ON - Oakville, Burlington, Milton, Halton - OTA

[Q]

which 17 HD channels do you have? On remote central I only counted 14 possible between buffalo and toronto. One or two of those are too far from oakville AFAIK as well.

[stampeder]

dcass, the fact that you are getting such reception while using 110' of RG6 is excellent in the first place, so I would suggest a low-to-medium powered preamp (10 to 12dB) for combating the line loss of that distance. If you find that a higher power preamp is a better deal or more available you should also pay a tiny bit extra for a couple of attenuators just in case the signal is too strong.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42426

[dcass]

Your right Q,

I apoligize. I'm getting 12 HD (1080i or 720p) channels. I didn't realize my wife added some of the 480i DTV channels to my Favourites. These are the channels I'm receiving:

2-1 WGRZ
4-1 WIVB
5-1 CBLT
7-1 WKBW
9-1 CFTO
23-1 WNLO
25-1 CBLFT
29-1 WUTV
43-1 WNED
49-1 WNYO
57-1 CITYHD
66-1 CKXT

[DLPFreak]

Well, we helped my buddy's neighbour put one up, so you'll see two cm4228's side by side when you ride down Derry

[filper]

Is anyone in Oak Park having success with an attic antenna ?

We just got a 32" LG LCD with an ATSC tuner and I've had some success with a Philips amplified indoor antenna on the third floor and about 75' of RG6 (I'm using the existing cable in the house). We get most of the Buffalo HD stations, but only the French CBC HD channel.

I figure from where I am, with a clear shot across the lake, that Buffalo and T.O. are about 90 degrees apart.

[Yaamon]

filper being west or way east of the cn tower makes it hard for any antenna to pickup the signal from the cn tower and Buffalo at the same time properly.

Don't expect great results with a inddor antenna and at 75' of cable you have signal loss.

Because you are pointing your antenna towards Buffalo that is why the reception from the Cn tower is bad.

See if you can try and point the antenna a little more east enough that it does not affect the Buffalo stations too bad and try a rescan of the Toronto stations.

Good luck.

[filper]

How come I get CBC French HD and not the English HD channel ?

Aren't both from the CN tower ?

[stampeder]

Toronto's CBC and SRC stations both come from the CN Tower, but they are at different frequencies at different power levels, thus the difference you see.

[Tom.F.1]

Originally Posted by filper

How come I get CBC French HD and not the English HD channel ?

Aren't both from the CN tower ?

That sounds backwards to me. CBLT-DT is higher power than CBLFT-DT.
CBC English is usually the easiest Toronto Station to pick up

[neergder]

Hello.
I remember posting that I would give a update in about three weeks time. It has been about seven weeks now. I sorry I have not updated those who replied to my post til now. You know how it is, too busy, too many things pop up with little or no warning, and other things just do not work out.

I was not able to purchase a CM 4228 or a CM7777 in the States. I phoned many different stores and business. None had them stock. Some offered to order the items, but I would be gone to my next stop before the order would be in. Not have a U.S. address when placing the order didn't help either. (Motel/Hotel didn't count.) One tv/antena guy in Washington D.C. told me that "they don't make those any more". Most mentioned that I go with Direct or Dishnet and forget OTA, "No body uses those any more, get a dish". I did find one 4228 in Baltimore for $125 USD! With other things to do and think about, it was something to deal with after I returned home.

I got a 4228 from Neutron Electronics in Guelph. I took the old 4 bay and VHF/UHF down, cutting the two flat wire leads off at the preamp on the mast. The screws that held the flat wire were a ball of rust. When I tried to remove the RG59 from the F connecter using a wrench, (It would not turn by hand) the connecter broke off from the preamp. I removed the preamp from the mast and opened it up. Two of the three solder connections had broken and the plastic board was cracked. The top side of the board was 25% cover with the mud tubes of some type of insect. (wasp?, I could not see how it had gotten inside.) The preamp is now in it's postwork days.

I put up the 4228 with no preamp. The results were not the best. The best was CBC at about 50%, down from the steady 88% with the old set up. The Buffalo channels where gone more than they where there. Time for a 7777. Back to Neutron and back up the tower.

It is a improvement over the old set up except for WUTV FOX-HD.

Toronto Old New
CBC 5-1 88 88 - 97
CTV 9-1 50's 77
CITY 57-1 50 - 60 78
Sun TV 15-1 60 - 70 75

Buffalo
WGRZ 2.1,2 30's 68
WIVB 4.1,2 30's 74
WKBW 7.1,2 30's 82
WNED 43.1,2,3 70's 70
WNLO 23.1 40's 82
WUTV 29.1.2 15 15
WNYO 49.1,2 0 60

Analog - great improvement, best analog OTA picture I have seen. No "snow" for the following:

WKBW 7
CHCH 11
CTV 9 & 13 (Kitchener)
TVO 19
FOX 29
CTS 36
GLOBAL 41
OMNI 1 47
so so, lots of snow for
OMNI 2 69

Could it be that the old Superior rotor cannot be aim precisely to pick up WUTV's very directional digtal signal?

Thanks,

neergder

[strange_brew]

Good info here - glad I found it! I have a conduit running from my attic down to my equipment room in the basement (~50'). I have an HTPC running Vista MCE and I want to use my ATI 650 Theatre card to tune in the HD channels.

I live in Joshua Creek just south of Dundas and just west of Ford Dr./9th line. From our 2nd floor I can easily see the top of the tower on the Ford plant and from our roof I'm guessing I could see both Buffalo and the CN tower on a clear day. I would like to mount an antenna in the attic if possible. 3 questions: 1) which antenna would you recommend? 2) do I need a pre-amp? and 3) do you think I could receive all the stations?

Note: I tried using the junky little antenna that comes with the ATI all-in-wonder some time ago, and received most of the HD channels indoors on the 1st floor if that helps.

Craig

[Yaamon]

strange_brew, a nice 4 bay antenna like the Channel Master 4221 should fit through your trap door and give decent results.

Attic setup are 50/50 meaning they work some times and some times they dont give good results.

You dont need a preamp unless your cable run is longer than 50'. Some times using a indoor amp 10db with longer cable runs than 35' will gain some signal if the atsc tuner is not sensitive.

jtime905, now you know why I don't like to do attic installs time consuming and summer time, Hot Hot Hot

[strange_brew]

Thanks Yaamon, would the 4221 also be a good choice if I discover that I need to put it outdoors?

[jtime905]

strange_brew, I just inastalled the CM 4221 in the attic and in improved the reception/reliablity over the indoor antenna I was using. Like you the indoor antenna picked up some of the station and would drop the signal on occasion. With the CM 4221 I have not had much problem with dropped signals, although last night the sound on a couple of digital stations was dropped, picture was good.

Have fun

jtime905

[PVR4Me]

I live in Joshua Creek just south of Dundas and just west of Ford Dr./9th line. ... I would like to mount an antenna in the attic ...

Strange_brew:

Don't cheap out! We have an 80 degree angle between the Toronto and Buffalo stations. Mount a Channel Master 4221 or 4228 outdoors and tune it so you get good year-round reception of all the stations. Mine still needs some tweaking--it is very frustrating when a recording breaks up near the end of the show. (I think there is a 'sunset effect' some nights.)

Craig