TV antenna... worth it?

[coryjoy]

Does anyone have any experience with a TV antenna? We'd like to be able to pick up Global and CBC over the air (i.e. without cable), but I'm hearing mixed review about reception in Kelowna. We live near the old KSS site next to the highway (downtownish). Anyone have an antenna? What kind of reception do you get? Are there particular types of antenna that are better for this area than others? Any you love or hate?
Thanks :)

[prairieflower]

I am pretty sure that you cannot get that kind of broadcasting anymore, but then again I am wrong more often than not.

[Bsuds]

I am pretty sure that you cannot get that kind of broadcasting anymore, but then again I am wrong more often than not.

Not sure about locally but when we are travelling with our RV we use the antenna regularly if the place we are staying has no cable available. That is mostly in the US and it's all Digital content that you need a digital antenna for. The old style won't work anymore apparently.

[Kalvin K]

MY grandparents got those channels over the air (and a couple of others) as recently as 12 months ago. Probably still would but they switched to satellite.

The switch to digital actually helped a lot with their reception and quality of signal. You'll need a digital receiver - which should be built into just about every TV sold within the last 10 years.

They are in the Ellison area - below Tower Ranch.

[wanderer]

I'm in Kelowna, Springvalley ..
I still watch Global CHBC over air !!
To do this I have a Magnavox DTV digital to analogue converter, because I have an older analogue TV. The antenna I use is a Phillips Amplified VHF/UHF/FM indoor antenna, a high end version of rabbit ears.
The reception is very clear, as good as what comes in on my satellite.

[Dave_1963]

Does anyone know where the transmitters are located and how many watts they are? I bought an indoor amplified "digital" TV antenna. I barely was able to get CHBC (tons of pixelling). I think it was on channel 27. I tried to get channel 24, but it seems the transmitter is in a different location as I had to move the antenna to even get a signal to lock in. I did manage to get CHBC clearly (Pix was awesome-better than cable as the signal is uncompressed) for 1/2 an hour by putting a baking sheet near the antenna to use as a reflector. We live in an apartment which does not allow antenna's, but I heard that by law, no housing can ban an outdoor TV antenna.

There are tons of plans on the internet to make your own antenna. I made one with a 4 foot 1x4, coat hanger wires bent in a V shape, screws, and a matching transformer, but I am not allowed to put it on the roof. I think our building must have chicken wire in the walls as even the hi-gain antenna I made barely picked up CHBC.

And to make things more difficult, my Sony TV will not let me manually tune to channel 27 so I can adjust the indoor antenna for the best reception. It just scans for channels to add into it's memory, but can't find any. Our Toshiba allows manual tuning, but it's useless without knowing where to point the antenna. They should have just left OTA TV analogue instead of selling half the TV spectrum to cell phone companies!

[wanderer]

I used to get channel 24.1 which was Global Vancouver, now I only get 27.1 which is CHBC. Have you tried putting the antenna close to a window? If you are in an area of several apartment buildings that may block your reception too. If you have an HDTV digital to analogue converter it scans and pulls in the frequencies that work. I think the converter is about $50 at Wallmart if they still have them. My TV is old hence the converter, but it works.

[jbaris]

so there's really only one channel that comes through???

[wanderer]

so there's really only one channel that comes through???

Yes.

[jbaris]

OK thanks. I guess that answers my question then. Not worth it. Too bad.

[Dave_1963]

I was under the impression there were 3 or 4 channels broadcasting OTA in Kelowna...I thought Global Vancouver was channel 24, CHBC channel 27.1, (Why does Kelowna have 2 of the same channels, Global? Only diff is the newscast). Then I thought CBC was around the 40 channel mark, and Knowledge Network was also available OTA in HD on another channel (I got my info by Googling "Kelowna OTA Digital channels"). I barely watch any Global programming, but for the few minutes I was actually able to receive CHBC, I was so impressed with the picture quality, I would sure like an indoor antenna to get these channels. I think they should up the broadcast wattage from probably a few thousand watts to at least 10,000 watts, considering the huge area these stations cover. It seems a ton of folks are having difficulty receiving these channels. Possibly a ploy by cable TV to add more subscribers?

[Lady tehMa]

OK thanks. I guess that answers my question then. Not worth it. Too bad.

I find tv in general not worth it, nowadays. For the few shows my family does watch, we stream.

[wanderer]

I was under the impression there were 3 or 4 channels broadcasting OTA in Kelowna...I thought Global Vancouver was channel 24, CHBC channel 27.1, (Why does Kelowna have 2 of the same channels, Global? Only diff is the newscast). Then I thought CBC was around the 40 channel mark, and Knowledge Network was also available OTA in HD on another channel (I got my info by Googling "Kelowna OTA Digital channels"). I barely watch any Global programming, but for the few minutes I was actually able to receive CHBC, I was so impressed with the picture quality, I would sure like an indoor antenna to get these channels. I think they should up the broadcast wattage from probably a few thousand watts to at least 10,000 watts, considering the huge area these stations cover. It seems a ton of folks are having difficulty receiving these channels. Possibly a ploy by cable TV to add more subscribers?

They stopped OTA Global Vancouver 24.1 in the Spring I believe when they started with the digital news channel Global One. I haven't received ch 24 since then and I haven't changed my settings. I still get 27.1 which is Global Okanagan (CHBC). CBC hasn't had OTA for a couple of years! When their funding was cut a few years ago they went to strictly digital in this area (Kelowna). I think when CHBC was purchased by Global the closest CBC broadcast station became Kamloops and with the move to digital it wasn't worth it for them to amp up the OTA. If you can get the Knowledge Network OTA that is news to me ... you might need a newer TV than I have.

The request from Harper's government is to focus on and provide digital high speed, and still not all of us can afford digital. So I won't be getting digital internet TV anytime soon. I feel in this country, and sometimes in this city some of us below a certain income are becoming non-persons. With a limited income do I budget for food and rent or for digital communication, whether it be cell phone, smart phone, cable, etc? Food and rent win out for me! The reason there is no OTA as before is because the government was lobbied to sell those TV frequencies to the cell phone companies. You can't amp them up too high or you go into the next frequency.

I guess in a broader sense I feel this is another part of the destruction of a Canadian broadcast and communication system. Previously the telephone systems and broadcasting systems were run by Canadians and governed by Canadian rules. That has slowly degenerated so that most of our communications and broadcast systems are now totally in corporate hands. (Except SaskTel) At some point they can be sold off to some multinational company and we will be inundated with what ever programming they send us. Maybe the Chinese will buy in! We lose the ability to broadcast Canadian culture and views. We are already seeing that because of the latest funding cuts the Canadian Broadcast Corp. is moving away from producing those award winning documentaries, and also cutting back on Canadian News broadcasts. But hey sports is big... who cares about the news! Sorry if I went off topic.

[butcher99]

Not sure about locally but when we are travelling with our RV we use the antenna regularly if the place we are staying has no cable available. That is mostly in the US and it's all Digital content that you need a digital antenna for. The old style won't work anymore apparently.

Old thread but I was looking this up.. Any old style antenna works fine. Even a pair of 50 year old rabbit ears but you need the little converter to convert the cable from flat style to the round coax. The signal is the same only now digital instead of analog. However I cannot get squat here. The best you can do is just Global.
And of course you need a TV capable of converting digital signal. With digital you either get it or you don't. If you get it it is crystal clear HD. If you don't it is a black screen.

[wanderer]

Old thread but I was looking this up.. Any old style antenna works fine. Even a pair of 50 year old rabbit ears but you need the little converter to convert the cable from flat style to the round coax. The signal is the same only now digital instead of analog. However I cannot get squat here. The best you can do is just Global.
And of course you need a TV capable of converting digital signal. With digital you either get it or you don't. If you get it it is crystal clear HD. If you don't it is a black screen.

All you can pull in here is Global Okanagan. I have a digital converter ($50 at Wallymart), an old TV and a digital antenna that looks like rabbit ears but I guess is more advanced. Used to be able to pull in Global Vanc but that got shut down a couple of years ago, so now just Global Okanagan, but the signal is still there.