[kwlug-disc] Home made indoor TV Antenna

Mon Jun 9 23:45:31 EDT 2014

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.
-- 
Khalid M. Baheyeldin
2bits.com, Inc.
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