ON - Kanata, Barrhaven, Nepean, West of Greenbelt - OTA

[roger1818]

Not surprising gzero. The DB8 is a UHF antenna and Global is on VHF-LO. Kind of like using a pair binoculars to try to hear a concert better (though not that extreme).

[timojaak]

Originally Posted by luker0

Anybody have a source for a good VHF antenna in the Ottawa area?

I'm mounting my CM4228HD this weekend with pre-amp and would like to add a VHF antenna to the mix for Global.

Hi luker0,

You can check out my hacked VHF antenna in another thread (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show....php?p=1320254). I basically took apart a rabbit-ears antenna and attached it to the VHF connector of my CM-7777 preamp. It improved my Global signal from minimal to very good (around 50-60% signal strength, the last time I checked). It was cheaper than going out and buying an actual VHF antenna.

[flavoie]

I noticed that Antennas Direct added a dipole option into their "ClearStream 2 Complete" package, yet they haven't made this add-on available on it own from what i can gather. It's the kind of pro grade, for VHF rabbit ears + outdoor combiner a lot of people could consider adding to an existing UHF antenna.

[roger1818]

The dipole in the "ClearStream 2 Complete" is for VHF-HI only, so it may not be good enough for Global. I would love to see someone make outdoor VHF-HI and VHF-LO dipole antennas.

[tvlurker]

There may be some movement in the medium term with some VHF stations across the country moving to UHF in problem cases. Global Ottawa is certainly one of the "problem" stations.

SRC is already in the process of moving ch. 12 Quebec City to UHF, and just received to approval to increase the power substantially on channel 9 in Sherbrooke.

It is certainly always a good practice to make sure the broadcasters hear from you if you have reception problems with their stations. I know that it is sometimes difficult to know if a private broadcaster is "listening", but it is worth the effort to try. You can always let the CRTC or the Heritage Canada DTV help line know if you are having any issues.

[Mr Canoehead]

My DB8 picks up global just fine.

[roger1818]

Mr Canoehead, I am glad you are lucky enough to live in an area that receives Global easily, but that isn't true for everyone. Global has a directional broadcast and there is about a 10dB difference between the maximum and minimum effective ERP. There are also other factors such as impulse noise that can be difficult to track down and may not always be possible to eliminate.

[tvlurker]

Roger, it's MUCH more than a 10 dB difference between minimum and maximum power. According to TVFool, the minimum is about 70 W towards Orleans, and the maximum is about 3300W to the south. 3300/70 = 47, which is about 16 dB.

I can get Global with a dollar store FM flat ribbon antenna on the second floor on the south side of the building. I get 6, 9 and 13 just fine. According to TVFool, I'm off to the side of the main lobe, and I'm getting the equivalent of 2.6 kW in my direction.

[flavoie]

Keep rubbing it in guys
In Orleans, I have to turn my subwoofer OFF to get enough SNR to watch channel 6 Global off my attic mounted VHF VIP-302SR pointed at CF with Kitz KT200 preamp.

I am now considering a Tripp Lite Isobar or other alternative instead of my current Monster Cable Home Theatre Power Bar... just to possibly fix Global reception.

[roger1818]

flavoie, rather than using a power bar, try using an X10 noise filter such as the X10 Pro XPPF or the ACT-AF120 depending on the current draw of your appliance. While designed for blocking 120kHz, they should effectively block anything significantly above 60Hz. One thing that makes them more effective is that they have series inductors (as well as capacitors in parallel), which provides a solid wall for the noise rather than only trying to trap it with capacitors.

[tvlurker]

flavoie, Global is aware of the problem and there are things happening behind the scenes that lead me to believe that sooner or later Global will move to a better channel. Not sure how fast things will happen, though.

In the meantime, make sure you let Global, and possibly also the CRTC, know how poorly you get Global compared to the other OTA stations, especially the other ones from Camp Fortune. Every comment/complaint from a real OTA viewer carries weight!

[flavoie]

roger1818, i actually came across those exact X10 filters during searches. The problem looked like it was filtering way lower frequencies exactly like you mentioned. I got excited when Tripp Lite's doc specifically states VHF and HF filtering ...

[Mr Canoehead]

My point was you can't blame the antenna for not receiving Global as there are more factors at play as you mentioned.
There is a house for sale by me if you are that desparate to get Global.

[jimlum]

I sent the crtc a message complaining about Global 6.1 transmition.
It takes 5 minutes and starts with googling CRTC and clicking contact us.
A few filtering questions to direct the complaint and its done.
Its a lot easier than hardware fixes if enough of us respond.
I have a VHF only antenna and a preamp to receive a OK signal from 6.1

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by flavoie

roger1818, i actually came across those exact X10 filters during searches. The problem looked like it was filtering way lower frequencies exactly like you mentioned. I got excited when Tripp Lite's doc specifically states VHF and HF filtering ...

I have a couple XPPF's (in use) and I took one apart once and it definitely has a low pass filter, so although it is designed to block 120kHz, it will also block anything above it. Although I don't have any, I am confident the ACT-AF120 does the same thing.

I don't know anything about the Tripp Lite, but I am quite sure it won't be as good as it likely only uses caps to do the filtering. I could be wrong though.