Cutting the Cord

Mon Apr 22 06:04:25 UTC 2013

On 21 April 2013 21:23, Walter Dnes <waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org> wrote:

>   I tried PHDTV3 once... it's underwhelming, to say the least.  It's a
> garbage antenna with a pre-amp.  Amplifying noise gives you more noise.
>
> http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?slg=en&scy=us&ctn=US2-PHDTV3
>
>   A better choice is the ChannelMaster CM 4040
> http://overtheair.saveandreplay.com/channel_master_4040_indoor_Antenna.asp

The design of the two look quite similar (taking off the Philips' cowling).
What makes the CM superior?
I'm certainly not against getting a $20 antenna, in fact I'm happy to pay
more for something better.
The place looks like a good place to go to just talk to some experts.

> You can pick up the antenna for $20+tax at their Mississauga store
> on Kennedy south of Steeles... *NO NOT THAT* Kennedy+Steeles.  The
> Kennedy in Missisauga.  http://www.saveandreplay.com/localpickup.asp

Heh. I lived 25 years in Brampton, I know that Kennedy better than the
Scarboro one.
In fact the western Steeles @ Kennedy *is* in Brampton, my son's high
school was there.
The address of Save&Replay is actually much closer to Kennedy & 401.

> Still, I guess that's not too bad for an indoor first-floor placement
> > against a west-facing wall. I imagine I could do even better outside
> > on the 3rd floor balcony, but even that will probably suffice.
>
> Do you have a south-facing window on the 2nd or 3rd floor?  Note,
> make sure that it's not covered by a screen.  Metal blocks UHF broadcast.
>

I have no south facing windows, just east or west. I have a terrace with a
small southerly exposure on the 3rd floor that would be perfect, I just
need to do some cable testing; if one of my houses's internal cables (from
the basement to the terrrace) works, attaching an antenna to the
south-facing side of the terrace guard fencing would work great even
without being up on a pole.

And all my window screens are plastic. :-)

>    - Service providers: Looks like It'll be TekSavvy for cable Internet.
>
> If it's a standalone house, you probably can't get in excess of 6 megabits
> ADSL, probably 5 megabits net.  So cable is probably the only way to get
> faster speed.  Teksavvy cable seems to have more complaints about
> outages/slowdowns/congestion/etc than Teksavvy ADSL or FTTN. Check your
> address on Bell's website to see if you can get FTTN, which would imply you
> can get it via Teksavvy
>

Bell says I can get FTTN. They want $84/mo for 50/10 (175GB cap) *if* *
bundle with TV. Meh.

Besides, I have plenty of other reasons to historically hate bell. They've
screwed over too many of my friends.

So I look at TekSavvy. They offer a maximum of 25/10 ($40) on DSL and 28/1
($47) on cable. No mention of FTTN.

if I look at start.ca, for cable at my address they can offer 45/4 ($60) or
35/3 ($50), and for FTTN they can do 50/10 ($60)

(My existing service with Rogers is 45/4 for $97 with a 230GB cap that I
frequently exceed)

> >    - Cable modem: Lifehacker recommends the Motorola SB6141
>
>   Check on Teksavvy's forum http://www.dslreports.com/forum/teksavvyfor supported DOCSIS 3 modems.

And the Motorola above is on that list.

If I go with FTTN I'm gonna go with whatever modem the ISP wants to use.
Looks like I may need to rent it.

>    - OTA tuner: SiliconDust HDHomeRun
>

> * the tuner on my HDHR is weaker than on my TV set.  I.e. same antenna
>   same location...
>   - plug into TV; it gets the Toronto stations plus majors from Buffalo
>   - plug into HDHomerun; it only gets the Toronto stations
>

Would doing it through, say, a Hauppage card cause any less loss of
strength?

> >    - Antenna: I wonder if I can mount something on the side balcony
> >    without needing to ground it (or put it on a pole. Recommendations
> >    for makes and models are welcome. especially considering the
> >    intended mounting.
>
> I suggest the tabletop CM 4040 behind a south-facing window if at
> all possible.  It's the quickest/dirtiest/easiest solution.  If you need
> a roof mounted antenna, spend the money to get a pro to do it.
>  Maybe consider a rotater while you're at it.
>

Right now as suggested above, I have two short-term options:
- Get the best indoor antenna, pointing south next to a west-facing window
- Attach an outdoor antenna to the south-facing guardrail on a 3rd floor
terrace.

I have an attic that's effectively at a 4th floor level, that may be an
option longer term. I prefer not to have a mast-monted antenna because it
seems to get very windy in this neighbourhood.

> BTW, what major intersection are you nearest to?  You can run an analysis
> at http://tvfool.com to see what's available.
>

I tied that but had a hard time reading the results. No matter.

Even just CBC, CTV, Global and City, in good shape, may be enough for my
needs. Anything decent done by the US networks is usually picked up by them
anyway.

Thanks SO much for the help.

I look forward to at least nominal grovelling by Rogers' retention folks
this week. Let's see what they come up with.

- Evan
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