Suggestion, if the antenna worked before and has no broken elements, I would just leave it be even if a 300 to 75 ohm transformer is required, however, I would add a mast mounted VHF/UHF pre-amp. There are a few on the market right now both from Channel Master $$$$$ (gain up to 28 dB) to less expensive ones $$ VHF/UHF gain about 15 dB ([Link: wintroniccomputers.com]?
product=c35fee0231248fb50132834c830c015f).

No matter how strong the gain of an amplifier is, bad or fluctuating low rf signal, multipled by any gain is still not a good AND usable rf signal.

Then inside use a passive splitter first and see if the rf signal is sufficient for the two digital sets, if not an active splitter can always be added later. My guess it may not be needed.

This, at times, is still a trial & error sport.

PS: Forgot to say, I would suggest to obtain the digital boxes first, see how they perform and then start going backwards up to the antenna, to save unnecessary costs.

Reports out of Buffalo is that WBNF-CA is now on the air in digital out of grand island on RF 15.

I'm receiving it consistently at my location east of Toronto. It also maps as WNYB and not WBNF which I find kind of strange.

Thanks. I pretty much knew it was going to be a gamble no matter what I tried. I'm going to go with my gut, plus what I know has worked. Mid power mast amp on a UHF antenna.

Her existing antenna has lost a few elements, and has a really low UHF gain anyway... Its been through 12 years of WNY winters, about time it was replaced. The UHF should hold up better anyway with the smaller elements.

Look at the Rabbit Ears website, it looks as if there is a null towards the Toronto core but there is some good signal out near Oshawa/Whitby/Ajax... [Link: rabbitears.info]

I'm in Stouffville and it's working quite well out here, consistent at 2 bars. Their old analog signal was also recieved quite well in my location. They actually got an increase in ERP but more directional to protect the now non-existant CKXT in Hamilton.

At what power output?

I'll keep trying but D15-1 is still a blank screen for me.

EDIT: Ah! I see that it is directional and Welland is just outside the blue line.

They are at 15KW and very directional especially away from Hamilton and to the the Northwest. Besides WNYB 26 covers that area just fine.

Rogers has applied to the CRTC to change CJMT from RF 51 to RF 40.

[Link: services.crtc.gc.ca]

Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2011-719

Revocation of licence

1. TVA Group Inc. has requested the revocation of its broadcasting licence for its conventional television programming undertaking CKXT-TV Toronto, Ontario and its related rebroadcasting transmitters CKXT-TV-1 Hamilton, CKXT-TV-2 London and CKXT-TV-3 Ottawa.

2. Given the licensee’s request, the Commission revokes, pursuant to sections 9(1)(e) and 24(1) of the Broadcasting Act, the broadcasting licence issued to TVA Group Inc. for the above-mentioned undertaking.

[Link: crtc.gc.ca]

Although SUNTV CKXT was not that popular, its unfortunate that the owners (Quebecor) have decided to drop their license.

It would be fantastic if a cable or satellite company picked up the license and started broadcasting a cable/satellite only sports channel such as TSN. Then OTA viability would start to make sense and there would be more viewers but I am only dreaming here and come from another planet.

As it stands now (sorry for getting so negative even though I sing the praises of OTA to those I meet), OTA may slowly be dying. BCE and Rogers who own several local stations such as CITYTV and CTV have absolutely no financial interest in broadcasting OTA. They would be really happy if it goes away and everyone subscribes to cable/satellite. Why else would CTV go to 7 KW and CHCH to 6 KW (to save electricity?).

I wonder what would happen if BCE and Rogers applied to revoke all their broadcast licenses. Since they effectively control CRTC, I am sure their request would be approved. Then CRTC would turn around and sell the broadcast spectrum to cellular or other uses. CRTC has absolutely no power and is run by bureaucratic wimps who look at the bottom line dollar not the consumer. My case in point is QAM cable.... why would they let Rogers encrypt all their signals... why must one be forced to buy/rent a settop box to receive local channels. All current digital tvs have full tuner potential to receive QAM without these ugly cancerous settop boxes. I believe in Europe and USA, QAM is more fully utilized. Why do we even need the CRTC? Fire them all or shrink the organization so we can save some taxpayer dollars.

I stand by my assertion that OTA is slowly dying and there may be no OTA broadcasting in ten to twenty years. Try talking to a person on the street... the vast majority believes that after Sept 1st in Canada, antennas no longer work and that you must subscribe to a service. The rogers/bell marketing ads on the switchover plans to digital worked great and were very effective (I am being sarcastic here).

I was in Cuba when cable TV started popularizing in NA probably over 40 years ago now, and my question is?. Didnt the same happened then? , Didnt people started thinking that OTA was slowly going to die because of cable and satellite TV?. If yes , then ask yourself, Why would it die now that it even has more capabilities and quality (EPG, Time stamp, digital, HD and DD5.1) than when it was invented or even 40 years ago?. I do not think it will die and BTW prime time Network OTA TV it is still the main source of highly acclaimed/high quality programming so the big five (PBS,NBC,ABC,CBS,FOX) still need the network of OTA affiliates alive and kicking to still produce that programming.

CTV Toronto and CHCH use the Hi VHF band (9 and 11) therefore they requiere way less power than the other stations on UHF to cover the same area. I have not done any calculations and maybe the current levels are lower than should but in any case do not expect them to be similar to a UHF station. Instead use the proper VHF antenna or contact them and see what they say.

You and I might disagree with some of the regulations or even all of them if it was the case but in any case the broadcast regulator is always needed otherwise it would be a broadcast mess where interference run wild and free (kind of not having traffic signs). Wether they do their job properly , that is another story.

What I find funny in Sun TV subject is that they were allowed to keep their brand name rather than start from scratch as a "new" news cable only network. In other words they used the spectrum (which they paid for BTW) as a means to gain audience or even maybe have a cable presence at least locally then ... well.... we know what happened.

I don't mind if CTV or CityTV go and ask the CRTC to revoke their license and decide to launch a Cat 2 digital channel. Go ahead. But do remember that they lose their priority channel placement in the 2-135 range (and yes I know Rogers owns CityTV so they won't lose it on Rogers Cable, but they can/will on other BDUs and vice versa for other stations) and more importantly, lose their ability to simsub and solicit local advertising. Pending changes to the rules, those 3 reasons are why OTA in Canada won't die.

CTV freezing every few seconds.

For the past few weeks, CTV has been freezing (both picture and sound) every few seconds to me. Checked the signal strength, seems it is due to up and down from good to bad.

I used to be able to receive CTV no problem. And now other than CTV, all other channels are fine, so it should not be the problem with TV or antenna. I wonder what's the problem and if anyone else experiences the same thing?

OTA reception can be quite variable especially if your CTV signal strength is fluctuating up and down. For me CTV has always been strong but other weaker stations exhibit this behaviour. For example, CHCH will be great for a week and then for 3 or 4 days its to weak to watch.

However, since you say it has been spotty for a few weeks, it may be that the colder weather has made weak stations unwatchable. I cant prove this phenomenon except to say that in the summer, I was able to receive Buffalo stations very well. So you may be forced to adjust your antenna if possible... if you dont have a good uhf/vhf amplifer, then you might need one.

If you give details of your antenna and location, perhaps we can provide more help.