Troubles in Whitby

BigDaddy · 4-Mar-2013, 6:40 PM

I live in Whitby, Ontario and have the following setup:
rooftop mounted DB4e on a tripod 30 ft above ground
CM7777 on the mast.
No Trees or building obstructing the way
Antenna is pointed 180 degrees south toward WGRZ
The feed goes to one TV with ATSC tuner, one Converter Box, and one PC TV Tuner (Hauppauge)
Passive 8-port splitter

I currently am getting the following stations:

RF20 - CBLT (CBC) CN TOWER
RF25 - CBLF (SRC) CN TOWER
RF19 - CICA (TVO) CN TOWER
RF41 - CIII (GLOBAL) CN TOWER
RF09 - CFTO (CTV) CN TOWER
RF47 - CFMT (OMN) CN TOWER
RF44 - CITY (CITY) CN TOWER
RF40 - CJMT (OMN) CN TOWER
RF22 - CHEX (CBC) OSHAWA
RF32 - WNLO (CW) GRAND ISLAND
RF43 - WNED (PBS) GRAND ISLAND
RF14 - WUTV (FOX) GRAND ISLAND
RF36 - CITS (CROSSROADS) HAMILTON
RF39 - WIVB (CBS) BUFFALO
RF38 - WKBW (ABC) BUFFALO
RF49 - WNYO (MyTV) BUFFALO
RF33 - WGRZ (NBC) BUFFALO

What I am finding is that WGRZ is very flakey in the cold winter months. Basically not there from December to March.
All other stations are very strong.

Is there any way of getting the following?
RF33 - WGRZ (NBC) BUFFALO - Want this to be stronger so I get it in the winter as well all the time.
RF11 - CHCH (CHCH) HAMILTON - Can't grab this one, only in the nice summer days
RF23 - WPXJ (ION ) BATAVIA - Again I get this one on the nice summer days, but it does not last
RF7 - WBBZ - Similar to CHCH, but no nearly as stable, only comes in couple days a week in the nice summer days.
RF16 - WXXI PBS Rochester . This one is odd. This one is another fair weather station, but is more stable than RF11 and RF7, but further away.
I also want to grab a CTV2 feed. Either RF35 CHCJ Hamilton, RF42 CKVP FONTHILL, or RF10 CKVR Barrie. So far I can only get a whisper of RF42.

I was thinking of elevating my DB4e to 55 ft. Do you think this will help getting my wish list? Or are there other things going on that I am not aware of?

Here are my TVFool Reports

30ft - http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...1dda5c4dcd7097
55ft - http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...1dda718de09e76
Thanks.

6-Mar-2013, 6:25 AM

At 55 foot antenna height install a Winegard HD7698P antenna with a Antennas Direct CPA-19 preamp aimed at about 185 degree magnetic compass direction.

Here is how to aim antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html.

At the 55 foot antenna height , the 1 VHF high band channel CHCH 11 will be received and All the UHF channels you are requesting and then some will be received.

A possible exception is CHCJ 35 and WPXJ 23.

CHCJ and WPXJ , are spread far apart and are weak signal strengths.

CHCJ 35 and WPXJ 23 might be received with the HD7698P antenna aimed at about 185 degree magnetic compass direction.

(WXXI is too weak and will not be received reliably no matter what antenna is used.)

As always the antenna aim direction can be adjusted so as to have the best reception.

Most Digital Tv's have a signal strength meter and some Digital Tv's also have a signal quality meter.
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If have to choose Between CHCJ and WPXJ to receive with the HD7698P antenna then choose CHCJ and aim the HD7698P antenna more toward CHCJ , aim the HD7698P antenna at about 209 degree magnetic compass direction.

And then for the reception of WPXJ , aim a Channel Master CM4228HD with a Antennas Direct CPA-19 preamp at about 157 degree magnetic compass direction.

-->Yes you can try the DB4e in places of the CM4228HD.<--

The 2 antennas systems , the HD7698P antenna and witch ever UHF antenna works , Will Not be connected together on to 1 coax.

The 2 antenna system Will Be Separate all the way to the Tv/s location/s.

A Remote control A/B antenna switch will be connected at each Tv location.

http://www.mcmelectronics.com. #32-4425.

http://www.saveandreplay.com , has the same Remote control A/B antenna switch.

A/B antenna switching is Channel Surfing Friendly , press the button on the hand held remote control , change antennas and keep on channel surfing.

_____________________

If 1 Tv is connected use no splitter/s.

If 2 Tv's are connected use a , HFS-2D , splitter/s in each Single or Separate antenna system.

If 3 Tv's are connected use a HFS-3D , splitter/s in each Single or Separate antenna system.

Buy the HFS splitters and antennas and etc. , http://www.solidsignal.com , or , http://www.hollandelectronics.com , or , http://www.saveandreplay.com , or , http://www.trentondistributors.com

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How will the Antenna/s be installed at 55 feet antenna height , how will you get the antenna up that high??

BigDaddy · 6-Mar-2013, 1:37 PM

Hi Teleview,

Thanks for your quick responses.

I was planning on planting a 50ft telescoping mast at the side of my house (Channel Master or ROHN). I don’t have room at the back. I was thinking I could bracket it to the wall at several points to give more stability and guy it to the roof for the 25 ft of mast above the roof line. Initially I thought I would put a rotor and 5ft mast on top so I could tweak the direction if need be.

I do have a little concern about the HD7698P. I looked at this initially, and decided against something to long. Since I will be mounting at the side of my house, I don’t want to boom to cross the property line to my neighbour’s. The houses are somewhat close: about 5ft apart. 185 degrees points the boom directly over my neighbour’s house. Even though it would be 50+ feet in the air, I don’t want any local by-law nonsense.
In your opinion, are there any other antennas that can increase my signal strength, without being so long.

Would simply raising my DB4e (or any other bowtie type) do anything for me?

Again thank you for all of your information.
PS. This TVFool website is absolutely awesome!!

6-Mar-2013, 3:21 PM

I did my best to get Digital Tv stations UHF and VHF with 1 HD7698P antenna recommendation.

________________________________________________________________________________

For the UHF Digital Tv stations/channels As a Test , Yes install the DB4e antenna with the CM7777 preamp , at 55 feet antenna height , aimed at about 190 degree magnetic compass direction.

The Digital Tv stations that will 'shake out' for reception 'in some way' are ,

CHCJ 35 .

CKVP 42 .

CKVR 10 .

CHCH 11 .

WPXJ 23 .

Do the test with the DB4e at 55 feet antenna height.

And a second antenna , a Antennas Direct C5 antenna for reception of either , CKVR 10 or CHCH 11. And perhaps both CKVR and CHCH can be received with C5 aimed somewhere in between.

The C5 comes with a UVSJ , to combine the DB4e and C5 together.

The CM7777 is connected to the output of the UVSJ so both antennas are amplified.

Here is a , Aluminum , Light Weight , Free Standing , No Guy Wires , Lay Over Tower.

Do all antenna installation and adjustments standing on the ground.

http://www.palcoelectronics.com/pe300.aspx.

marksy · 8-Mar-2013, 7:16 PM

Big Daddy,

Where are you in Whitby? I am there as well (near Iroquois Park) and oddly enough, I get WGRZ about 98% of the time. Strangely, I cannot get 20, 32, 33, 38 or 44.

I am posting a quesiton in a few minutes about my situation and just saw your post.