First off, Hey, I'm new here. I've been reading over this site for months debating what I should do to get OTA HD content. I've recently moved to the toronto area in a high rise. I picked up the sony KD34XS955 wega that has a built in ATSC tuner. Then I grabbed a terk tv55 antenna cuz my girl wasn't big on some bulky obscene looking piece of metal hanging off the balcony. I mounted it near the window sill and ran a scan on the television. After a little tweaking of the position of the antenna I could pull in 6 HD channels:
CITYHD, TORONTO1, CBC, CTVHD, CBS(WIVB), FOX(WUTV).

I can't seem to find UPN, NBC, ABC, or PBS. I only really wanted PBS cuz the HD content on that channel is amazing from what I've seen on my buddy's HD cable terminal. I'm thinking of mounting the antenna onto a mast and clamping it onto the balcony railing, does anyone think that may work out better for the signal? Also I'm noticing that on the main page of the hdtv section the channel guide shows cbc as 20-1 and below it is (5-1) what does that mean exactly? On my television cbc comes in on 5-1 not 20-1. Also CBS is listed as 39-1 and below that is (4-1) but the station maps to 4-1 on my set. is the station below in brackets the canadian equivalent or what? If so are they all that way or why do some only show one channel number?

Thanks to everyone on this site who has helped me through reading these forums and getting a better understanding into the world of HD. I never want to look at analog again, or digital for that matter. Theres nothing like watching the NFL in high def!

Thanks
S

If you get CBS 4-1 then you should CERTAINLY be getting UPN and 43-1 PBS (UPN is currently broadcasting CBS but will map to 23-1).

The big channel number is the "real" broadcast channel and the number in brackets is the "virtual" channel that it will likely remap to on your tuner.

Cheers.
Hopefully, once I jimmy up a mount for a mast, I'll have more luck with this.

I've been wondering about increasing the amp from 10db to 20+ db. Does anyone think it may help to pull in the channels I can't get? I've read through a lot of info and it seems I'm lucky to be getting channels that are over 40 miles away considering the terk tv55 isn't even rated for those distances. I think it may be the acoustics in the air over lake ontario, apparantly the signals travel very easily here. If anyone has anything to contribute here please do so.

Also, I wonder why I can't get PBS when FOX comes in 90% of the time. I have noticed drops here and there. I still think a mast mount will help cuz the window sill is aluminum and very close to the antenna itself

At 20db with a small antenna, you'll likely only be amplifying noise.

So here is a little update. I went out on a limb and bought a cm 4778 preamp. After connecting it it made things worse. I think cuz the terk tv55 already has an amplifier built into the housing of the antenna itself and gets inline power from the ac adapter it came with...no go. I then was reading about ota aok owning a rat shack 15-1880 indoor antenna. I figured hey what the heck. I bought it and it sucked big time. With the power on all channels were 41 signal strength and close channels wouldn't show up. So now I'm back to square one. I still havent put the antenna up on a mast but I'm starting to think that the reason my reception sucks so bad is because of all the high rises in my area. There are buildings everywhere. I can see the top of the CN tower in my line of sight. Plus WIVB and WUTV only come in sometimes. These channels aren't rock steady. They come in when they want. I think these signals for buffalo stations are bouncing off a building or something. Does anyone really think that a proper antenna like a cm or winegard will make a big difference? Please advise

So I talked to a local CM dealer in TO. He's going to let me take a 4224 and a 4228 to try out. This is good because now I'll be able to see if its the buildings in my area causing the reception problems for buffalo stations or if it is my terk tv55. The retailer said the tv55 is a good uhf antenna but i can only get wivb and wutv but no other buf stations. I can see straight out to the cn tower but I have a large building directly to the left and in front of me blocking my south eastern view of the gta. I thought if I had line of sight to the cn tower from yonge that buf antennas are behind the cn...this is aparantly not the case...they are to the east where I am and I think the building in front of me to the east is blocking my reception. I should be getting the equipment tomorrow. I'll have another update for friday.

High rises can cause ghosting/multipath issues... a good quality highly directional antenna can help deal with that. As can newer HDTV tuners (not sure where the one built into your set falls).

So here is another update. I got my cm4228 and after some playing around and mounting it about 7 feet on my balcony (14th floor) I get all toronto and buffalo stations except abc 7.1 The wierd thing is that the analog channel 7 comes in snowy but its there. I can't even find 7.1 when I scan my tuner. But the 4228 made a huge difference. My tuner is built into my sony kd34xs955. Its a high end TV so I doubt they would skimp on the atsc tuner. I'm impressed as now I can watch all the PBS I could ever want. I watched a HD special on coscos reef in costa rica...Amazing. I now truely appreciate HD OTA. I'd like to personally thank everyone who participates on this site, especially Danial Tonks. Your knowledge and expertise have helped me so much.

Help! We have a Sony Grand Wega kf-60dx100. We are not very tech savvy and are trying to figure out how to use our terk antenna to receive the local hdtv signals. We can't figure out how to dial up the .1 channels ie: 2.1 or 6.1 to get the hdtv signal. There's no . on our remote, so we're not sure how to even dial up the channels at all. Any help would be appreciated.


Thanks!

The KF-60DX100 does not have a built-in HDTV/8VSB tuner, you need to buy an external one.

Thanks! We'll give it a try.

Hi,

People can tell you a lot of things, but I just went through what you did. The best indoor antenna is not as good as the worst outdoor antennas. You pull in 6 channels. You did better than me with 3 indoor antennas.
I got 3-4, CBC, CBC French, Toronto 1, and sometimes CityTV.

Then I got this indoor/outdoor antenna and hung it off my balcony facing between the lake and the CN tower.
With that same antenna indoors I got that same amount of channels. Out side on my balcony I get 20 channels now.

Go to The Source, get and RCA 1711, it doesn't look like one of those antennas, it looks more like a planes wings, without the plain.

Your Terk will perform better outside, but how much better...well a quick test is worth it. Of course if you have a directional antenna keep in mind you need to point to the CN Tower and Buffalo to get the most channels. That is why I point mine between the two, and it works for me. Sure if I point it right at Buffalo the signal stength increases, but no difference in picture or sound, but I lose the Toronto stations and visa ersa.
So not only is outside important, but placement can make or break the number of channels you get to pull in.

Hope this helps a bit. Just seems I was exactly where you were, all excited about getting HDTV over the air, and having very limited selection. I think if people knew how much better quality the product is over the air than over cable ( can't speak to satelite) they would be going for over air more than not.

Right now all the cable company can offer me that I can't get now are the specialy channels that do not broadcast on the air. I have access to the 5 American networks ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX and UPN, all the Toronto channels that are broadcasting (more to come later over the next 2 years).

And you won't get that until you accept 2 things.
1) Get an outdoor antenna you can get one that the girlfriend won't freak out about)
2) Ditch the indoor antenna.

Do that and yo will be enjoying most, if not all the channels that are currently over the air in Toronto and area.