OTA: BC & Western Canada Parts, Sales, Service, Installers

88490 Views 167 Replies 75 Participants Last post by laurienicol, Jun 24, 2021

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Discussion Starter · May 13, 2005

Radio shack will be misssed but in Edmonton their are at least two other places to go and much cheeper. Arrow Bell and Active components both have a good supply of stuff.
Heathkit made alot of fun kits to build I personaly made several. I do know that Arrow Bell in the west end has kits like them.

1 - 20 of 168 Posts

stampeder

· #3 · Jun 8, 2005

Vancouver Area

Jeffnoone said:
I don't know if personal commendations are allowed on the forum, but I don't think you should look any further than 4DTV HD himself as a supplier.

I've recommended 4DTV HD myself by PM to Vancouver area DHCers so I'm great with commendations but DHC forum rules dissuade promotion of professional services so its best if we PM him regarding purchases, etc. By all means ask his advice here in public, as I sure will.

stampeder

· #8 · Jul 28, 2006

4DTV HD and The Source

mexman, you can get a CM4228 antenna, mounting gear and a rotor from a DHCer named 4DTV HD, who is from Aldergrove. Hopefully he will be reading this soon, or if you can send a Personal Message to him you should give him a try:

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/member.php?u=9535

Also regarding mounting gear and rotors you can buy them from The Source store on Scott Road in the mall between Zellers and Save On but they have to make a special order for you. They don't carry Channel Master antennas. The problem is that those store personnel often don't know much about the OTA gear that they carry, so read through the following The Source web page to find the right stuff so that you can print it out and take it to them for ordering:

http://www.thesourcecc.com/estore/C...gory=Tower+&+Antenna+Access.&pagenum=1&sort=1

stampeder

· #11 · Nov 20, 2007

London Drugs carries a Terk clone of the ZSS, and they have an excellent return policy.

Also I've moved your other question into this thread for your specific area: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=36748

stampeder

· #16 · Dec 5, 2007

Folks, there's a CM4228 and other OTA gear for sale in Abbotsford if you go and look in the Buy and Sell Forum here at DHC.

stampeder

· #18 · Dec 19, 2007

Washington State

I was asked by a DHCer where in Washington State a person would have to go to get a Channel Master antenna. Unfortunately neither Blaine nor Bellingham has a good shop that I know of, so maybe someone can correct me on that.

I would have recommended Pringles Electronics in Everett, WA:

3011 Grand Ave
Everett, WA 98201, USA
(425) 258-6161

but mirek tells me that their phone number is disconnected and web page is gone!?

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stampeder

· #30 · Mar 27, 2008

We've had posts about 4DTV HD's retail services here for years.

stampeder

· #32 · Mar 27, 2008

Is there a store I can drive to and buy a 4228 in the Lower Mainland?

No, but if there was we'd sure have it in here.

stampeder

· #38 · Mar 28, 2008

Dan, several 4-bay bowtie reflector antennas look a lot like the CM4221 but very few of them perform as well.

stampeder

· #45 · Jul 3, 2008

They aren't commonly available in B.C. at this time so your best bet would be to cross over to Bellingham and buy one at a big box store there like Wal-Mart or Best Buy, or else check the thread about Online OTA Gear vendors.

stampeder

· #48 · Jul 31, 2008

Hi HarveyB25. Whatever you do, don't buy an antenna at an RV store. The prices are horrendous!

Since you are going to be up between Clinton and 100 Mile you are only going to get a few stations OTA in VHF band analogue, which you can look up here:

http://www.user.dccnet.com/jonleblanc/Canada_TV_Stations/BC.html

My suggestion is to try to locate a UFO-style omnidirectional antenna for RVs. Unfortunately The Source doesn't seem to carry them anymore in Canada so you'd have to search for one online such as the Radio Shack model 15-1634.

stampeder

· #49 · Aug 1, 2008

HarveyB25, I just saw this RV antenna on Vancouver Craigslist:

http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/ele/775914120.html

stampeder

· #51 · Aug 2, 2008

No matter which RV antenna you use I think you'll get a snowy picture because the power levels of the local TV repeater stations in the Clinton to 100 Mile House area are very low, so unless you have a full size VHF antenna you are likely to get some weakness in the picture.

Do you intend to permanently mount a new antenna on the RV rooftop, or would a proper (but large) VHF antenna on a portable tripod be an option?

stampeder

· #53 · Aug 3, 2008

One of my neighbours has a Winegard Batwing Sensar III and it suits him fine, so I imagine it would do great for you too keeping in mind the low signal power of the stations. Its very tidy up on his trailer's roof.

stampeder

· #57 · Oct 16, 2008

You might want to try giving Muir's a call in Victoria if they're still around:

http://www.muircom.com/

stampeder

· #59 · Nov 6, 2008

TAK, please return that Terk TV4 and see the antenna chart so that you don't waste your money!

stampeder

· #64 · Feb 4, 2009

Is The Source taking orders on the HDTVa?

stampeder

· #73 · Apr 10, 2009

thecathedral, see Post #30 and 33 in this thread.

BTW the post by MU Fan was just a tip for everyone, not a reply to you.

stampeder

· #78 · Jul 7, 2009

No Victoria and Island OTA suppliers

Unfortunately none of the ham radio or TV repair places I've talked to on the Island over the past few years have wanted to go into the OTA vendor/installer sideline. Muir's has closed down their radio supply business but you could give him a call to see if he'd be interested in handling a line of CM or Winegard OTA gear or at least to get some ideas from him on solving the problems. He'd definitely know some folks with signal analyzers who might be able to do OTA site surveys:

http://www.muircom.com/

The problems for a vendor/installer on the Lower Mainland to service the Island are the usual ones: ferry fees, travel time, accomodations, shipping, etc. A vendor/installer would have to make dedicated "road show" trips, but in order to do that they'd require guarantees (deposits and/or full fees in advance) and then the costs would have to be passed on to the consumer via higher prices than what Lower Mainlanders pay.

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stampeder

· #84 · Sep 10, 2009

Yep, I think its a sign of the times that OTA is still not common in the Calgary area and the older guys have all retired. My advice is to contact a few of the pro satellite dish installers in Calgary and go with the one that seems to pay the best attention to details like grounding.

Even if they tell you they've never done an OTA install they can come here for advice. Many satellite installers have transitioned to installing OTA gear by joining up at this site.

stampeder

· #86 · Sep 11, 2009

OneSat in Calgary

OneSat shows their address on their web page as:

2106 54 AVE SW
Calgary, AB
T3E 1L7

Looking at their OTA products I'd only buy the Channel Master outdoor antennas there. They have the Terk ZSS clone too for people who can only use an indoor antenna.

I would not buy any of the other antennas they sell. Also be aware that Digi wave is a company that is not welcome at this site.

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