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ON - Ottawa, Vanier, Gloucester, Orleans - OTA

589K views 2K replies 301 participants last post by  Whitewulf613 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Getting started.
I live just north of the Racetrack/Casino, Quinn Rd

I have lived with rabbit ears for years and want to upgrade to an outside antenna system for 3 TVs picking up as much UHF and VHF signals as possible to start with. By living with cheap rabbit ears running two TVs for years, I know I will be very happy with the improvements I will have going to a proper outside Anenna system for analog and digital signals.

I have been reading posts for 2 days now to get myself started and I think I have information overload and there are so amny things to consider.

I have gone to TVFOOL to find out channels and locations.
I understand I probably do not want a long distance setup as most station are fairly close.
I am not sure of the antennas I need for my area/use.

Does anyone live near me that has been doing this for a while who can help me get started?

Cheers,
 
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#856 ·
Hi retropc,

Global has indeed switched to digital, and you're not alone. I don't get it either, along with many others. You might have been optimistic getting it with a 4221hd, but I can't get it even with a vip302sr VHF antenna in the attic, pointed at CF.

Lots of posts under the Ottawa Station Status thread, including some Global contact numbers:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=1297372
 
#857 · (Edited by Moderator)
My Digital Reception Status near Stittsville, Ontario

I am located approximately 4 miles outside of Stittsville, Ontario and this is my Digital reception information to date. If there are any suggestions that would improve my reception they would be appreciated.

Currently Ch 4 CBOT-DT (CBC), Ch 6 Global, Ch 9 CBOFTf, Ch 17 CityHD, Channels 18-1 WPBS, 18-2 WPBS, 18-3 WPBS-HD, 20 CKXTD9 SunTV, 24 TVO, 27 OMNI1, 66 OMNI2,

Ch 18-1,-2,-3 WPBS from Watertown, USA will lose signal strength during mid-afternoon but is mostly a 90% strong signal.
On occasion Ch 7 NY, and Ch 28 NY will be present when unusual atmospheric conditions support it.

My converter box is a Zenith DTT901 Digital TV Tuner Converter Box with pass-thru.
My Yagi antenna (993140 HD-2900 High Definition Antenna ) --- faces East-South-East for most of the time in a stationary position
Ch 6 Global and TVO 24 appeared on Aug 16/2011 with strong reception.

Oddity: If I set my DTV Converter to Ch 25 (supposedly CBC) it will automatically shift and tune Ch4. Normally my converter would sit on the selected channel slot with a "no signal" on the screen, but not for Ch25????
 
#859 ·
I tried adding a CM7777 pre-amp to my modified CM4221HD and adjusted the position of the antenna today hoping it might help.

It would appear I simply cannot get the HC tower solid without positioning the antenna upward toward the sky, but when I do that I end up having trouble getting CF, specifically 6.1.

Can I use two antennas, one for CF and one for HC?

Looking for options.

Edit: I decided to give up on 6.1 as I can get 4.1 and 20.1 regardless where I point the antenna knowing that 6.1 is terribly weak. I am still getting 6.1 but its pixel hell.
 
#860 ·
you can use 1 uhf and 1 vhf without any problems since you have a cm7777
just set it it to seperate instead of combined
also make sure you have tre fm trap set to in
this will help
then point the vhf directly at CF since the only 3 vhf will be at CF
i now get 6.1
5$ rabbit ears attached to the last dipole of my vhf hi pointed to CF
try and point your uhf to hc while keeping the cf uhf's
 
#863 ·
Ch 25 is the real DTV ch of "CBC ch4"

"Oddity: If I set my DTV Converter to Ch 25 (supposedly CBC) it will automatically shift and tune Ch4. Normally my converter would sit on the selected channel slot with a "no signal" on the screen, but not for Ch25???? "

Carper,
Ch25 is the real DTV RF channel of CBC that you know as Ch 4,
the old analog channel.
The ch 4-1 that you see is called the virtual Channel.
In our area , as today, only 6-1, 17-1, 20-1, 24-1, 27-1 and 66-1 are on the ch that is indicated. The RF ch and the virtual ch are the same.

But PBS 18-1 is on RF ch23, 28-1 is on RF18, and 57-1 is on RF38.
 
#866 · (Edited)
Help with indoor reception.

Hello everyone,

Been reading this forum for awhile now and thought it might be time for me to post something since I have been unable to improve my TV reception.

I cannot receive any of the Herberts Corners stations in either analog or digital. On a good day, channel 14 (CJMT - OMNI 2) is somewhat viewable but all of the others do not come in at all. The Camp Fortune digital channels (except Global) come in perfectly as do most of the English analog ones. The French ones are snowy but viewable.

I live in a ground floor apartment in New Edinburgh and face south-west with only a few small trees as obstructions. Looking out my window, the nearest building is probably 500 feet away.

Here's what I'm using...

Tuner: Built-in to my Panasonic plasma TV
Antenna: Cheap RCA VHF rabbit ears/UHF loop type located 2 feet away from the window. I cannot recall the model name but I bought it at The Source about a year ago.

Here's my TV Fool...

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=9e74704396d6bd

In terms of antennas, the recommended one for indoor (according to the chart in the new members FAQ) is a Zenith Silver Sensor (or clone?) while the second best (Winegard Sharp Shooter) seems a bit too big for my apartment.

Here are my questions:

1) What are my chances of receiving any of the HC channels in digital and;

2) Would a Winegard SS-3000 help?

Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated.
 
#870 ·
flavoie: Thanks for the reply.

I probably could put either near (or right on) the window but aren't they both UHF only?Don't I need some VHF-high band capability to receive CBOFT and CJOH post conversion?

Do you think it's even likely that I'll be able to pick up the HC stations from where I live with an indoor antenna?
 
#871 ·
OttawaGuy999, I am in Centretown so really only a few km from you. On the ground floor with a RadioShack omni antenna (which I believe is really poor), I am receiving OMNI1 on 27 very well and CITY on 17 cuts in and out. By Sept. 1, OMNI2 20, CHCH 22, CTS 42 and CTV2 on 43 should all have good signals into your location. I find if you are using a poor antenna in the downtown area, positioning is important. Because of multipath issues, it doesn't seem to matter as much whether you are close to a window but just finding the right spot where the signals are strongest. A better, directional antenna overcomes this problem to some extent. I will be buying one soon!
 
#872 ·
OttawaGuy999, you are definitely right, these antennas are UHF only. The HC signals you have trouble with are UHF only. To get VHF indoors, you'd want rabbit ears. Combine the rabbit ears & a UHF antenna with a UVSJ, or using a dual input preamp like the cm7778 or cm7777. You seem to be getting good signals from CF, so hopefully you'll get good VHF coverage for CTV & SRC. Global is a completely different problem at channel 6, everybody's got trouble with it anyways. Anyhow, rabbit ears is also how you'd get Global.
 
#873 ·
Well I have to say I am disappointed and surprised by not able to get GLOBAL OTA signal.

I received both CBC channel, both OMNI channels, SUNTV, CITY-TY and even all three WNPI later on during the evening.

But for some strange reason I get no signal from GLOBAL, so I hope the team from GLOBAL make some changes so we can all get this signal.
 
#880 ·
I receive the following ALL the time:

WNPI (x3)
WCFE (x3)
28.1 (FOX)
28.2 (CBS HD)
CBC HD (French and english)
OMNI
CITY
SUN
TVO
27.1 (CFMTDTR)
I even get 50.1 and 50.2 a good deal of the time and I have seen on rare occasions 7.1 and 2.1 from watertown.

I have great elevation at the top of beacon hill with a cm4228 on the roof and CM7777.

No joy on Global. Seems like they are transmitting with the equal of a fisher price walkie talkie.

I know the CM4228 is not great for VHF...but are these guys for real?

I spent a few hours playing with the rabbit ears today...still no dice. Oddly, I get better reception with them from the bottom floor of my house vs on the roof.

Could someone post a diagram on how to set them up properly?
 
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