Time for antenna shopping

[CK SatGuy]

One of my goals this summer is to get new outdoor antenna installed. Yes the one I have is still working (granted it's over 20 years old) but it can't seem to pick up stations more than 30 miles away. The main reason I want a new one installed is to get the Canadian stations that are about 30-70 miles away from me. The trickiest part is getting it installed. The house I'm in is a tri-level and has a big height with a high roof (I'm eyeballing it at about 40 ft: great for reception, not so great if you have a fear of heights) so I'm gonna be looking for an installer as well. I'm wondering if solid signal does installations in the Detroit area considering they're located in Novi only about 10 miles away from me, but that's something I'll double check later. The first thing is looking for an antenna first. I'm thinking of the antennacraft c490: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...490-colorstar-vhf-uhf-fm-hd-tv-antenna-(c490)
Figure if I connect it with a pre-amp and a rotator, it should get the maximum reception, right? Any other suggestions are appreciated. I have my TV fool posted below. The furthest one I'm looking to get is CKCO channel 42 (69.5 miles away). I think that station is still in analog but I'd still be interested to get it considering if it does convert to digital in the future I know that it would be possible for me to get it with my new antenna.

 

[FaT Air]

What antenna do you have up now? and where mounted? Rotor? Picture?
Is the 30 mile range something new, as in did it work better before? If so, it could be the transformer (balun) has gone bad.
That or the coax has deteriorated.
CKCO looks to be a 'long shot' IMHO.
A preamp, with that number of transmitters within 20 miles, may be more a problem than a help. (Signal overload)YMMV

 

[Bob2011]

WLMB is the only VHF-Lo station in your area and if it is not important to you then you have a lot more options for antennas. The antenna you are looking at has only 9.3 dB of gain on UHF but better dedicated UHF antennas have upwards of 16 dB of gain. That gain will be important for a weak station like CKCO.

An amp may be a problem because your local stations are really strong and some are in the path of that CKCO you are trying to get.

 

[Mr Tony]

WLMB is a religious station FYI

No way you'll get CKCO...but since CTV mainly just has US net programming why would you need it? I guess for the CTV News or something

 

[CK SatGuy]

WLMB is a religious station FYI

No way you'll get CKCO...but since CTV mainly just has US net programming why would you need it? I guess for the CTV News or something

I don't really need it. I just wanted it for the sake of having it. Besides, figured it be kind of cool to see the Daily show and Colbert via OTA.

 

[CK SatGuy]

What antenna do you have up now? and where mounted? Rotor? Picture?
Is the 30 mile range something new, as in did it work better before? If so, it could be the transformer (balun) has gone bad.
That or the coax has deteriorated.
CKCO looks to be a 'long shot' IMHO.
A preamp, with that number of transmitters within 20 miles, may be more a problem than a help. (Signal overload)YMMV

Honestly, I have no clue what antenna I have now as it came with the house when I bought it back in 1991. Frankly I'm surprised it's still working at all after all of this time. I just know that the rotor is a channel master (because it says so on the rotor box). I'll try to post some pics this afternoon or tonight. I'm sure something deteriorated or broke down but instead of spending time investigating what's broken, I might as well just get a new setup. No the 30 mile range is not new (at least to the best of my knowledge) and it is chimney mounted.

 

[Mr Tony]

I don't really need it. I just wanted it for the sake of having it. Besides, figured it be kind of cool to see the Daily show and Colbert via OTA.

well take wiki for what its worth
As of September 2009, CKCO-TV-3 ceased airing alternate local programming for the Sarnia and Chatham area. It is now a complete simulcast of CKCO-DT, and as of April 2013 is still broadcasting in analog (NTSC) format.

CKCO-TV3 is the one in question (in Sarnia) and RabbitEars does back it up that its still analog