174 replies to this topic

[SnapCount]

charlesc,

I too am thinking about getting Sydney Channels in Wollongong. Just wondering if you have done a survey in the Keriaville area lately?

My existing VHF antenna has been completely destroyed by cockatoos and so have got just a small UHF and a kinda flat VHF (I think) antenna. Both is pointing NE and on a mast.

Im hoping that by replacing the broken VHF antenna with a new one, it would give me a better chance of getting those Sydney channels.

[alanh]

Snapcount
If you really want to do this you would be best with a Hills CA16 phased array and a Kingray MHV44HLG VHF Masthead Amplifier. A fairly large mast will also be required.
This is not a cheap exercise.

What do you think you will get which is better than Southern Cross, WIN and Prime compared to 10, 9 and 7?

Read Get the Best Reception, Illawarra and read the links.

AlanH

[charlesc]

SnapCount, on Nov 25 2008, 12:08 PM, said:

charlesc, I too am thinking about getting Sydney Channels in Wollongong. Just wondering if you have done a survey in the Keriaville area lately?

Almost missed your post with the forum search function being down.

Please PM me if you want too.  Mangerton is my 'home' base when I'm down there, about 1 km from you.

[SnapCount]

alanh, on Nov 25 2008, 05:30 PM, said:

Snapcount
If you really want to do this you would be best with a Hills CA16 phased array and a Kingray MHV44HLG VHF Masthead Amplifier. A fairly large mast will also be required.
This is not a cheap exercise.

What do you think you will get which is better than Southern Cross, WIN and Prime compared to 10, 9 and 7?

Read Get the Best Reception, Illawarra and read the links.

AlanH

The one thing that I dislike about SC, WIN and Prime is that they don't simulcast the HD channels and the normal SD programming is slightly different. And plus WIN's watermark is annoying as hell!! lol

[timace]

TV: 40" Samsung 6 series LCD (brand new)
Flylead: 3' Quad-shielded RG6
Antenna: Standard UHF (couldn't tell you off hand) - 17 years old, as with the cabling and the rest of the house
Pointing to Brokers Nose, <5km direct LOS - no obstructions

My issue is with the ABC - was getting 40% with a BER of 5-7 during last night's rain/storms and SBS was pretty bad too, ABC became unwatchable after a while. This morning, it was 50% and a BER of 3-4 - watchable, but concerning.

I'm yet to test the TV or another STB on another point, though I might when I'm next down.

Analogue reception is fine, as are the other digital channels (all 75-90% with no BER)

Does ABC run on a non-standard frequency (e.g. .125 or .625MHz?) ... or for that matter do any of the other networks?

Failing that, where ought I go?

[timace]

Anyone? My mother (whose setup this is) says it's getting worse.

[charlesc]

The ABC transmission details from Brokers Nose are as follows (from ABC website):-

Transmitter Region Wollongong, NSW
ABC Service ABC Digital TV
Frequency 697.5 MHz
Channel 52
Sound Mode Stereo
Polarisation Horizontal
Broadcast Pattern Directional
Transmitter Location NTA Site Brokers Nose WOLLONGONG

timace, on Nov 30 2008, 10:00 PM, said:

My issue is with the ABC - was getting 40% with a BER of 5-7 during last night's rain/storms and SBS was pretty bad too, ABC became unwatchable after a while. This morning, it was 50% and a BER of 3-4 - watchable, but concerning.

Presumably these readings are from the Samsung TV?  I don't really know what the values for BER mean in reality, or how 'real' they are.  The signal metering built into STBs and digital TVs are not renowned for their accuracy.

If there is LOS from 5kms, and the receiving system (antenna, cabling, connectors etc.)is OK, there would most likely be a signal to use.  Maybe the received signal is too strong?  Or the analogue channels (maybe FM radio as well) could be overloading the receiver?

Without readings from a digital field strength meter, it's difficult to tell what is going on.

[Steve Cliffe]

Hi, I'm having trouble with SBS from Knights Hill. I haven't watched SBS for a while so I have no idea how long it's been broken for me but I didn't use to have this problem. All other channels are fine.

Does anyone know if anything has changed or if there are any known problems with SBS?

I live in Fairy Meadow and when I first went digital I tried using Brokers Nose as I have line of site to it but found that I got better reception from Knights Hill. It was a couple of years ago so I might try it again.

Steve.

[alanh]

Steve,
The reason why SBS is missing is that you have only just enough signal. SBS is on channel 54 which is the highest channel number. This means the greatest loss in the cabling.
I would retry Brokers Nose with a band 5 only antenna, if your cabling is old, particularly outside, I would replace it with Quad shielded RG6.

Once you have turned your antenna around to the NW, you will need to do a rescan on the receiver to get the new channels.
Please note that you may also receive the signals from Robertson, so you should do the scan manually and select the Wollongong channels in the transmitter list linked in the above post.

For more details read the first post in this Wollongong forum strand.

AlanH

[Steve Cliffe]

Thanks Alan - will give it a try. I replaced the cable with quad shield when I switched to digital and installed the new antenna.

Steve.

[charlesc]

Steve, these may help you.
These are the channels from the two local transmitters in the Illawarra.


Knights Hill
ABC  UHF 51 Hor  690.5 MHz  Broadcast Australia Digital Television Tower KNIGHTS HILL
PRIME UHF 38 Hor  599.5 MHz New WIN Tower, KNIGHTS HILL
WIN  UHF 38 Hor 585.5 MHz New WIN Tower, KNIGHTS HILL
STHN CROSS UHF 37 Hor 592.5 MHz New WIN Tower, KNIGHTS HILL
SBS UHF 54 711.625 MHz New WIN Tower, KNIGHTS HILL

Brokers Nose
ABC  UHF 52 Hor  697.5 MHz  Broadcast Site, Escarpment Road, BROKERS NOSE
PRIME UHF 46 Hor  655.5 MHz Broadcast Site, Escarpment Road, BROKERS NOSE
WIN  UHF 40 Hor 613.5 MHz Broadcast Site, Escarpment Road, BROKERS NOSE
STHN CROSS UHF 43 Hor 634.5 MHz Broadcast Site, Escarpment Road, BROKERS NOSE
SBS UHF 54 711.625 MHz Broadcast Site, Escarpment Road, BROKERS NOSE

Edited by charlesc, 15 December 2008 - 09:34 AM.

[windsok]

Hi all,

Many years ago, before digital transmission was introduced, we used to recieve Sydney analog stations, as well as wollongong analog stations from our house in Mount Pleasant. The house is fairly high up on a hill, with a very high antenna pole, and has good line of sight northwards. The old antenna was damaged, as was replaced with an antenna which could only recieve wollongong signals.

I am wondering, is it possible at all to receive Sydney digital siginals in Wollongong, with the right antenna and location? Can anyone give details on how to achive this?

Thanks!

Edited by windsok, 25 January 2009 - 02:47 AM.

[mtv]

windsok, on Jan 25 2009, 03:47 AM, said:

I am wondering, is it possible at all to receive Sydney digital siginals in Wollongong, with the right antenna and location? Can anyone give details on how to achive this?

Provided the Sydney digital signals are sufficiently strong enough and have good quality (low BER) then the answer is yes.

You would need to have a site test performed to measure the signals to determine what is required.

How good was your Sydney analogue reception?

Did you use an amplifier?

[alanh]

windsok,
This topic has been covered a number of times. I suggest you search Sydney in the Wollongong Viewers' Forum

AlanH

[charlesc]

windsok, on Jan 25 2009, 03:47 AM, said:

I am wondering, is it possible at all to receive Sydney digital siginals in Wollongong, with the right antenna and location?

As mtv noted above, it should be possible, but it depends on just what is available at your particular location.

It is also possible that the large antenna rig you needed before to get OK analogue signals from Sydney may not need to be duplicated/fixed to get Sydney digital reception. The correct antenna properly located may be able to deliver sufficient signal with low error rate.  Digital reception is designed to better handle echoes and signal problems, and can work in situations where an analogue picture wouldn't be acceptable.

As noted, your best option would be to have someone do a site survey and find out just what is avaialble where you are.  This should at least involve trying a selection of antennas in various locations, and measuring signal strength (digital channel power) and Bit Error Rate (BER).

[windsok]

Thanks for the information, really appreciate it.

Any reccomendations on someone good to do the site survey and possible antenna installation?

[charlesc]

windsok,
I'm often down in Wollongong, I have family in Mangerton.  Also some rels in Dumfries Avenue, Mount Pleasant, maybe not to far from you.  PM me and I can call over next time I'm down (which could be this weekend).

[Neil2519]

How did you go with the Mt Ousley reception. I am in the area and I am also expierancing some reception probs?
Low strength on Prime and Capital. I get drop outs and squelches. Very anoying when watching the tennis. ABC SBS WIN all ok. I also did get Syd TV but now only Illawarra. I would like to see if I can get Syd again and improve the reception on Illawarra as well.

[alanh]

Neil,
You must have an antenna system fault or a very old antenna
You need a small band 5 Yagi antenna pointed at Broadcast Site Escarpment Road BROKERS NOSE. It is only 4 km away to you North North West
Read the first post in this strand an look for the link to band 5 (horizontally polarised) antennas.

AlanH

[DJP]

A friend    gave me a cheap SD STB so I decided to play around with it.

I'm in Nowra and my old UHF antenna points line of sight to Cambewarra.
It has an even older Kingray booster but I'm not sure how efficient it is.


I can get signal quality of 99% and strength >70 except for the WIN strength which is ~60.
Sorry, no BER test eqpt. On a manual scan for Channel 34 no station is found.

From the Channel lists for Cambewarra it shows WIN is channel on 34 which is Band 4, and the working channels are Band 5.

So correct me if I'm wrong, but I need to upgrade to a Wideband antenna before I do anything else, right ??

Thanks,
Dave

[alanh]

Dave,
Cambewarra is a vertically polarised transmission site. The best type of antenna is a phased array mounted on its side.
Read the first post in this strand There is a link to band 4 &5 antennas and you have vertical polarisaion. You could also search "Cambewarra" in this strand because there are other posts on this site.

AlanH

[Aedryn]

HI guys,

I have been very annoyed that SC10 wont be transmitting the new sports channel (love my F1) any time soon so I am very keen to see whether it's possible to get the Sydney channels in my location.  I have read lots of posts on getting the new aerials and am quite happy to put a new one up to get it but don;t want to waste the money if I have zero chance of picking anything up.

I am located in Horlsey(link below) which is just west of Dapto. Would it be worth getting someone to check out if it's possible? If so any suggestions?

http://maps.google.c...i....11158&z=14


Thanks

[mtv]

Aedryn,

The only reliable method of finding out, is to have a site test performed, where an installer will measure the signals from numerous places on your roof/property, with different antennas, to determine if Sydney signals are sufficient at your location to provide reliable digital reception.

Then it can be determined what equipment you will require, if it's viable of course.

[Aedryn]

OK, thanks for the quick reply....would you recommend anyone to do this?  I am super keen to get it checked out and the aerial updated if it needs it

Aed

[mtv]

Aedryn, on Mar 27 2009, 10:06 PM, said:

OK, thanks for the quick reply....would you recommend anyone to do this? I am super keen to get it checked out and the aerial updated if it needs it

Aed

You could try forum member charlesc

He covers Wollongong, so maybe he'll travel to you.

BTW, you'll need 5 posts to be able to use the PM feature, you can get your post count up here.