i live at 'ground level', in the plateau, surrounded by all things you could imagine with a line of sight that barely reaches the other side of the street; i get all montreal ota hd channels perfectly fine with a 15$ dollar store unpowered antenna, inside.

id say try this first, see whar you get. they aint nothing but plain old uhf broadcasts, when it comes down to it.
granted, i get none of the american channels, and sometimes i have to move the old rabbit's ears around to avoid 'breakage', but my situation is just about the worse, and yours, well.. about the best ;)....

or maybe i just live in an odd warp zone, where the radiation gets amplified through some harmonics black magic or what not.. who knows?..


let us know how it went.

for crying out loud trast that rabbit ear antenna, its made for VHF and HD is broadcast on the UHF band. (unless you got one that also has a loop, then your ok)

You could make a better antenna than this with a coat hanger, form a loop shape with it, use the 300 to 75 ohm converter of your rabbit ear and attach both side of the loop to the 2 wire and voila, you got yourself a getto UHF antenna that will beat the crap of your rabbit ear anyday.

PS you can get a 300 to 75 ohm converter at "lasource" for 3$

Hi,
I live between highway 20 and the lake in Pointe-Claire and have been watching analog TV with a Yagi in the loft for years.
Just got a HDTV and find I'm getting a lot picture break up when an aircraft comes in to land. With analog we just got some reflections which we got accustomed to.
I have searched the thread and found nothing on aircraft interference so is there anything I need to know?
Thanks, Terry

Try an UHF antenna that is less directionnal. Clearstream 2 or 4 is directionnal but it allows more range. The drawback is its pretty expensive if it doesnt work. Search "home made HDTV antenna" on youtube to see if making yourself a ghetto one is something you want to try.

btw shop it on the net, its much more cheap than any stores.

I have installed a ClearStream 4 antenna on the roof of a 4 floors condo, in Montreal. I removed the old satellite dish and used the already installed cable and pole.

Here are the results with the antenna at GPS 45.55,-73.54 oriented at 154 degrees. (Mt Mansfield, VT).I have a signal strengh meter on my TV, it scales from 1 to 10 bars. At 1 bar the channel comes in but it may cut from time to time since its so borderline.

Canada:
CIVM-DT 27 (17.1) - 0.2 mi at 294 - 7 bars.
CBFT-DT 19 (2.1) - 2.8 mi at 182 - 9 bars
CBMT-DT 20 (6.1) - 2.8 mi at 182 - 9 bars
CFJP-DT 42 (35.1) - 2.7 mi at 199 - 6 bars
USA:
WCAX-DT 22 (3.1) CBS - 79.8 mi at 154 - 10 bars
WPTZ-DT 14 (5.1) NBC - 79.8 mi at 154 - 9 bars
WETK-DT 32 (33.1) PBS - 79.9 mi at 154 - 9 bars
WFFF-DT 43 (44.1) FOX - 79.8 mi at 154 - 7 bars
WVNY-DT 13 (22.1) ABC - 79.8mi at 154 - no signal
(very low power broadcast. Imo ABC should go back to there old channel 22 slot and put some steam up)
WCFE-DT 38 (57.1) PBS - 61,9 mi at 195 - no signal
(block by Mt Royal, so no line of sight)

Note:
VHF is not too bad, all local Montreal analog stations have no snow but some ghosting. I am even getting analog CHLT channel 7, 65 mi at 105 degree. I am also getting analog CKTM channel 13, 80 mi at 34 degree, but with lots of snow. Its over lapping ABC broadcast.

Wanted to ask what other Videotron customers thought of their compression on their HD channels. I'd never really noticed it bigtime before this weekend where we'd taped a fast-action movie (Speed Racer) and also happened to get the Blu-Ray version for comparison.

The Videotron version (from the Movie Channel) looked just slightly better than something that might have been downloaded into a 1 GB file.

Not sure if Videotron just limited its bandwidth to make way for more channels (or Docsys3), or if its been this was all along and it took a movie like this to overly challenge the bandwidth (and MPEG2 compression) ...

Good day members,
I watch Videotron HD channel. The left and right ends of image are cutted off. I use 16:9 native picture format to watching tv.
What settings i need to change to fit entire image to my flat screen panel?
Thanks for your help.

hi
so here is the deal
using a converter box and my old antenna ( 2dipoles and a round part + amp)
i receive in my apartment:

2.1------------------radio Canada
3.1/2----------------CBS/weather
5.1/2----------------NBC/THIS
6.1------------------CBC
17.1-----------------TQ
33.1/2/3/4-----------PBS
44.1/2---------------fox/CW
57.1/2/3-------------PBS

cannot get ABC and lost is starting soon
any suggestions?

I am looking for a quick/cheap/temporary way to get CBS (WCAX-22);

the objective is to have access to Superbowl's US commercials next sunday.

What would be a recommended "temporary" antenna setup?

I don't mind installing outside but I'll try to avoid getting in the attic

I have access to any type of hardware/tools if you recommend building one.
Just tell me where I can get the plan details.

I have a recent Toshiba TV with 8VSB ATSC and QAM digital tuning.

I am looking for a good balance between price/ease of installation/signal strenght.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thx

you can try an old rabbit ears antenna. It works in Greenfield Park for me on CBS-22 and NBC 14. The rest of the us channels are not coming in on this antenna. 90% on CBS.

I bought a new Sony Bavaria HDTV and using an RCA ANT711 on the 7th floor in St-Laurent and pointed 200 degree S. Here what I get:

2.1
3.1, 2
6.1
17.1
33.1, 2, 3, 4
35.1
44.1, 2
57.1, 2, 3: the highest signal of all. Around 85%.

I'm not getting NBC nor ABC. Any explanations?

I live in Montréal and just bought a new RCA Multi-directional Digital Flat indoor Antenna. The antenna is multidirectional and capable of receiving UHF, VHF, and HD transmissions. Right now I'm living in the McGill ghetto, but unfortunately as of yet I've been unable to get any channels. My television is a 20 inch HD flat-screen, and has a built-in tuner. I followed the instructions to attach the antenna and scan for channels, but haven't been able to get anything.

I think my reception might be blocked by the mountain, but I see other people in downtown Montréal are getting reception. Can anybody give me some tips on how to fix my problems? Any replies would be much appreciated, as the playoffs are starting tomorrow.

I also live in the same neighborhood and I get all the local OTA HD channels with this little indoor antenna (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10901&cs_id=1090101&p_id=4728&seq=1&format=2) from an AVSForum sponsor, in fact.

Two caveats, though:

The only locally broadcast OTA HD channels are CBC English and French, V (formerly TQS) and Télé-Québec. CTV, Global and TVA don't broadcast OTA HD yet, the first two because they don't seem to care about such a small market (they are up and running in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver) and the latter because its parent company, QuebecOr Media, would prefer to sell you HD via its Videotron cable company.:mad:
You should be OK for the playoffs in glorious, free OTA HD on CBC, but you'd better hurry because I'm betting the Canadiens are going to be eliminated quickly and real soon the only sport they'll be playing is golf.:p

Thanks. I'll try it out. I have a feeling that my multi-directional antenna doesn't work as well when I'm 1500 m from the broadcast tower.

And yeah, the Canadiens are gonna get slaughtered. Good thing I'm a Sens fan :p

I switched out routers today. Got bunny ears instead. It's an RCA Universal Indoor Antenna. I'm still not getting any channels (digital or analog) and I have it pointed south-east towards the CBC transmitter.

This is really frustrating. There must be some incredible interference that's preventing me from getting anything. Not even the analog broadcast which I'm literally 1.5 km away from.

Perhaps something in your setup and/or scanning configurations, then?

Been really unlucky trying to pick up OTA stations in Rosemont.

I don't even get CBC/SRC. I managed SRC in analog, but CBC even in analog has a lot of noise in it.
I also get TVA CTV and sometimes TQS (I mean V) with noise. Sometimes GTN. Depends how/where I move the antennas.

The only flawless channel I get is Télé Qc in HD... hahaha can be nice when they have Nat Geo documentaries on, but for Lucky Luke it doesn't make a whole lotta difference to have it in HD :D

Damn, all I care about are the US channels, and my window points S-E so I should actually have clear line of sight to them.

Perhaps I'll try the roof. I'd like to get the NFL playoffs in HD.

"Super Bowl HD" Try CFCF (CTV) on channel 51-1

woohoo! thanks man! I dont scan often enough!
ctv 51-1 is finally up there in hd... 1 year late though.
i may have a reason to find an atsc recorder...
now if tva and global can do it soon too (its before august 31st 2011)

Unfortunately that means no Fox HD Superbowl coverage with US commercials on Videotron - CTV HD will be simsubbed instead with *gulp* Canadian ads... It has already started with prime time shows this week.
Time to buy a CM4228 :)

Yeah, too bad for those who have a HD reveiver on cable.
Thursday I managed to pick up CFCF on 12-1, but last night I tried again with my Antenna at the same spot, and nothing.

I sure hope I'll get the signal tomorrow.

Picked up a CM 4228HD yesterday and at the second aiming attempt am now getting Fox WFFF-HD in Lasalle (by the river, fortunately facing South).
Already got the treats in for the Superbowl party with U.S. ads - go Steelers, Go Packers, go Clydesdales!

Hello everyone,

CFCF (CTV MONTREAL) is now broadcasting ( as of a few days ago) on 12-1 digital. I just tuned in a few moments ago. They are in a trasitional stage (broacasting at partial power) until they will be at full power by Augaust 2011

CTV MONTREAL (12-1 CFCF) is now broadcasting at partial power. I am currently tuned in . I just called CTV MOntreal and they said that they have started their transitional broadcast as of a few days ago.

Yes, just to be clear it's channel 51.

Hi,

I'm able to get Fox-44 all of a sudden (would have liked to have had it for the Super Bowl!) I'm in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue.

Question: I have to move the aerial to pick up different channels. Auto-scan won't let me save and add more. So by moving the aerial I always lose some stations. How can I fix this? I have a APEX digital converter.

I lost 5.1 and 5.2 for a few days. I am in Montreal downtown.

Anybody had the same issue?

I lost 5.1 and 5.2 for a few days. I am in Montreal downtown.

Anybody had the same issue?

I did too, but only in the mornings...

5.1 is WPTZ, correct?

I read on digital home forums that they're running on low power because of equipment issues.

I'm just 2 blocks away from Mont Royal and Parc, in the ground floor of an old triplex.
I've been having tons of trouble picking up hd signals with my bunny ears. I get 2.1, 6.1, and 35.1, but none very consistently. I know that CTV HD channel, 12.1, is coming from the mountain, but I don't understand why I'm not getting it even though I'm so close.

These are my coordinates for tvfool.com
45.518662,-73.590964 (I'm not allowed to link cuz I'm a newb...)

Other question is if I'm gonna go all out, what will it take to get a signal from Vermont?

Thanks guys.

I'm not too far from you, near Parc & Milton, and though I get all the local HD channels with my great little indoor monoprice antenna (http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10901&cs_id=1090101&p_id=4728&seq=1&format=2), I'm not getting CTV HD at all either because they set up their temporary transmitter on the array behind the police stables you can see when you drive over the mountain, and from that angle we are blocked by the summit of the mountain, and so are people in that direction all the way to Longueuil and Boucherville, apparently.

When they move to the main transmitter array on the summit at the end of August and increase their power at the same time, we should be able to pull them in with even just a paperclip.

Dang, that was what I was afraid of. Seems like everyone on the west side of the mountain is getting it without issue.

What about channels from Vermont, have you tried? I haven't seen any reports of people getting those signal north of the downtown core.

I had a guy come over and do tests from my 4th story roof but there's a http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/p_l/refilao1.gif?t=1301027631 highrise in the way. From your location, though, I'd say there's a good chance Mont Royal is right smack dab between you and Mount Mansfield. Do a Google Earth or maybe a TVFool to check.

I would like to rig myself with OTA_HDTV.

Here is the Theoritical Part
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...8d1745ac50afc6
(Select CURRENT and DIGITAL)
but Canada is to pull the plug on analog on August 2011 so you may take a look at PENDING and DIGITAL)
I have no care for analog signal.

For the more practical,
My next neighbour has a VHF/UHF antenna (Yagi) 30 feet above the ground from wich 7 of the longest VHF branches are gone. From the look, it’s a Channel Master with a rotor wich is controlled by a rotary dial inside next to the TV.

With the neighbour’s setup, I can get ALL the green and yellow channels listed on the tvfool report (CURRENT – DIGITAL) but not in a single position. I need to use the rotor.

Using a home made UHF coat hanger antenna, I can get some of the US Channels at 167° but none of the local channels at 268°

As I can count on ACTUALLY and PREDICTED broadcasters on channels below 14 ( 14 NBC, 12 CTV, 13 ABC), I guess I should get both VHF and UHF signals. Is that right?

Do you have any solution to suggest? I dont’ want too much trial and error so this is why I seek for help. It may be anything from a single VHF/UHF antenna or a combination of more then one antennas.

Also, is it common to get two antennas each in different directions rather than have a single antenna with a rotor?

Thank you very much

I have the VHF / UHF AntennaCraft HDMS9100 sitting on a 40' tower in Hemmingford, and I'm getting all the CAN and US stations. Hemmingford is about 45km (30 miles) from the CAN antennas, and the same distance from the US ones, so it's a good middle ground.

It may still be a good idea to keep a VHF antenna, since some channels like ABC (13) and NBC (14) are broadcasting on the upper VHF spectrum, and others like CTV will move from 51 to 12 once the analog transmitters are phased out.

This is not the small omni directional antenna you often see, but rather the large 75ohms VHF and UHF directional antenna with pre-amp and rotor completely enclosed in plastic against the elements. The pre-amp is powered by a power inserter located in the control box that also houses the remote rotor controls. This box typically sits near the TV, and sends the power to the pre-amp through the COAX cable. It's more convenient that having to install a separate pre-amp outside and near the antenna like the Channel Master CM7777. The rotor is powered by a 3 wire cable that is attached and bundled to the 60' coax cable, and the 6 possible positions are controlled with a wireless remote. The rotor in my antenna is jammed in one place, but I found one position that gets all the stations.

The Source
www.thesource.ca/estore/Product.aspx?language=en-CA&catalog=Online&category=Outdoor+Antennas&product=1518238
- lots of user reviews -

Radio Shack
www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3506951
- lots of user reviews -

To help point your antenna, here are the digital transmitter locations in Montreal and south of the border:


(Callsign) (Network) (Virtual channel) (Real channel) (PTC = post-transition channel) (transmitter strength) (transmitter location)


-CAN-
CBFT SRC - 2.1 (19 - PTC 19) 54.97kw 45.505556, -73.591667 Mount Royal
CBMT CBC - 6.1 (20 - PTC 21) 57.41kw 45.505556, -73.591667 Mount Royal
CFCF CTV - 12.1 (51 - PTC 12) 5.5kw 45.503333, -73.596389 Mount Royal
CIVM TQ - 17.1 (27 - PTC 26) 15kw 45.559444, -73.552500 Mount Royal
CFJP V - 35 (42 - PTC 35) 13.9kw 45.521111, -73.566111 Plateau near Parc La Fontaine

-US-
WCAX CBS - 3 (22) 443kw 44.525607, -72.815679 Mt. Mansfield
WPTZ NBC - 5 (14) 650kw 44.525607, -72.815679 Mt. Mansfield
WVNY ABC - 22 (13) 10kw 44.525885, -72.815401 Mt. Mansfield
WETK PBS - 33 (32) 90kw 44.525607, -72.813735 Mt. Mansfield
WFFF FOX - 44 (43) 47kw 44.525885, -72.815401 Mt. Mansfield
WCFE PBS - 57 (38) 55kw 44.695320, -73.882919 Lyon Mountain


Stations not yet broadcasting in digital, but do have an assigned pre and post transition channel:

CFTM TVA - 10.1 (59 - PTC 20) Mount Royal
CJNT Metro14 - 62.1 (69 - PTC 49) Mount Royal
CFTU Savoir - 29.1 (29 - PTC 29) Mount Royal (Université de Montréal next to PolyTechnique)


*CTV is broadcasting a week digital signal at a temporary location on Mount Royal near the parking for Lac aux Castors 45.503333, -73.596389 . But that should change with a different location and stronger signal once the analog transmitters are phased out.

* V also seems to be broadcasting from a temporary location from what looks to be the top of a 20 story appartement building on the Plateau near Parc La Fontaine 45.521111, -73.566111 . Use maps.google.com then switch to street view, move away of the building towards the Parc, and turn around to see the transmitter. But I have no idea how up to date the map is.

*CJNT is the Canadian multicultural channel


*Note that ABC (13) and NBC (14) are broadcasting on the upper VHF spectrum, and others like CTV will move from 51 to 12 once the analog transmitters are phased out.



Sources:

Wikipedia for post transition channels

TVFOOL for digital transmitter strength and locations
- use TVFOOL.COM (Wikipedia doesn't have updated data)
- click Callsign lookup
- enter the Callsign (ex: CFCF-TV) , select Digital, and click Search
- link: www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=80
- once your have the coordinates, plug them into maps.google.com

*Note that ABC (13) and NBC (14) are broadcasting on the upper VHF spectrum, and others like CTV will move from 51 to 12 once the analog transmitters are phased out.
14 is UHF, not VHF.

TVFOOL for digital transmitter strength and locations
- use TVFOOL.COM (Wikipedia doesn't have updated data)
- click Callsign lookup
- enter the Callsign (ex: CFCF-TV) , select Digital, and click Search
- link: www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=80
- once your have the coordinates, plug them into maps.google.com

If you're going to use TVFool, don't bother with callsign lookup to get your coordinates.
Just use the "online TV Maps" feature, which pulls up Google Maps view in which you can pinpoint your exact location.

CBMT CBC - 6.1 (20 - PTC 21)
is already moved to physical channel 21.

analog 46 global is gone, global is available in DTV on 15.1 ptc 15.

this morning, saw cjnt-dt logical 62-1 on physical channel 49.

I'm getting all channels listed except WCFE PBS which must be on the other side of Mount Royal. I am located about 1 Km east of the Olympic Stadium. Channel 33 has been breaking up most of the week but seems to be normal now. Ch. 44 running better at about 50%, been having amplifier problems for over a month. Ch. 22 shows up every now and then but totally unreliable at 10 kw