How much would/did you pay for OTA?

[poutanen]

I picked $500-$1000 because I bought a PVR/DVR for my setup. Here's the breakdown:

- antennas: CM4221 clones x2 ($30 each)
- pre-amp: ANT-1028 cheapie ($40)
- wiring: roll of RG-6 ($10)
- PVR: Sonicview HD8000 ($350 plus tax)
- 1.0 TB Hard drive for PVR ($150 plus tax)

So $610 plus tax, would put me around $700 total. I've already had 5 cable bill free months, and I was paying $70 for rogers with basic HD service plus HD box before. So the way I see it I'm half way to paying off my gear.

[firechkn]

I went on a budget sourcing all the hardware and bought 2 Channel Master 4221HD on sale for $45 each. I had lots of RG6 cable so I reused that. An old copper pipe as a grounding rod. All prices before taxes:

$90 x 2 Channel Master 4221HD
$20 Cable compression tool
$11 Home Depot 10' fence pole
$10 Diplexer (sold in pairs)
$10 Ground wire 10 gauge, 30'
$5 All weather F-connectors (pack of 10)
$5 Chimney mount

Total: $151


But since I sold both my Rogers SA3250 & SA4250 cable boxes for $250 I am up $99, but not really since I bought them for $200 new. So in essence I only spent $101,

[mebad247]

Total Cost: $81.64 (including a CM4221HD & mounting bracket)

I live at Bronte Rd/Dundas in Oakville, and mounted the antenna 25ft above ground on the side of my townhouse. I ran some old RG6 cable to the cogeco cable box on the side of my house, and was able to use their grounding block! Total cable run is about 65ft (no splitters in the mix).

I'm able to get the following digital channels--and am quite pleased!

NBC, W+, CBS, CBC, ABC, THIS, CTV, CHCH, PBS1/2, CW, WNYB, FOX, CTS, MYTV, OMNI1/2, CITY

Still missing SUNTV & Global in digital---but hard to complain considering they're coming in through analogue.

[windwagen]

My buddy told me about his setup and I saw a $30.00 antenna at Sayal. I thought I'd try it and hooked it up to my Sony W tv. I got 4 HD stations with it in my living room.

I stuck the antenna on a broken windsurf mast and used a broken boom to attach it under the soffit. It's pointed about 3 degrees E of South and I can get all the stations available here. CHCH is weak though. I have to point towards Hamilton to improve the signal. Cable free for 6mos now!

[BBaq]

My buddy told me about his setup and I saw a $30.00 antenna at Sayal.

Got my antenna from there too. $30 plus 25 feet of coax (way more than I need) and it works great. NBC, CBS, CBC, ABC, CTV, FOX, CW, CITY, OMNI 1/2, SUN TV, GLOBAL... I think there's more, but I can't think of them right now. I guess it helps that I live on the 33rd floor and my balcony faces south.

[stampeder]

While you're making use of our great OTA information here please help us keep this web site going strong.

Help us to help you for the low, low cost of only $2 per month for a Premium Membership.

$24/year for all this - what an amazing bargain!

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[ManBOOYA]

Here are my costs as well as I can remember. I already had the TV (although I did buy it with OTA in mind)
CM4221HD Antenna - $50
CM9030 Eave Mount - $30
Hauppage 950Q USB ATSC Tuner - $70
Winegard Ap4700 Pre-amp - $35
Ground Wire - $30
Ground Rod - $10
Mast - $10
RG6 Coax - $20
Misc Parts and Labour - ~$100

Not having a cable bill - Priceless

[sparky mtl]

OTA reception was separated into phases because I was dealing with city & a cottage installation (north of Montreal) and wasn’t sure if I could receive signals reliably on our 20 year+ TVs. Minimizing costs and, costly mistakes was a priority.

Phase 1 (Montreal) – Test OTA Reception Indoors (Total = $115)
-Tivax STB 8: $102 (The Source)
-DIY SBGH #1: $5
(scrap wood, 1/8” alum wire for array, aluminum foil reflector & balun)
-27’ RG-59/U from junk box: $0
-A/B switch: $8
(to switch between digital channels & local analog on rabbit ears)

Results: simply amazed at quality and quantity of channels received on a low cost DIY antenna.


Phase 2 (Montreal): - Outdoor Installation (Total = $45)
-50’ poor quality RG-6: $10 (troublesome & bad investment)
-50’ hi quality RG-6: $17. (flexible, not stiff & 95% braid)
-outdoor balun: $2.
-crimp-on connectors: $2
-crimp-on tool: $0 (used an old RG-59/U tool, with care)
-DIY Ant (jedGH6): $14. (cedar boom, coat hangers for rods & #12 copper wire for array)

Results: (1) after correcting array errors, the ant performs well indoors
(2) got lazy & delayed outdoor install due to very good results indoors


Phase 3 (Cottage): Is DTV Reception Feasible? (Total = $0)
(old 27” RCA; 51 mi to Montreal and 123 mi to Mt Mansfield)
Antenna installation about 10 yrs old at 850’ elevation above sea level
-Delhi pre-amp (Maximizer)
-28’ Delhi tower+ 7’ mast
-11 element VHF at 32’
-4 bay bowtie UHF (CM 4221?) at 35’ (1 bowtie out of shape & reflector bent from wind)
-rotor frozen in position from 7 to 28 deg off my target stations.
-Tivax STB 8: $0.00 (using city unit)

Results: (1) Montreal analog channels received with some snow; Ottawa VG
(2)VT and NY channels, before transition, had snow but were viewable
(3) can detect weak digital signals on about 6 channels but no lock
(4) suspect UHF ant gain reduced by wind damage, higher pre-amp noise figure due to older technology & frozen rotor all contributing to poor digital results


Phase 4 (Cottage): DIY Ant With New CM 7777 pre-amp (Total = $190)
(old 27” RCA; 47 mi to Montreal and 123 mi to Mt Mansfield)
Objective: install separate temporary roof mast for various antenna tests
-Tivax STB 8: $0.00 (using city STB for trial)
-CM 7777 pre-amp: $112.00
-SBGH #2: $5.00
-jed GH8 or GH10: $15
-100’ hi quality RG-6: $35.00
-crimp-on connectors: $4
-20’ galv mast: $0.00 (lying in backyard for years)
-guy ring and collar: $0.00 (junk box)
-roof mast bracket: $9.00
-100’ rope/guy wire: $10.00

Results: (1) Just assembled all the pieces. Will test within next few weeks.
(2) If results are negative will build jed GH8 or GH10 and try again


Total cost to date about $350 for two locations. I am very pleased with the city results. The country location, which is deep fringe, has been a bigger challenge. Overall, it was, and continues to be, a great learning experience. DHC has been an invaluable source of information. Thank you Stampeder and all the forum members for the assistance provided and infinite patience extended to newcomers.

sparky mtl

[PrinceLH]

I picked up my 40 feet of tower for nothing, for just repointing a fellows satellite dish. Bought my PR8800 about three years ago, for around $50.00, my YA1713 cost me about $40.00 this year. I picked up an open box deal for my CM7777 preamp for $40,00. The rotor was $65.00, the cable came free with it. Spend $35.00 for quad shield coax plus the ends. Paid $9.00 for a Channel Master Balun for the PR8800. Drill bits, pipes, stuff for rigging to attach to the house, about $60.00. Voila, OTA ready to rock about 3 weeks ago. Just waiting for WHAM Rochester to go digital in a few minutes. Monitoring everything right now, June 12th, just around 1AM.

[twinz]

So far, about $225 for all the pieces to connect one older TV - $60 for the CM4221HD, $90 for the Tivax T8, $20 on sale for some cheap RCA RG6 cable and a grounding block and the rest for various odds and ends to get it installed 10 feet up on an eaves mount. There might be another $30 or so for the grounding wires and such still to come when I actually do mount it for real!

The rotor may come later, but all in $350ish for 20+ channels is still a good deal!

[schnauz]

Here's how I've done so far since buying a new TV in March:

$40 for a 1511838 indoor antenna from The Source: this antenna gets me all the local Ottawa stuff, with Sun TV being the hardest to receive on it. On its own, Global and CHCH do not come in very clearly, and it takes a lot of swiveling the loop around to get clear images on the analog UHF stuff. Digital stuff is fine, including both OMNI's. Still, it was a very good start for OTA here.

$45 for a used Antennas Direct Lacrosse A: I picked this antenna up around a week ago, and I discovered that the leads inside the antenna were severed, either from the previous owner's tinkering, or it was a defective unit all along. Once I fixed it, I re-used the satellite mount on the roof left behind by our house's previous owner, along with the several miles of coax they had running all through the house. I have it connected to the external antenna input of the aforementioned indoor antenna, where I use the little switch on it for using the rabbit ears for VHF reception. Oddly enough, with the Lacrosse connected, my VHF reception is now quite good on Global (but not CHCH, it hasn't made much difference), I'm guessing that the Lacrosse acts as an FM trap cleaning things up on the rabbit ears. With the Lacrosse, I'm now getting all local stations very clearly, and I'm also now receiving PBS from Norwood about 90% of the time, which surprised me since the Lacrosse is only rated for 40 miles. I'm thinking I might try to get the Lacrosse another 5 feet higher or so to see if I can get a better signal on PBS, since it averages around 50%.

Further investment:
I'm wondering if deactivating the internal 17dB preamp in the Lacrosse A and using one of Winegard's AP series preamps (in the 28dB range) instead would improve my reception as far as PBS would go, so I'd be willing to put some money into that if it would help. I'm also thinking of a dedicated outdoor VHF antenna as well to further clean up my Global reception, although that's not terribly necessary at the moment.

All told, I've spent $85 so far, and willing to spend a couple hundred more if it results in better PBS and better VHF reception.

[george777]

Hi

Because of Mclapp, I spent less than US$ 10 for 1x3x8 pine, 3/4 x 8' pvc, 10 #10 pan head metal screws and 20 #10 washers.

I had an old balum, 6' of rg6, and 12/2 wire from house wiring job.

I made a M4 antenna (10" whiskers and 9 3/4" spacing) with 2 16" dipoles attached to the center balum connections to improve VHF. So far no reflector.

It is sitting in one of my bureau drawers until I decide what to do with it.

I live ~ 25 miles from towers and all my signals except for ch 11 & 13 (60%, no dropouts) are great (in the 90% range on my LG converter.

Thanks Mclapp.

[ancaster]

2 CM4221HD $100, Save&Replay
2 Tripods+lag screw kits $88, S&R
1 Winegard HDP269 preamp $75, S&R
1 Grounding block $2, S&R
1 4ft Copper grounding rod $10 S&R
2 10ft Electrical masts $25, HomeDepot
1 pkg of RG6 F connectors $10?, HD
50ft of ground wire $15?, HD
Roof repair to seal the tripod feet $7, HD
1 digital splitter to combine the antennas $5?, HD
500ft outdoor rated RG6 $25 online, TheSource (for future uses too)
MagicSeal to weatherproof splitter and all connections $9 CTire

Electrical tape $0 (extra I had)
Tools $0 (mine and borrowed; essential to have a proper wire cutter, RG6 F crimper, hammer drill and bit, stud sensor if roof mounting, tall ladder)

Total=~$420 incl tax.
Saving $55/m for every month I'm off Cogeco and I had no HD with them! Of course we no longer get the specialty channels but we don't miss them.

Digital channel list:
2.1
2.2
2.3
4.1
5.1
7.1
9.1
11.1
15.1
17.1
17.2
17.3
23.1
25.1
26.1
26.2
29.1
29.2
36.1
41.1
44.1
49.1 tropo to 54.2
49.2
51.1
51.2
51.3
51.4
54.1
54.2
57.1
64.1
66.1

[whiskywizard]

Save & Replay got us set up for under $100, for good reception in Whitby. I'm still tuning to maximize channel coverage, but so far I have all the Toronto and Buffalo stns.

[stampeder]

Are you a Do-It-Yourselfer with computer skills who is handy with tools and wants a superior OTA antenna with a fully functional PC-based HD PVR for OTA recordings? These will show you how to have the best of each, for very little money:

Which Gray-Hoverman TV Antenna Should I Build? (approximately $30 for parts)

Bow Tie Antenna Designs (mclapp's M4 & M8 featured) (approximately $30 for parts)

Easily Build A Cheap Brand New Fully Functional HD PVR (approximately $350 to $500 for parts)

And some important advice to keep you from wasting your time and money:

OTA Clone & Coat Hanger Antennas - Avoid Most Of Them