[Bman72s]

Roger 1818 I agree with you 100%. Perhaps you have stated the point I was trying to make better than I did. In that respect if people read about my experience then they can make that informed decision as to whether OTA is the way for them to go. For now ,as I said, it will complement my Bell subscription but not replace it. It is nice to have the option to switch when a signal isn't coming in. The flip side is it sure would be nice to cancel the satellite subscription. At this stage, for me, that is an option I chose not to make.

 

[poutanen]

I think you guys have both summed it up well... In my case I was able to use a dual tuner, dual antenna setup in an HTPC to reliably get both American and Canadian stations.

For the amount of TV my girlfriend and I watch, that was more than enough to go OTA only for 3 years or so. The cost savings was substantial and the learning curve, installation, tuning, etc. was interesting to learn about.

Since moving to Calgary, there are only 5 or so reliable HDTV stations, and that wouldn't be enough to pass the threshold of acceptable in our case. So we bit the bullet and subscribed to TV again.

Do I miss OTA? Yeah! I can't stand getting a cable bill every month. And I can't stand having to use proprietary DVR boxes with limited hard drive size. I had 2.5 TB of space in my HTPC and could watch it on any TV in my house, plus was able to schedule and watch recordings through a program called Remote Potato anywhere in the world. I got NFL games without sim-subbed ads too...

Do I like having cable/fibre optic back? Yeah! I get F1 without having to go to a friends house or a bar. I get Rad X, the discovery channel, etc. which I missed before.

So yeah it's a decision that has to be weighed either way, and both options have their pros and cons.

 

[cableredneck]

Pros of OTA

We have had OTA for about a month (we also have subscription satellite). The reason we got an antenna was to get the Buffalo channels (we live 60 miles from the US border, and our TV service carries Detroit and Rochester). I was surprised how good the reception is. It is better than cable and satellite. The only problem is in the bad whether fewer channels come in, which is not a big deal, as we have the satellite service.

 

[Krydor]

The big "con" in nearly every large Western city is that there are no US channels. Vancouver is good, so I hear. At least Calgary and Edmonton have 5 English OTA Channels. In Regina I have 3. Saskatoon will have TWO once the CBC analogue shuts down.

I have Basic Shaw Direct to supplement my viewing. No way around it, if you like to catch shows that are on CTV2/not picked up by a Canadian broadcaster, the bullet must be bit.

 

[Superstrech]

Back to satellite

We had OTA only for about a year and a half. Where I live the US stations were not always reliable in the summer. Then last winter my new rotor froze and died. The stations always seemed to die near the conclusion of a show. We are back to satellite. Last night the satellite cut out with the rain storm. It seems like that is not nearly as bad to my wife as when my homemade antenna skips out. I still have fun with it and would like to get one of those older rotors that were made to never die. If anyone has one let me know. It sure was fun getting TV the old fashioned way.

 

[roger1818]

It seems like that is not nearly as bad to my wife as when my homemade antenna skips out.

WAF is always very important and a home made kluge is always going to be met with some skepticism. The thing about digital TV is a better antenna won't give you a better picture, but it will make things more reliable (either more durable or work better with weak signals, or both).

 

[ScaryBob]

Con: That $100 Antennas Direct antenna that you special ordered last year craps out this year. Sure, it's got a lifetime warranty but that doesn't cover the time and risk of climbing up on the roof/tower to see what went wrong. Meanwhile, the DIY M4 that cost $20 to build two years ago is still working like new.

 

[roger1818]

^^^Sorry to hear that ScaryBob. My guess is the balun. Many people here have been having problems with them on AD antennas. The good news is their support is very good and may send you a replacement before you even climb the tower if everything else looks good from the ground.

 

[Jakeman3]

what does the typical symptom of a bad balun look like?

 

[roger1818]

The symptom would be a sudden loss of signal. Physically, you would have to open it up and see if there is any corrosion or water damage inside.

 

[Jase88]

Yes, I've had water ingress with an AD balun...specifically on the XG-91. Turns out that water was getting into the boom, and dribbling down into the balun, which hangs below the aluminum boom. There was obvious corrosion within the balun.

The higher UHF channels go first....

The fix (for the XG-91) was to fill the hollow boom with spray expansion insulating foam--the type used during window installations that comes in a can. It prevents water from reaching the balun nut, and dribbling into the balun.

You may also wish to drill a small drain hole on the bottom of the balun (be careful not to hit the PCB within the enclosure).

 

[majortom]

The real fix was AD replacing the antenna correct?

 

[Jase88]

They did replace the antenna, but the same issue began again. So I did the spray foam trick.

I was told this is an exceptionally rare problem for the XG-91, but it happened to me twice. Looking at the design, I could see that it's indeed a design issue. The boom has compressed holes punched in the top for the directors, which don't form a water-tight seal against the boom when installed. It's inevitable that water will fill the boom.

 

[alm]

New home means a farewell to my OTA freedom

Moving to a building for people over 50, subsidized housing ("rent control" for those in the US). Dammit, they have basic cable TV included.

I have to admit, it was a pleasant feeling getting 7 local channels for free, - now that they are in perfect digital quality. Many thanks to people on this forum for pointing me in the right direction so that I could enjoy OTA all those years.

There is NOTHING in $25 basic cable that CM 4221 can't get me in Vancouver, after I will have disabled channels that I don't watch - shopping cr.ap, parliament boredom, kiddies etc. This has been tested by time, and I'm sure I'm not the first one to discover.

 

[Freedomtochoose]

Kiss My Butt CRTC!

Finally did it...installed an aerial! Got my Buffalo channels back that I hadn't had in years. No more of this signal sub crap, especially during those big network sports events. No more missed putts on Global (oh yeah, Global? Kiss my butt, too.)

And, it's true, the picture quality actually is crisper.

I'm in heaven.

 

[Superstrech]

My homemade 'kludge' ( a DBGH) works very well. The only time I had any problems was with weather conditions which other people experienced as well. It was the rotor that died because of being frozen. I need the rotor because the DBGH is very directional. I'm going to build a new antenna and am continuing to have fun with this as a hobby.

 

[interdit_450]

Just remembered this "pro" while stopped for gas in a remote Laurentian town on my way back from skiing.

As I looked onto the back yards of the neighboring homes while pumping gas, I saw a house with an 80-ft tower on the border of his land and a monster deep fringe antenna mounted... with RG-6 cables going to at least 3 different neighboring houses. It seems these people all pitched in together to put up a "cadillac" solution of an OTA setup for the area and are sharing the signal to enjoy free broadcast DTV.

Brought back memories of my uncle's seasonal cottage where the permanent-resident next-door neighbour kindly shared the signal from his tower-mounted antenna with my uncle's 14-inch colour GE TV.

This "signal sharing" is definitely a pro of using OTA, and I'm not sure why more people don't do it. In the Montreal area, if members of a 20-unit condo complex put in $30-40 once they could easily get themselves a high quality rooftop antenna and distribution setup that could net them about 30 channels, with more than half in HD.

Try doing that will satellite or cable

 

[Wayne]

This "signal sharing" is definitely a pro of using OTA, and I'm not sure why more people don't do it.

The fact that it is illegal may have something to do with that.

The person sharing the signal is deemed to be a BDU, just like a cable or satellite company. There are lots of threads on this issue here. Here is one of them http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57242

 

[blueroomelectro]

How is it illegal to share a single antenna in an apartment complex? Before cable TV was popular wasn't that the norm.

I thought it was illegal to rebroadcast the signal.

 

[Wayne]

I know it sounds crazy but read posts 20-30 of the thread that I linked to above, especially:

. Years ago, I did some legwork for the condo I was a resident of. At the time any situation where ONE ANTENNA FEEDS MORE THAN ONE RESIDENCE was "deemed" to be a BDU (Broadcast Distribution Undertaking). This meant that you were allowed to carry only the stations that Rogers/Shaw/ExpressVu/StarChoice are allowed to carry. And "must-carry" and simsub regulations also apply. There may be slightly looser requirements for systems with less than 5,000 customers, but don't assume that you can simply flout KanKon regulations without the RCMP coming in and seizing your equipment, and arresting the condo board.

The way the regulations were worded...

- a rooftop antenna with a splitter feeding both halves of a duplex is "deemed" to be a BDU

- one antenna feeding the 40 units is obviously a BDU

- 40 separate antennas on the roof, each one feeding ONLY ONE SUITE is not deemed to be a BDU