Dr. Sat discussion forum

Television sources => Over The Air (OTA) television => Topic started by: Johnderman on March 13, 2015, 10:01 pm

Title: How Many Channels?
Post by: Johnderman on March 13, 2015, 10:01 pm
I'm just curious, how many channels do you guys get, on average, and are you in the Metro area or in a small town? I can only get about 3, and the reception is awful!
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: mairj23 on March 24, 2015, 03:51 pm
That I cant answer because I'm in the U.S. Here, we can get about 10 to 12 on average. Yes, the reception is bad at times and if you got an outdoor antenna, you constantly have to turn it for best reception. I wonder how things work in Canada, contrast to the U.S.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: westmixxin on March 30, 2015, 08:10 pm
 Yes without cable I get about 20 channels on average and I think that's a pretty decent amount of channels to be honest with you and I really enjoy each and every one of them. But I have become a little bored with some of the programming and I wish that things would get at least a little bit more interesting. But you can't complain if you're not ordering cable.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: mairj23 on April 06, 2015, 07:30 pm
I get about 10 channels here in Florida. The networks of ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. There are some other channels you get but the programming isn't too good. Also these new digital antennas don't last too long and are very cheap.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: easily confused on April 07, 2015, 10:27 am
Here in the far eastern corner of Ontario I am receiving 19 OTA channels without moving the antenna. I have an antenna on top of a 50" tower and a rotor. In total we receive around 35 channels depending on how the antenna is positioned.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: JohnBeaulieu on May 19, 2015, 02:08 am
I live about 30 miles southeast of a large metropolitan area and I get 20 to 30 channels depending on which room of the house I'm in. I have an indoor powered antenna and a digital TV.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: g17feedhunter on May 22, 2015, 12:44 pm
I live North of Toronto and get about 50 stations.. Buffalo, Toronto, Rochester, Erie, Hamilton etc.. on good nights Cleveland used to come in too.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: 6up on May 30, 2015, 04:15 am
Am in Seattle and I can receive ABC, NBC, MY TV and CTV. The reception is o.k. But I like live online streaming since I can get get thousands of stations to choose from.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: DrSat on June 04, 2015, 07:53 am
The amount of receivable OTA channels is greatly dependent on one's location, the type of antenna used, where it is mounted and how it is connected to the TV. As a rule of thumb, an outdoor antenna mounted at the highest position on the roof or tower and a straight RG6 coax connection to the TV will yield the best results.

We have an OTA coverage tool on our website at http://otacoverage.drsat.ca which will show all potentially receivable channels for a specific address including coverage maps for most stations.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: mairj23 on June 25, 2015, 03:47 pm
My cousin just bought a big outdoor antenna. It only picks up about 6 channels. That's a big disappointment if you ask me. OTA tv sucks big time.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: g17feedhunter on June 25, 2015, 03:57 pm
My cousin just bought a big outdoor antenna. It only picks up about 6 channels. That's a big disappointment if you ask me. OTA tv sucks big time.


Can I have your bell or rogers rep id please? Your opinion is mis-informed and sounds like nothing more than an attempt to troll and keep people on the pay providers.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: JohnBeaulieu on June 26, 2015, 01:24 am
That I cant answer because I'm in the U.S. Here, we can get about 10 to 12 on average. Yes, the reception is bad at times and if you got an outdoor antenna, you constantly have to turn it for best reception. I wonder how things work in Canada, contrast to the U.S.


You can not compare the entirety of the USA to Canada for reception. Local market comparisons make more sense. It depends on the local terrain, where the transmitters are etc... To just blindly state that 10 to 12 channels represents the average of the whole nation is ludicrous.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: JohnBeaulieu on June 26, 2015, 01:27 am
Am in Seattle and I can receive ABC, NBC, MY TV and CTV. The reception is o.k. But I like live online streaming since I can get get thousands of stations to choose from.


I'm curious to know what online service you could possibly be referring to. Thousands of broadcast channels via streaming seems highly unlikely.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: JohnBeaulieu on June 28, 2015, 09:53 pm
My cousin just bought a big outdoor antenna. It only picks up about 6 channels. That's a big disappointment if you ask me. OTA tv sucks big time.


You can not really categorically say that. There not be as much offered where your cousin lives or there may be installation and configuration issues. I get between 20 and 30 channels with an indoor antenna where I live.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: Jorgek on June 29, 2015, 03:14 pm
Agree, it all depends where you live.  Here in the Mississauga area I consistently get about 31 OTA channels a mix of Toronto, Buffalo and Hamilton.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: JohnBeaulieu on June 29, 2015, 09:07 pm
Agree, it all depends where you live.  Here in the Mississauga area I consistently get about 31 OTA channels a mix of Toronto, Buffalo and Hamilton.


That is a nice selection to choose from! All of mine are from the Seattle area. I get around 20 of them plus or minus a few in certain types of weather. It's more or less a fall back for satellite service being down. We don't really experience any service issues though.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: jsebean on September 03, 2015, 08:14 pm
You guys are so lucky. Here in Southwestern Nova Scotia I only regularly get CTV and Global. CTV is analog, but luckily Global is digital. I can get CTV about 80% of the time in Digital from St. John, NB but sometimes it doesn't come in. The antenna is on a tripod on the roof... Wineguard HD8200U about 30 feet up in all... it's a dang nice antenna though.


However, when the weather is right, I can get Boston on some nights and pull in around 30-40 channels. But some days it works, other days it doesn't, depends on how good the tropo forecast is for us.


Hence why we supplement our TV with FTA. We don't have netflix due to limited internet connectivity, but Cozi TV and feeds get us by on the dish :P
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: kgord on December 27, 2015, 12:18 pm
I think it depends on your proximity to a city. I am in the country, and without some kind of satellite intervention, I get only about 1 to 3 channels and the reception is very bad. I have a TV in the bedroom that was hooked to a box without satellite, and it wasn't even worth running. The reception was so poor.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: rz3300 on January 19, 2016, 08:48 pm
I have since moved on from OTA television, but I have to say that I was not entirely displeased with my experience.  First off, of course I saved a good amount of money, which is always helpful.  Also, though, there were a good amount of channels, and I got most of the sports that I wanted to watch.  Plus, with all of the online options is was not hard to watch what I wanted when I wanted.  I had to give in though because I did miss my channels.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: JohnBeaulieu on January 23, 2016, 08:28 pm
I think it depends on your proximity to a city. I am in the country, and without some kind of satellite intervention, I get only about 1 to 3 channels and the reception is very bad. I have a TV in the bedroom that was hooked to a box without satellite, and it wasn't even worth running. The reception was so poor.


We don't even have analog channels to choose from on my side of the border, so count yourself lucky there I guess.
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: Martin on February 13, 2016, 03:23 pm
I am in Oakville , using a channel master 4 bay mounted on the side of house ,with a Motorola amp - pointed at Lake Ontario and getting about  20  stations right now. I am considering going to an 8 bay - multi directional - to bring in city and global 
 
Title: Re: How Many Channels?
Post by: theone on February 15, 2016, 12:13 pm
I am from Brampton and have an 8 bay CM4228 antenna sitting on a tripod on top of my roof. Cable hooked to a CM3412 amplifier to 2 TVs and I am getting about 36 channels and on some days I can get up to 50 channels.