267 replies to this topic

[PSI-11D]

Need help RE: Foxtel installation.

Around 2000-2001, we had foxtel and moved to a new house right near Kincumber mountain..the foxtel guy said apparently we couldn't get reception because of where we now live.

Now back then Foxtel was analog, its now digital..

Foxtel is coming out on Saturday for install, what are my chances of it going ahead?

I have seen alot of other houses with interferance with mountains and trees so I don't understand, hopefully its different with digital.

Thankyou.

P.S. - I tried to start a new topic but it didn't let me.

Edited by PSI-11D, 14 June 2007 - 01:06 PM.

[digitalj]

Hi PSI-11D, if you want to start a new topic, then please post in one of the pinned red text threads until you have 5 posts. http://www.dtvforum....hp?showforum=60

Other than that, this area of the forum is for terrestrial services, the other area you just posted in (Foxtel Digital) is where this sort of question belongs.

[soccer]

BloneFuse, on Apr 22 2007, 10:34 AM, said:

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

Any update?

I am currently renovating in MacMasters Beach and my aerial faces Bhouddi. I cannot even see it with all the trees. I paid over 1k a year ago when I moved in to get a new aerial and outlets. The reception is still not the best but it was only analogue that we required at the time. I have since purchased a full 1080p LCD Tv with 1 x digital tuner and 1 x analogue tuner and I must admit I am flat out watching anything in digital.

Most of my neighbours appear to face toward Forresters Beach and I questioned the guy on this when he put the aerial up and he said that Bhoudi was much stronger. I need to call another aerail guy to put in all the cable for the reno and fix the aerial. Does anyone have a recomended person in the area?

[BFAC]

I have read through all of the posts relating to the Central Coast and I along with many others (family, friends,etc)have been experiencing all sorts of reception issues.
Originally some 20 years ago due to a lack of available signal and channels as a community we all chipped in and set up a master TV antenna system based upon being able to receive, VHF transmissions from Sydney and Newcastle and in certain conditions Win 4 from Wollongong. Perfect picture better than what I had experienced living in Sydney.

This was abandoned once the first UHF translator was installed in Gosford.
I moved houses and the Antenna system installed was a VHF system that worked extremely well for Sydney and Newcastle reception. I have since upgraded the cabling and used the Masthead amplifier as a diplexer and installed a UHF antenna taking advantage of all of the additional channels available from the various UHF translators installed to the north of here.

In recent times the VHF signal has degraded severely and also the UHF signal quality has dropped off, it appears to relate to the introduction of Digital broadcasts.
Have gone out and purchased a set top box and the results are terrific in normal conditions.
As soon as there is any bad weather the signals go to XXXX .
It seems that the translators actually drop out and there is no signal registering at all.
I have switched back to VHF or UHF reception and the pictures are very badly affected.
Obviously lighting activity as expected causes pixalation, plopping etc .
I was wondering if I and we had a problem where we(the people of this area) have too many options of transmitters to pick from and the weather activity  causes the signal to interfere with each other?
The present installation is a EFC2 (Wideband VHF) or similar for Sydney and NBN, with a UHF Phased Array Antenna horizontal polarity  pointed to Gosford, Newcastle. This is diplexed through a Kingray MHU24G or similar.
The coax has been changed to double shielded (Maybe Quad is required?).
Typical reception quality is from 67%- 95% and strength 50%-65% depending on band.
In the 177500 band 90-95% quality  62-65% strength. Similar to 219500 band.  67 in digital transmission or individual channels obvious duplicate channels from different translators.
Any thoughts or clues to get the best and most stable picture with this installation.
Cheers.

[digitalj]

BFAC

The Central Coast has 3 transmitter sites, Wyong, Gosford and Bouddi, all 3 sites use the same frequencies for DTV known as a Single Frequency network (SFN), the result is that if your antenna is picking up signals from 2 or more of these sites, the signals mix and the stb gets confused as to what it's meant to do, you can fix this issue if you get someone out with a Digital Field Strength Meter to test your signals and see what's happening, The Technician may have to do a few things such as relocate the antenna, replace antenna with one that's more directional, adjust amp (if you have one), etc.

[alanh]

BFAC,
Firstly you need to disconnect any VHF signals from the installation. This system may be adding some of the local signals at a different delay to those from the UHF sections.

You do not indicate where you are. The Gosford translators are quite low powered. Unless there is terrain in the way you need a high gain Yagi and not a phased array. Phased arrays are best for Bouddi and Wyong.

Read my post "Get the best reception" at the start of this strand and click on the NSW link and look up which band the antenna needs to be.

AlanH

[alanh]

BFAC,
Firstly you need to disconnect any VHF signals from the installation. This system may be adding some of the local signals at a different delay to those from the UHF sections. So only use one antenna pointed at the appropriate Central Coast translator.

You do not indicate where you are. The Gosford translators are quite low powered. Unless there is terrain in the way you need a high gain Yagi designed for channels 28-69 and not a phased array. Phased arrays are best for Bouddi and Wyong. The antenna must be accurately pointed at the appropriate translator.

It sounds as if the cabling is old and it could be the cause of the decrease in signal strength particularly in the wet.

If the above does not solve the problem, then a Kingray MHU44 masthead amplifier should be tried, it is a lot more sensitive than the one you have at the moment.

AlanH

[BFAC]

alanh, on Mar 8 2008, 11:59 AM, said:

BFAC,
Firstly you need to disconnect any VHF signals from the installation. This system may be adding some of the local signals at a different delay to those from the UHF sections. So only use one antenna pointed at the appropriate Central Coast translator.

You do not indicate where you are. The Gosford translators are quite low powered. Unless there is terrain in the way you need a high gain Yagi designed for channels 28-69 and not a phased array. Phased arrays are best for Bouddi and Wyong. The antenna must be accurately pointed at the appropriate translator.

It sounds as if the cabling is old and it could be the cause of the decrease in signal strength particularly in the wet.

If the above does not solve the problem, then a Kingray MHU44 masthead amplifier should be tried, it is a lot more sensitive than the one you have at the moment.

AlanH

Thank you ,
I m located at Umina and Bouddi comes in very strongly even though my antenna is pointed and polarised  towards Gosford and beyond.
I understand that even though the antenna is set to Gosford the attenuation offered by the polarisation of the antenna on reduces the signal minimally as Bouddi is so close. The reason for setting the antenna for Gosford is that We can get more channels, with different programs  from Newcastle, Wyong etc.
I can get very watchable pictures from Gosford, Wyong, Forresters, Newcastle. as well as the Bouddi.
I have tried setting the antenna to Bouddi and the difference is minimal.
I have replaced the cabling but may need to do so once more, I used double insulated, copper core, aluminum sheath and braid, not not Quad.
I have tried a Yagi type antenna and the array appears to work better?
I will remove the VHF system, change the cable once more and change the mast head amp.
You have answered my question that the multiple signals coming in is confusing the set tip box.
If this continues to be a problem are there any suggestions on how to block the other transmitters signals .
Many thanks
BFAC

[BFAC]

BFAC, on Mar 8 2008, 02:13 PM, said:

Thank you ,
I m located at Umina and Bouddi comes in very strongly even though my antenna is pointed and polarised  towards Gosford and beyond.
I understand that even though the antenna is set to Gosford the attenuation offered by the polarisation of the antenna on reduces the signal minimally as Bouddi is so close. The reason for setting the antenna for Gosford is that We can get more channels, with different programs  from Newcastle, Wyong etc.
I can get very watchable pictures from Gosford, Wyong, Forresters, Newcastle. as well as the Bouddi.
I have tried setting the antenna to Bouddi and the difference is minimal.
I have replaced the cabling but may need to do so once more, I used double insulated, copper core, aluminum sheath and braid, not not Quad.
I have tried a Yagi type antenna and the array appears to work better?
I will remove the VHF system, change the cable once more and change the mast head amp.
You have answered my question that the multiple signals coming in is confusing the set tip box.
If this continues to be a problem are there any suggestions on how to block the other transmitters signals .
Many thanks
BFAC

Do you think the following is the problem? It seems that the stronger signal is coming from Gore Hill area if I understand the broadcast frequencies An example of the Digital Channels for 7 and 10 at Umina

Broadcaster Station ID Frequency Strength
Ten HD           1              219500 85-90
Ten HD           1              788500 65-75
Ten HD           12             219500 87
Ten SD           10             219500 83
Ten SD           10             788500 70
Ten HD           12             788500 70
SC10 Newcastle5                  690500      85
SC10 Newcastle50         690500     83
My Talk           55              690500   83

Prime N/C   6             705500 85
Prime Wyong 6           746500 80
7 Digital      7                177500    95
7 Digital      7                760500    65
Prime HD 60            704500 86
Prime HD 60           746500 82
Prime           61              704500 85
Prime           61              746500 84
Prime           62              704500 79
Prime           62              746500 85
Prime           63              704500 85
Prime           63              746500 80
7 HD           70               177500 92
7 HD           70              760500 67
7HD           71             177500 93
7SD           71              760500 65
7SD           72              177500 93
7SD           72              760500 67
7SD           73               177500 95
7SD           73               760500 68
7 GUIDE        77            177500 94
And similar for channel nine / NBN,ABC 1 & 2, SBS 1 and 2 I even get channel 352 NBN HD Newcastle.
So is the problem too many signals?
thanks for you help
BFAC

[digitalj]

BFAC,

The Central Coast Transmitters just retransmit the Sydney signals and the Newcastle Signals, all you need to do is have the antenna system designed to only pick-up 1 Central Coast Transmitter, whether it's Bouddi, Wyong or Gosford depends on what signal levels are available at your location from each.

The Antenna should be located so that the other 2 transmitter sites have weak signals at your place so that they don't interfere with the signals coming from the transmitter you've chosen.

You should get an Antenna technician in who has a Digital Field Strength Meter for measuring the signals, as this is the only way to work out what site to use and what location your antenna should go.

[BFAC]

digitalj, on Mar 8 2008, 10:05 PM, said:

BFAC,

The Central Coast Transmitters just retransmit the Sydney signals and the Newcastle Signals, all you need to do is have the antenna system designed to only pick-up 1 Central Coast Transmitter, whether it's Bouddi, Wyong or Gosford depends on what signal levels are available at your location from each.

The Antenna should be located so that the other 2 transmitter sites have weak signals at your place so that they don't interfere with the signals coming from the transmitter you've chosen.

You should get an Antenna technician in who has a Digital Field Strength Meter for measuring the signals, as this is the only way to work out what site to use and what location your antenna should go.

I had A friend over with the digital field strength meter (normally plays with dishes),do not have the figures of each transmission, but from what he has been able to establish the strongest digital signal is coming in via  Gore Hill area Sydney and Newcastle channel 350-352 and this is being fed to the STB by the old VHF antennae? The normal VHF transmission looks like rubbish but the digital signal has the highest readings for strength and quality.
He did not think that position, mounting or cabling were a problem but suggested that changing over to the Quad coax and updating the masthead amplifier could help for a unit such as suggested by Alanh. MHU44 in a shielded box. To reduce noise would be a good idea.
The next strongest is Bouddi on the UHF antennae (even though the polarity of the antenna was wrong), followed by Gosford and Wyong, then Newcasle UHF transmitters? He claimed that all of the signals were good enough for a watchable stable picture and that there could be another reason why I get the problems in the bad weather.
He said that there could be the possibility that someone else in the area  has a masthead amplifier or cabling that is faulty and the amplifier may get wet and start transmitting interfering with the normally good reception that I get?
So I guess my options are as follows.
1:Get a suitable antennae to point to Sydney to use the transmission from Gore Hill area, and or try removing the UHF antennae first.
2: Remove the VHF antenna and try maximising the transmissions from Gosford, Wyong and Newcastle.
3:Forget about both of the above and be happy with the transmission and channels available from Bouddi.

Will the transmitters in Gore Hill be still in operation once the current VHF system is closed down?
Many thanks for all of your help and comments
BFAC

[alanh]

BFAC,
I would remove the VHF reception and use a phased array on its side pointed at Bouddi. It will be less affected by the weather than the VHF signals from Sydney. You will also get the Central Coast News from NBN. You may not even need a masthead amplfier. The wrong polarisation will drastically reduce the signal strength.

Use the link to antenna basics for more information.

AlanH

[mtv]

BFAC, on Mar 10 2008, 10:10 AM, said:

Will the transmitters in Gore Hill be still in operation once the current VHF system is closed down?

The Gore Hill/Artarmon/Willoughby VHF transmitters are the main high-power digital transmitters for Sydney.

The only VHF services that will cease from those locations in December 2009, are analogue.

The current digital VHF services will continue.

[alanh]

MTV,
I agree with this but there is no word on the Central Coast which must be close to this date due to the overcrowding and reception problems.

AlanH

[BFAC]

alanh, on Mar 11 2008, 12:36 AM, said:

MTV,
I agree with this but there is no word on the Central Coast which must be close to this date due to the overcrowding and reception problems.

AlanH

I agree Alan, regarding overcrowding. this probably explains the problem I have had in being able to have a "Stable" reception.
I did not understand how having too many options to pick from, gave the STB so much grief.
It is amazing, 20 years ago, we had basically no TV reception, complicated community antenna systems, cables running through storm water drains to link to the next batch of properties and now we are inundated with options for  Television reception. The remarkable thing is that there are still plenty of old time High Gain, fringe reception, Antenna's trying to capture a very noisy  VHF signal from Sydney.
These people will scream when the VHF transmission from Sydney finally closes, whenever that will be?
Mainly elderly folk who struggle with remote controls and are fine with the concept that if they want channel 2 they turn the knob to 2.
Who ever can come up with a method to provide a "power fail safe" and simple to use option to embrace the current technology would do quite well.

BFAC

[alanh]

BFAC,
The central coast and the Gold Coast are unique in that they have a choice of being in two viewing areas. In the Central Coast case signal from Newcastle and from Sydney. They are all repeated in the Central Coast (Southern Cross is yet to start)
This means that at the Gosford, Bouddi and the Wyong sites, there is 8 transmitters each. Remember also that a Digital channel can carry more than one programs.

For example
1 TEN HD
10 TEN SD
20 ABC1 HD
21 ABC1 SD
22 ABC2 SD
30 SBS1 HD
3?  SBS News
50 Southern Cross HD
60 Prime HD
6 Prime SD
70 Seven HD
7 Seven SD
80 NBN HD
8 NBN SD
90 Nine HD
9 Nine SD

On all receivers you can select favourites. Now the stations are putting out some different programs on their HD services. Most receivers will label their program streams as well as using the Logical Channel Numbers used above. Some HD services are incomplete because of the price of HD encoders.

AlanH

[BFAC]

alanh, on Mar 12 2008, 08:16 PM, said:

BFAC,
The central coast and the Gold Coast are unique in that they have a choice of being in two viewing areas. In the Central Coast case signal from Newcastle and from Sydney. They are all repeated in the Central Coast (Southern Cross is yet to start)
This means that at the Gosford, Bouddi and the Wyong sites, there is 8 transmitters each. Remember also that a Digital channel can carry more than one programs.

For example
1 TEN HD
10 TEN SD
20 ABC1 HD
21 ABC1 SD
22 ABC2 SD
30 SBS1 HD
3?  SBS News
50 Southern Cross HD
60 Prime HD
6 Prime SD
70 Seven HD
7 Seven SD
80 NBN HD
8 NBN SD
90 Nine HD
9 Nine SD

On all receivers you can select favourites. Now the stations are putting out some different programs on their HD services. Most receivers will label their program streams as well as using the Logical Channel Numbers used above. Some HD services are incomplete because of the price of HD encoders.

AlanH

Thanks Alan I understand all of that. Try explaining that to some one who cannot use  a  remote control and have no concept of selecting Av inputs or the need for a STB to get a good picture. Probably 30+ % of the local population.
Cheers BFAC
BFAC

[fredofrog]

3? = 33 SBS News
I must be the only Novacastrian whoever watches it

[fredofrog]

BFAC,

Problem as I see it is that most people are unaware that analogue is shutting down in the near future and is/will be replaced by digital - so there's no incentive to change or more accurately accept a change now whilst it still works for them.

I wished the FedGovt would just come out and provide any one who wants one with a SD STB for a nomial fee like $10 and be done with waiting for the public to take up digital services.

[BFAC]

Alanh and all,
I have removed the VHF antenna, and hooked up the UHF phased array sited and polarised to Gosford, which also enables Wyong and Newcastle broadcasts.
I could not get the Kingray MU44 locally and was recommended / sold a digimatch unit.
The unit is completely sheilded internally metal case.
I replaced the cable using quad core and "f" connectors.
So far the signal strength appears no different but there is a definite improvement  picture quality and immunity to noise plops etc. Some channels such as SBS Newcastle are very bad break up pixelating all the time but the local equivalent is fine.
So I will have to wait and see what happens in the next batch of bad weather to see if the other problem has been resolved.
Thank you for your help and advice.
Cheers
BFAC.

[alanh]

BFAC,
All Sydney and Newcastle programs are repeated on the Gosford site except Southern Cross. Is the antenna pointed at the Gosford trig point? This means that the back screen is at right angles to a line between it and the transmitter.

The Gosford transmitter is much less powerfull than Bouddi.

You will probably need to do a manual scan for each channel on the Gosford transmitter site. They are listed in the "Get the Best Reception" post link, NSW.

AlanH

[BFAC]

alanh, on Mar 23 2008, 07:32 PM, said:

BFAC,
All Sydney and Newcastle programs are repeated on the Gosford site except Southern Cross. Is the antenna pointed at the Gosford trig point? This means that the back screen is at right angles to a line between it and the transmitter.

The Gosford transmitter is much less powerfull than Bouddi.

You will probably need to do a manual scan for each channel on the Gosford transmitter site. They are listed in the "Get the Best Reception" post link, NSW.

AlanH

Hi Alan
Yes the Antenna is pointed at Gosford just off due north and is set horizontal polarity.
The signal strength from Wyong or beyond can be higher as an example SC 10 Wyong comes in as the best reception channel and absolutely stable .
The UHF signals are all fairly poor. They are watchable but very noisy and grainy.
I did another antenna correction for a relative this weekend that had been sold a package as advised from the Mighty Dick (DSE).
They had sold him a Matchmaster combo UHF VHF where the VHF and UHF antennas are seperate and you can hook them together (diplex?) or run them individually to a Mast head and diplex the signals in the amp or just run UHF out put direct to the UHF input to the amp.
This time I set the UHF antenna to Vertical and set for Bouddi. This was mainly due to large tree's and other objects being in the way to the north.
The UHF signals again looked ordinary but the Digital broadcast was rock solid and very clear.
Again Quad core and "F" connectors replacing existing  cable.
This set up however was extremely directional. The antenna was set roughly east  north east (South Umina) and as stated excellent digital reception. If the antenna was rotated to NNE the Bouddi transmission was gone and it was receiving Gosford or beyond with lots of Plops. Obviously the polarization of the antenna would impact on the signal strength from Gosford .
I think that maybe this antenna was possibly worth the $$$ but it may have been better if a dedicated band 4 and 5 antenna was used as outlined in the guide to best reception?
I again thank you for all of your advice.
Best regards
BFAC.

[Doggy]

Hi,

Does anyone know if there have been changes that might have impacted SBS reception from Bouddi (in some geographic areas) starting around 4 weeks ago?

I am in Avalon on the Northern Beaches and previously had good DTV reception from Bouddi with SBS always having been particularly good.

Then, around four weeks ago, SBS reception became disastrous but only  occasionally. About a week after that, the degradation became permanent 24hrs per day.

All other stations/frequencies continue to be good and unaffected.

After playing around with several antennas in several spots on the roof (no improvement) & searching for any interference (none found) I am thinking that something has changed with SBS to put me into a Mush Zone. Signal strength is good at around 98-99% (on a Topfield) but quality is zero. Fiddling with a highly directional UHF yagi, I can get the quality up to maybe 15% but it is not watchable, so I am back on the phased array with all stations perfect except SBS.

If anyone knows whether or not anything has changed with respect to SBS on the Central Coast I would be grateful for any information.

Regds,
Dave

[magnatron]

Hi, new member here so I cant post a new topic yet.

Has anyone else noticed a drop in signal quality with SC10 on the central coast?
Plenty of signal strength but poor quality - only in the last week or so, it used to be good.

All the other chanels are still good, just SC10

Edited by magnatron, 21 May 2008 - 01:51 PM.

[alanh]

Magnetron,
Are you watching the Wyong translator which is near The Entrance or Mt Sugarloaf main transmitter?

The Gosford or Bouddi sites do not have SC10 translators

AlanH