BC - Victoria, The Island, Sunshine Coast, BC Interior, BC North - OTA

[GearGuyBC]

Well,

Just an update on reception from above. I installed a Winegard 20dB preamp to my antenna and did some tweaking of the aiming with a compass. I am getting a large array of stations, but not having much luck with reliability of the signal. As noted above, the culprit is likely the ExpressVu 6100 tuner. I've got a couple of bids in on eBay for a better tuner and we shall see what transpires.

Anyhow, here is the complete list of HD stations:

5-01 King
5-02 King
7-01 KIRO
7-02 KIRO
9-01 KCTS
9-03 Creat
9-05 KCTS
11-01 KSTW
22-02 KMYQ
27-01
33-01 ION
33-02 QUBO
33-03 IONE
33-04 WORSH (as it turns out, this is the strongest station -- must be the "Higher Power" in play )
38-01
42-01 KWBF
42-02 KYPX
42-03 TUBE (nothing broadcasts on this station)
42-04 LICK (same)
45-01 SHOP
45-02 AZTEC
45-03 ASIAN
45-04 AM-ON
51-01 KUNS

As far as signal strength goes, most of these stations on my EV6100 run at the 0-49% range (which is actually the SNR as I understand it). Some days better than others. Thus far, due to the reliability I wouldn't be turning off my EV service but I may change my mind after I get a better tuner.

[hamann]

what frequency is KMYQ transmitting on?

[stampeder]

KMYQ is on 22 analogue, 25 digital with remap to 22:

http://myq2.trb.com/

[Benjamin]

Im located near the beach at French Creek marina in a bungalow/rancher. Initially my interest was reception of analogue channels when the cable is down in the winter but now realize I can possibly get On Air HD. I cant determine signal strength as the gadget Im using --ATSC/Analogue hybrid USB tuner hooked into my computer--doesnt have that ability. Below is a list of the channels I can receive, all are watchable depending on where I locate the RCA Cant501 antenna. Im receiving CTV 32 analogue with a very good signal but have had no luck hooking up with the CTV-DT channel. Im receiving CBUT-DT with great picture and audio quality but its a bit jumpy/jerky and needs a small tweak to improve it, not sure if I would be getting better reception if I was using an ATSC Lcd TV rather than my computer setup, however I will be getting an ATSC LCD tv sometime later this year and will be able to tell for certain at that time.


5 CKVU Courtenay
6 CHEK Victoria
8 CHAN Vancouver
9 CBUT Courtenay
10 CKVU Vancouver
11 CHAN Courtenay
12 KVOS Bellingham
13 CHEK Campbell River
17 CIVI Vancouver
18 CBUT Sechelt
26 CBUFT Vancouver
32 CIVT Vancouver
42 CHNM Vancouver

58 CBUT-DT Vancouver

[blakew]

I had that antenna. Not the best for digital UHF reception.

[stampeder]

Hi Benjamin, to be honest I doubt you'd get a lock on CTV HD with any antenna due to the very weak power output they've been allotted.

If you go with a Channel Master 4228 outdoor antenna your results will improve dramatically on all channels, but you'd want to mount it on a rotor to swing it north towards Courtenay/Comox/Campbell River or south towards Bellingham or down to Victoria. There is a chance (no promises) that you might get SeaTac stations too.

If you have to stay with an indoor antenna go with a a UHF/VHF model like a ZSS Clone or Winegard Sharp Shooter, but I highly recommend that you go with an outdoor one.

Also don't assume all TVs with ATSC tuners have signal meters. Check first if that's a big selling point.

[Benjamin]

Stampeder and blakew, thanks for the info. I assumed the RCA antenna wasnt the best but got it at a great price when "the Source" closed some of their stores. Im just looking for a short term solution for wintertime viewing when the cable here sometimes drops out during wind storms and really dont want to go into outside antennas or anything too costly though I may look into the antennas you mentioned. I do have a signal meter when tuned to DT --6 bars-- I have a constant 4 bar signal and originally locked in at 2 bars. When scanning for channels I see only one other bar which I assume is CTV-DT. My best location for CBUT-DT is 45 feet away from the computer and I have 2 25 foot rg59 cables coupled together to reach that location. Obviously Im losing some signal at the joined points. and was wondering if a 50 ft rg6 would tweak it enough to give me that extra bar I need or would an amplifier positioned at the first rg connection give me additional boost. The RCA antenna Im using has a built in amplifier.

[stampeder]

If you have a choice, a 50' RG6 cable will give a stronger signal than 2 x 25' RG59 cables.

[flyboy94ca]

I am wondering if anyone in the Mill Bay, BC (N of Victoria) area has had any luck getting OTA HD signals. I have looked through the forums and have not seen anything for this area. My location is 5 miles from the Vic airport across the water and behind Saltspring Island. I currently have no antenna and would prefer not to invest if there is no chance of it working. The TV is a Viewsonic 3751w.
Thanks

[stampeder]

Welcome here flyboy94ca - I've moved your post into the thread for your area, where you will find lots of posts to gather information from, starting at Post #1. Afterwards take a look through the threads for your surrounding areas.

Please click on the links in this post to get up to speed on the OTA Forum, its 2 sub-forums, and its many thread topics:

[omnisquid]

I just found digitalhome today and have been reading the posts etc. I have Starchoice but the receiver is starting to crap out on me, so I'd like to switch to OTA since the channel choices seem viable. I downloaded your decision antenna chart but have some questions regarding a purchase. Basically, which unit would be the best for me.

The location is Trail Island (1km off downtown Sechelt) app. 30km north (as the crow flies) of UBC. We have a totally unobstructed line of sight view (almost 300deg). I simply explain it to our guests as, "If it wasn't for the horizon we could see Mexico." So I'm anticipating good signals with multiple channels. Can you recommend a 'setup'?

Thanks
Peter

[stampeder]

Hi Peter and welcome here - I've never taken my OTA gear up to the Sunshine Coast as much as I've always wanted to see if the Washington State digital stations can carry that far. My hunch is that you're probably beyond the limit for digital signal lock on SeaTac stations.

You'll get CBC analogue loud and clear on UHF 18 in Sechelt, and its probable that you'll also get a variety of surrounding analogue stations from the Island and Sunshine Coast in varying degrees of strength. Here's the list of all TV stations in BC at present and in the near future:

http://www.user.dccnet.com/jonleblan...ations/BC.html

You can plot out the channels and distances on a map, decide if you need a VHF, a UHF, or a combo or one of each to get the channels you want, then reference the Antenna Decision Chart to see my best picks.

Given the mountains in the way between your location and Vancouver I'd guess that the signals of almost all the analogue and digital stations on Mt. Seymour would not make the trip to your antenna.

My advice is to read through each of the BC threads in the Reception Results Forum to see what info might apply to your situation.

[omnisquid]

Stampeder,
Are you saying I will more than likely not be able to get any HD channels at all?
Using cheesy little rabbit ears I am able to receive:

05 CITY TV
06 CH,
08 GLOBALBC,
10 CITY TV
12 KVOS,
13 CBC
18 CBC
23 GLOBAL BC
24 SHOP NBC

a very unwatchable 32 CTV which I was hoping to get if I got better equipment, and a similarly unwatchable 42

I have even occasionally been able to receive

CW
PBS

I was really hoping to ditch StarChoice in favor of OTA HD but if your telling me it's unlikely I'll receive any HD signals then I doubt I'll change.

[stampeder]

OK now that's the reception data that would have been great to read before I replied...

The only station you've listed that comes from Mt. Seymour is Global on channel 8. The fact that your rabbit ears get it leads me to conclude that a top notch outdoor antenna will get the Vancouver stations. The fact that you have occasionally received CW and PBS with rabbit ears is a very good sign that the antenna I've mentioned below will get SeaTac stations, especially in HD.

With a great outdoor combo antenna on a rotor mounted up above any local trees you will be able to swing around and get plenty of VHF, UHF, and FM stations from a variety of directions, and likely a few or more from SeaTac but I don't know how reliably given the distance. I'm talking about a Delhi 936, or 937 (with the VU-8PZ kit on whichever one) as the first choice.

I don't expect that CTV HD will have the radiated power to get you a digital lock from Mt. Seymour. That is simply because of strange Industry Canada and FCC regulatory issues and not CTV itself. It is hoped that their power level will be bumped much higher in the next year or two, but I cannot confirm that at this point.

The following thread tracks the latest info on our area's OTA stations:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42734

[omnisquid]

Awesome. Thank you. The antennas you mentioned, will that be all the equipment I should need? I'm new to all of this but I've been reading posts where some guys have pre-amps and other peices of equipment in their setup. Also, can you recommend a dealer in Vancouver for the Delhi anenna?