CANADA: Montreal, QC - HDTV

[Ken H]

From TV Hat - TV in Montreal and the Champlain Valley

Montreal DTV Stations
CBFT-DT 19 (SRC) Currently on-air, also on illico cable 602
CIVM-DT 27 (TQc) Coming soon
CBMT-DT 20 (CBC) Currently on-air, also on illico cable 606
CFJP-DT 42 (TQS) Target date: Late 2005

[zkzkz]

In theory you should also be able to get

* WCFE-DT 38 - Mountain Lake (PBS) Currently on-air testing

Though you'll need a clear line of sight south and a good directional antenna. I haven't actually tried myself but I've seen other reports of success.

c.f. the thread on Burlington (the system won't let me post the link, doh)

[RonXYZ]

Here is the list of DTV Stations I get from Montreal with a small antenna in the attic.
I hope to get the major networks from Mansfield this fall.

CBFT-DT 19 (SRC) 92%
CBMT-DT 20 (CBC) 91%
WCFE-DT 38 (PBS) 88%

[jamberi]

hey i'm in downtown montreal now, and i can only get CBC and Radio Canada channels using my indoor antenna. I'm assuming SRC is Radio Canada, so it looks like im only missing out on PBS. What direction do you have your antenna pointed at to receive pbs?

[RonXYZ]

To get PBS at full strength I need to set it South South-West at about 190 degrees. To get all three stations from one setting I have to set it South South-East at about 140 degrees then signal strength is lower for all three but still strong enough to get good reception. One way to find direction to PBS digital 38 is to try to get their analog transmission on channel 57 since they are transmitting both signals from the same antenna on Lyon Mountain NY.

[RonXYZ]

Today Sept. 28 one more station is available in Montreal on channel 32 here is my updated list

CBFT-DT 19 (SRC) 92%
CBMT-DT 20 (CBC) 91%
WETK-DT 32 (PBS) 45~75%
WCFE-DT 38 (PBS) 88%

[SmogTDI]

Originally Posted by RonXYZ

Today Sept. 28 one more station is available in Montreal on channel 32 here is my updated list

CBFT-DT 19 (SRC) 92%
CBMT-DT 20 (CBC) 91%
WETK-DT 32 (PBS) 45~75%
WCFE-DT 38 (PBS) 88%

in Prévost, north of Montreal I get all those near 100% except cbc src at 90%

the set-up:

pre-amp : radioshack productId=2103094
antenna : channelmaster 3221
tuner : fusionhdtv 5 RTLite

[RonXYZ]

SmogTDI

I'm glad for you, a lot of peoples in Montreal can not get any digital stations yet since CBC/SRC are transmitting at low power from their roof top. What about Ottawa and Quebec city witch are closer than 150 miles?

[SmogTDI]

Originally Posted by RonXYZ

SmogTDI

I'm glad for you, a lot of peoples in Montreal can not get any digital stations yet since CBC/SRC are transmitting at low power from their roof top. What about Ottawa and Quebec city witch are closer than 150 miles?

I only get analogs from Ottawa (using an omnidirectionnal ChannelMaster Smartenna) and Quebec city is a complete no-go for any address west of Trois-rivières.

is there anything digital in Ottawa?

[RonXYZ]

SmogTDI

Yes CBC / SRC have been on the air now for a few weeks CBC is on channel 25 and SRC is on 22. They are transmitting from Camp Fortune in Quebec. I have read that SRC in Quebec city is on channel 12 .

[SmogTDI]

Originally Posted by RonXYZ

SmogTDI

Yes CBC / SRC have been on the air now for a few weeks CBC is on channel 25 and SRC is on 22. They are transmitting from Camp Fortune in Quebec. I have read that SRC in Quebec city is on channel 12 .

what I need is CTVHD more than anything else....

at least with the Mt-Mansfield transmitters we will get all those good PBS HD feeds and most of the big US broadcasters.

I can live without digitaly broadcasted SRC-CBC, TQS, TVA or Tele-Quebec (Global is garbage to me) Analogs are fine to cover those.

Anyway, the Satellite computer card is doing the trick most of the time.

[RonXYZ]

SmogTDI

You have quite a setup.
I have an ATI HDTV tuner card, the hardware is ok but I hate the software that came with it so I use WatchHDTV, I also use other utilities. I'm thinking of getting a Channel Master 4228 where did you get yours from and also is your Satellite computer card a Dvico I might get one of those also? As far as CTVHD I thing you have better chance of getting it from Ottawa than Montreal. CFCF as not requested a license yet from the CRTC for digital broadcasting.

[john laborit]

You can get a cm 4228 at raybell 9712 notre-dame street east. It's a pretty heavy antenna but it's reception is worth the cost $100.
As for Dvico's cards they can be ordered thru ebay.
If you're thinking about getting a remote controlled rotor they seem to be back-ordered everywhere...good luck....but probably you won't need one with that 4228.

Originally Posted by RonXYZ

I'm thinking of getting a Channel Master 4228 where did you get yours from and also is your Satellite computer card a Dvico I might get one of those also? .

[SmogTDI]

Originally Posted by RonXYZ

SmogTDI

You have quite a setup.
I have an ATI HDTV tuner card, the hardware is ok but I hate the software that came with it so I use WatchHDTV, I also use other utilities. I'm thinking of getting a Channel Master 4228 where did you get yours from and also is your Satellite computer card a Dvico I might get one of those also? As far as CTVHD I thing you have better chance of getting it from Ottawa than Montreal. CFCF as not requested a license yet from the CRTC for digital broadcasting.

right now I have the Channel master 4221 but I may change it for a 4228


the satellite card is a 3 years old Twinhan 1020a

with the proper plugins it will pull Bell HD


the OTA setup is to cover the blackout on the satellite services.... and get a better HDTV signal than the cable and sat providers

[RonXYZ]

john laborit, SmogTDI

Great info.

Thank you.

[bobokiki]

So if I'm understanding this correctly, we can only get 4 OTA HDTV channels in Montreal?

Geez, is it even worth the hassle of the antenna positioning, running cabling, and tuner? I was looking at adding OTA HDTV to my setup, but not sure it's worth it anymore?

[poncho@home]

As of a few days now you can also get WCAX CBS HD out of the Plattsburgh/Burlignton market. Check out the thread on Burlington, Vt.

NBC, ABC and Fox are scheduled to go live soon, atleast that's what they say.

[netsigma]

Just heard on th enews CTV and TVA have requested from the CRTC to stop analog broadcasting and that it would cost them $200M to update their equipment for OTA HD broadcasting which they do not want to do.

[Ken H]

The CBC on Digital TV
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=763441

[ggtronic]

Boucherville , Montreal south shore

CBFT-DT 502,250 Mhz 78% ------ TV-ok USB tuner-ok
CBMT-DT 508,250 Mhz 69% ------ TV-ok USB tuner-ok
WPTZ-DT ------------------------TV-55%ok USB tuner-not yet ?


LCD TV 37" VIEWSONIC N3752 with ATSC tuner
USB tuner pinnacle stick pro HD with ATSC

B2000 integretaed active amplifier antenna rooftop

SMOGtdi, i will try to add more aluminium rods to
my actual antenna, your additional channels are interesting !

My PC capture device can tell me wich frequencys are associated with channels,
please post yours if available

thanks

[netsigma]

With bunny ears in Laval in my basement I get:

CBFT-DT (channel 19) 76%
CBMT-DT (channel 20) 74% <- been flaky since weekend, had to watch the hockey game on p2p.
WPTZ-DT (channel 14) haven't tried fiddling with the bunny ears but it did register the channel so I should be able to get the signal to about 65%..

[Brian_O]

I live near the Lakeshore in Pointe-Claire and with an old weather-beaten Archer (Radio Shack) UHF antenna I get the following digital stations:

WCAX-DT (53): CBS HD on 3.1; Weather on 3.2 (480i 16:9)

WPTZ-DT (14): NBC HD on 5.1; Weather on 5.2 (480i 4:3)

WETK-DT (32): PBS HD on 33.1; Simulcast of analogue programming on 33.2 (480i 4:3)

WFFF-DT (43): FOX HD on 44.1; Test pattern on 44.2 (480i 4:3)

WCFE-DT (38): PBS-HD on 57.1; Simulcast of analogue programming on 57.2 (480i 4:3)

I do not use a rotor because I have TV's in 4 rooms making it impractical. My UHF antenna is pointed at Lake Champlain but picks up all the Plattsburgh-Burlington UHF stations, both analogue and digital (even WWBI). The signal strength on the digital channels ranges from 85% (WFFF) to 98% (WPTZ)

I do not get WVNY-DT (13) because my deep fringe VHF antenna is currently inoperative. However, I have not heard from anyone in my area who can receive WVNY-DT because of its very weak signal. This is sad since channel 22 is by far the easiest analogue UHF station to pick up in this area.

I do not get CBC(20) or SRC(19) because Mount Royal blocks the signal to the West Island. I do get all the Mount Royal analogue channels on an all-band antenna pointed at the mountain.

I have a Sony KD34XS955 CRT HDTV in one room and a Samsung DTB-H260F tuner feeding a JVC analogue CRT set in another. While the Sony tuner has no problems with any of the digital channels, the Samsung tuner seems to be weak above channel 51 and I cannot get WCAX-DT on 53 all the time. Perhaps this weakness is by design. Even when the Samsung tuner does pull it in, it has by far the weakest signal strength while on my Sony tuner WCAX-DT is consistently stronger than WFFF-DT. It should be noted that although channels 52 to 69 are disappearing in 2009, the NTIA specs for the digital converter boxes that will become available next year state that to be certified the boxes must be able to receive channels all channels from 2-69. Perhaps Samsung "jumped the gun" in their design.

[Brian_O]

On Wednesday morning (April 18), WCFE's broadcast tower on Lyon Mountain collapsed knocking both their analogue and digital broadcasts off the air. The tower is a total loss, so they will need to erect a brand new one this summer.

In the meantime, they are planning to erect a temporary tower at a different location on the mountain so as to get back on the air as soon as possible (max. 3 weeks). Until the temporary tower is erected WCFE will only be available in the immediate vicinity of Plattsburgh on Charter Cable which has a direct feed. OTA, satellite and all cable companies except Charter will be unable to carry WCFE until the temporary facilities are up and running.

Details can be found on the WCFE web site at http://www.mountainlake.org

[Brian_O]

WCFE has been successful in piggybacking on to WCAX's digital stream, so their regular programming is now available as channel 57.1 (on physical channel 53). This should also allow some of the Cable companies to restore WCFE to their service.

WCFE's OTA analogue broadcasts and their feed of the PBS HD channel are still unavailable.

[netsigma]

Thanks for the news. Do you think I'll be able to get the same channels using a CM 4221 in my attic. The house is 6 yrs old. Looking forward to this mod this summer.

[st-henrite]

I live in St-Henri, just below "The Glen" tunnel from Westmount, in a third floor apartment with a balcony facing east, shaded a little bit to the south. To the left of the balcony is the Ville-Marie Expressway overpass, which looms over the neighborhood. Our balcony is right in front of our living room, where the TV and such are set up.

I thought it would be impossible to pull in HD channels without some serious work (which our landlord would definitely not allow - satellites have been already banned, so putting an anttenna on our roof is out) after I tried scanning the channels with out HDTV out of the box. Miraculously, I managed to pull in the WPTZ NBC HD channel (5.1 and the weather channel 5.2) in with $10 RCA rabbit ears from FutureShop, and on one occasion the CBC HD channel (on 6.1), but this was only for a couple of minutes. The WPTZ NBC HD channel came in all the time, but I could only get it at night, though, usually after 10 o'clock (on really clear nights I have gotten it as early as 8 PM). In the last three or four days, I haven't been able to pull it in at all (for what I presume is bad weather-related reasons). I managed to pull in the channels by hanging my rabbit ears off of a curtain rod facing the window of the balcony door. For whatever reason, it managed to pull the strongest signals there (the signals at its peak usually ranged from the low 50s to high 60s at the best, mid/high 30s to 40s at its worst, non peak times).

What I'm wondering is, would it be worth the investment to buy one of those $40 or $50 electric-boosted indoor antennas to try and pull in more of the channels? I saw one posted on here several months ago that looked like a miniature version of the old ariel antenna my parents had on a tower next to our house when I was a kid. I think it was a U.S. radio shack type deal. When I do a TV scan, the ATSC channels that the TV recognizes are UHF 14 (which it pulls in well on 5.1 and 5.2), 19, 20, (occasionally) 24, 32, 53 and (occasionally) 58. The reception for all of those usually range from low single digits to high 20s, so they never come in. I've gotten one of the PBS ones to come in for like 5 seconds at a time when I'm practically hanging my antenna out the door, but that's about it. CBC has come in for a few minutes on one occasion as well. So I'm guessing the potential to pull all of them in is there, I just need the right antenna.

[mckayg]

I live in Pierrefonds on Gouin boulevard. I am on the third floor of a 4 floor apartment. My balcony faces pretty much north, maybe a little to the east. My apratment is also in the middle of the building (ie not a corner unit. I have a Hauppauge PVR-1600 with a 21 inch omnidirectional tv antenna from The Source Electronics (Radioshack). It is a nexxtech brand. Anyway, I have hooked things up with the amplifier (for the antenna) and am trying to get either analogue or ATSC. I can get analogues channels, but the quality is horrible. I mean they are better than without the antenna, but certainly not good...colour is off and fuzziness. Hooking this antenna up to the ATSC and auto searching for channels comes up with absolutely nothing... Anyone have any suggestions on how to improve signals or selelction. I really only want a few channels, but I want them to be decent quality. Both peices of equipement can be returned in 10 days (antenna) and tuner card (25 days left), so I want to make a decision soon. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[bobz99by]

I live in downtown Montreal right next to McGill. I'm interested in the prospect of buying a Plextor PX-HDTV500U, which is a usb HD tuner.

I have a regular antenna for my TV and I get all the standard channels but I don't get any US channels, which is really what I want. I use to live higher up on the hill and got NBC and Fox sometimes. I suspect I'll probably get the Montreal HD channels but not the US Channels. I'd be less inclined to purchase the usb tuner if this were the case. Thanks.

[Albator]

HD pq in Montreal area.... Videotron or Bell?

I know both are suppose to have a 1080i signals but is there anyone who have already tried or compared both HD signals to see if one is much better than the other? Will HD this fall and havent decided yet where will i go, satellite or cable... thanks!

[bm555]

Albator,

I happen to have a close friend who lives a few blocks from here ( montreal -East) , and we both have the same TV model from Sony, rp LCD. He is with Videotron, in HD, I'm with ExpressVU HD, on a 9200 PVR receiver. For both of us, the difference was obvious, HD pic quality is superior on Bell's system, for now. Videotron compress their signals way too much. Until they free up a few more QAMs, it will pretty much remain that way.

I also made another interesting comparison. I installed a highly directional Yagi UHF antenna on the roof, which also feeds my 9200 receiver ( ATSC tuner built-in). It's actually aimed at Mt Mansfield, VT, so I can watch Vermont locals - OTA - instead of Boston locals that Bell feeds us with. CBC-HD and SRC-HD still come strong at about 96% signal, they would overload the tuner if the antenna was aimed at CBC building anyway. if I switch back and forth between CBC-HD OTA and CBC-HD from ExpressVu, neither my wife or myself can see any difference in picture quality between the two feeds, and that's on a 42 inches Sony rear projection Sony set. Which makes me conclude that ExpressVu doesn't degrade the signal in such a way that we would notice it compared to the original uncompressed OTA signal.

As much as I don't really like Bell Canada as a company, and particularly their false advertising about their high speed internet vs the competition, I must admit that for watching TV, it's either Bell or Off The Air, period.

You can find some interesting discussions on dslreports Videotron and Bell forums.