Just need a little advice/guidance on how to approach this. I live on the north shore of Lake Erie, across from Erie PA (I can see the lights of the city, when I sit on the roof of my house); roughly 200km SW of the CN Tower.



1. I currently have an old CM4242 antenna on my 30' mast, which I'm not using (been relying on internet for my shows and whatnot).

2. Is Toronto (namely CBC) OTA out of the question?

3. I feel that I should upgrade/change my antenna; because sometimes even Erie does not come in consistently.

So, basically, I'm looking for suggestions re. antenna upgrade and possible booster/pre-amp.

With Toronto being in opposite direction to Erie Pa, you need to turn your antenna around. With OTA, experimentation is the key so I would try pointing your antenna towards Buffalo and then Toronto and see what you pick up. Maybe, you will get more stations than pointing south to Erie, Pa. If you are really lucky (since your mast is 30 feet), pointing half-way between Toronto and Buffalo may allow you to receive stations from both cities.

In summary do some experimentation (when weather is better) and based on results, you may need some sort of rotor and a mast mounted pre-amp.

I have a rotor up on the mast, and am used to rotating the antenna back when everything was analog.

I guess I was just a bit curious as to whether or not my current antenna is "good enough" or if there is something better to go with.

Ok thats great that you have a rotor. There are better antennas such as the Channel Master 4228 (eight bay and good for UHF). The real question is whether or not you are picking up any Buffalo, Toronto or Hamilton stations now when the antenna is properly pointed. If they are weak or sporadic, then a better antenna will certainly help and you should get solid signals. If you don't receive anything now, then a better antenna may still not be enough for your location.

Have you gone to TVfool.com?

You can plug in your info and see what stations you should be able to get from various directions.

You should be able to p/u all Erie, PA OTA TV channels as I do in Toronto for Buffalo, NY OTA TV channels, as long as the Erie, PA OTA transmitters have a proper height and/or power to reach the north side of Lake Ontario.

And as for OTA Toronto channels, all their transmitters are located on top of CN Tower, I think you're too far away from CN Tower BUT London, Ontario is pretty close to you, right? The only difference btwn Toronto channels and London channels are the local news only.



Stay warm.