NB, NS, PE, NL - Atlantic Provinces - OTA

[halifax_bluenoser]

What's the difference between using an antennae or dish? I'm confused, but ready to go with OTA in my home. In Halifax. Eastlink cable is awful.

I have a SONY HDTV Ready TV 50" WIDESCREEN, an also want to hook up to my new 24" LCD computer monitor (dell-awesome).

i'd like OTA, and High Def.

[Yaamon]

Whoo not sure about that one.

With a outdoor antenna can you get any local stations from Maine ? Halifax looks like a good 150 miles from Maine so I doubt that you are able to.

If not then the chances are very slim to none.

Satellite would be the only choice.

[Mark2074]

I've inputed your coordinates in a website that tells you what DT signals you would get in Halifax. http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp

I would also have to agree that there is little chance of getting Maine local DTV. Even at 150 miles, you may get a PBS station.

[stampeder]

The CRTC has approved St. Andrews, New Brunswick's Channel 26:

http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/De...db2005-551.htm

And the upcoming station has been added to the Industry Canada database already, which I'll post to the OTA Forum in the weeks ahead.

[redskull]

Do any of the Maine digital channels get picked up in Moncton NB?

[dsslearn]

How about Saint John, NB? Did it work in Halifax?

[stampeder]

CBC HD hasn't come up in Atlantic Canada yet, but you could ask Marc in the CBC HD thread if he has any info on the plans. With the CRTC hearings about the future of TV (esp. OTA) going on at this time we are all watching and waiting to see what happens. If a mandatory cutover date to Digital OTA is decreed, you will likely get the 3 major Canadian networks cutting over in the years to come. Let's hope...

[026163]

WMED-DT (PBS) 10 - Calais, Maine
Broadcasting at 3.5kW from 50m

That'd be it. Low power, low transmitter height, but still worth a try from Saint John or any closer to Calais. I believe Saint John is about 60miles from the transmitter

[kfarrell]

Will we ever see this in Halifax?

[The Soundman]

Regrettably, I don’t expect OTA HDTV broadcast signals to be available in the HRM anytime soon. The local affiliates of the networks have no reason yet to spend any money upgrading their equipment to allow for HD similcasting of content that is available in the format and probably will sit on their existing equipment until they are forced to upgrade by the fact that the USA is set to shut of NTSC in 2009. (Assuming that this does not get pushed back…)

Proof of this is the fact that the CBC offers HD content and full 5.1 audio to the markets that do have OTA HDTV and here in Halifax, you cant even get stereo audio out of the local broadcast signal because there gear has been in use since television began broadcasting in color.

Maybe the CRTC will get off their collective tails and start mandating that local broadcasters “get with the program” so to speak at some point in the near future. One can only hope.

[stampeder]

The Canadian cutover to digital TV is August 31, 2011. In the CBC's plans for rolling out their new digital stations Halifax is in the first group. Hang in there!

[Blackburst]

This may not be the right place to post it, but I figure the folks in New Brunswick would know.

I have a few people in the Bas St-Laurent area of Quebec who seem to be interested in HD OTA. The Bas St-Laurent area is north of Edmunston, NB.

The closest HD OTA station that I know about is SRC in Quebec City. Way to far. But, what about stations in Maine. In Presque Isle, Maine, I believe two stations are offering HD. Can those stations reach Edmunston,NB. And what about Bangor, Maine. can those signals reach into New Brunswick, or even Quebec?

I'm not from the area, so I have no idea.

My advice to them has been to hold off buying a ATSC TV until more stations are set up for the transition.

[GerryB]

Edmundston is in kind of a valley I have been there many times. If you can get a relatively clean signal of channel 8 WAGM analog then you might have some luck, but its unlikely even if you are on top of one of the hills. There are repeaters in Fort Kent for the FM stations so its highly unlikely that HDTV from Presque Isle would come in. The only other place in New Brunswick you would have a chance would be anywhere between St Andrews, Grand Manan, and St Stephen where there is a PBS station. Bangor is almost impossible unless you are on Chamcook mountain or out on Grand Manan or on the higher terrain between St Stephen and Mcadam. I used to get UHF TV stations out of Boston as far as Saint John right on the Bay of Fundy but only during strong atmospheric conditions in the summer. Bas St Laurent is way out of the way to get anything from Maine except a few FM stations

[ralph_sinclair]

Originally Posted by stampeder

In the CBC's plans for rolling out their new digital stations ...

stampeder, do you have a link to this information?

[GPSC]

Does anyone know if its possible to get HD OTA in Halifax yet? If so, which stations?