These tables were developed by cottager John Feltmate (feltmate@ican.net), an expert in television transmission. What follows is
- a summary table
- general comments
- a second table detailing reception issues
- a third table listing some curious digital stations.
| Channel | Call Sign | Transmitter Location (NAD 27 Lat/Long) | Azimuth and Distance to Transmitter | Reception | Studio Location | Network or Station id |
| 02 | CIII-TV | Bancroft ON 45° 03′ 34.00″ N 77° 12′ 0.00 ” W | 306° 92.7km 57.6mi | good (. . .more) | Toronto ON | Global CanWest |
| 03 | WSTM | Syracuse NY 42° 56′ 42.00″ N 76° 07′ 7.00 ” W | 176° 179.7km 111.7mi | very marginal (. . .more) | Syracuse, NY | NBC |
| 04 | CBOT | CAMP FORTUNE, QC 45° 30′ 11.00″ N 75° 51′ 2.00 ” W | 016° 109.7km 68.2mi | good (. . .more) | Ottawa, ON | CBC |
| 05 | WTVH | SYRACUSE, NY 42° 57′ 19.00″ N 76° 06′ 34.00″ W | 176° 178.6km 111.0mi | marginal (. . .more) | Syracuse, NY | CBS |
| 06 | CJOH-TV-6 | DESERONTO, ON 44° 08′ 30.00″ N 77° 04′ 34.00″ W | 234° 79.9km 49.6mi | good (. . .more) | Ottawa, ON | CTV |
| 07 | WWNY | CARTHAGE, NY 43° 57′ 15.00″ N 75° 43′ 45.00″ W | 147° 79.6km 49.4mi | good (. . .more) | Watertown, NY | CBS |
| 10 | WHEC | ROCHESTER, NY 43° 08′ 7.00 ” N 77° 35′ 2.00 ” W | 214° 190.7km 118.5mi | very marginal (. . .more) | Rochester, NY | NBC |
| 11 | CKWS-TV | WOLFE ISLAND, ON 44° 10′ 2.00 ” N 76° 25′ 40.00″ W | 196° 45.6km 28.3mi | very good (. . .more) | Kingston, ON | CBC |
| 13 | CJOH-TV | CAMP FORTUNE, QC 45° 30′ 11.00″ N 75° 51′ 2.00 ” W | 016° 109.7km 68.2mi | good (. . .more) | Ottawa, ON | CTV |
| 16 | WPBS | CARTHAGE, NY 43° 51′ 44.00″ N 75° 43′ 40.00″ W | 151° 88.4km 54.9mi | good (. . .more) | Watertown, NY | PBS |
| 18 | WNPI | NORWOOD, NY 44° 29′ 30.00″ N 74° 51′ 29.00″ W | 093° 111.8km 69.5mi | poor (. . .more) | Watertown, NY | PBS |
| 21 | WWTI-DT | WATERTOWN, NY 43° 52′ 47.00″ N 75° 43′ 12.00″ W | 150° 87.0km 54.1mi | digital. excellent (. . .more) | Watertown, NY | ABC |
| 23 | WNPI-DT | NORWOOD, NY 44° 29′ 30.00″ N 74° 51′ 29.00″ W | 093° 111.8km 69.5mi | digital. excellent (. . .more) | Watertown, NY | PBS |
| 32 | CBLFT-14 | KINGSTON, ON 44° 17′ 22.00″ N 76° 28′ 50.00″ W | 210° 34.7km 21.6mi | very marginal (. . .more) | Toronto, ON | SRC |
| 35 | WWNY | CARTHAGE, NY 43° 57′ 15.00″ N 75° 43′ 45.00″ W | 147° 79.6km 49.4mi | uncertain (. . .more) | Watertown, NY | CBS |
| 38 | CICO-TV-38 | KINGSTON, ON 44° 17′ 22.00″ N 76° 28′ 50.00″ W | 210° 34.7km 21.6mi | good (. . .more) | Toronto, ON | TVO |
| 41 | WPBS-DT | WATERTOWN, NY 43° 51′ 44.00″ N 75° 43′ 40.00″ W | 151° 88.4km 54.9mi | poor (. . .more) | Watertown, NY | PBS |
| 43 | CHRO-TV-2 | Enniskerry, ON 45° 13′ 1.00 ” N 75° 33′ 51.00″ W | 036° 91.4km 56.8mi | uncertain (. . .more) | Pembroke/ Ottawa, ON | A-Channel Chum Media |
| 50 | WWTI | WATERTOWN, NY 43° 52′ 47.00″ N 75° 43′ 12.00″ W | 150° 87.0km 54.1mi | digital. excellent (. . .more) | Watertown, NY | ABC |
| 60 | CFMT-TV-2 | Enniskerry, ON 45° 13′ 1.00 ” N 75° 33′ 51.00″ W | 036° 91.4km 56.8mi | uncertain (. . .more) | Toronto, ON | Omni-1 |
| 65 | CITY-TV-3 | Enniskerry, ON 45° 13′ 1.00 ” N 75° 33′ 51.00″ W | 036° 91.4km 56.8mi | uncertain (. . .more) | Toronto, ON | CITY Chum Media |
Television reception on Birch Island
John Feltmate, #24 Birch Island
Most of us have dragged a television to the island. A lot of us say it is for those rainy days to keep the kids settled down or for those cold nights in the fall when it is not all that pleasant to be out of doors. My number one son said to me one day this is a cottage who needs a television anyway. My response was a little pointed. I told him that this was my hobby and my profession and lucky is the person who can work at his hobby because he doesn’t have to work a day in his life (not completely true). I also took the opportunity to remind him that my hobby had bought a lot of nice things for him over the years, including this cottage. He looked like I had just shot him between the eyes but clearly he understood that television love it or hate it, it was dad’s thing.
All this to say that one of our neighbours has reminded me that I have a good deal of experience pulling in stations to watch and that some of this experience might be useful to others. In fact what I am going to tell you may be useful to other islanders or other residents on this or nearby lakes. If you haven’t gathered that I am serious about this you will by the time you have finished this. I will talk about satellite reception at the end.
Most of us come from an environment where cable is the primary delivery of television services. What happens is we tend to forget the time before cable were the signals come in over-the-air via an antenna. Well this is all you need to get a reasonable selection of services. Some of you may only get one or two services because you didn’t know more were available. The other possibility is you tried but could not get anything above channel 13. Let me give you a suggestion. That TV you lugged to the island from home was it connected to your cable service at home and did it get most of those cable channels? Well then your set is still likely set to cable and not over-the-air. You can make this simple change by a switch on the front or back of the set or through the menu settings on the set.
Let’s assume you don’t have any issues with the tv. Now it is on to the stations. Just as sure as I am writing this someone is going to tell me all of the unusual stations that they have received. Yes that’s possible and will happen from time to time. What I want to talk about is what’s going to happen consistently, if that’s possible. In real-estate the adage is location, location, location. With television reception it is the same thing. Your location on the island will determine how much effort you will need to get any particular station. I will discuss each possible station later.
Something you should know is that North America is in the transition from analog to digital television. The NTSC television that we have been accustom to will cease to exist by 2015. That is a long way off and remnants will still continue to survive in the home. The Americans are further along in there push to high definition television. Congress has ruled that by February 2009 all analog stations must cease operation. Both countries are in this transition phase Canada is much slower to implement. In the transition period most stations will be available in both digital and analog simultaneously. Only a handful of stations in Canada are at this stage, none in our area. However, most of the US stations are fully digital.
To receive digital television you need a digital tuner and to watch the high definition you need an HDTV screen. Set top boxes are available that will allow you to watch the digital signal on a standard analog television receiver but it won’t be an HD picture. It will likely be the best picture you have ever seen on that set but it will not be HD. HD is just that much better. Now something about the reception of digital signals. With an analog signal as you move away from the station the signal gets weaker and the picture begins to deteriorate. This deterioration starts almost imperceptibly and continues until the picture has disappeared into a blizzard of noise (snow). With digital the picture starts good and continues to stay good as the signal weakens until a specific noise threshold is reached at that point the picture completely disappears. In other words you have it or you don’t and there is nothing in between. Sometimes this phenomenon is referred to as the cliff effect. The receiver after the picture has disappeared may tell you that a signal is present but is too weak to lock up.
One other thing that I should mention here is it is possible for a digital station to transmit more than one signal. Right now WWNY-DT channel 35 transmits the HDTV signal of the analog WWNY-TV channel 7 and in standard definition (SD) signal of the analog signal of WNYF-TV channel 28. WWNY is the CBS and WNYF is the FOX affiliates in Watertown, NY.
At the end of June 2006 the station increased power for the digital transmitter. Then for some reason power had to be reduced. During the all to brief period it was up I got a picture on both the CBS and FOX services. Needless to say I was very frustrated. The station in Watertown confirmed technical problems that would not be solved until every thing gets moved to channel 7 in 2009. The one thing they were able to assure me was that while they were not at full power as planned it was higher than it was. This was little comfort because I still could not get a picture. I played with the antenna a bit and things went from bad to worse.
Now I had to get serious or give up on getting the Fox signal. What I did was mount the antenna about 65 feet off the ground and to put that in relationship to the lake level that would be about 100 to 110 feet above the lake. A very good quality pre-amplifier was also mounted at the antenna. Now I don’t like to do that in the event of amplifier problems. You see I and terra firma seldom get separated. Well! It worked and it worked very well. Reception on the other UHF stations was also improved.
Now I should draw to your attention that there are other digital stations out there that can be received from time to time. Sometimes you only know the station is there by indicator lights on the box but sometimes you get lucky and actually see the picture. So far on channel 47 I have seen WTVH-DT, a CBS station out of Syracuse, and WCNY-DT, a PBS station on channel 25 also out of Syracuse. Also out there is channels 19 and 54. While these are freak situations the picture is absolutely pristine during the event. The WTVH-DT transmits two signals the CBS signal in HD and again in SD. I think this is a little unusual but that’s what is happening.
Set top boxes are not readily available in Canada at the moment. In the US they are going for $250 and up. Refurbished units for $140 and up. With the mandated closure of analog stations in the US Congress has agreed to subsidize these boxes. The price is expected to fall to about $60. A similar program is not expected in Canada.
What I am going to do is discuss each station in order by its channel number as transmitted over-the-air. Some technical clarification the azimuths given are great circle or very close to astronomic. Due to the iron in the rocks in the area a compass reading might vary by 20 or more degrees.
Now for satellite television. There are two companies authorized to serve Canada. Both provide about the same quality of service. The differences lay in the packages offered and the deals with second sets. For example if you have service at home an additional $ 5.00 will give you the same service at the cottage. Not a bad deal.
For the satellite to work at the cottage you need a clear shot towards the west south west. If trees are in the way your service might work in the winter when the foliage is off the trees, come spring you’re toast.
The last thing I am going to do is preach. Satellite piracy is quite common in Canada and its almost a sport. The penalty if enforced and caught is very minor; however, it does fall under the Criminal code of Canada. Here is the real wrinkle US Homeland Security and Immigration Canada can check for criminal records. Satellite piracy will now show up. As far as the US is concerned just being charged is sufficient to bar you from entry and the same goes for US citizens returning to Canada. You say it has not happened in the past and that is likely very true but things are different now.
I said earlier that there are a number of stations you are likely to get from time to time. Here is a list of all stations you are likely to receive. Stations with an asterisk (*) beside the channel number are discussed in more detail below. Non-asterisked stations have a weaker signal that provides intermittent reception.
| Channel | Call sign | Network | Location |
| 2* | CIII-TV | Global | Bancroft, ON |
| 2 | WGRZ | NBC | Buffalo, NY |
| 3* | WSTM | NBC | Syracuse, NY |
| 4* | CBOT | CBC | Ottawa, ON |
| 4 | WIVB | CBS | Buffalo, NY |
| 5* | WTVH | CBS | Syracuse, NY |
| 5 | CHRO | A-Channel | Pembroke, ON |
| 6* | CHOH-TV-6 | CTV | Deseronto, ON |
| 6 | CIII-TV-6 | Global | Ottawa, ON |
| 7* | WWNY | CBS | Watertown, NY |
| 8 | WROC-TV | CBS | Rochester, NY |
| 8 | CJOH-TV-8 | CTV | Cornwall, ON |
| 9 | CBOFT | SRC | Ottawa/Gatineau |
| 9 | WSYR-T | ABC | Dewitt, NY (Syracuse) |
| 10* | WHEC-TV | NBC | Rochester, NY |
| 11* | CKWS-TV | CBC | Kingston, ON |
| 13* | CJOH-TV | CTV | Ottawa, ON |
| 13 | WHAM-TV | ABC | Rochester, NY |
| 15 | CBLFT-13 | SRC | Belleville , ON |
| 16* | WPBS | PBS | Watertown, NY |
| 17 | WNED-TV | PBS | Buffalo, NY |
| 18* | WNPI-TV | PBS | Norwood, NY |
| 19 | |||
| 21* | WWTI-DT | ABC | Watertown, NY |
| 21 | WXXI-TV | PBS | Rochester, NY |
| 23* | WNPI-DT | PBS | Norwood, NY |
| 24 | CICO-TV | TVO | Ottawa, ON |
| 24 | WCNY-TV | PBS | Syracuse, NY |
| 25 | WCNY-DT | PBS | Syracuse, NY |
| 28 | WNYF | FOX | Watertown, NY |
| 31 | WUHF | FOX | Rochester, NY |
| 35* | WWNY-DT | CBS | Watertown, NY |
| 36 | CKWS-TV-3 | CBC | Smiths Falls, ON |
| 41* | WPBS-DT | PBS | Watertown, NY |
| 43* | CHRO-TV-2 | A-Channel | Ottawa, ON |
| 43 | WNYS-TV | Syracuse, NY | |
| 47 | WTVH-DT | CBS | Syracuse, NY |
| 50* | WWTI | ABC | Watertown, NY |
| 54 | WSTM-DT | NBC | Syracuse, NY |
| 55 | CICO-TV-92 | TVO | Cloyne, ON |
| 56 | WSPX | PAX | Syracuse, NY |
| 57 | WCFE | PBS | Platsburg, NY |
60* | CFMT-TV-2 | Omni | Ottawa, ON |
| 65* | CITY-TV-3 | IND | Ottawa, ON |
| 68 | WSYT | FOX | Syracuse, NY |
| Receivable Stations: comments on reception |
| 02 CIII-TVThis station provides a good signal to the area. It is very receivable on the north and west end of the island, and others with antenna at high locations. In most cases a bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is low band VHF and as such is susceptible to atomospheric conditions known as co-channel interference / skip. This skip will from time to time deteriorate the reception quality of this GLOBAL station. Higher gain antennas will in some cases ameliorate the effects of skip but will not completely eliminate its effects.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability better than 95%The programming of this station originates out of Toronto. While it is licensed as a regional station serving all of Ontario the stations focus is mostly GTA orientated |
| 03 WSTMThis station provides very marginal signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island at high locations. To provide a marinanable watchable signal a high gain antenna is required. This channel technically is low band VHF and as such is susceptible to atomosphericconditions known as co-channel interference / skip. This skip when present will significantly deteriorate the reception quality of this NBC station. Higher gain antennas will in some cases ameliorate the effects of skip but will not completely eliminate its effects.Station reliability is poor. Reception predictability about 60 %This station is a standard NBC network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. |
| 04 CBOTThis station provides a good signal to the area. It is very receivable on the north and west end of the island, and others with an antenna at high locations. In most cases something better than bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is low band VHF and as such is susceptible to atomospheric conditions known as co-channel interference / skip. This skip will from time to time deteriorate the reception quality of this CBC station. Higher gain antennas will in some cases ameliorate the effects of skip but will not completely eliminate its effects.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability better than 90%The programming of this station originates out of Ottawa and English net services out of Toronto. While it is licensed as an Ontario station the stations focus is mostly Ottawa and Ontario but does provide CBC English service to western Québéc. |
| 05 WTVHThis station provides marginal signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island at high locations. To provide a marinanable watchable signal a high gain antenna is required. This channel technically is low band VHF and as such is susceptible to atomospheric conditions known as co-channel interference / skip. This skip when present will significantly deteriorate the reception quality of this CBS station. Higher gain antennas will in some cases ameliorate the effects of skip but will not completely eliminate its effects.Station reliability is poor. Reception predictability about 75 %This station is a standard CBS network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. |
| 06 CJOH-TV-6This station provides a good signal to the area. It is very receivable on the west and south sides of the island, and others with an antenna at high locations. In most cases something better than bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is at the upper end of the low band VHF and as such is somewhat susceptible to atomospheric conditions known as co-channel interference / skip. This skip will from time to time deteriorate the reception quality of this CTV station. Higher gain antennas will in some cases ameliorate the effects of skip but will not completely eliminate its effects.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability better than 80%The programming of this station originates out of Ottawa and English net services out of Toronto. While it is licensed as an Ontario station the stations focus is mostly Ottawa and Eastern Ontario but does provide CTV English service to western Québéc.This station with very limited exceptions rebroadcasts the programming of the mother station channel 13 |
| 07 WWNYThis station provides good signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island and at high locations. In most cases something better than bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is a high band VHF.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability about 95 %This station is a standard CBS network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. Digital transmissions are on channel 35. |
| 10 WHECThis station provides very marginal signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island at high locations. To provide a marinanable watchable signal high gain stacked antennas are required. This channel technically is a high band VHF. Due to the low signal levels from this station it is susceptible to conditions known as co-channel interference / skip. This skip when present will significantly deteriorate the reception quality of this NBC station. Higher gain antennas will in some cases ameliorate the effects of skip but will not completely eliminate its effects.Station reliability is poor. Reception predictability about 35 %. With the availability of this and the other NBC station providing some diversity the reliability of network programming is increasedThis station is a standard NBC network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. |
| 11 CKWS-TVThis station provides a very good signal to the area. It is very receivable on all part of the island In most cases bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is high band VHF.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability better than 99%The programming of this station originates out of Kingston and English net services out of Toronto. The station is a private affiliate of the CBC, meaning it is not owned and operated by the CBC and does not run all the programming of the national network |
| 13 CJOH-TVThis station provides a good signal to the area. It is very receivable on the west and north sides of the island, and others with an antenna at high locations. In most cases something better than bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is somewhat susceptible to atomospheric conditions known as co-channel interference. This interference will from time to time deteriorate the reception quality of this CTV station. Higher gain antennas will in some cases ameliorate the effects of the interference but will not completely eliminate its effects.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability better than 80%The programming of this station originates out of Ottawa and English net services out of Toronto. While it is licensed as an Ontario station the stations focus is mostly Ottawa and Eastern Ontario but does provide CTV English service to western Québéc. |
| 16 WPBSThis station provides good signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island and at high locations. In most cases something better than bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is UHF.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability about 95 %This station is a standard PBS network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. Digital transmissions are on channel 41. |
| 18 WNPIThis station provides poor signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island and at high locations. In most cases height and something better than bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is UHF.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability about 80 %This station is a standard PBS network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. Digital transmissions are on channel 23. |
| 21 WWTI-DTThis station is digital and provides excellent signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island and at high locations. In most cases height and something better than bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is UHF.Station reliability is excellent. Reception predictability about 100 %This station is a standard ABC network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. Analog transmissions are on channel 50. |
| 23 WNPI-DTThis station is digital and provides excellent signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island and at high locations. In most cases height and something better than bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is UHF.Station reliability is excellent. Reception predictability about 100 %This station is a standard PBS network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. Analog transmissions are on channel 18. |
| 32 CBLFT-14This station provides a very marginal signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side and at high locations on the island. In most cases an external antenna is required to get a watchable picture. This channel technically is UHF.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability better than 85%The programming of this station originates out of Toronto and French net services out of Montréal. The station is owned and operated by the CBC. |
| 35 WWNYThis station has recently increased power and is now receivable on the island. Right now WWNY-DT channel 35 transmits the HDTV signal of the analog WWNY-TV channel 7 and in standard definition (SD) signal of the analog signal of WNYF-TV channel 28. WWNY is the CBS and WNYF is the FOX affiliates in Watertown, NY. The unfortunate aspect of this is the channel 35 digital signal is the weakest of the digital signals available. Unless you are on the south side of the island at a high location or the eastern end of the island you are not going to get this service. When the analog transmitter on channel 7 is shut down around the end in February 2009 the digital service will move to channel 7 at full power and height. The digital move to 7 likely will make this station the best American digital service available to the island.As previously mentioned a digital station also has the capability of transmitting a second signal. The HDTV signal of the CBS service goes out over the main channel. This may be a little confusing, it goes out over channel 35 but appears on the receiver as “7-1″. The digital signal from the FOX service is put out in a standard definition (SD) over channel 35 on the second channel. It appears on the receiver as 7-2. The SD signal is digital but at a lower quality than HDTV. You can expect a picture as good as the best analog you have ever seen but not as good as HD. |
| 38 CICO-TV-38This station provides a good signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side and at high locations on the island. In most cases an external antenna is required to get a watchable picture. This channel technically is UHF.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability better than 90%The programming of this station originates out of Toronto by rebroadcasting the programming of CICA-TV Toronto. TVO (TV Ontario) is operated by The Ontario Educational Television Authority (OECA) and is a part of the Ontario Government. |
| 41 WPBS-DTThis station provides poor signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island and at high locations. In most cases height and an external antenna will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is UHF.Station reliability is good. Reception predictability about 80 %This station is a standard PBS network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. Analog transmissions are on channel 16. |
| 43 CHRO-TV-2This station poses a bit of a dilemma for me. My antennas are on the wrong side of the hill at the moment and as such I am unable to watch this station. I am told by people on the mainland that a good antenna at an unobstructed location should give reliable results. I have a location where I can set up an antenna but I have just not gotten around to it. If and when I do I will provide an update to this. In theory reception should be good on the north side of the island. A good deep fringe external antenna would be required to receive this station.This station is licensed as a Pembroke station with a rebroadcaster station in the Ottawa area. You would expect the principal studios to be Pembroke but the main operation is out of Ottawa. The focus of the station is Ottawa and the Ottawa valley above Ottawa. Chum Media is in the unusual position of having a second station in the Ottawa market, CITY-TV-3 channel 65. See comment under channel 65. |
| 50 WWTIThis station is digital and provides excellent signal to the area. It is receivable on the south side of the island and at high locations. In most cases height and something better than bunny ears will provide a watchable picture. This channel technically is UHF.Station reliability is excellent. Reception predictability about 90 %. In high winds storms the transmission tower is buffeted by winds and the tower movement can degrade the reception quality.This station is a standard ABC network affiliate broadcasting both network and local programming. Digital transmissions are on channel 21. |
| 60 CFMT-TV-2This station poses a bit of a dilemma for me. My antennas are on the wrong side of the hill at the moment and as such I am unable to watch this station. I am told by people on the mainland that a good antenna at an unobstructed location should give reliable results. I have a location where I can set up an antenna but I have just not gotten around to it. If and when I do I will provide an update to this. In theory reception should be good on the north side of the island. A good deep fringe external antenna would be required to receive this station.This station is licensed as a Toronto station with a rebroadcaster station in the Ottawa area. The studios are located in Toronto. The station broadcasts English and ethnic programming. The focus of the station is Toronto and the GTA. |
| 65 CITY-TV-3This station poses a bit of a dilemma for me. My antennas are on the wrong side of the hill at the moment and as such I am unable to watch this station. I am told by people on the mainland that a good antenna at an unobstructed location should give reliable results. I have a location where I can set up an antenna but I have just not gotten around to it. If and when I do I will provide an update to this. In theory reception should be good on the north side of the island. A good deep fringe external antenna would be required to receive this station.This station is licensed as a Toronto station with a rebroadcasting stations in the Woodstock and Ottawa areas. The focus of the station is Toronto and the GTA. Chum Media is in the unusual position of having a second station in the Ottawa market, CHRO-TV-2 channel 43. See comment under channel 43. |
Finally, here are a few digital stations that I have received on the island after I improved the UHF reception antenna. I look at this more as a curiosity than anything else, but what I should tell you is there is a hobby associated with this type of reception. Anyone who is an amateur radio operator or knows one will understand.
The stations or channels marked with # are readily available over-the-air. Information in parentheses is a description of the service. The Channel is the actual over-the-air channel used to transmit the service. The decoder readout channel is electronically controlled by the originating station. “sd” is standard definition. “hd” is high definition. The second call sign is the second station transmitted by the originating station.
| Channel | Station | Decoder readout |
| 19 | ||
| 20 | ||
| 21# | WWTI | 21-1 |
| 22 | WLWC | |
| 28-1 | ||
| 23# | WNPI | 18-1 |
| 24 | ||
| 25 | WCNY | |
| 26 | WTEN | 10-1, 10-2 (weather) |
| 29 | WKTV | 2-1 |
| 34 | WMHT | 17-1 (sd), 17-3 (hd) |
| 35# | WWNY | 7-1 (hd), 7-2 (sd WNYF) |
| 36 | WCDC | 19-1 |
| 39 | WRGB | 6-1, 6-2 (WNYA), 6-3 (weather radar) |
| 41# | WPBS | 16-1 |
| 43 | WCWN | 45-1, 45-2 (tube tv) |
| 47 | WTVH | 5-1 (hd), 5-2 (sd) |
| 54 | WSTM |