[kwlug-disc] Home made indoor TV Antenna

Tue Jun 10 01:28:31 EDT 2014

Thanks Khalid.

Would be interested to know if anything changes if you terminated the 
splitter. http://www.homedepot.ca/product/cable-tv-coax-terminator/941326

And if you tightened up the connections a bit with a wrench. Things 
changing with cable movement seems a bit goofy. e.g. Rabbit ear era 
where you get the teenagers to stand there with one arm and leg 
outstretched. (Good luck with that.)

For $48, it seems worth it for the tuner alone, vis a vis standalone 
tuner costs. (If one's TV, like mine, doesn't have an ATSC tuner.) Take 
the two channels one gets with a coat hanger, and run with it. [If not 
ready to pursue to the extent you were motivated to.]

OTOH, something with Ethernet in would let you take advantage of the 
web. (XBMC on a stick? With commercial skip and smaller compression 
options, even? 6GB/hr seems like a lot - HD I'm guessing.) Or a netflix 
box - if / should you ever be so interested. (Unless your TV already has 
that?) [Let me guess - no netflix capable box has PVR ability?]

(I sure get though that Job 1 for you was Roger's equivalent so you 
could kill that bill entirely.)

On 14-06-09 11:45 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin wrote:
> On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 5:08 PM, Khalid Baheyeldin <kb at 2bits.com> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, May 1, 2014 at 3:23 PM, Paul Gallaway <paul at gallaway.ca> wrote:
>>
>>> I can report that I can successfully tune the Toronto stations
>>> (Global, CITY, OMNI1&2, CBC, Radio Canada (CBC Francais) and Hamilton
>>> (CITS, TVO, CHCH - problematic), and a couple out of, I think, Paris (TVO,
>>> another Global - channel 6). I do not get anything from Buffalo and I do
>>> not get CTV2 (CHCJ, channel 35 I think) out of Hamilton. In the end I used
>>> a roof mount, 10' mast galvanized 1.5" conduit (might have been 1.25"),
>>> Antennas Direct DB8 and a mast mounted Channel Master preamp (model 7777, I
>>> think).
>>>
>>
>> Thanks for the wealth of info in your message.
>>
>> Which area are you in (closest intersection)?
>>
>> With the Philips SDV8625T antenna, less than 10 ft from the ground, I am
>> getting these channels all the time.
>>
>>
>> Real Virtual Call Sign Network
>>   20   5       CBLT      CBC Toronto
>> 17   6       CIII      Global
>> 13   13      CKCO      CTV
>> 25   25      CBLTF     CBC Toronto French
>> 28   28      CICO      TVO
>> 36   36      CITS      From Hamilton
>>
>> And this one comes in most of the time.
>> 15   11      CHCH      From Hamilton
>>
>> This one is not consistent.
>> 35   35      CHCJ      CTV 2 Barrie
>>
>> I was getting them all before I put in the mast, which moved it for a foot
>> or so and the height and orientation changed as well. This is not the end
>> of it though, the antenna will be adjusted again when I get the permanent
>> cable for it and run it through the house instead of across the lawn.
>>
>> Your DB8 + CM7777 are just getting two more from Toronto: Omni 1 (channel
>> 40) and 2 (Ch 47). I do see a weak signal for them, as well as 32 from
>> Buffalo (WLNO), but not enough for the TV to tune any of those three
>> channels.
>>
>> This tells me the Philips is a good antenna, for $90 total price (no
>> separate pre-amp), and a great antenna for $50 when its on sale.
>>
>
> Following up on my previous followup ...
>
> So, here is what I ended up with,
>
> Antenna: Channel Master 4228HD.
>
> It is $120 at Sayal, with a 7 day return. It is cheaper at Research
> Electronic but no return policy. Also cheaper at Angel Electronics in
> Mississauga, but you pay shipping and there is no return.
>
> http://angelelectronics.ca/shop/ota/outdoor-antennas/65mi-105km-over/channel-master-cm-4228hd
>
> Pre-Amplifier:
>
> I initially got the Channel Master CM-7777 pre-amplifier ($100 at Sayal
> with 7 day return), the new design, with one input and one output. It
> worked OK, but I returned it to try the alternative. It has the advantage
> that it comes in a weather proof housing, and includes a clamp.
>
> What I ended up with is the KitzTech KT-200 (US$90 including shipping).
> http://kitztech.com/
>
> There is no weather proof housing that come with it, and in emails he said
> you get/make one yourself and make sure there is a hole at the bottom (to
> drain any water). So I ended up with a $2.50 Betty Crocker container form
> the dollar store, upside down, and U-bolt from Home Depot ($1.40).
>
> The Kitz pre-amp is more sensitive to directionality, and you have to find
> a sweet spot if you want Hamilton and Toronto at the same time. One weird
> thing is that with the CM-7777 and with the Philips antenna, the PVR was
> always tuning better than the TV (gets more channels). With the Kitz, it is
> now the reverse, specially with the two jittery channels mentioned below.
>
> They also sent an FM filter with it, but I did not notice any difference,
> since we don't have much channels in UHF, so did not end up putting it in
> the final setup.
>
> I also extended the mast up by tying two 10 ft galvanized pipes  ($12 each
> at Home Depot or Lowes) together using two clamps ($1.40 each). The top one
> is resting on the fence so it cannot slip, and the bottom one attached to
> the fence using 2 thingies (can't remember what they are called) with 2
> screws each ($5 or so for screws and 3 thingies).
>
> The effective mast height is around 15 ft because of the overlap (~ 5 ft?)
>
> The wiring is like so (repeated from an earlier email):
>
> Outdoor         | Indoor
> Ant - Pre-Amp - | - Pwr Injctr - Surge - 3 wy spltr
>
> Ant  = Antenna
> Pre-Amp = Pre-Amplifier, on the antenna mast
> Pwr Injctr = Co-axial Power injector for the pre-amp (comes with it)
> Surge = APC Surge protector which has coax protection
>
> There is no separate cable for power. The same antenna cable is used to
> send power to the pre-amp from an inside outlet.
>
> Then from the splitter, there are only two connections: one to the TV, and
> the other to the PVR (which has an ATSC tuner), each is an RG6 3 ft
> connection. One connection is unused, and uncapped.
>
> The dashes in the above 'diagram' are all RG6. All are 3 ft, except for the
> one form pre-amp to indoors which is 100 ft.
>
> The 3 way splitter is an old 1990s from the pre-digital era.
>
> With that setup and a bit of experimenting in direction, here is the final
> line up.
>
> 5-1  CBLT-DT CBC Toronto
> 6-1  CIII-HD Global Toronto, from Paris tower
> 9-1  CFTO    CTV Toronto (same as 13, but Toronto news)
> 11-1 CHCH-HD Independent from Hamilton
> 13-1 CKCO    CTV Kitchener (same as 9 except for news)
> 19-1 TVO     TVO Toronto
> 25-1 CBLFTDT CBC Toronto French
> 28-1 TVO     Same as 19, but from the Paris tower
> 35-1 CHCJ-DT CTV Two
> 36-1 CITS-HD Christian Hamilton
> 40-1 CJMT    Omni
> 41-1 CIII-HD Same as 6, but from CN Tower
> 47-1 CFMT    Omni
> 57-1 CITYTV  City TV Toronto
>
> As you can see, there is some duplication, as some channels broadcast from
> different towers. Also, CIII comes in two flavors, -1 for HD and -2 for SD.
>
> During the day, 35 and 47 may be pixellated, but they are mostly solid in
> the evening. Channel 57 is sometimes like that too, but less so than the
> first two. As I said in another email, rattling the cables beside the TV
> changes things, so that is about the only thing I will work on, perhaps
> getting a new splitter.
>
> There is no PBS nor WNLO from Buffalo. Only one night I got the latter, on
> the older Philips antenna, but perhaps that will not happen because of
> directionality (more to the left now than before).
>
> Here is my TV Fool report. Note that some channels are not listed (e.g. CBC)
>
> http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3de1c6921ecc5a5d
>
> For recording, I got the MediaSonic HomeWorx HW-150PVR for $48 or so from
> BestBuy, with price match for Amazon.ca
>
> http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/homeworx-homeworx-high-definiton-digital-converter-box-hw-150pvr-hw-150pvr/10273439.aspx
>
> Its interface sucks, but it does the job. One hour of video is around 6 GB
> in .mts format. So, a 2 TB portable Toshiba Canvio drive ($110 at Staples,
> with price match for the out of stock Best Buy).
>
> I am at the point where I say: this is satisfactory for my needs, given the
> obstacles, impracticality of a roof mount, and such. So it has to end here.
>
> And, I am not really handy, so if I did it, anyone can do it too.
>
>
>
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