I live between Maple and Kleinburg, just north of Toronto (near Long. -79.58627/Lat 43.839619) at an altitude of approx. 215m (705 feet) in a forested area (mature Pine, Hemlock, Maple, etc.), receiving signals on a long range (60 mile?) outdoor antenna about 80 feet above ground level via RG59 coaxial passing through a CR7 channel 5 filter, a CR7 channel 9 filter, a CR7 FM trap and a a 30db amplifier (VHF-UHF) to a Channel Master CM7000 DTA converter. (Whew - that's a mouthful!)

I got the converter box at Christmas and REALLY appreciate this website's thorough and updated information and forums on HDTV reception. Thanks!

One problem I have encountered is I cannot receive digital signals for either Global (PSIP 41.1/Actual 65.1,) or Sun TV (PSIP/Actual 66.1) - both broadcast from the CN Tower at comparable strengths to CITYTV (PSIP 57-1/Actual 53-1) but 185 feet lower that CITY- despite being able to receive their analogue broadcasts very clearly on my tv without the CM7000;

I wonder if has anyone else encountered this or whether it is a problem with my set-up or equipment. Any comments are appreciated.

As an aside, one day during the winter while exploring the new DTV converter's range of power I was able to pick up strong signals from stations in Michigan - like WCMU-26 (PSIP 14.1,14.2, 14.3.Actual 26.1,26.2,26.3; WMYD (PSIP20.1/Actual 21.1) and WTVS (PSIP 56.1, 56.2,56.3/Actual 43.1,43.2,43.3). Unfortunately, WTVS has the same actual channel designation - 43 - as WNED in Buffalo (both PBS stations); so scanning one cancels out the other (at different aerial settings of course). That was impressive reception I thought so difficulty getting some other stations closer in Buffalo surprises me.

Cheers!

I would swap out the RG-59 cable for RG-6. RG-59 has 3 to 4 times the loss/leakage of RG-6.

Sounds like you have a nice setup there!

Althought I do not think it is 3 or 4 times the ratio (3dB is twice the power), as Bill suggested it is always a good idea if you can. What is happening does not surprise me since those 2 channels are the last ones on the UHF band (see the table on this forum) and therefore suffer the higher OTA propagation losses (well on any transmition line to be exact including the Air). On top of that, they also are less powered than CityTV digital and their TX antenna is located lower than the CityTV one to make matters even worst for you, and the rest of us, lol.

You were able to receive those far away stations that day (typically it happens in the summer months) due to abnormal or unusual highly favorable atmospheric conditions that allows radio signals to travel way way farther. A temperature gradient inversion makes the troposphera act as a duct (that is why the "radio" phenomena is called tropospheric duct) by reflecting the radio signals (or a portion of its spectrum , VHF/UHF in your case) on the higher layers of the troposfera back to earth. Heck there is someone in Ontario who received a TV signal from Havana, Cuba back in the 60's and also from England I beleive.

Very nice setup indeed and wait till the Aug 2011 digital conversion when this canadian stations are supposed to adjust their coverage area to match it somehow to their current analog version.

Thanks, BillFromGI - a local aerial parts supplier suggested the RG59 to RG6 upgrade too as the most effective improvement I can make. The cable only costs something like $75, I think; it's just the climb up the 40 year-old, 60-foot tower that daunts me without a pile of mattresses below - but I think I will get to it this summer. The aerial is either the original (40+ years old) or 25 years old and the cable and filters are 25 years old (changed after a lightning strike) - they've has served us very well, especially since there was no cable or satellite services available way back then. Thanks again!

Thanks for the explanation and insight, HDfan! That certainly explains those channels' reception difficulties. Hopefully bu August next year they will have upgraded to their final power and height broadcasting specs. I am looking forward to watching TVO (CICA PSIP19/Actual51) again, but they have no date set for digital broadcast other than the mandatory deadline.

The night I pulled in those stations from Detroit and Central Michigan, I was also able to watch stations from Cleveland and Rochester, but - as you've explained - never picked up most of them again.

The system - as I said above - has worked well despite its age and suffering two lightning strikes years ago. I am planning to add legal FTA reception to pick up some European channels; and I read somewhere about internet access being made available via OTA digital connections which really appeals to me but so far I cannot get any information about it - early days I suppose!

Thanks again - Cheers!

Tropospheric Ducting Forecasts here. Will help you predict the next time you may pick up Detroit or Cleveland. Enjoy!

[Link: dxinfocentre.com]

Very cool! Thanks!

This is the guy I was talking about. Google his name and you will see pictures of the screens of the far far far away TV Stations he has managed to receive over the years.

Ooops! I don't see his name!

I once received a station from Syracuse.

Once.

Updated the chart with WNGS and WPXJ's removal of -4 and upgrade to HD. I was able to get WPXJ tonight for a change, but not WNGS - so if something's incorrect there please let me know.

i pick up all the toronto and hamilton and buffalo dtv channels at bathurst and bloor area here using an old school winegard vhf uhf brand antenna and recently took it down cleaned it up and installed new 300 ohm to 75ohm matching transformer and new RG6 cable no preamp.
it sounds like yours need a once over for sure,how do you pass uhf? with the channel 5-9 and fm traps? uhf-dtv losses are very high with those inline.

Is your amplifier in the house rather than up the tower at the antenna? A preamp at the antenna would work better since the gain of that amplifier is ahead of the coax losses down your tower and to the TV.

It may be that the amplifier is overloading your TV tuner. You can try without the amplifier and see if you get Global and Sun HD. Know that both of these are still transmiting lower power than they should be when Analog is shut down.

The other way to deal with too much gain is to install a 4-way splitter. I have a preamp at the antenna, necessary since there are three TV's in the house. With only one TV hooked up to the preamp'ed (20dB) antenna, I loose half the channels. With the 4-way splitter (7 dB loss) all is well. Still, due to the 3 dB of noise that the preamp adds, there is some degradation over no preamp. One TV only, good RG6 coax and no preamp does the best job at my home for those marginal stations.

RG6 is about $6 for 100' at the electronic stores at Matheson / Dixie. There are no less than 4 stores there selling OTA equipment.

I live close to you but along HWY 27. You can probably get rid of your CH5 and 9 filters if you aim your antenna directly at Buffalo or a bit more west. That will effectively reduce the strength from the CN TWR while maximizing Buffalo. You will also get CHCH Hamilton all with only one azimuth.

Hope this helps.