QC - South Shore, Eastern Townships, Northern NY and VT

[peete]

Hello
I am a new member and this what I am interested in. I have always had OTA reception and intend to stay with it. I've started to alter my antenna setup because of the conversion to digital slated for Aug. 2011. I purchased a converter for the American stations about 45 mi. away.Their signals are not strong with way too many dropouts. I get A few Montreal stations, also about 45 mi. away but in the opposite direction with generally the same inadequate signal strength as the US stations. I presently use an old VHF/UHF log periodic, I think Radio Shack, about 25 ft. high, no rotor. Last spring I built a Gray-Hoverman (thanks to Jeff and his friends at WSYR-TV, Syracuse) but have not put it up yet. I will build another one this winter and put them both up to be ready for Aug. 2011. One for Burlington VT. and one for Mtl. There is one glitch, all the transmitters are UHF except for one, ABC's station which is on Ch 13. I don't really want another antenna just for that station but I guess I have no choice.
My question: Can I chop my existing antenna?

Thanks

[Marbles_00]

I would firstly get the hoverman up there and at least test to verify that it works and gets the intended UHF channels. Point it in the direction that CH13 is and see if it will pickup that station too. If all the US stations are in that direction, then it is an extra bonus. When testing, I was able to pickup some VHF with my hovermans, and I didn't even have NAROD's on them. If you have trouble picking up 13 with the hoverman, than add NAROD's and see if that helps.

If worse comes to worse, then use your existing antenna, or tear it down to create something totally tuned for RF13.

But I'd sure get the hoverman up there to pick up one of the markets especially the US ones, since the Canadian transition has nothing to do with them (they've already performed their transition).

[Jase88]

The Hoverman won't get channel 13 in Quebec. This ABC station is particularly difficult to receive.

You could remove the UHF portion of your current antenna. However this may impact the balance of the antenna.

Another option is to order an Antennacraft high-VHF Yagi from The Source; they're much smaller than conventional VHF antennas with both low and high. Make sure you get the VHF up as high as possible.

[Marbles_00]

pete, what's your TVFool report show?

Surprised that 13 can be that difficult. From Montreal, it has an ERP of 21. That should be pretty ideal (I put a height of 30feet in the report I did).

[downbeat]

peete: Welcome to the forum. Might I suggest you take a look at this post:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=125161
Follow the instructions to help other members of the discussion board help you better!

[tvlurker]

Originally Posted by Marbles_00

pete, what's your TVFool report show?

Surprised that 13 can be that difficult. From Montreal, it has an ERP of 21. That should be pretty ideal (I put a height of 30feet in the report I did).

I think you mean TVFool Noise Margin, not ERP.

The ERP in the direction on Montreal is around 1 kW or so.

You might think that a 21 dB NM is good enough for LOS signal on VHF Hi, but there are several mitigating factors here:

1. adjacent channel NTSC on channel 12, about 50 dB higher in level
2. Several high power FM stations in the 105 to 108 MHz range , whose second harmonic can interfere with reception of channel 13.
3. co-channel NTSC station in Trois Rivieres can afect some people.

[linuxhda]

Hi Folks, long time lurker here.

Has anyone seen any weakness on WPTZ over the last few days? I'm not seeing drop outs on the tv but it's coming in a little weaker than WFFF for me and my hdhomerun can't seem to get much quality from the signal.

BTW, around 01:30 this morning, 6, 46 and 12 were all very weak (just snow). So I scanned and got WVNY on a reflectorless M4 + CM7778. It was nice to finally see it

[guizmo1967]

Hi, I just build a GH10 and a bowtie antenna. I live near Montreal Canada and get those channel:

With the GH10 at N-E (45 degree):

2 CBFT
5 WPTZ
6 CBMT
17 CIVM
22 WVNY
35 CFJP
57 WCFE

With the bowtie S-E (135 degree):

3 WCAX
33 VPT
44 WFFF
57 WCFE

Then I Combined both antennas with a backward splitter, everything went fine without phasing problem but unfortunatly I lost channel 3 and 44. So after all the reading, I guest I need a preamp !!!

So this is my question:

I think I need to install the preamp after the splitter but in the preamplifier chart, the input and output ohms gets me confused. I believe I need a preamp with a 75 ohms input and 75 ohms output because the matching transformer transform 300 ohms to 75 ohms. Am I right ???

I want to buy the channel master 7778, is it a good choice for my problem ??

Thanks

[300ohm]

Post your TVFool image. I think you must have very strong signals for that combination to work. A strong preamp most likely will make the situation worse.

I believe I need a preamp with a 75 ohms input and 75 ohms output because the matching transformer transform 300 ohms to 75 ohms. Am I right ???

Yes, the output of the balun is 75 ohms, so you need 75 ohms in and out on the preamp.

[ScaryBob]

Running 2 RG6s and using a 75 ohm coax switch would be cheaper and will work better.

[guizmo1967]

This my TvFool image link :



http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...da323fd6ae41e1

[300ohm]

Yeah, a preamp will cause you problems. Like ScaryBob said, run two coax downleads (one from each antenna) into an A-B switch at the TV. I would point the GH10 at the more distant stations.

[guizmo1967]

300ohms, where would you point the GH10 ??? Using my compass, I did a scan every 45 degrees and right now at 45 degrees ( north-est), it's the best position, I think for the GH10!!

Am I missing something ??? I'm not a pro !!!

The CFJP-DT (35) channel sometime comes and go, it's the only channel I'm missing right now.


UPDATE I just turn the bowtie about 15 degrees (now at 150 degrees) almost south and the 3 and 44 came back. Yeah !!! If only 35 would be steady...

[300ohm]

UPDATE I just turn the bowtie about 15 degrees (now at 150 degrees) almost south and the 3 and 44 came back. Yeah !!! If only 35 would be steady...

I would reverse the position of the bowtie and GH10, as the GH10 has higher gain. 35.1 is a strong station, maybe too strong for the GH10.
If using a compass, use the magnetic degrees from TVFool.

[guizmo1967]

Thanks a lot, gonna try your set up tomorrow !!! I will give you the result.