Over The Air Receivers in Canada?

tobor26

Does anyone know if OTA Receivers are avaliable to buy in canada?Are they even legal in canada?Considering going to the us to purchase one.Any problems binging one back? Anyone know, thanks.

ah802

Sure OTA 'Over The Air' signals are available in Canada... have been for a while. HDTV is available using ATI' HDTV card... digital. I'm looking into
http://cgi.ebay.com/Air2PC-ATSC-Digi...QQcmdZViewItem
http://www.mitinc.co.kr/mitinc/e_sit...rod_mdp130.jsp

For stations in digital HD over the air check this link.
check http://www.remotecentral.com/hdtv/

Mingy

I brought a DirecTV reciever back, declared it and everthing, a number years ago and that was quasi legal at that time. You shouldn't have any problems at all with the folks at the border.

My understanding is that there are no HD STBs in Canada except those built in to eg ExpressVu STBs.

This is bizarre beyond words, but thats the way it is. My understanding is that the LG STBs are pretty good.

tobor26

Thanks for the help everyone.I should state my location however.I am located in Cornwall Ont. I am located on a small hill,with a 40ft tower and a very expensive Channel Master tv ant.Currently can receive montreal stations no problem.Wuhf ,fox in ny state .Many more to list south of me.Can also receive 4 stations or so from toronto region,and Kingston, and Ottawa areas.So Im thinking reception of hd signals here would be good.Would a map of my area be on remote central? Also I noticed that the set top box has an access card.What does this do,does the receiver need software downloads to use?Is this an added cost to operate the receiver?

schumimtl

if you're still looking for a box, pm me, I might have one.
I'm in montreal.

BrianO

Isn't there an international bridge to the USA near Cornwall? Drive to the US and buy a tuner, declare it at the border when you return, and you'll be all set. Get a stand-alone ATSC tuner rather than a satellite box with a buit-in ATSC tuner and you'll be completely legal.

Of course the manufacturer will probably not honour the warranty, but that's a price you'll have to pay unless you are prepared to wait until the tuners become available in Canada, or are prepared to buy a new TV with a built-in tuner.

The only reason stand-alone ATSC tuners are not available in Canada is because the equipment vendors don't think the demand is big enough to warrant stocking them. Any other excuse they might offer is pure BS.

As far as CBC Montreal is concerned, you might not be able to get their HD broadcasts on channel 20 even if you can pick up their analogue broadcast on channel 6. The channel 6 transmitter is on a tower atop Mount Royal but the HD transmitter is temporarily located on a tower on the roof of the CBC building in downtown Montreal. Mount Royal blocks the westbound signals to the extent that noone on Montreal's West Island (including me) can pick up the signal. At the present time, no new transmission antennas can be added to the Mount Royal tower and the situation is not likely to change in the next year or so. OTOH, if you can pick up any of the stations in Plattsburgh New York or Burlington Vermont, 5 of them (WCAX, WETK, WFFF, WPTZ and WVNY) will begin digtal transmissions from Mount Mansfield Vermont in September. WCFE in Plattsburgh has been broadcasting HD from Lyon Mountain New York for the last 17 months.

gmd

pm me if still looking for one.

-gmd

tobor26

Does anyone know if all ota receivers have the access cards?If so, what is it that they do,will I have a problem in Canada with it?

intrac

OTA STBs don't have access cards. They are just receivers that accept digital signals -- not analog signals and have component/s-video/DVI/HDMI outputs.

The older sat. receivers with built in OTA capability had access cards. The newer dishnetwork receivers have internal "built-in" cards. Sat receivers are more expensive than just OTA STBs.

There are some places in Toronto that sell OTA STBs, but you are probably best off going across the border to buy them. Radio Shack, Walmart, etc have them. They are not illegal.

All new sets in the US and many in Canada now have built in ATSC tuners for OTA.

tobor26

just yesterday ,went over to ny state.Found one at wallmart,$150.00 u.s. Works great so far.I'll still have to figure out how to use it to it's fullest.Get 2 stations so far.You can see the receiver at http://www.usdigitalhdtv.com/

BrianO

Tobor26:

Glad to see you got a tuner. I have a couple of questions.

Which two stations are you currently receiving?

Can you pick up any of the Plattsburgh/Burlington analogue stations where you live?

tobor26

I currently receive in analoge,ch 57 Plattsburg,ch3 Burlington,ch5 Plattsburg,ch 7fox not sure of location,Also ch33, and other analog as well but forget ch numbers as I never wrote them down. So far for Digital I get 2, they are Digital version of ch 57,and HD Digital version of ch 57. I'm still trying to find more ,but no luch yet.If you could point me in the direction of a list for a radius of my area it would be great. tobor

BrianO

Good to see you can get the Plattsburgh Burlington stations because you should be able to pick up 5 more digital stations this fall when the Mount Mansfield (Vermont) facility is completed: the three that are currently broadcasting analogue from that location plus two that broadcast their analogue from the New York State side of Lake Champlain.

The 5 are:

WCAX Burlington CBS analogue on 3, digital on 53
WVNY Burlington ABC analogue on 22, digital on 13
WETK Burlington VPT analogue on 33, digital on 32
WPTZ Plattsburg NBC analogue on 5, digital on 14 (North Pole, NY)
WFFF* Burlington FOX analogue on 44, digital on 43

So just be patient. You'll have a lot to chooose from in a few months.

You are getting Fox on channel 7? The only channel 7 that I know of that is anywhere near Cornwall is WWNY in Watertown and it's a CBS station.


Note:
* WFFF's analogue transmitter is on Troy Mountain near Peru, New York. The info on the FCC web site which gives the geographic co-ordinates for Mount Mansfield is incorrect. However, their digital transmitter will definitely be located on Mount Mansfield.

tobor26

Yes your correct about ch 7 being cbs, mixed up a ch that I get from that direction.Can't wait for the other stations to come on.I am very impressed with the HD version of ch 57.All programming is deeper in colour,very sharp images and great sound all make for a much more enjoyable time watching the tv.What about the Canadian side of things do you know how long before cbc,ctv ,global , omni will be HD in our area?.....

BrianO

I have been watching WCFE's HD and SD broadcasts since they first went on the air in September 2004. The picture quality of their HD broadcasts is a lot better than the cable and satellite feeds that I have seen of the same programs.

The Mount Royal tower problem is holding up things in the Montreal area and it may be a year or so before it is resolved. They can't add any more transmission antennas to the existing tower for a variety of technical and environmental reasons. CBC and Radio Canada have been broadcasting HD from a temporary tower atop their building in downtown Montreal for about a year. Unfortunately the signal to the west is blocked by Mount Royal. As for CTV and Global in Montreal, don't hold your breath. Neither of them has Montreal on their list of priorities because they regard it as too small a english-speaking market.

If you can pick up any Ottawa stations, CBC and Radio Canada (CBOT and CBOFT) are supposed to be starting HD broadcasts from their Camp Fortune site around mid-2006. I doubt that Ottawa is on CTV's or Global's list of priorities.