[kwlug-disc] (no subject)

[Andrew Kohlsmith (mailing lists account)]

On Feb 26, 2014, at 11:20 AM, Jason Locklin <locklin.jason at gmail.com> wrote:
> Off brands tend to be cheap copies that don't hold up to weather. If
> they have internal amps, they are also often terrible. If you are doing
> the indoor or attic antenna, the cheap unamplified ones may work fine
> for many years, but if you are going to invest the time into doing
> something outdoor, I would only go Wineguard/Channel Master/Antennas
> Direct. A good antenna install should last a decade or more, and going
> up on the roof to fix things is not so fun. All your weak signals are
> UHF, so a UHF-only antenna like one of the 4-bay antennas should work
> fine. There are only a few places that sell these brands around here.
> My ChannelMaster originally came from Neutron Electronics in Guelph a
> few years back, but I have never had to return anything there. The only
> place with a significant online presence in Ontario is SaveAndReplay in
> Mississauga. They sponsor the OTA forum on Digitalhome.ca, and I have
> heard lots of positive things about them. Some of the Antenna
> installers around here are also dealers of those brands, so you could
> call around.

I went the Channel Master CM7777 route… that is a terrible LNA. If I remember correctly the noise figure (NF) was 4dB. After doing some more research and looking at a few locally-sourced options (all with worse or no published noise figuresI decided on a Kitztech LNA. By far the lowest NF of any consumer grade kit and the price was decent too.  http://www.kitztech.com but don’t be put off by the mid-90s website design. He makes solid electronic gear.

> Also note: *If* you can pick up CITY-TV from Toronto, then you can
> easily get CBC (it's much stronger), and probably both OMNI's. All the
> CN Tower stations have improved in recent years, and that doesn't seem
> to be reflected on the databases.

I live (literally) at the bottom of Chicopee Hill, on the east side. With a roof-mounted, fixed (no rotor) pain-jane $30 9.8dB (I think) Yagi pointed due east, a custom 4:1 coax loop voltage balun and the KitzTech amp, I was able to reliably receive everything off of the CN Tower, which was the only real target I was interested in hitting.  I detailed my balun build over at digitalhome.ca: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=992185&postcount=502

I don’t use the antenna much any more since I get everything off of netflix/apple rentals, but when I was into it it worked very well. If I wanted to install the rotor I bought (still new in box in my garage somewhere) I could easily pick up Toronto, London, Windsor, Buffalo, Erie and probably have a decent shot at Chicago as well.  For my location a roof-mounted antenna with a good LNA was a must; without it I could only get CBC and CHCH.

-A.