I live in a house in East York (Toronto). I have been using until now a standard indoor rabbit ear antenna (2 poles, plus a circle) on my TV (through my VCR) and was able to get about 6 channels: CTV, CBC, Global, Sun TV, City TV, OMNI 1 and 2 and TVO, with a quality that ranges from excellent (CTV) to just barely acceptable, even when fiddling with the antenna. More importantly, recently (past few weeks), I haven't been able to receive CBC-Radio Canada (Channel 25) anymore, or very very poorly (unwatchable). I am looking to buy a new antenna (would prefer indoor as I don't have anyone who can help with outdoor installation) but I am completely lost as to what to buy to get a better reception. Also, with a different type antenna, could I get additional channels? Is outdoor antenna worth the trouble?
Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Many thanks!
Pascale

Well, you mention UHF channels here. Rabbit ears are pretty much VHF only. I'd also recommend an amplified antenna.

Depends on your case, but yes, outdoor antennas are great.

Thanks for your answer! Any VHF antenna you'd recommend in particular?

And about outdoor antennas, are there still any small businesses around that install these?? Any idea of the cost of the installation?

Sorry to be so ignorant (didn't even know the channels we receive here belong to two types of frequencies...)

Pascale

First off, VHF is are channels 2-13. 13-69 are UHF.

Sounds like you'll need an antenna that does VHF and UHF. I'm not sure if you have Radioshack in Ontario (I'm in the Buffalo area) but they have an indoor one that gets VHF/UHF and is amplified. It can be found here.

Sorry I can't help with outdoor antenna dealers as I'm not in the exact same area, but I'm sure somebody else here could.

Up here Radio Shack is now called "The Source" due to some legal difficulty.... Circuit City bought the Canadian RS......

Pop over to your public library and have a look at the radio amateurs handbook.... if your handy with tools there are lots of antennas in there you could build yourself.

Out door antennas on a house are not really hard to set up. You could start with one on a deck rail for instance and move it up to the roof later. You just have to be able to run a wire from the TV outside. Home Depot will sell you the RG59 cable already to go... just buy the length you need.

No! Don't get the RG59! It's good for A/V interconnects, but it has more signal loss for RF than RG6. Get RG6 for long cable runs!

The indoor antenna may be worth trying...adding an amplifier and UHF really will help. If not, the outdoor would be the way to go, but I think a better indoor than rabbit ears may yeild sufficient results.

I believe a lot of Antenna installers switched to installing satellite dishes, I guess that's where the money is in terms of getting regular work.

Take a look in the yellowpages for satellite installers - look for one thats been in business a long time - chances are many of them of them will also still do antenna installations.

And yes, IMO, an outdoor antenna is well worth it, and not a lot of trouble at all once installed.

for analog TV your best bet is a VHF/UHF combo antenna. for digital just UHF is all thats needed, though VHF/UHF combo will still work.

Don't get all hung up on cable types... my chart says at 400mhz....the difference between RG6 and RG 59 is only 3DB per 100 feet. Your in a house.... 50 feet would be a whopping cable run so only about 1.5DB of difference.

If you really want to make a difference buy a cheap amplifier... that will get you at least 10 DB of gain and mount it out at the antenna.

The down side is anytime you add an active component you run the risk of intermod from strong local signals... so try it unamplified first.

You can buy the Zenith "Silver Sensor" UHF only indoor antenna at Above-All electronics, on the north side of Bloor St a block and a half or so west of Bathurst. just past Honest-Ed's. Active Surplus on the south side of Queen between University and Spadina, just west of Beverly, (located upstairs) has the Terk HDTV i which is a clone of the Zenith but also has built in rabbit-ears for VHF(2-13). I have one myself. with a switchable amplifier in it but the amplifier really doesn't make too much difference. The Active surplus one is identical but no amplifier. It doesn't work very well for channel 5 but works well for all UHF channels. From what I have read on the internet, one of these may be the best you can get for indoor reception. What you will get depends on your surroundings but this is MUCH better than a wire loop or a "bowtie" which actually is shaped like a bowtie and comes with many TV sets. Channel 25 (SRC) is quite watchable at my place near Greenwood and Dundas, south of East-York and lower. Both antennas are new in the box and cost under $20.00 before tax.

A cheap antenna placed high outdoors will outperform an expensive antenna placed low indoors. The secret to good VHF and UHF reception is height. Since RF signals at there frequencies travel in straight lines you need to get the antenna as high as possible in order to extend the horizon. Furthermore, obstructions such as wall, roofs, thick trees, etc. can block UHF signals.

Use RG6 coax, it's less lossy.
Keep the runs as short as possible.
Avoid using splitters, switches, etc. as these are signal killers.
Don't run your antenna feed through the VCR it will also attenuate the signal.
Run the antenna feed directly to the TV and use composite or component patch cords to run the VCR video into the video input on the TV.

An amplifier can't make the antenna work better. It is designed to boost a signal in order to overcome losses in the feedline. (An amplifier must be installed at the antenna only otherwise it will amplify more noise than signal). If you have a short feedline with no splitters, etc. you don't need an amplifier. Don't fall for the claim that an amplifier will improve your reception. It won't.

I'm not sure if you have a new TV with an ATSC digital receiver. If you do you really only need a UHF antenna as the stations you've listed are transmitting digitally on the UHF band. After 2011 (2009 in the US) channels 2-6 will probably be dropped and 7-13 may or may not be used.

UHF is the way to go. You can get a good UHF 4 bay antenna for about $30. Try Sayal Electronics. They have several stores in the GTA including one in Scarborough.

http://www.sayal.com/