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OTA Station Status: Montreal, QC, Northern NY & VT

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1M views 4K replies 331 participants last post by  Ve2dgz 
#1 · (Edited)
Also, four DTV approvals are currently pending: OMNI.1 and OMNI.2, which wanted to add DTV repeaters in Ottawa on channels 27 (CFMT1) and 66 (CJMT1) respectively;
Radio-Canada wanting a DTV station in Quebec City (CBVT) on channel 12;
and Télé-Québec wanting a DTV station in Montreal (CIVM) on channel 27.
The latter two will be heard during non-appearing hearings in May and June respectively. (see CRTC public hearing notices CRTC 2005-3 and CRTC 2005-4)
 
#2 ·
QC/ON - Montreal/Cornwall/Southern Quebec - OTA

You forgot Vermont (Burlington area):

WVNY: 22-13-13

WPTZ: 05-14-14

WETK: 33-32-32 (still pending approval from Canada)

WFFF: 44-43-43

WCAX: 03-53-?? Final channel still unknown because 53 out of core and 03 would be unwatchable because of interference. I'm wondering if WCAX will be able to get WVNY's old channel 22 allocation...

For WVNY digital, I strongly recommend viewers in the Montreal area get a single-channel 13 antenna. An all-VHF antenna simply causes too much cross-channel interference because of the four high powered VHF analogs in Montreal.
 
#5 ·
tigerbangs said:
Of course , it would be nice if Vermont got ONE DTV channel operating out of Burlington! As of yet, they haven't, which must frustrate all of those viewers in the Montreal area who watch OTA!
Well, at least there is one station WCFE-DT (PBS-HD) that broadcasts from Plattsburgh, NY...

For the Burlington ones, they are all being built at the same time, so there can't be one ahead of the others.
 
#6 ·
Some older Vermont posts

Ettisl wrote:

Burlington, Vermont OTA Status

Anyone know if they have started building the transmission tower on Mount Mansfield yet?
It seems that this is our only hope for accessible OTA DTV in the Montreal area. This tower is to be shared by ABC, FOX, CBS, NBC and Vermont-PBS. Currently the only easily accessible channel is WCFE-DT Mountain Lake PBS with CBC/SRC being blocked by Mount-Royal for West-Islanders. CTV and Global seem to have no interest in OTA by saying that the market is too small for the 500,000+ English speaking viewers.


kApOO:

The construction is supposed to start this may for the two next summers. If everything is going as planned, you'll see DT signals in late 2006. Look here for the progress: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/show...threadid=299530
 
#8 ·
stampeder said:
... Vancouver will be up in January or February, with Ottawa and Quebec City next in 2006 ...
CBC in Quebec City seems an odd choice for priority ... they didn't get a network CBC transmitter (CBVE) until 1997 or so ... they had a privately-owned affiliate (CKMI - now Global Quebec). I guess SRC must be putting HD in there, and it only makes sense to do them both together!

Nick
 
#10 ·
nfitz said:
CBC in Quebec City seems an odd choice for priority ... they didn't get a network CBC transmitter (CBVE) until 1997 or so ... they had a privately-owned affiliate (CKMI - now Global Quebec). I guess SRC must be putting HD in there, and it only makes sense to do them both together!

Nick
Why is it an odd choice, given SRC has excellent ratings while CBC does not... I wouldn't be surprise to see better numbers in some smaller markets in QC compared to CBC in bigger cities.

They'll be done by pair, not individually.

-gmd
 
#11 ·
Plattsburg NY and Burlington VT from Montreal

I just checked a map and I can picture your situation better now, Ianic. This is a tricky location since the local Montreal stations could easily cook your ATSC tuner if your antenna gain is too high. I'm glad you recognized this danger and were wise to check into solutions here.

Since your goal is the U.S. stations, go for the antennas that will be best suited to that. A Wade-Delhi 306 will do great for VHF, and for UHF I would suggest a Winegard 9032 Corner Reflector Yagi for its superior rejection of side and back signals. As an option you could use a combo antenna like a Wade-Delhi 936SR instead and keep things simplified. Clearly you will not require a rotor if the stations are all along the same line.

Having recommended those antennas, you will need some complex filtering to radically lower the gain on all Montreal signals while keeping the U.S. signals high before the downlead goes to your ATSC tuner. This can be done with special notch traps and attenuators from such companies as Tin Lee:

http://www.tinlee.com

The goal would be to have a low bypass (not a complete bypass!) notch trap for every Montreal channel (with an added attenuator on that line if needed) before the downlead goes into your ATSC tuner. Each trap has a signal strength cost, so that amount of filtering and attenuating is quite complex given the number of OTA stations so close to you. I would highly suggest getting a professional to assess your situation. If you are up to doing it yourself we can make further suggestions.

Any different solutions to this problem, folks?
 
#13 ·
For what it's worth (I saw another post by someone mentioning this dated back a year ago), I just emailed Global and CTV, and both are still mentionning they still have no plans at the moment as far as broadcasting in HD in Montreal is concerned. *sigh*

CTV mentions the decision is up to CTV Toronto and the plans for CFCF have not been laid out...

Global says there's no immediate plans and they're still involved in studies about it.

Guess all I can do is stick with SRC/CBC in the meantime. :p
 
#14 ·
You can bet that if there were several local U.S. stations already in digital beaming strongly into Montreal that CTV and Global would either be up and running already or have their plans well in progress, like what is happening in Toronto and Vancouver! ;) To them no competition means no hurry.
 
#15 ·
Burlington, VT launch dates for DT stations

This is the latest I have for the Burlington, VT stations. Maybe this will get them acting:

Net CH Station Live Date
ABC 13 WVNY-DT Dec 1 2006
CBS 53 WCAX-DT Aug 1 2006
FOX 43 WFFF-DT Jun 1 2006
NBC 14 WPTZ-DT FCC Extension
PBS 32 WETK-DT Sep 1 2006
 
#17 ·
TitanTV.com has a link after you set up your location. It only accepts U.S. addresses so I put in Rousses Point NY. When viewing the current off-air station tv listings(57.1 & 57.2) there is a link to "Digital Stations coming soon" under the HOME and HDTV buttons.
 
#19 ·
Speaking of WCFE, I watched Primetime - a full one hour in upconverted SD to 1080i - last night (57-1). Looked pretty nice. And it wasn't even pure HD.

Will PBS stations go "HD-only" (16:9, etc...) when they stop transmitting 480i? Or will we stop seeing -02 channels soon?

On another topic, are we getting closer to see CBMT-DT and CBFT-DT more to Mount Royal?

-gmd
 
#20 ·
For those who have success getting channels out of Plattsburgh, you will be glad to know that...
over in Saranac Lake, the new TV construction permit on channel 40 has taken the calls WCWF. Will the new signal, expected to sign on as a digital-only facility serving Burlington and Plattsburgh, be seeking affiliation with the CW network? Sure looks that way, doesn't it?

http://www.fybush.com/nerw.html#ny
So looks like there may be one more ATSC station coming on the air sooner than later that you may be able to pull in...
 
#21 ·
alebowgm said:
For those who have success getting channels out of Plattsburgh, you will be glad to know that...

So looks like there may be one more ATSC station coming on the air sooner than later that you may be able to pull in...
Remember CHOT-TV at channel 40?

-gmd
 
#22 ·
SIgnal down for Radio-Canada HD or CBC HD in Montreal? March 2, 2006

Is there anybody receiving the Radio-Canada HD signal in Montreal on this nice THursday March 2nd eveneing? When I cam back from work I was suddenly not getting any signal anymore! I am not getting CBC HD either

Thanks

Ianic Brisson
 
#25 ·
WFFF Burlington VT reduced they're ERP to 47kW!!!

I hope i'm mistaking, but WFFF has filed a new construction permit and reduced they're ERP to 47. A look at they're new coutour Map show that Montreal is now excluded.


Can anyone prove me wrong, please.....
I want to watch this channel!!!

thanks

i also posted this message on AVS
 
#26 ·
I think all hope is not lost just yet... their contour has sufficient overlap into Quebec that Montreal and area would be in the Deep Fringe/Deepest Fringe zone, so it will take some good OTA gear to get it. Also, 47kW might sound low but in ATSC it is a respectable power. Too bad they made this decision though!

 
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