see it anywhere in the menus or tools.

[Baslim]

Go down to the question mark and self-diagnosis.