# DTV switchover



## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

All the tv stations in my area (Ottawa) switched over yesterday. 
After I rescanned the channels, I get a nice HD picture compared to 
the old analog method which had a lot of noise and ghosting..
..however..
now it appears that with the cheaper digital antenna ($49.95 from Durham
Radio) I bought last spring, with the an elcheapo preamp built in, there still isn't enough signal to prevent dropouts and freeze frame on some channels. 

This 4 bay antenna is mounted inside my house on a wall, but faces a window.

Called the Durham Radio guy and he tells me to expect a 30% reduction
in signal if the antenna is in the attic or inside the house..
..ok..I ask.."do you have a preamp that I can put inline between the 4 bay
antenna and the DTV RF input on my flat screen"?

"Yes, we sell them he tells me, (Channel Master 7777 for $99 with 26db gain on VHF and 23db gain on UHF), but we are sold out, and there are so many waiting on the existing backorders"...

So, any of you electronic experts out there know what type of economical
VHF/UHF signal amplifier I should get?

Right now, I'm still on a Bell TV 2 yr contract, and I've suspended the programming over the summer months, (since I'm not home most of the time), but in order to fulfill the 2 yr contract (without incurring early cancellation penalties of $150),
I will have to turn on the programming soon this month.

But as soon as the contract is over next february, I'm cancelling Bell and just picking up off the air.


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## DanFo (Apr 9, 2011)

Found that pre amp on ebay for a cheaper price then you were quoted...

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Channel-Mast...641?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e63625d29


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Bring on the Super WiFi, good riddance analog


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

DanFo said:


> Found that pre amp on ebay for a cheaper price then you were quoted...
> 
> Channel-Master-CM-7777-UHF-VHF-Antenna-Preamplifier-


Thanks DanFo ..(my name is Dan also btw)  
I've just ordered one from the E-Bay site you provided.

I managed to string some wires temporarily to the existing preamp leads
on the antenna, that eliminated pretty much most of the signal dropouts
and freeze frames, but.... I got this humongeous Norway maple that is between
the antenna and the Camp Fortune (Quebec) transmitter, so whenever the
leaves rustle or get wet from rain, I'm getting signal attenuation.

Can't do anything about the tree, and I'm sure that when it drops its leaves
in November, the signal will come in a bit better, but having a decent
Channel Master preamp is peace of mind.

Earlier, for a while I was confused with some of the channels, (CJOH 13, 
and CHCH 11 and RFT6, which is what Global is called) , because they seemed to stop transmitting (no sig), but I still managed to get CBC-4 HD,
I figured the others were adjusting the signal strength on their transmitters,
being the first day. 

Anyway, they are back on now and right now I'm getting a decent reception . CBC is transmitting 1080i and so are the other channels, I believe..what a difference when you can see things in HD! 

It's like..well.. I remember many many years ago, when they
switched from B&W to colour. I saw a colour program on somebody's
set that could afford the high cost of a colour TV in those days. 
and I was amazed at the difference.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

Rogers is celebrating with their OTA transition offer http://www.orderrogers.ca/dtv/signup#

$10.14/month on a 1 year contract gets you OTA stations plus 85 "bonus" channels. The service costs twice as much after the contract expires, channels are also then reduced to mostly OTA stations, a small selection of cable stations like CBC News, CPAC, the beloved Weather Network, and a few random ones no one cares about. 

It's too bad The Weather Network doesn't have their own transmitter or broadcast on another stations subchannel. Oddly that's the only station a lot of people can't live without and so it keeps them from abandoning cable/satellite TV all together.

At the same time, there's no where you can hide. Bell increased my internet bill by 45% ($52.95 to $76.95) in less than 2 years. It's a shame what they do with a cornered market, and regulators look the other way. CRTC is useless. I'm waiting for the Bell/Telus and Rogers/Shaw/Videotron mega-mergers. Bound to happen any day now.


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

ddkay said:


> It's too bad The Weather Network doesn't have their own transmitter or broadcast on another stations subchannel. Oddly that's the only station a lot of people can't live without and so it keeps them from abandoning cable/satellite TV all together.
> 
> At the same time, there's no where you can hide. Bell increased my internet bill by 45% ($52.95 to $76.95) in less than 2 years. It's a shame what they do with a cornered market, and regulators look the other way. CRTC is useless. I'm waiting for the Bell/Telus and Rogers/Shaw/Videotron mega-mergers. Bound to happen any day now.


The Weather Network streams their video forecasts online, so why pay so much for it? Never paid for cable in my life, or a landline

Internet is much better in Europe so there is no excuse. Scandinavia has some of the best internet in the world so it's not the climate or population density either. Not only is Canadian internet expensive and slow, you get nothing for upload speeds which cripples all the good stuff internet can do

UK is using these old TV frequencies for super internet now. Canada is "consulting" with Bell and Rogers. I'm sure super internet is bad for profits


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

ddkay said:


> Rogers is celebrating with their OTA transition offer
> $10.14/month on a 1 year contract gets you OTA stations plus 85 "bonus" channels.
> 
> The service costs twice as much after the contract expires, channels are also then reduced to mostly OTA stations, a small selection of cable stations like CBC News, CPAC, the beloved Weather Network, and a few random ones no one cares about.


That is a caveat emptor. They want to hook the ones that were watching
off air, up to now where Rogers cable is available and don't want to pay
the $69 to $99 for a digital receiver. 
It's a standard definition receiver offer..the old ones, not the HD ones. 

I downsized to a standard receiver with Bell, when the 12 month free HD 
receiver promotion expired and they started to charge me $10 + tax per month.
They are still charging me $4 a month for that piece of C**p, so it's not free
either. 

The standard def receiver picture is poor by comparision to the HD receiver,
and as of Sept 1, the 1080i HD digital broadcast that CBC-4/CTV-13
is now transmitting over the air. 
I bought a digital antenna, now I'm waiting for a better preamp..at
least these are only one time costs. 

With the snow and ghosting of analog, a thing of the past...
on digital tv broadcasting over the air, we have signal dropouts,
and the occasionally freeze frame to replace that in areas of weak signal
reception, so they may be able to land a few "suckers" that can't
seem to get a good digital picture on the standard rabbit ears.

I still have Rogers cable available in my house, but I'm not buying it, even
after my Bell TV contract expires in January. 



> At the same time, there's no where you can hide. Bell increased my internet bill by 45% ($52.95 to $76.95) in less than 2 years. It's a shame what they do with a cornered market, and regulators look the other way. CRTC is useless. I'm waiting for the Bell/Telus and Rogers/Shaw/Videotron mega-mergers. Bound to happen any day now.


This is what's happening now.with a TV monopoly shared by 2 or 3 "big boys".
When the cell phone business was deregulated, new players got
into the market undercutting their ridiculous rates, they got into TV
where they each still control at least 50% of the market. I can't see
a merger yet, until the CRTC allows new SATELLITE players to come in
and start undercutting their rates.


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

ddkay said:


> At the same time, there's no where you can hide. Bell increased my internet bill by 45% ($52.95 to $76.95) in less than 2 years. It's a shame what they do with a cornered market, and regulators look the other way. CRTC is useless. I'm waiting for the Bell/Telus and Rogers/Shaw/Videotron mega-mergers. Bound to happen any day now.


Are you aware that there are internet providers other than the big three? For example Acanac and Techsavvy both offer internet for around $30/month and they have no bandwidth caps either (or very large ones).


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## m3s (Apr 3, 2010)

Sherlock said:


> Are you aware that there are internet providers other than the big three? For example Acanac and Techsavvy both offer internet for around $30/month and they have no bandwidth caps either (or very large ones).


They don't cover much of Canada, they only resell big 3's internet, same ancient upload speeds

They are a better alternative. I told some American co workers how most Canadians have 80 GB caps and they couldn't comprehend that


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

Sherlock said:


> Are you aware that there are internet providers other than the big three? For example Acanac and Techsavvy both offer internet for around $30/month and they have no bandwidth caps either (or very large ones).


I read Rogers is planning upload speed upgrades within the next few months, 7Mbps and 10Mbps but only for the top two tiers (Extreme Plus and Ultimate) which cost $77+/month.

TekSavvy VDSL2 is just as expensive once Bell throws in their dry loop fee. Ever since caps got ridiculous I've just learned to limit my consumption to stay inside the cap (i.e. the traditional text-based web and email lifestyle, occasional mp3 download, stream music from Soundcloud, no Netflix, rarely watch YouTube). I even browse the Internet through lynx to save bandwidth: http://i.imgur.com/WproT.png

I tried TekSavvy cable for a few months but there was ingress on my line that knocked out my net randomly several times a day sometimes for several hours. It took 11 technicians to actually inspect Rogers side of the issue and it seemed like because I was a TPIA customer I was always their lowest priority. It took 2 months to replace their faulty amplifier. TekSavvy even promised a credit for my downtime, but it never materialized, and since it was a verbal contract no one in billing could verify. They wasted way too much of my time so I cancelled.

The only good part about being a direct customer of the big ISPs is that if you need a technician out to resolve line issues they can send one out the next day, even on weekends. The third parties deal through an email/ticket system and it can take up to 48 hours to get a response from dispatch, and then your appointment is always 2 to 3 days later and never on weekends. The time wasting is really frustrating.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

Apparently, CTV Ottawa (CJOH) is still broadcasting over the air in 
"standard definition", so my widescreen is compressed to a 4:3 aspect ratio,
so I'm seeing black bars on either side of a compressed picture. 

All the other channels broadcasting DTV off air are HD full screen.
CTV (Bell Media's) excuse (on the CJOH website) is that it involves a "considerable investment" in new equipment...cameras, etc...and in time they will complete
the conversion process so that viewers can receive HD off the air..in the meantime
they suggest to subscribe to their HD programming on satellite?

Hmmm?...does this seem like Bell media is trying to get some more satellite business
by not upgrading their off air broadcasting? 

Ok, it's not as though CTV/Bell didn't see the conversion coming.


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## financialnoob (Feb 26, 2011)

ddkay: Thanks for the link to the Rogers promotion. We just signed up for it and it's being installed later this week.

As a heads-up to anyone who will be or dering, make sure you call them after filling out the web form. In fact, it might be better to call instead of using the website. They seemed confused because the website form apparently doesn't put the exact promotion code in, so they were unsure which one to use as they are running another promotion for their regular cable package (3 months free, then $30+?) and didn't know which I was signing up for.

The rep I spoke with confirmed there's no installation fee (waived for this promotion) and one year contract and you keep the box afterwards. Of course I've had issues with Rogers in the past so keeping my fingers crossed.


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

They give you the standard definition box afterwards? I guess they must
be trying to get rid of them. I'm still paying Bell $4 a month rental for mine,
until I can get out of their 2 year contract, so they get their money, one
way or another. 

BTW...if you decide to get out after the 1yr contract with "Robers", be sure
to give them 30 days notice, because they will charge you an extra months
rental even if the contract has expired. I found that out on a month to month contract about a year and a half ago.


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## financialnoob (Feb 26, 2011)

carverman: Yeah, I had the exact same thought about them trying to get rid of them 

And yeah, I know the routine with Rogers. Still, nothing beats Fido (coincidentally owned by Rogers). When I called to give advance notice that I wasn't renewing my contract, they said they had to charge an early termination fee since I was ending the contract early. When I explained I was terminating on time, just giving advance notice as per the terms of service, they still couldn't understand and it took two different managers before it was resolved. One of them even wanted me to call exactly 30 days before, because 33 days notice would result in a penalty for early termination...


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

Hi:

I am so far out in the bush, I still have analog transmitters running in my area out of Pembroke I believe.

hboy43


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## carverman (Nov 8, 2010)

hboy43 said:


> Hi:
> 
> I am so far out in the bush, I still have analog transmitters running in my area out of Pembroke I believe.
> 
> hboy43


Yes, some areas are still allowed to transmit analog for at least a year.
CBC is allowed until sept 2012 in rural areas and so is Global. I was
still picking up Global ch 2 at the trailer (near Perth) but CH13 ()CTV ott)/CBC Ch4
indicated no signal on my flat screen tv set. I guess I have to get a
digital converter next season because I don't have a DTV input
on the small flatscreen there.


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

@financialnoob No problem. Check your first bill to make sure there are no price discrepancies. Some people are being charged a $4.99 SD box rental fee when it should come free with the digi trial pack. So it's $10.14/month and $11.46/month with tax. If billing gives you trouble tell them to read their the full details section on the promo website. They will have to submit a care issues form to their backoffice that changes the box from rental to purchase ($0). 

I hope they won't increase prices on this tier, otherwise it defeats the purpose of keeping it. After all, OTA DTV is free!


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## ddkay (Nov 20, 2010)

Rogers is running another offer for new customers that call in and ask but it is nowhere near as good as the last:

Basic Cable - they identify it as the "$15.99 plan" with 2 year service commitment. If you use a digital STB it's $19.34 all fees included ($21.85 w/ tax). No free set-top-boxes this time, you can only rent, purchase, or use a previously purchased one. 

Must also be combined with any cable internet package.


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