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

[tvlurker]

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)

Loks like slim pickins for HD in the short term. Your antenna should be fine for the local analog stations (except for CKVR on channel 3), but reliable reception will have to wait for 2011 or later for reliable reception of digital stations from Barrie. (Barrie is considered part of the Toronto market, and is supposed to convert to OTA digital in 2011, according to the CRTC's current rules. I'm sure this will change, though.)

Can you still get those American stations? Which ones are they?

[jharcnc]

thanks for the reply...ok, I just did a rescan of what's available tonight:

2-1 WGRZ-HD
2-2 WGRZ-US
2-3 WGRZ-RT
4-1 WIVB-HD
7-1 WKBW-HD
51-1 ION
51-2 qubo
51-3 IONLife
51-4 WORSHIP

None of these stations come in reliably however...sporadic viewing with a signal that moderates all the way from the extreme ends of the scale...weak to excellent

I cannot pickup any Canadian stations...once again, after about 10 autoscans of the channels, this is the best I can do...

my antenna is currently pointed due south...if I turned it more westward, would I pickup any Canadian stations?

what is my best bet for bringing in as many channels as possible? they do not have to be HD necessarily, but crystal-clear analog CBC (for Hockey Night in Canada) would be great...I don't care if I have to return the antenna

many thanks

[jharcnc]

I should re-iterate that I can't pickup anything else outside of what I posted above...zero Canadian channels...if I disconnect my new antenna and box, and just do a channel scan in the old analog tv, I get both channel 3 and 5 (and 3 is crystal clear)...CBC on 5 is very snowy

anyway, Chipom seems to be getting waaaaay more than I can...many thanks

[tvlurker]

what is my best bet for bringing in as many channels as possible?

Unfortunately, the TVFool site has temporarily removed Canadian analog stations from its database, so I can't tell if you should be able to get analog CBC from Barie or not.

When the database is restored, I'll sk you to run TVFool again and we'll let you know.

In the meantime, you should be getting the CH and Global analog repeaters -- they're pretty close to you. Barrie is due south of you, and you should get the CBC analog repeater from there, too.

I suspect that your analog reception may be sufferring if your TV tuner is set to 'cable' instead of 'air'. It needs to be set to 'over the air' or something similar for you to be able to tune analog (UHF) TV channels above 14, which is where everything is except for CKVR and Global. Check out your TV's setup menu and report back, please.

[jharcnc]

well, I had it connected to my DTV3000 atsc/digital/analog tuner....the tuner was connected to video-1 on my older tv and I changed the channels via the DTV3000...once again I couldn't get anything outside all those American channels above

as an experiment, I connected the antenna's coax cable directly to the tv and did a channel scan (making sure the auto-scan was set to AIR, not CABLE)...from there I picked up about 7 channels or so, including A channel (3), tvo kids, french cbc, ctv...etc

I appreciate your advice!! Help me pull in CBC HD, or at the very least CBC in clear reception...that is the goal! Should I mod the 4228HD or return it for something else?

Many thanks

[Chipom]

Hello Jharcnc, CBC has the strongest signal. I wish all the channels were this strong. Some of the external digital tuners don't seem to pick up all the channels. I plug from my CM4228HD to my CM7777 and then to the TV.. TV is a 32" LCD tv with ATSC and have no problems. I have recently added another CM4228HD and experimented with them setup on top of each other. Will try it for a while and see if it makes much difference.. Hard to test as the signals are always changing with the weather, day & night, etc..
I use my in my campground and yes, need CBC for HNIC. We put the TV outside and have a campfire.
I tried the mod on one of my CM4228HD and picture was worse.. I tried several things.. perhaps I had a faulty balun. I ended up putting the antenna back the way it was and had a problem. I reversed the original balun (must of been upside down) and it worked fine as before.
I may sell both the CM4228HD as I have some friends that wanted them up there and was gonna pick up the DB8 since the original 4228 cannot be found.

Question for others, From the Barrie location, should I be able to pick up the higher Toronto channels better with a DB8, or should I go ahead and add a CM4221HD with one of my 4228hd? should I put the 4221 on top, and the 4228 on the bottom?

Or would I be better with 2 4221HD's as they perform better than the CM4228HD with the higher UHF channels?

[tvlurker]

Should I mod the 4228HD or return it for something else?

You should be able to get CBC analog well with the 4228HD if you point it in the right direction, assuming there are no obstrutions in the way.

CBC HD will be a long shot, and nothing short of an array of deep fringe antennas will give you reliable reception, at least according to the TVFool report. (Which is not to say you won't get CBC-HD from Toronto occassionally, but that doesn't mean it will consistently work well enough to last a whole hockey game.)

[TorontoHere]

I'd like to set up an antenna @ the cottage.

I have a clear south lake view.

Let me know if you have channels, and which ones that are clear.

And which antenna you have and if you like it.

Thanks in advance.

[Legacy2009]

Depends on exactly where you are located.

Suggest you go to www.tvfool.com and enter your location. It will produce a map and show you towers that should be within reception range for you. I would guess that there won't be much, and for the time being they probably aren't even digital.

Also, once you give a general indication of where you are, eg Gravenhurst, or Bala, etc., your post will be relocated to an appropriate subforum in the OTA Reception threads.

[TimCDN]

Hi all,

New guy on the block. I have read a couple of threads about OTA reception in Barrie and want to chat with a few locals to see what works.

I am at about 1000 ft ASL and live in a 2 storey house so I can put the antenna about 25 ft AGL. I think I have a good shot at Toronto and maybe even Buffalo.

I am considering a DB8 with a CM 7777, but this config is just based on a couple of reviews etc.

I would like to know what you guys are using and how successful you have been in receiving channels.

Looking forward to a reply.

Thanks
Tim

[jharcnc]

Originally Posted by jharcnc

well, I had it connected to my DTV3000 atsc/digital/analog tuner....the tuner was connected to video-1 on my older tv and I changed the channels via the DTV3000...once again I couldn't get anything outside all those American channels above

ok guys...so, given the information above, what should I do?

- return antenna for a different one with more VHF capabilities?
- add a CM-7777?
- exchange the DTV3000 for a different tuner box?
- something else?

keep in mind, my ultimate goal it simply to be able to watch CBC (which I can pull in now, on channel 67 on my old analog tv with the 4228HD plugged directly into it) and other major networks (as many as possible) for Hockey Night in Canada and NFL games

many thanks

[stampeder]

jharcnc, you need a deepest fringe OTA setup:

• buy a second CM4228HD antenna
• perform the hardware hack on both of them
• stack the second CM4228HD on top of your first one
• run them into a KitzTeck preamp, or a CM7777
• change to a Zenith or Channel Master converter box or buy an HDTV with an ATSC tuner

No problem with HNIC on CBC after all that, but you'd want to get it up and running now while the weather's still okay!

[jharcnc]

thanks!! this is exactly what I was looking for

many thanks

[jharcnc]

what about the Tivax STB-T8 box? looks like it got good reviews too?

cheers

[stampeder]

Nope, if you click the link I gave for the Zenith and CM converter boxes you'll see some bad reviews of the Tivax box in that thread.