I just plugged in an OTA antenna I picked up this afternoon and picked up Mountain Lake PBS in HD at 88%. I haven't even mounted the darn thing just layed it on my sofa facing the window!!! I will mount it temporarily outside this weekend and mount it permanently on the roof this summer. I live in the far west end of Laval, Quebec so I have a clear southerly line of sight to Plattsburgh and Burlington without interference of Mt.Royal.

I didn't try to CBC yet, but will do so this weekend.

This is awesome! I actually decided to do this right away so I can watch the analog ABC feed of the SuperBowl during the commercials and flip back to the HD during gameplay if ExpressVu goes ahead and simsubs with the Toronto Global feed.

Can you tell me what is your signal strench this morning with the freezing rain?

thank you

Unfortunately I can't. I unplugged everything yesterday until I can setup a temporary mast for it outside this week. I am confident that once installed properly outside I can get that signal up. That 88% was from laying the antenna on the top of my couch next to the window.

What kind of antenna did you get (make/model) and did it cost much?

Active color antenna - Provo - TVA-3500
includes amp.

$55.00 CDN.

looks like it's for RVs i'll take a pic tonight

poncho, I was able to get the following URL about your antenna, so maybe the link you posted was broken:

http://www.addison-electronique.com/...ba2e40701c978b

I'm concerned about the warning not to use it in urban areas, given that you are in Laval. This probably means that the amplifier in it is overly strong to try to compensate for the odd aerial design. The danger is that such a high power amplifier can damage your TV and other gear. Like you said, it was sitting on your sofa and getting a high reading on the U.S. station, so if it goes up on the roof and maxes out your system on a Montreal station you could fry your tuner.

I downloaded a PDF that identifies the antenna as a Vitek from Russia, but maybe its built somewhere else and that's just the trade name for it there. I wish you well with it, but if you want to have the best reception possible I highly recommend a more traditional antenna like the ones recommended in the READ THIS BEFORE... thread.

The fact that this is an almost unknown antenna troubles me, but I'm always pleased when people get the TV reception they want and expect. Let us know how things go for you.

is there anyway to determine whether it's a high powered amp? BTW I won't really be interested in getting Montreal stations, more interested in receiving Plattsburgh and Burlignton stations (60-80 miles away)

Also I live in the western edge of Laval, with some good elevation and a clear shot to the US stations, so I think I can attribute some of the success picking up Mountain Lake PBS to that. I tried getting CBC tonight, again from my living room and was only getting an erratic 40% signal.

I'm not one to usually going against the tested results, but I figured I'd give this thing a chance when I saw it. If it's really going to be a problem then i'll return it and order something more traditional, but I'd really like to know how verify the amp

The web site says 15-24 dB of signal so that's acceptable for steady signal, but in some situations of bad signal behaviour that's a lot of energy. My guess is the warning about urban areas is that your antenna doesn't handle multipath very well. Give it a test and let us know how it goes.

If you decide to go with a more conventional solution, my recommendation is that since you only want the U.S. stations and they're in only one direction, you should solidly mount a Channel Master 4228 bowtie reflector up high since the distance is in the Deep Fringe range. I also think a corner reflector yagi like a Winegard 9032, Wade CYD-1470, or Channel Master 4248 would do fine too.

Whichever antenna you use, you might need to feed it into a Channel Master 7777 or Winegard AP8275 preamp, but you should test it first without one before buying one of those preamps.

What kind of antenna do you have and where can I by it ?
thank

VINAMA, see posts 48 through 51 for that info. I think you should wait until he can give a better set of results, and keep in mind that we don't know anything about his new antenna.

I hope you will be cautious about spending money on it. We have lots of experience here in the OTA Forum with other more conventional antennas that will give you many years of trouble-free viewing pleasure. I also would like to hear from you about what channels you would like to get and more info about your own location.

Stampeder, thanks for your info.

I live in Repentigny, 10km east of Montreal. I am currently using a Rabbit Ear type of antenna on the second floor of my house. With those, I can get CBC and SRC (Radio-Canada) with good results (about 65%, SNR 18 to 21dB) using the ATSC built-in tuner of my sony KDFE42a10.

I'm trying to get PBS. I've read many posts in this forum and I believe that I should tune 38.1 to get the digital channel. Unfortunately, i get nothing when I tune to this channel (57 analog is very blurry).

Here are my questions:
1) Do you think that a 4228 installed in my attic would give me the possibility to get PBS? My wife doesn't like the idea of having the Channel Master outside, so i need to install it in the attic only.
2) Do you think that a SS-2000 Square Shooter installed outside would give better results than the CM4228 in the attic?
3) I've spent roughly 3 hours looking for a channel master distributor in Montreal. Do you know one?

BTW, I have videotron HD using a PACE 551HD. Getting PBS through OTA is more a hobby than a neccessity. I just feel that OTA is better than Videotron for SRC and CBC.

Thanks

Hi, have a look in the READ THIS... thread where I posted a PDF file with a chart of antennas that you can use for comparing.

If you cannot find a Channel Master dealer you can check the OTA Equipment thread to contact Trenton Distributing in Ontario and see if they can ship you one. A second choice would be to try the Winegard PR-8800 - it will be okay for the U.S. stations. There are several web stores that sell CM and Winegard.

A Winegard Square Shooter is not an option for you to get U.S. stations. It is not at all in the same category as a CM4228 or PR-8800. The Square Shooter would be fine for just the Montreal stations though but I don't recommend it over the 3 antennas that I told VINA about for local Montreal stations.

Regarding attic mounting, I never recommend it. If it works for you, that's great, but there are too many problems with signal interference for me to feel good about advising it. Nevertheless, your boss has spoken so I guess you have to do the best you can!

Just a thought for people in the Montreal area: if enough of you keep phoning Addison to buy Channel Master, Wade, or Winegard antennas and gear they will be smart enough to start stocking it or at least ordering it for you.

Currently only Mountain Lake PBS is available OTA HD. By the end of 2006 we should have ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC.

Any Lavalians?

Hello there, I'm looking into picking a new HD-Ready TV, mostly for watching DVD's... but it would be cool to catch some OTA HD TV. I would like some advice from anyone, to see if it would be worth it to invest in some equipment to catch these channels. I don't particularly watch a lot of TV and do not see myself subscribing to BEV anytime soon or Illico. I would just like to catch the local channels and some american ones.

I currently have a normal set connected to rabbit ears and I catch TQS, CBC, CTV, PBS, Tele-Quebec, Global, TVA fairly well (sometimes a bit snowy) I can also catch on rare days FOX and ABC (but not very often).

I live in an apartment that is on the third floor and it faces west (i'm parallel to the 15). The condo rules state I can't have any antennas outside (unless it's really unconspicuous)

So the advice I seek is what type of antenna should i be looking into and what results should I expect (are there any indoor ones that are not too much of an eye-sore but perform really well)

Obviously I will need a receiver, any tips on where to get them cheap (100$ or so)... The alternative is getting a real HDTV, are there any 27-32 inch LCD TV's with a built-in receiver?

Thanks

"Any Lavalians?"

I'm in Laval