It's interesting that Rogers is applying for two out-of-town DTV signals, and no sign of when CHRO-DT, which is local to Ottawa, will build their DTV transmitter. Rogers built a large media complex a few years ago in the Byward Market, two blocks from our place, and I have to wonder whether or not there was any consideration given at the time to DTV broadcasting.
tigerbangs
2,321 - 2,340 of 2,978 Posts
Joined
·
117 Posts
So all this time my lack of OTA channels has been the fault of organized labour. Lucky for the Americans they don't have unions.
Anybody else notice a gradual decline in the quality of WNYF-SD Fox 28.1 on RF18 over the years? Over a year ago the signal used to be 16:9 on 480i and it was ok, but then they changed it to cut-off 4:3 on 480i, I can only imagine because people might have been confused by, couldn't, or didn't know how to change their TV's aspect ratio for this channel. Lately the signal looks more and more washed out, like it's going through an analogue conversion first, and they've even been double letter-boxing 16:9 inside the 4:3 480i! Meanwhile WWNY-HD CBS 28.2 on RF18 has always and still looks great (16:9 1080i). Sadly we rarely (only with very good tropospheric conditions) get the good quality 720p Fox WNYF-CD 28.1 on RF35 in Ottawa.
Also, I'm really missing Mountain Lake PBS! Apparently they've installed a temporary low power transmitter this past Wednesday morning to service the Plattsburg area but of course I'm not (I can't imagine any of us in the Ottawa area are) receiving that at all. (The latest news (click->): UPDATE: Mountain Lake PBS Off the Air Due to Transformer Fire.)
Also, I'm really missing Mountain Lake PBS! Apparently they've installed a temporary low power transmitter this past Wednesday morning to service the Plattsburg area but of course I'm not (I can't imagine any of us in the Ottawa area are) receiving that at all. (The latest news (click->): UPDATE: Mountain Lake PBS Off the Air Due to Transformer Fire.)
I'm using a simple amplified table top VHF+UHF antenna; I'm in Ottawa near Montfort Hospital in a high rise facing south. This isn't a reception report thread, there are other threads for that… but here is an up-to-date table with the channels I / we can get here in Ottawa (I'm listing only the digital channels, not including the analog ones we can still receive like CJOH 8 or CKWS 26 / 36). I, and others in and around Ottawa, can receive the American digital channels listed in the first half pretty much year round. I have received the others below when there have been good tropospheric conditions, however not reliably; perhaps some people south of Ottawa can receive those channels reliably.
Code:
List of available Ottawa area over the air digital TV channels
Canadian Digital Channels
(Broadcast: CF = Camp Fortune, HC = Herbert's Corner)
Channel PSIP Name Call Sign Src Res EPG
6 6.1 Global TV CIII-DT CF 1080i |X| moves to 14
9 9.1 Radio-Canada CBOFT-D CF 720p |X| moves to 33
13 13.1 CTV CJOH CF 1080i |X|
17 65.1 City TV CITYTV HC 1080i |X|
20 14.1 OMNI 2 OMNI2 HC 1080i |X|
22 11.1 CHCH CHCHDT1 HC 480i | |
24 24.1 TVO TVO CF 1080i |X|
25 4.1 CBC Ottawa CBOT-DT CF 720p |X|
27 60.1 OMNI 1 OMNI1 HC 1080i |X|
30 30.1 Télé-Québec CIVO-DT CF 1080i |X|
33 9.2 Radio-Canada CBOFT-D CF 720p |X| temp low power
34 34.1 V Télé CFGS HD CF 1080i | |
40 40.1 TVA CHOT HD CF 1080i | |
42 42.1 CTS CTS-HD HC 1080i |X|
43 43.1 CTV Two CHRO HC 1080i |X|
American Digital Channels
Channel PSIP Name Call Sign Src Res EPG
18 28.1 Fox WNYF-SD NY 480i | |
18 28.2 CBS WWNY-HD NY 1080i | |
23 18.1 PBS Watertown WNPI-DT NY 480i |X|
23 18.2 Create TV WNPI-DT NY 480i |X| 6:00-18:00
23 18.2 PBS World WNPI-DT NY 480i |X| 18:00-6:00
23 18.3 WPBS-HD WNPI-HD NY 1080i |X|
38 57.1 PBS Mountain Lake WCFE-HD VT 1080i |X|
38 57.2 MHz Worldview WCFE-D1 VT 480i |X|
38 57.3 PBS World WCFE-D2 VT 480i |X|
(Below: south of Ottawa or with good tropospheric conditions only)
7 7.1 CBS WWNY-HD NY 1080i | |
7 7.2 Fox WNYF-SD NY 480i | |
21 50.1 ABC 50 WWTI-DT NY 720p |X|
21 50.2 The CW WWTI-2 NY 720p |X|
35 28.1 Fox WNYF-CD NY 720p | |
41 16.1-3 PBS Norwood WPBS-1,-2,-HD NY Same as WNPI (see above)
Broadcast tower coordinates:
Camp Fortune - Chealsea, QC 45°30'9"N 75°51'0"W
Herbert's Corner - Manotick, ON 45°13'1"N 75°33'48"W
NewYork 18 (Fox, CBS) & 23 (WNPI) 44°29'29"N 74°51'27"W
Vermont 38 (WCFE) 44°41'43"N 73°53'0"W
NewYork 21 (ABC, The CW) 43°52'47"N 75°43'12"W
NewYork 7, 35 (Fox, CBS) 43°57'15"N 75°43'45"W
NewYork 41 (WPBS) 43°51'46"N 75°43'39"WIt could be routine maintenance or it could be that they are doing more preparations for the installation of the new antennas for CBC, SRC and Global. If so, we can expect overnight outages for the next little while and CBOFT will soon stop broadcasting on channel 9 (falling back to their temporary channel 33 transmitter).
Joined
·
2,013 Posts
FOTA, post # 2324 above,
you say you are able to receive the top half of the american digital channels listed, pretty reliably ?
That would be these?
American Digital Channels
Channel PSIP Name Call Sign Src Res EPG
18 28.1 Fox WNYF-SD NY 480i | |
18 28.2 CBS WWNY-HD NY 1080i | |
23 18.1 PBS Watertown WNPI-DT NY 480i |X|
23 18.2 Create TV WNPI-DT NY 480i |X| 6:00-18:00
23 18.2 PBS World WNPI-DT NY 480i |X| 18:00-6:00
23 18.3 WPBS-HD WNPI-HD NY 1080i |X|
38 57.1 PBS Mountain Lake WCFE-HD VT 1080i |X|
38 57.2 MHz Worldview WCFE-D1 VT 480i |X|
38 57.3 PBS World WCFE-D2 VT 480i |X|
And you say from a high rise, facing south, near Montfort hospital in Ottawa?
With a portable (indoor) amplified UHF / VHF antenna?
Seems good reception to me, if reliable, like almost 24/7, all seasons, and very little dropout or pix.
You must be fairly high up. How high up do you estimate?
Receiver have any sort of signal level meter? % / db / or quality ?
What sort of signal levels are you seeing on those typically? % ?
Would be interesting to see your TV FOOL with that approximate height input when you do the TV Fool.
That's interesting - your reception - with such a simple antenna.
It seems to show that good height and location in Ottawa - can yeild good (realiable?) reception from the U.S.
Perhaps apart from bad weather or conditions. Then you might lose reception. Not sure.
you say you are able to receive the top half of the american digital channels listed, pretty reliably ?
That would be these?
American Digital Channels
Channel PSIP Name Call Sign Src Res EPG
18 28.1 Fox WNYF-SD NY 480i | |
18 28.2 CBS WWNY-HD NY 1080i | |
23 18.1 PBS Watertown WNPI-DT NY 480i |X|
23 18.2 Create TV WNPI-DT NY 480i |X| 6:00-18:00
23 18.2 PBS World WNPI-DT NY 480i |X| 18:00-6:00
23 18.3 WPBS-HD WNPI-HD NY 1080i |X|
38 57.1 PBS Mountain Lake WCFE-HD VT 1080i |X|
38 57.2 MHz Worldview WCFE-D1 VT 480i |X|
38 57.3 PBS World WCFE-D2 VT 480i |X|
And you say from a high rise, facing south, near Montfort hospital in Ottawa?
With a portable (indoor) amplified UHF / VHF antenna?
Seems good reception to me, if reliable, like almost 24/7, all seasons, and very little dropout or pix.
You must be fairly high up. How high up do you estimate?
Receiver have any sort of signal level meter? % / db / or quality ?
What sort of signal levels are you seeing on those typically? % ?
Would be interesting to see your TV FOOL with that approximate height input when you do the TV Fool.
That's interesting - your reception - with such a simple antenna.
It seems to show that good height and location in Ottawa - can yeild good (realiable?) reception from the U.S.
Perhaps apart from bad weather or conditions. Then you might lose reception. Not sure.
The channel 9 tower is long gone from the top of the tower. What you see today on 9.1 is broadcasting at reduced power from a temporary antenna three quarters of the way up the tower. This is in addition to the low power 9.2 still broadcasting from the top of the transmitter shack. At some point this summer, they will begin broadcasting from the new antenna on ch 33 at the top of the tower, but at reduced power.
Full power for both CBC stations will have to wait for completion of all the transmission line and combiner work.
As far as I know, Global's move to 14 should be done by sometime on August.
Full power for both CBC stations will have to wait for completion of all the transmission line and combiner work.
As far as I know, Global's move to 14 should be done by sometime on August.
Thanks for the update. I wasn't aware of that. I missed most of your presentation at the meet and greet.
@mrvanwinkles: yes it really depends on your location in Ottawa and, of course, additional height helps a lot. I checked yesterday (6pm) and for both channels 18 (Fox,CBS) and 23 (WNPI) my TV tuner was reporting an SNR of around 22dB (varied between 21.6 to 22.8 or 4 to 5 bars out of 10). I think that might be better than normal, it often hovers near 19dB and during unfavourable conditions I might get some nasty pixelization. But generally, I get good reception year round in the evening. As for Mountain Lake PBS, I'm line of sight with the broadcast antenna, and always get good reception (before their transformers caught fire, of course).
Edit: Mountain Lake PBS update: "We estimate that broadcast service from our Lyon Mountain transmitter will resume on July 26th, barring any unforeseen weather events."
Again, this isn't a reception report thread, so to keep it general: as a guide, below is a Longley-Rice map of WNPI Ottawa Area coverage at ground elevation level generated by rabbitears.info. I appear to be lucky because near the Crosswinds area of Ottawa we are in an orange area. And being in a high rise on top of that, at least 100 feet up helps a lot, to the point where I get good reception with a simple amplified table top antenna.
![Image]()
Edit: Mountain Lake PBS update: "We estimate that broadcast service from our Lyon Mountain transmitter will resume on July 26th, barring any unforeseen weather events."
Again, this isn't a reception report thread, so to keep it general: as a guide, below is a Longley-Rice map of WNPI Ottawa Area coverage at ground elevation level generated by rabbitears.info. I appear to be lucky because near the Crosswinds area of Ottawa we are in an orange area. And being in a high rise on top of that, at least 100 feet up helps a lot, to the point where I get good reception with a simple amplified table top antenna.
Global RF6 vs Global RF14
I thought it would be fun to compare the existing Global TV OTA on RF channel 6 with the upcoming Global TV OTA on RF channel 14 (August according to tvlurker above). Here is a Longley-Rice coverage map animation comparing the two (coverage maps produced by rabbitears.info): (click here to see full size)
![Image]()
I thought it would be fun to compare the existing Global TV OTA on RF channel 6 with the upcoming Global TV OTA on RF channel 14 (August according to tvlurker above). Here is a Longley-Rice coverage map animation comparing the two (coverage maps produced by rabbitears.info): (click here to see full size)
Joined
·
375 Posts
@fota
That's Pretty!!!
But Global still has to actually do it (the transition was two years ago in human years not dog).
Perhaps, the work at CF this week may bring the anticipated date even closer.
That's Pretty!!!
But Global still has to actually do it (the transition was two years ago in human years not dog).
Perhaps, the work at CF this week may bring the anticipated date even closer.
Joined
·
358 Posts
Joined
·
263 Posts
Still receiving Global here in Greely @ 9:30pm. SS68 SQ62 according to my HDHR
2,321 - 2,340 of 2,978 Posts
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
