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OTA Station Status: Ottawa, Watertown NY, S. Colton NY

755K views 3K replies 314 participants last post by  Trip 
#1 ·
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.
 
#102 ·
If you have any chance of picking up CBC-DT in Ottawa, I would suggest a Channel Master 4228 8 bay UHF antenna and a good preamplifier like a Channel Master Titan 7777 or a Winegard AP 8275. Mooun the antenna on the roof, and there is a better than even chance that you'll see Ottawa..., and if you don't you'll still see a bunch of Ottawa UHF staions like CHRO and the Ottawa transmitters for CITY and OMNI-1 and OMNI-2

http://www.channelmaster.com/pdf/AntInstallGuide.pdf
http://www.channelmaster.com
http://www.winegard.com
 
#103 ·
Cut and paste problem?

For the first time, my receiver showed me SRC's red screen (with 22-11 on the display) but only briefly.

Usually, doing a manual scan on 22 brings me to 04-01 on channel 25. I'm starting to wonder if they simply took CBOT information and copied it over, forgetting some of the changes that needed to be made!

-gmd
 
#107 ·
CBOFT showed up on Aug. 31st on my receiver, the day before real content was aired.

5 channels now...

04-01 CBOT-DT
09-01 CBOFT-DT
18-01 WNPI-DT (SD upconverted)
57-01 WCFE-HD
57-02 WCFE-SD

-gmd
 
#109 ·
It is hard to say what is next in line at this point. The CRTC will be holding hearings in November about many aspects of broadcasting, and one of the agenda items is the future of digital OTA. Almost all of us here at the DHC OTA Forum demand that they set a specific mandatory cutoff date for having digital OTA come up across Canada. As it is, you can keep calling all the other Ottawa TV stations and demanding that they bring up their digital transmitters asap. Also if you look through this thread you'll see people are getting some U.S. digital stations too.
 
#111 ·
aren't ATI Wonder cards pretty much the same as any ATSC tuner? I would say that as long are you are within a decent distance of the broadcasting tower, an indoor antenna would be all you'd want, i mean its not like theres any other stations that your trying to get.
 
#112 ·
i mean its not like theres any other stations that your trying to get.
Well there is WNPI-DT [23] which some people have been able to pick up. Because of the topology, those living in centre-town have troubles receiving WNPI, but in the suburbs you should be able to get it with an outdoor antenna.

One question though, with CBOFT-DT [22] at 332.9kW and CICO-TV [24] at 332.8kW (and CBOT-DT [25] at 332.9kW) will reception of WNPI-DT [23] suffer from adjacent channel interference?

As for the original question, it depends where impronto lives, but I agree with you that he should be able to pick up CBOT-DT [25] and CBOFT-DT [22] with an indoor antenna.
 
#114 ·
are those numbers right? Ottawa has digital stations at 330kW?

what can't some of the Toronto stations broadcast their HD channels at a high power like that. Theres more people to reach in Toronto, and it makes it easier for the fringe viewers to recieve the signals.
 
#116 ·
are those numbers right? Ottawa has digital stations at 330kW?
Well, both the Listings Of Canadian OTA Television Stations and W9WI.com list those numbers, but they both get their data from Industry Canada so it is possible that they have the wrong numbers.

what can't some of the Toronto stations broadcast their HD channels at a high power like that. Theres more people to reach in Toronto, and it makes it easier for the fringe viewers to recieve the signals.
The problem is Toronto is much closer to the US border (and major US cities) so there is greater potential of interfering with other stations.
 
#118 ·
OTA channels on Rogers feed.

Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask, but here goes:

Are any of the OTA DTV signals that are available in the Ottawa area also carried unencrypted on Rogers cable? I'm thinking of things like CBC-HD, or locally broadcast DTV (is there any?).

It would be nice if i could just plug the cable into my ATSC tuner instead of messing with an antenna on the roof.
 
#119 ·
The short answer to your question is no.

Digital cable uses QAM and Digital OTA uses ATSC so your ATSC tuner is useless with digital cable and the cable companies use the same frequency bands as the OTA channels so they can't be just shoved down the same pipe (ignoring the fact that they would have to change the channel it is broadcast on to prevent problems with multipath interference).

Some TVs come with a QAM tuner that will tune in unencrypted channels, but to the best of my knowledge, all of the cable companies in Canada encrypt all of their channels (even the free ones).

A few TVs come with a cable card slot for decrypting the encrypted channels, but once again to the best of my knowledge, none of the cable companies in Canada support cable cards.

Even if the signal was unencrypted or you could use a cable card, you would still suffer from the same picture degradation that you would have using an external cable box. The only way to get the pure ATSC signal is OTA.

And to answer your other question CBOT-DT and CBOFT-DT are the only local DTV stations currently broadcasting in Ottawa. Some people have been able to pick up PBS stations from the US though.
 
#120 ·
Thanks for the explanation.

My TV card can receive QAM as well as ATSC, I think (PCHDTV-5500), but I couldn't pick up anything viewable on the cable when I scanned it. I was hoping I was just doing something wrong, but I guess all the signals I found are the encrypted streams you mentioned.

Isn't there some CRTC rule that cable providers have to carry local DTV stations unencrypted?
 
#122 ·
Transmission Towers in and Near the Eastern Ontario

Here is a map I made of the transmission towers in and near the Eastern Ontario. Some of the transmitters are very low power and are only useable if you live nearby but I included them anyway for those who do. I also included the full-power transmitters in the US and one of the Montreal Towers.



I have the Google Earth place mark file for all of these towers, so if you want it, let me know and I will try to send it to you.

PS. Image is hosted by http://www.imageshack.us/
 
#124 ·
My scan only give me these 2 channels for my area, near Gatineau Airport. Is there any other channel that should work? Because of what I read in this forum, I don't remember seing other channels.
The only DTV channels currently in Ottawa are CBOT-DT [25] and CBOFT-DT [22]. Depending on where in the city you are and what type of antenna you have you might also be able to pick up WNPI-DT [23] from Norwood and WCFE-DT [38] from Plattsburgh. Until more DTV stations go on air (or more American DTV stations broadcast at a higher power) I don't think you will be able to pick up anything else in Ottawa.
 
#125 ·
Ottawa DTV stations in Colton, NY

I just tried receiving CBOT-DT and CBFOT-DT here in Colton, NY, 6 miles north of the WPNI-DT tower, and I am receiving them great! CBOT-DT is at 90% - 100%, and CBFOT-DT at 70%, on my Humax STB.

I have a Channel Master 8-bay UHF, and a CM Titan 7778 (or 76? or 77?)
amplifier, with the antenna against the north wall of my 2nd floor bedroom, inside (plaster/lath, vinyl siding).

Since these are being broadcast from North of Ottawa, this gives me high hopes of receiving well any digital broadcasts from the tower south of the city, when they arrive.

Strangely, I can't get WPNI-DT on my big antenna (it is facing away), so I use a silver sensor and a loop UHF antenna joined at a splitter. It seems to work better than the silver sensor alone.

I am at 1,000 feet, with a pretty clear shot to the northwest (ottawa).
 
#129 ·
AFAIK, WWNY will revert to channel 7, and they've applied to keep 35 as the digital channel for Fox.
That would be awsome! I was hoping that they would be doing something like this. With WWNY on 7 at 316kW (Non-Directional) and WNYF on 35 at 750kW (though directional south), we might be able to pick up both with a good antenna.

I believe WPBS-DT 41, WWTI-DT 21, and WNPI-DT 23 will be staying put.
That isn't such good news unless they can increase their power after analog shutdown since they are all under 50kW (25kW, 25kW and 40kW respectively) but their current analog alotments are all over 600kW (617kW, 1000kW and 660kW respectively).

Since WCFE-57 is out-of-core (for the US), it will be staying on 38 as well.
Is it? I had heard that in the US core was going to be 2-59. I have heard rumblings that in Canada core will be 2-51 though. Am I mistaken?
 
#128 ·
Do you pick up 7-CBS? It is about the same as 50 for me (which isn't very good since I only have an omni in the atic). It may be too low for the 4228 though (it will pick up VHF-HI well, but from the graphs I have seen the signal strength has droped off quite a bit by the time it gets down to channel 7).
You are correct in that the CM4228 is not suited for VHF-lo. I can get 4-CBC-English and 6-Global with minor snow (it is practically ghost free) but nothing else. For VHF-hi, I receive 9-CBC-French crystal clear, 11-CHCH with minor snow and ghosting and 13-CTV clear (minor ghosting once in a while). These are all analog channels of course.

Once I move I plan to purchase a Wade/Delhi VIP-306 to improve and extend my VHF reception (also want to have great FM range).

P.S. For UHF, I receive 14-OMNI2 very well (minor ghosting), 18-PBS (mentioned earlier), 22-CBC French Digital prefect, 24-TVO perfect, 25-CBC English Digital perfect, 30-Tele-Quebec very well, 32-CTS okay (can be major snow some days), 34-TQS good, 40-TVA perfect, 43-AChannel okay (major ghosting some days), 50-ABC (mentioned earlier), 57-PBS (mentioned earlier), 60-OMNI1 good (minor snow) and finally 65-CITYTV pretty good (minor ghosting). The biggest problem I believe I have is multi-path which would be resolved by moving above the roofline.
 
#135 ·
I don't see how tvlurker drifted off topic (only maybe when he said that WCFE-57 is out-of-core and I questioned him on it)?

Knowing which stations will revert to their analog channel and which stations will keep their new digital channel is local in nature and is useful when discussing reception results as it lets people know which stations will get better and which ones will stay the same. It is also useful when picking an antenna as it lets people know if they are going to need VHF or not.

I haven't decided for sure what I am going to do, but one idea I have is to use my omnidirectional antenna for the local stations (it works very well for them and will probably be perfect once outside), get a CM 4228 for the UHF northern NY stations (hopefully some will be receivable) and a Delhi (Wade) 10Y7S single channel antenna to pick up WWNY 7.
 
#133 ·
Sorry for drifting off-topic. I was just trying to keep expectations in check for a low-power station in Watertown suddenly becoming viewable in Ottawa. (And secondly, the northward null is to protect CKWS-TV-3 on channel 36 near Smiths Falls)

As I brought up earlier in this thread, I was wondering if WPTZ's owner HearstArgyle would apply for a translator near Potsdam to make up for the lost coverage between Malone and Potsdam, due to WPTZ moving eastward from Terry Mountain to Mount Mansfield. Perhaps renting tower space from WNPI in Norwood would work. (and give the North Country and perhaps Ottawa a chance at NBC OTA).

It's just one of those idle dreams...
 
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