267 replies to this topic

[lesm]

To AlanH

Thank you - note you have a lot of knowledge. Do you do installations & would you be interested?

LesM

[bigkingfish]

lesm, on Feb 8 2007, 02:42 AM, said:

To AlanH

Thank you - note you have a lot of knowledge. Do you do installations & would you be interested?

LesM

AlanH,

Are you referring to a post V BER measurement and a meter that reads actual rather than emulated BER?

Regards,

Bigkingfish

[alanh]

bigkingfish,
I live nowhere neary you so the answer is no.

These meters will read pre and post vebriti. The point is that these measurements need to be taken and not just signal strength. This is particularly important in your area.

Alanh

[bigkingfish]

alanh, on Feb 8 2007, 09:39 PM, said:

bigkingfish,
I live nowhere neary you so the answer is no.

These meters will read pre and post vebriti. The point is that these measurements need to be taken and not just signal strength. This is particularly important in your area.

Alanh

Alan,

I think you meant this reply for LesM. I was just inquiring about the meter type and specs you suggested. I use a Rover TDA6 and a Unaohm T40. The Rover does emulated BER, the Unaohm does actual BER. LesM - whilst I do some stuff up your way, there are probably others in the forum who live closer to you and are full time installers.

regards,

BIGKINGFISH

[HALTECH]

Hi Les,

I would not get carried away with MER or BER, antenna installation is not rocket science. To be honest if you have line of site to either Gosford or Bouddi you are going to be in good shape. The only problem digital channel will be Prime Digital on 59 the others will be aok. Analog may suffer from impulse noise and some co channel interferenece which cannot be helped. You mainly want to make sure you get the correct levels at the points and for 7 outlets you may need a slightly larger masthead amp than normal.

Anyway if you need someone try Terry who posts on here from time to time. He contact details are on the DBA website under IT & AV Services in the installer section.

HAL

[PamB]

Hi AlanH

Yes I'm new to using on of these sites and I posted these quesitons ion another section and AlanH said to put them here I think!

I have a Topfield TF5000PVRt Masterpiece but I do not have good reception. I read your above message (AlanH) and am hoping you may be able to asssit me as well. I live at Lake Haven NSW 2263, can you advise which direction to point my antenna?? Also should I be able to use the antenna that was already there for normal TV??

Many thanks Pam

[HALTECH]

Your best bet is to get a qualified installer to do it properly. It sounds like you have a very nice set top box and should spend the extra money to get the best out of it.

[Norts And Ones]

Hi..

Does anyone know why Channel 10 has gone off the radar..?  I'm in Toukley and I cannot pick up Ch 10 thru the STB  Its fine on the normal aerial on other Tv's  but not thru the STB

I've re-set and retuned numerous times since last night, but no joy.

I've checked all connections, and direction of the Aerial, which is pointing towards Gosford, and all is as should be.

[alanh]

Norts And Ones,
Make sure the STB is tuned to channel 65 in the installation menu. They may have a transmitter fault. If others have the same problem using their digital receivers there is a good chance.

AlanH

[HALTECH]

Channel 10 has lowest output from Forries of all the Channels so will be first to fail. It is one air this morning and was last night aok. So the problem is local to your property , I would suspect a poor installation.

HAL

[wahroonga farm]

Norts And Ones, on Mar 31 2007, 11:22 AM, said:

.... I've checked all connections, and direction of the Aerial, which is pointing towards Gosford, and all is as should be.

At Toukley, Newcastle (Sugarloaf) and Wyrrabalong are the go.

Check the coverage map (104Kb)  

[mmx]

Norts And Ones, on Mar 31 2007, 11:22 AM, said:

I'm in Toukley and I cannot pick up Ch 10 thru the STB

I'm at Noraville and we can pick up ten ok and SC10+HD(Newcastle) perfectly, we have the antenna's set to Mt Sugarloaf and Wyrabalong, strangely although SBS has a crystal clear signal ABC 592.5Mhz can be fairly dodgy at times.

[digitalj]

mmx, on Apr 1 2007, 05:22 PM, said:

I'm at Noraville and we can pick up ten ok and SC10+HD(Newcastle) perfectly, we have the antenna's set to Mt Sugarloaf and Wyrabalong, strangely although SBS has a crystal clear signal ABC 592.5Mhz can be fairly dodgy at times.

ABC uses the same frequency for those 2 locations, you should be able to help fix it by working out which ABC is better for you, and on the antenna cable coming from the antenna pointing to the worst ABC signal, install a single frequency attenuator to attenuate ABC.

[mmx]

digitalj, on Apr 1 2007, 05:29 PM, said:

pointing to the worst ABC signal, install a single frequency attenuator to attenuate ABC.

That's a great idea, I might try this tomorrow if I get a chance.

[Jeremy2360]

AH!   I don't get all this stuff! I've tried to figure it out...but i still don't get it! Can someone please help me? I live on the central coast in umina beach, at the start of neera rd (http://maps.google.c...008156,0.014591). I wish to pick up Sydney Digital Channel Seven, Ten, Nine, SBS, ABC, ABC 2 and Central Coast NBN. Would this be possible in my area? And what kind of antenna would i need? Would i be able to also use it as an analogue antenna?

I really need to get TV; Haven't had it for like 2 months now...slowly going crazy.  

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ANY HELP!

[mtv]

Jeremy2360

It may be possible to receive Sydney channels from your location.

What you need to do, is have a site-test performed by a pro digital antenna installer, to determine what signals are available at your location.

The installer can then advise you on what is required to receive them (or maybe that you can't receive them).

You could ask others in your area if they are receiving Sydney transmissions, but be aware that just because a neighbour can, doesn't necessarily mean you will.

Each location is individual and especially with 'fringe area' reception, just moving an antenna half a metre in any direction (including up/down) can often be the difference between excellent digital reception, intermittent reception, or even no reception.

Generally speaking, for Sydney transmissions, a Band 3 (VHF) antenna will receive all digital channels except SBS and Digital 44, which are on Band 4 UHF) plus analogue 7,9,10. ABC analogue (CH 2) is on Band 1 VHF and SBS analogue is on UHF (Band 4)

You should not incorporate Band 1 & 2 antennas with a digital installation, as they prone to receiving impulse-noise interference, which can cause loss of digital reception.

[wahroonga farm]

Jeremy,

Wot's wrong with either the Gosford or Bouddi translators? They've got Sydney + Newcastle, how can u go wrong . Best (or worst) of both worlds:)

[BloneFuse]

I've had a STB for 5 years - and the performance has been rubbish. I had the antenna guy in to ensure it was upgraded and boosted appropriately - and even then, the only channels I can get perfectly are ABC and SBS. I am located in Point Clare, and am surrounded by trees.

Bit the bullet - and said a prayer - and purchased a brand new Sony HD STB (in the hopes it was my clapped out Strong box that was the problem). Plugged everything in, scanned for stations - and now I can ONLY receive ABC and SBS. I used to receive signals for the other stations, but they were very poor quality and broke up, popped, etc.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to why the ABC and SBS are absolutely perfect, while the other stations are either crap or non-existent??

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My wife wants Channel 10 Digital!

Edited by BloneFuse, 20 April 2007 - 12:11 AM.

[wahroonga farm]

The strong is a sensitive box (not clapped out).

Pt Claire shud be a shoe in for Gosford or Bouddi. Where is the antenna pointed? Trees are a problem. How is your analogue reception?

Probably needs a 'real' antenna man?

[alanh]

BlownFuse,
You need to check the antenna type and how it is mounted. The Gosford repeater is very low powered. It is horizontally polarised. Bouddi is more powerful and is vertically polarised.
To identify your antenna type look at all 4 pages of Scaled drawing including dimensions on page 1

For coverage area maps Read Get the Best Reception, Central Coast NSW and read the links.

Post the results of your observation here.

AlahH

[BloneFuse]

It looks like I have a Horizontally Polarised Phased Array. This could explain why I have such poor reception, due to the fact it is oriented to receive the Gosford transmitter's signals (which are low powered to begin with).

Is it a simple task of reorienting the array - or are we talking an entirely new aerial??

Thanks for your help!

[alanh]

Blownfuse,
You could try rotating the phased array onto its side and rotating it so that it is at right angles to a line between you and Bouddi and see what happens. Mark the pole before you rotate it towards Bouddi so that you can rotate it back again if it does not work.

AlanH

[mtv]

BloneFuse, on Apr 21 2007, 11:22 AM, said:

Is it a simple task of reorienting the array - or are we talking an entirely new aerial??

Depends on the make/model of antenna.

Some you just take the U bolt/clamp assembly off and put it though two other holes. (Hills)

Others require a bracket to be added (Fracarro) or you can use a mast stand-off to achieve the same result.

If the coax entry into the balun if offset, ensure you have the cable entry at the bottom, to prevent water running down the cable, into the balun.
Sounds like common-sense I know, and it is... but you'd be surprised the amount of these types of antennas I see that have failed because they haven't been installed 'the right way up'.

[wahroonga farm]

Alan's spot on with the power differentials. So Bouddi's worth a go over Gosford (remember Gosford was the first analogue translator in service, so depends when the install was done).

[BloneFuse]

Thanks, everyone! I am heading off for a week's holiday today - so won't be able to experiment with this until I get back. As soon as I give it a try, I will report back to you with the results/findings...

Regards,

BF