ON - Mississauga, Brampton, Bramalea, Port Credit - OTA

[stampeder]

lagerman, in Post #1116 you were asking about having one antenna aimed towards Buffalo and the other towards Toronto, which is fine even if they are not the same antenna design, but from what I'm reading you now have the CM4221HD and the DB8 aimed at Buffalo with their outputs joined?

[lagerman]

Thanks Rob50312 & Stampeder for your replies,

I went much higher 20 ft to the west of current location.... and got very little. It is a weird one but I think the mature trees of my area coupled with a number of large apartments in a line with buffalo a km or 2 away are killing me. I have a good preamp and yes Stampeder, since I get the TO stations well I am stacking a DB8 & a 4221 HD together aimed at Buffalo. If I take off the preamp I get no buffalo stations. I have tried just the DB8 and just the 4221hd and neither will close the deal on a stable 2.1. Cables are all rg6 and in good shape. I think I am just in a bad location. I was wondering if a Yagi aimed at buffalo might help? It is killing me that guys are tossing a 4221hd in their attic and getting everything..... and I have had a 4221hd 30ft up a pole and gotten few us channels. The stacked 2 give me a bit stronger signal than just the db8 or 4221hd do alone. Any thoughts much appreciated.... especially since I am disconnecting Rogers tomorrow....lol.

[goforit]

I would contact a professional installer in your area. He would probably have a signal meter that could first determine if the signals are available to receive for your location. Save and Replay would also probably have some contacts.

[stampeder]

Originally Posted by lagerman

I am stacking a DB8 & a 4221 HD together

You are stacking dissimilar antennas, which is never recommended since they can work against each other in many ways (beam patterns, impedance, phase, etc.).

Agreed on getting a professional site survey done if stacking 2 identical antennas doesn't do the trick.

[rob50312]

Lagerman if your signals are blocked by big building then your chasing reflected Buffalo signals.You could try a yagi like XG-91 but its 100$ gamble and is more directional.

[lagerman]

I am stacking 2 dissimilar antennas because I already did a $100 gamble on a DB8 which is only slightly stronger in my setting than the balun reversed 4221HD. Not sure I want to try a 2nd $100 investment in another Db8.... perhaps a second 4221HD modified might be a cheaper route? The site survey is a good idea.... Will contact Save & Replay about it if I go that route... he is only about 6 km's away. I did my on broomstick site survey as suggested by S & R... and couldn't really do any better than current spot with the possible exception of going vertical onto the 2nd story roof. With this cold weather I might say it is good enough till spring also. This has taken me way longer than I thought it would... they aren't kidding when they call it a hobby....

[DPyro]

I'm now having problems getting a lock on 2.1 now too. Even though I'm receiving 50% signal 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 won't lock. I can get other channels at 50% signal however. Also now getting 11.1, 25.1 and 36.1. Should I buy a preamp, and how much would a good one cost?

[mr weather]

I bought my Channel Master 7777 last year for $110. The Winegard equivalent (8275) was around $100.

[DPyro]

Ok, will the preamp benefit me? I don't really feel like spending another $100 when I'll only be living here another 12 weeks.

[alebowgm]

It will benefit you, but you have to decide if the $100 is worth it for another 12 weeks or not. Really up to you on that.

[waheed77]

hi,
i bought an HDTV last week and i tried the rabbit ear antenna but no use, then i bough the RCA indoor antenna for $40 , i get only couple of channels that too not clear, i live in mississauga ( glen erin-derry) apartment building on 7'th floor , my apartment face's north, i'm desperately looking to get those free channels as i can't afford cable and for my kid to watch the tvokids, pls suggest a best solution for me, tks

[mr weather]

That's a tough one. You've got nice height but you're facing the wrong way.

I'm famililar with the area (used to live in a building at Glen Erin and Aquitaine). If you have a balcony, as a test take your RCA indoor antenna and position it so it's pointing due east. If you don't have a balcony, stick the antenna out a window so it faces east. You should be able to get most of the Toronto stations (including TVO which is analog channel 19).

Good luck!

[dtan]

my brother is in brampton facing the wrong way north he gets no channels..
20 floors up ,to much steel i think. good luck

[yagiman]

Hi All
I'm new to this site and here are my details and results:
My hardware is :
Antenna mounted on a 3 foot tripod,on roof peak about 20 feet off the ground.
I bought a Eaglestar pro model 53-6308. I installed it last night in the dark and cold, so aiming it was just by eye . I pointed one side to the CN tower and other to where I think is Grand Island .After deciding not to cheap out on a converter I visited "Save and Replay" today and purchased a Channel Master cm-7000. I have about 90 feet of RG-6U coax from antenna to cm-7000 .I is all connect to a 27" Apex TV .

Signal results right now at 10:15 PM .

02-1 WGRZ-HD 90%-94%
02-2 WGRZ-US 90%-94%
02-2 WGRZ-RT 90%-94%
04-1 WIVB-HD 100%
05-1 CBLT-DT 100%
07-1 WKBW-HD 100%
09-1 CFTO HD 100%
11-1 CHCH-DT 44%-48%
17-1 WNED-HD 100%
17-2 WNED-SD 100%
17-3 WNED -TH 100%
23-1 WNLO-HD 100%
25-1 CBLFT-D 100%
26-1 WNYB-SD 100%
26-2 WNYB-HD 100%
29-1 WUTV-HD 100%
29-2 WUTV-SD 100%
41-1 WIII-DT 100%
44-1 omni 2 100%
49-1 WNYO-HD 100%
49-2 WNYO-SD 100%
57-1 City HD 100%
64-1 omni 1 100%
66-1 CKXT-DT 100%

[little-infinity]

You're not too far from me actually!

What seems to be the problem? Are you happy with your reception?

Looks like you're getting everything solid.

You're only missing 36-1 (CITS-HD) from Hamilton, and CHCH seems to be alot weaker. It could be the decreased directionality of your 8-bay. Nothing big unless you're into religious stuff (you already have 26-1/2 TCT from Jamestown).

You're also missing 51-1,2,3,4 (WPXJ/ION from Batavia). No big loss on the programming side though. very hard to get for anyone in the west end of the GTA.

I have the 4bay version of your antenna and can get all the channels you specified plus weak-ish CTS no problem.