638 replies to this topic

[alanh]

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Edited by alanh, 24 March 2013 - 11:56 PM.

[thesatelliteguy]

Why is this the only best reception guide that is actually pinned?'

Satelliteguy

[alanh]

The Satellite Guy,
I have now done these for every reception area of the country. The only exception is free to air satellite reception for those impossible areas and those who are very remote. That is coming.

I have asked the Webmaster for this but she says she will do it when she gets time

AlanH

[thesatelliteguy]

Ok thanks Alan. Just wondering.

Satelliteguy

[mgaleano]

"The last option is indoor rabbits ears which for all except Palm Beach area will be horizontal and for RF channels the total length is;
channels 6-12 745 mm, band 4 270 mm and for band 4+ 248 mm and lastly band 5 215 mm. Typically 0 dB unless there is an amplifier in the base."

Does that mean I should measure 270 mm for each of the ears and point them horizontal?  I live in Pennant Hills and trying to get the best reception for main transmitters.

Matt

[Inferno-]

I live in an apartment building in sydney's north shore and am highly unlikely to convince the other residents to replace the antenna.  Will replacing my aerial cord be sufficient to prevent the occasional sound drop outs?  Or will I need some sort of reception booster for my stb?

[alanh]

mgaleano,
I must have missed your post.

At Pennant Hills you are going to be using the main transmitters so use 745 mm except for SBS which is best at 270 mm.

Inferno,
You could try replacing the fly lead. Are you able to see Kings Cross. If so you would be better off using the recommendations for Kings Cross Sydney The recommended antennas for those stations are much smaller than those for the Artarmon Transmitters.

AlanH

[Inferno-]

Is a booster worth getting?

Living in an apartment block I can't do anythign about the antenna.  (And no I can't see Kinds cross or anywhere else).

[alanh]

Inferno-,
A booster can only make your problems worse.
What suburb are you in?

AlanH

[Inferno-]

alanh, on Jan 30 2006, 09:26 PM, said:

Inferno-,
A booster can only make your problems worse.
What suburb are you in?

AlanH

Worse?  Really?  I'm in Cremorne.

[alanh]

Inferno-,
If an amplifer gets too much signal of any channel it can not only affect the channel you are trying to fix but also degrade the better channels.

I would have thought that the Kings Cross translators would be a much better bet unless there is buildings in the way.

AlanH

[Inferno-]

Well I can't change the antenna as have to get the rest of the tennants to agree (fat chance), so really a booster is my only hope.  If it makes things worse i'll just chuck it out.

[alanh]

Inferno,
Try a pair of rabbits ears indoor antenna with the ears horizontal and a total length of 248 mm. Rotate the ears so that they are at right angles to a line between them and Kings Cross.

When you do a scan in the install program it must search the following channels TEN(1)45, ABN(2)30, SBS(3)34, ATN(7)48, TCN(9)33 ie from channels 30-48.

Let me know how you go.

AlanH

[wheelo]

Thanks alanh,

I bought a DSE amplified set of rabbit ears ($50) to improve the reception of my PC card HDTV.  All improved except C10.  Making the rabbit ears horizontal and turning them North - South has brought C10 up to the same standard (95%) as the other channels.

I live in an apartment in Harbord.

[Tricia]

I live in Paddington (Sydney) approx. 2.5 kms from the Elan Building so I have no problem with signal strength.  My problem is that my house was built 20 years ago and is 3 storeys high.  Each floor is a steel reinforced concrete slab, so running an aerial from the roof to the ground floor is not a viable option.  My present TV is an analog LG flat screen and, because I use it on the ground floor I have to use an internal antenna.  Even so, I get good reception on all the free to air channels (2, 7, 9, 10 and SBS).

I intend to buy a 32 inch Samsung with integrated HD tuner (model LA32R71BX) but I don't want to get it home and discover that, although the 'rabbit ears' worked for my analog TV, they won't work for the digital TV.

I would love to get the name of an aerial technician who could tell me what my options are and what each option would cost, but have no idea of where to start.

I downloaded the 'Australian TV Channel Allocations PDF file but it doesn't seem that the channel assignment numbers (55, 46, 58, 49 and 52) are the ones that I get.  My LG simply shows the ABC as PR.2  C03; ATN is PR. 3 C09; TCN is PR. 4 C11; TEN is PR.5 C13 and SBS is C28.  I'm afraid that this doesn't mean anything to me and I no longer have the manual for my LG flat screen so I don't know how to 're-tune' it.

Is there any way at all that I might be able to get a reasonable reception with an internal antenna if a buy a new digital TV?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

[alanh]

Tricia,
I would definately try an indoor antenna using the instructions in the indoor antenna link in the "Get the best reception" post. The length of the rabbits ears will be shorter than for the main Sydney transmitters.

Just ensure that when you use the installation menu you allow it to complete it. It takes upto around 5 minutes. This is because it will start at the real channel 6 and finish at the real channel 69.

Sometimes the receiver will memorise a poor signal and the good signal channel. If this is the case you can erase the poor channels. Then you will be able to use the up and down channel buttons.

If you have any more problems please post.

AlanH

[Tricia]

alanh, on Jul 9 2006, 06:33 PM, said:

Sometimes the receiver will memorise a poor signal and the good signal channel. If this is the case you can erase the poor channels. Then you will be able to use the up and down channel buttons.

If you have any more problems please post.

AlanH

Many thanks Alanh,

I'm an absolutely non-technical person when it comes to this sort of thing.... can I assume that (going from the information on the 'Australian TV Channel Allocations' page) if I go to the Menu on my TV's remote and choose Auto Tuning it should find the best reception for TEN on 55, ABC on 46, SBS on 58, ATN on 49 and TCN on 52?  And does this mean that these are all in Band 5?  This would mean that the length of my 'rabbits ears' should be 215mm (from the tip of one to the tip of the other) and that my rabbits ears will be horizontal? These numbers refer to the normal (i.e. analog) free to air channels in Sydney, right?  When I get my digital TV I assume that these channel numbers will be different?

Sorry for all the questions but I have no idea of what I'm doing so I need all the help I can get!!

[mtv]

Tricia, on Jul 9 2006, 05:42 PM, said:

My problem is that my house was built 20 years ago and is 3 storeys high.  Each floor is a steel reinforced concrete slab, so running an aerial from the roof to the ground floor is not a viable option.

You can run the coax down the wall externally inside some cable duct to hide it. This is actually much easier than trying to get it down inside a similar height cavity wall. There are many people in the same predicament, but eventually, they will have to bite the bullet and re-cable when anlalogue is turned off.

[Tricia]

mtv, on Jul 10 2006, 02:10 AM, said:

You can run the coax down the wall externally inside some cable duct to hide it. This is actually much easier than trying to get it down inside a similar height cavity wall. There are many people in the same predicament, but eventually, they will have to bite the bullet and re-cable when anlalogue is turned off.

Sorry Col, I should have mentioned that it's a terrace house so there are only the front and back walls where this would be feasible and even though the room where I want to locate the TV is at the front of the house on the ground floor, a cable duct coming down the front of the house would be very ugly - I just wish there was a wireless solution!

[mtv]

Tricia,

Don't confuse cable duct with conduit. Cable duct is square (about 16mm) and all screws are concealed inside. It's actually very neat. Do you have a downpipe for stormwater? The cable/duct can run alongside it and with matching paint, it's hardly noticeable. Installing an antenna on your roof is the best way of having reliable digital reception.

[alanh]

Tricia,
It looks as if my posts are intelligible to the lay person.

Your answers are correct.

The Pr or program numbers are like having say, 8 buttons for station selection. So when you tune in a station on say Pr1, any station you tell the receiver to remember that channel. So every time you "push" that button the receiver will tune that channel. You will remember that channel shows that network.

So as an example:
You tune channel 7 and then memorise it. When you select Pr7 you will see the Seven network. Now that you are in Kings Cross area, if you were to tune channel 49 and memorise it on Pr7 you would again see the ABC. You no doubt still call it channel 7.

In digital TV the station transmits the name of the network as a logical channel number, this does not happen on the old analog.

So to take the above example;
On installation you get the receiver to look for all available channels, this is called scanning.
The receiver will start on channel 6 and look for a signal on every channel until it gets to channel 69. Now scanning is complete.
When it finds a signal it memorises the actual channel number it is on, so in the above example on channel 48 it finds a signal. It analyses this signal for the logical channel number it receives. In this case it detects logical channel numbers starting with 7. So now when you select channel 7 on the remote control, the receiver tunes channel 48.

As far as antennas go, they know nothing of logical channel numbers and the names we give programs. Their size is determined by the real channel number in this case channel 48. That is what determines the lengths given. So if the channel number is low say 6 it is much longer than if it were channel 69.

So the whole idea is that as far as the user is concerned they use logical channel numbers for program selection. To the technology and the antenna installers the real channel numbers are important.

If you are feeling adventurous I have also written Antenna Basics I would be interested to know if my introduction on the first screen full is meaningful to you. The Antenna basic post gets deeper and deeper so I would be interested to see how far you get, before your head goes under water! Even if you venture no further I am pleased you have understood the critical facts.

Alanh

[Tricia]

mtv, on Jul 10 2006, 08:59 PM, said:

Tricia,
Do you have a downpipe for stormwater? The cable/duct can run alongside it and with matching paint, it's hardly noticeable. Installing an antenna on your roof is the best way of having reliable digital reception.

Yes, the stormwater downpipe is at the back of the house and the room where the TV is located is at the front - there are three rooms and a staircase between the back and the front room - hence my dilemma.  We do have an antenna on the roof which goes to the TV in the main bedroom (top floor) but, again, there are two steel re-inforced concrete slab floors between the main bedroom and the front room downstairs.

I think that an indoor antenna, whilst not the ideal solution, will work (going by the reception I get on my rabbits ears for the free to air Sydney channels).  I just don't want to buy the TV and then discover that the digital setup is so different that the rabbits ears won't work!

Cheers

[Tricia]

alanh, on Jul 10 2006, 09:41 PM, said:

Tricia,

So as an example:

You tune channel 7 and then memorise it. When you select Pr7 you will see the Seven network. Now that you are in Kings Cross area, if you were to tune channel 49 and memorise it on Pr7 you would again see the ABC. You no doubt still call it channel 7.

Alanh

Sorry, Alanh - I think I've missed something (unless you made a typo) ....according to the 'Key and Summary on the last page'  channel 49 should be ATN so it is the Seven network and it would still be on channel 7, wouldn't it.  If you meant to say 'channel 46' and memorise it on Pr7 then I would see the ABC on Pr7 wouldn't I?

I've got a lot of work to do at the computer today so when I get a chance I'll have a look at the Antenna Basics and report back.

I can't understand exactly what happened when I 'auto tuned' my existing LG 15inch flat panel LCD TV but here's the full result -

1  C03  ABC
2  C09  ATN
3  C11  TCN
4  C13  TEN
5  C28  SBS
6  C31  TVS
7  C46  ABC
8  C49  ATN
9  C52  TCN
10 C55 TEN
11 C58 SBS

In the above list I've put the ABC, ATN TCN, etc. - my menu just shows the programme number and the channel number.  What I don't understand is why the signal is stronger coming from, say C03 for the ABC instead of C46 or is there no such thing as C03??

Sorry, alanh,  I know that these questions must sound quite moronic but I'm really trying to understand how this works

[alanh]

Tricia,
I started my example with the ABC which is why that one got through. I then decided to us a network name that was a number to indicate it was a name just like ABC. So you are correct.

As for your analog TV scan, those numbers are for the equivalent USA channels! It was the channel 13 which gave it away. Neither we or the Europeans use channel 13.
When you get the time is there a country select in the installation menu?

You are lucky you do not live in Newcastle. There is no US equivalent of channels 3 or 5A!



AlanH

[Tricia]

alanh, on Jul 11 2006, 08:31 PM, said:

Tricia,

As for your analog TV scan, those numbers are for the equivalent USA channels! It was the channel 13 which gave it away. Neither we or the Europeans use channel 13.

When you get the time is there a country select in the installation menu?

AlanH

Well, at least I know now that I'm not going crazy, I kept running the auto programme and it kept coming up with the same numbers and I just couldn't match them up to the Channels from any of the Sydney transmitters.

Maybe what I'm doing is wrong is selecting 'BG' as the System on the Menu?  The choice is BG, I, DK or M - I have no idea what this means but I thought that I read somewhere that we (i.e. Australia) were BG - I really can't remember

Apart from 'System' I can choose 'Storage from' ...I chose 0 but maybe that's not right - (without a manual it's difficult when you have no idea what you're doing).  By starting at 0 I get Channel 3 which is the ABC - God know what I'm doing!  The last line on the menu is 'Start' which, not surprisingly, starts the Auto Programme scan.  It seems to scan up to about Channel 70 (I think) and then it comes up with a list of the channels that it has allocated programme numbers to and they are the ones I put in my last post.

The other odd thing (given that I can see the transmitter/translator on top of the Elan building if I stand in the middle of the street directly in front of my house) is that the stronger signals seem to be coming from the Gore Hill transmitter.  Could this be right?  One of my neighbours said that we're too close to Kings Cross to get the signal from there   how does this make sense?

Many thanks for persevering with me on this