Chch

[thebignos]

Kind of looking for a little of advice I'm been trying to receive CHCH in Ontairo. I can get 4 stations in Toronto but nut Hamilton one. Any suggestions I have 8 bay bow tie with preamp. Thanks ahead of time. Pete

[BigDaveyL]

Kind of looking for a little of advice I'm been trying to receive CHCH in Ontairo. I can get 4 stations in Toronto but nut Hamilton one. Any suggestions I have 8 bay bow tie with preamp. Thanks ahead of time. Pete

What is your location and can you post your tvfool report?

[thebignos]

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d2c15d594508e1a

[thebignos]

Angola NY 14006

[ADTech]

More details are needed:

Which 8-bay antenna?
Where is it mounted and how high?
What direction is it aimed?
What is out in front of the antenna
Which four channels ARE received?
What pre-amp are you using?
How is your reception of the Buffalo stations?

[Tower Guy]

CHCH shares channel 15 with a low power station in Buffalo WBNF. You can't get CHCH in Angola unless you construct a special antenna to reject WBNF.

[Hamilton Ham]

From your tvf report I see you get ch 36, CITS. That transmitter is on the same tower and I believe it is lower on the tower. if you receive 36 OK then that suggests that ch 15 WBNF is blocking CHCH.

[thebignos]

Yes get 36 fine ,so they are canceling each other out?

[GroundUrMast]

...so they are [cancelling] each other out?
Two signals on the same frequency and at nearly identical power levels at your antenna... yes, that very likely what's happening (though 'interfering with each other' is a more accurate term than 'cancelling').

As already mentioned, if you are up to the task of custom building a highly directional antenna, you might be able to pick one or the other CH-15 signals.

[thebignos]

Thanks guys for the fast answers,,, I will ponder on it.

[thebignos]

What type of antenna like a dir Yagi ?

[Tower Guy]

What type of antenna like a dir Yagi ?

No. It would take two directional yagis stacked the critical distance to null WBNF. Read more at www.hdtvprimer.com/antennas/ganging.html

[thebignos]

What is the proper distance between a VHF and a UHF stacked up

[ADTech]

5' of separation between a high-VHF and a UHF antennas will assure that there is almost no adverse interaction between them.

Lesser distances will typically affect pattern shape and F/B ratio of each antenna. You're welcome to try them closer together and, if it still works adequately, then you're done.

[thebignos]

Would that show up as signal loss or bad picture? ,,,,I'm green

[Tower Guy]

In your case the two channel 15 stations are 56 degrees apart. The first null is too close to work but the second null occurs at 45 inches horizontal spacing. Therefore a pair of 91XG antennas carefully installed on the roof with no obstructions should pull in CHCH.

[timgr]

With digital TV, there usually is no bad picture. You either get perfect reception, or nothing. Right on the edge, you'll get some pixelation and the signal will drop out and come back ... but typically it's either good or the tuner does not detect the channel.

[thebignos]

I have a 8 bay bowite with Winegard 16db gain preamp. I also have a 2 way splitter for two tv's. If I bypass the splitter I will receive more channels on the single tv. Would a stronger preamp help? Pete

[Tim]

This could be one of those rare cases where you might consider keeping your preamp and adding a 2 port distribution amp in place of the two way splitter.

[GroundUrMast]

how many feet of cable does the signal travel through to get from the antenna to the furthest TV?

Are there any splices or connections that could be wet, loose or assembled with non-standard methods?

Is there any damage to any cable? (Crushing, kinking, nails, etc.)

What's the model number of the antenna and preamp?

[thebignos]

To the furthest tv prob 80 feet. I don't believe of any poor connections.I have a Solid Signal Xtreme Signal HDB8X 8 Bay with Winegard Boost XT 20dB Pre-Amp (LNA-200).

[GroundUrMast]

What happens when you completely remove the preamp? The LNA-200 lacks adequate shielding and may be prone to ingress of interference (FM and multipath).

(Please don't start a new thread for each question related to the same location, Thanks)

[thebignos]

unplugged i loose 10 channels.

[GroundUrMast]

Does unplugged mean that the power is disconnected... Or, that the preamp unit and it's power supply is totally disconnected from the system?

Which 10 signals fail? (real channel #'s please). Backing up to post #18, what signals are being affected? (again, real channel numbers please).

[thebignos]

ok i need some time ,,,,,thanks

[thebignos]

With no preamp installed I loose channels 24,50,41,40,19,22,42. Well it was not ten.<seem like it> With the splitter installed it is extremely rare I get these. The reason I wish to receive these is the Toronto stations play more children programming for my grandchild.

[GroundUrMast]

It looks like you've listed virtual channel numbers rather than the real channel numbers, If that's the case, you're having problems with the weakest signals only. The best suggestion I can offer is to experiment with alternate antenna mounting locations & height.

You could also try replacing the LNA-200 with an Antennas Direct 'Juice' preamp which has a solid metal housing which provides nearly perfect shielding. But as always, reliable reception depends first and foremost on the antenna producing a quality signal at it's output. An amplifier won't do the antennas job.