Sorry - can't help you there, but being in Surrey, you might be able to pick up some US channels if you are far south enough.

Do you have a TV or a tuner box that supports ATSC? You'll need that first. Just go cheap for now and use a long length of cable. Hook it up to the TV antenna jack and see if you can scan for channels. (worked for me but then I was living on the 7th floor of a condo and only 3 miles away from the transmitting source). Most of the Canadian ones will be broadcast from Mt Seymour so see if you can run the antenna to the wall with the clearest view to Mt Seymour.

If that works then spring for a decent antenna and try to get a few more. I've actually got a DB4 antenna sitting in the garage now since I switched to Shaw HD since there's so few OTA channels here.

I don't have an antenna but I have a Toshiba LCD that may hae the ATSC decoder in it.

Would you like to sell your antenna if I decide to go this route??

I probably would since it's doing nothing in the garage. :D I just have to find all the mounting hardware for it...

I wanted to mount it outside, but I was only able to pick up CBC and CTV with it from where I am (East Vancouver). It hardly seemed worth the effort since both were "free" if you had a HD receiver and subscribe to basic cable.

I bought this when I lived in the States and could easily pick up 10+ HD channels. What model TV are you using? You can probably look up the specs to see if it has an ATSC receiver built in.

I'm working on the road right now, I'll have a look at the TV when I get home and give it some more thought. I won't have a problem getting on the roof and mounting i'm just trying to find out if it's worth the effort and money. Biggest problem really is that I won't know 100% until I actually try it.

It's very true.

Because of bandwidth constraints Shaw has to compress their HDTV content quite a bit, resulting in image quality loss.

I have Shaw HD and I can definately see artifacting and pixelation on the HD channels. Sometimes hockey games are REAL bad.

Over the air ATSC signals are not compressed like Shaw, therefore better image quality.

That being said, I like Shaw's ease of use and the fact that there is no stupid dish or antenna that I have to mount on the outside of my house.

Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why I suggest trying it with a decently long piece of cable. Believe it or not, a cable (or a coathanger) makes a semi decent antenna. If you're able to pick a few channels up from that you're more than welcome to try out the antenna I have before you put the money down.

Is Nagra 3 cracked yet?

How about a TV with a RJ45 connection for internet use? Can that be used somehow to grab some channels? Or a cheaper alternative to Shaw on the net??

i'm close to the guildford area...actually more toward surrey central...i built a different antenna design that should be better than the one from coat hangers http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2483/...db03d245b1.jpg

called a fractal antenna...unfortunately i could only pick up kvos in seattle and crappy local ones that i can hardly see...i built it mainly to see if i can get cbc hd but couldn't...hmm..maybe its just my line of sight as well

Looks nice though.. :) you just placed it somewhere inside the house? Have you tried outside up high somewhere?

funny how this is hosted on Shaw's webservers

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ac/Picture.jpg

95% reception on all local (and a couple Seattle) HD channels. Crystal clear picture and audio. :D

What do you mean by local Lomac? CTV, CBC and Global or do you get others??

Those, plus a couple other ones. Can't remember which channels anymore. We tested this at a buddy's place during last year's Stanley Cup run since he didn't have cable at the time. I'm pretty sure it picked up a French HD station, though...

I'm guessing what channels you get are strictly dependent on where you are then? (ie: if you are in Vancouver you are going to get different channels compared to Richmond, Surrey etc...?)

cool stuff, going to give this a try since i have an old antenna lying around

Enter your info here to find out the channels you can get in your area. Its not totally accurate but atleast you'll get an idea. http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=90

I built that popular youtube antenna and got nothing out in Port Moody. However, I did get CBC HD with the help of $4 rabbit ears from a dollar store.

cool

what channel are the seattle ones?

unfortunately, i only tried it indoors...my cable is too short...no long ones and have yet to test it outside...i live in an apartment so there are bldgs blocking my way and some trees...on i'm on the ground floor so that won't help at all :D

dammit...that was my plan..basically local hd...funny since the location of the transformer should be located in the center...but meh..at least it works...might as well try this design...

maybe king or komo or kvos (they have hd?)

just made the shoebox model, then the youtube version. want to be able to watch the olympics.

getting about 80% reception on cbc (i tuned for cbc). the youtube version gave us about 8-9 percent, but that might just come down to tuning.

I live around broadway and granville, but i live on the the bottom floor of a brick building exactly opposite of Seymour mountain. I've got the antenna pointed out the window facing north west.


*edit, just added a reflector (tinfoil and cardboard) about 8 inches behind the antenna, and it bumped my signals about another 12 percent.

here are some numbers:


channel - youtube - youtube + reflector


cbc 2 - 71% - 84%

global 8 - 63% - 80%

ctv 32 - 56% - 68%

omni 42 - 47% - 59%

ooooh, reflector ... i'll add that to mine. i dont' get any canadian stations. goddammit, i too, want it for cbc (for hockey) and ctv for the olympics. i also live street level on a hill ... gonna try adding tinfoil now!

gonna give this a try