ON - Barrie, Muskoka, Sault Ste. Marie, Northern Ontario - OTA

[jharcnc]

hey guys...I read through the entire 14 pages but most of it is over my head...I'm simply looking for a solid antenna solution for the cottage...as it stands right now we're only pulling in a Global channel which is quite clear, and a CBC channel that is quite snow-storm like....

Here are my TV Fool results:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...7d4939c5002164

I would love to pull in all channels possible, but #1 would be clear reception for Hockey Night in Canada in the fall...currently we have a 5 year old analog set...would definitely spend some money to go to an hdtv if it was at all possible to grab some digital channels OTA in my cottage area too

any suggestions/solutions would be very much appreciated...I would love to hear some hardware recommendations...if it is worth investing in some OTA digital gear now (eg to pick up CBC-HD for example), please let me know

the simpler the better for me....what about something like this on our roof? we used to have Bell Expressvu but it proved too costly...the coax is pre-installed from that old box, and was thinking about grabbing this Terk antenna and simply connecting the old coax to it...

http://www.audiovox.com/webapp/wcs/s...4126&langId=-1

Apologies in advance for my naivety on this subject!

cheers

[Chipom]

I'm a newbie to OTA, and since I've bought my CM4228HD and pointed it towards the CNTower, I can get CBC in HD no problems on channel 5.1.
Avoid the terk antenna. Check the antenna chart, thats what I did before I bought my antenna. I wanted to find the CM4228 original, but they have since been replaced with the CM4228HD, there are some mods that can be done and there is also the DB8 which is available at saveandreplay.
You should definately get a better TV with ATSC tuner, or pick up a ATSC tuner for digital TV. I'm going to pick up a 2nd CM4228HD tonight and take it up north and try the two together to see if I can get more stability on the US digital channels, and some of the other higher numbered Toronto channels.
I'll post my results next week.

Call them at saveandreplay, they're great to talk with and will give you some great advice. I know there is alot of information to go through on these forums and it can take forever to read all these threads, but the guys here have really done their homework and if you try other things and products and want to know whats wrong, then they can only say "told you so".
Good luck

[stampeder]

jharcnc, that little antenna from Terk is actually a rebranded Winegard Square Shooter, and it will be fine for the local UHF stations only, and probably since you're so close to Global's tower you'll likely get channel 7 (VHF-HI) too.

Good that Chiporn is nearby!

[jharcnc]

guys...very helpful...thanks very much...I'll post results once I get my 4228hd installed...cheers

[molly552]

Hi There, I couple of weeks ago a was given a multi star 4 bay antenna. To my surprise I can get all the Toronto HD and I am even getting Buffalo HD. The Toronto was pretty strong and Buffalo varied but works best in the evening.

What is the main difference with the DB8 HDTV Antenna vs the CM-4228HD? Is DB8 worth the extra $40 more than the 4228HD?

Now that I know I can receive Buffalo I want to get a better antenna to hopefully increase the strength of signal. I live in Alliston Ontario an Buffalo is 120 miles away.

Here is TVFool results http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...23c5bd4d10b015

[stampeder]

Hi molly552, first of all its good that an antenna like that got you the Toronto DTV stations, so with a better one you'll be quite happy.

My advice is to put up a DB-8 nice and high on the roof or on a tower with a preamp and tweak the aim towards Buffalo, because when you find the sweet spot it will pick up the Toronto stations too along the left of that line of aim, and possibly the Hamilton stations along the right. When you find the sweet spot just lock it into place.

To be honest, you might not always get Buffalo well over such a distance but for the most part the stronger stations will always be there for you.

With your present antenna you could aim it north for Barrie stations (Post #16 in the OTA FAQ describes combining 2 or more antennas).

[goforit]

Molly:

Tropo could have a big impact on you getting the BUF channels. Alliston is pretty far from NY state. I say hold off on any additional purchases until the tropo season ends, probably late September. According to the atenna chart, the DB8 is a strong performer, the 4228HD is especially bad on high UHF- which has many TO stations.

[molly552]

Thanks for the replies:
When I aimed at Buffalo I was pulling in all Buffalo Hd except Fox29, I was also getting all Toronto HD and Hamilton HD with a good percentage according to my Sony TV setup screen
Buffalo stations were coming in at 55%-74%
Toronto stations 70%-95%
Hamilton station 75%
To get these percentages I installed the 4 bay antenna on a temporary pole up near my rooftop. I have since taken the pole and antenna down until I get something more permanent to use for mounting an antenna on. As for the Barrie station it was coming in as good as a non digital can get. So I think I will buy the DB8 and see how much better it is at getting all these channels. What are the main differences with the CM-7777 to the CM-7778? Which one would be better for my situation to try to pull in Buffalo. I know it is a long shot to Buffalo but it is my main objective.

[stampeder]

Originally Posted by molly552

What are the main differences with the CM-7777 to the CM-7778?

See the comparison chart in Post #1 of this thread:

Signal Amplifiers (Amps, Preamps, Distro Amps) - See Chart in Post #1

[Chipom]

Well, I stacked two CM4228HD friday evening pointing in the same direction towards the cntower and I picked up 11 buffalo channels, including fox29. However this was in the evening around 8:45pm by time I got it setup and I also removed the black covers over the bowties.. The channels stayed in pretty good for the evening. The sky was very clear and the weather was very warm.. so I wasn't sure if it was because of the two or mainly due to the weather. When I tried them in the morning, the buffalo channels were slipping away and only the CW was strong enough until 11am or so.. The higher channels such as global 41-1, the omni, suntv and citytv in HD only seem to come in during the evening, although analog, they don't seem to be too bad to watch.
I tried again Saturday evening and with just the one antenna. I disconnected them during the day and tried the other one on top and tried different things with the splitter, touching metal to metal and with a space in between.. I think I pretty much get the same results with 1 antenna as I did with two.

Question I was wondering, since the CM4228HD doesn't work too well with high UHF, if I do the mod using the 2 baluns, should this increase the higher UHF? Right now I was debating on trying that or just selling the 2 CM4228HD to some people in our campground and grab myself a DB8.. I'm also using a CM7777.. I get cbc, ctv and cbc-f in all the time in HD.. great signal.. global on 41 analog is very clear, 47 analog is also very clear and and city tv isn't that great, but its in colour and watchable.. I'd be happy if I could get these in HD more consistantly..
thx..

[goforit]

Sometimes it takes a lot of experimentation to get the channels you want (see my # of posts); and every location is unique.

The 4221HD performs much better on high UHF- many TO stations. If the cable length is not long the CM7777 might be causing overload, try w/o possibly. Spacing can be tricky when combining antennas. You might want to gang a 4228 and a 4221- make sure they are bout 25" apart to start.

[Chipom]

I picked up a couple Balun's to do the mod to my CM4228HD. I'll have to wait on the ganged 4221hd and cm4228hd. Hate to buy another antenna if it doesn't make a difference from up in Barrie. I managed to get these channels in stable.
3 - new vr (Analog)
5.1 - CBC
9.1 - CTV
19 - TVO (analog)
25.1 - CBC-F (Ahhh, why can they sap in english)
41 - Global (analog) looks so clear, you would think the digital would come in, but only in the evening.
47 - OMNI (analog) Pretty clear.
57 - City (analog) get digital in the evening
67 - SunTv

Most of the digital come in pretty good in the evening, including the US stations. I'm hoping to get the higher toronto (Global, city tv, omni1/2, suntv) in HD with the mod during the day.. And this is with just the 1 CM4228hd

If I pick up a 4221, would it be strong enough to pick up the channels from Barrie? Even with the 4228?

Damn, I should of picked up the CM4228 original at saveandreply when he said he had one in the back and was debating on selling. I went back and it was gone!

[jharcnc]

ok guys,

so, as discussed, I'm in Honey Harbour on Bone Island (southern shore)

I picked up the 4228HD and the DTV3000 HD/Analog converter

I have the 4228HD installed on my chimney--the lowest point of the antenna is approx 1ft above the highest point of the chimney--it is strapped to it--and pointed due south; fresh coax run of 25ft from the antenna to the box

currently I can only pick up about 5 american HD stations (all starting with W, one out of Buffalo)....I'm not picking up any Canadian stations in my area

I should point out that even without any antenna, my TV could pick up channel 3 (Global) crystal clear before the new antenna...now, nothing....correct me if I'm wrong, but this has everything to do with the VHF capabilities of the antenna?

any suggestions for me? wrong antenna??

cheers

[tvlurker]

I should point out that even without any antenna, my TV could pick up channel 3 (Global) crystal clear before the new antenna...now, nothing....correct me if I'm wrong, but this has everything to do with the VHF capabilities of the antenna?

any suggestions for me? wrong antenna??

Go to TVFool.com and post your results. I had trouble identifying exactly where near Honey Harbour you are. (Use "Honey Harbour, ON" to start, and then position the marker on your exact location usin the satellite view.)
Note that you won't be able to get most of the station listed as Canadian digital stations, since they don't exist yet (or possible ever.) But if you post the plt, we could get an idea of what you could get. Also be sure to update your antenna's elevation above ground level. The default is only 10 feet.

There don't seem to be any American stations close enough to you to get normally, so perhaps you were lucky and got some atmospheric skip conditions.

I'm surprised you were able to get any digital stations at all, let alone American ones.

As for CKVR on channel 3 (it's A, not Global), you are correct -that would come in better on Rabbit ears than with a UHF antenna like the CM4228HD.

[jharcnc]

thanks for your help guys...as you can tell I'm a noob at this...I plotted my exact location in Honey Harbour (Bone Island), down to the dock level ;-)...and converted it into the signal analysis tool...here are my results:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...23c5be277e6e80

it would be great if I could get some antenna advice (I can always return or sell my 4228hd)...my basic goals are to a) pick up as many channels as possible, and b) pickup CBC-HD (for HNIC at the cottage)...with an emphasis on b)

cheers