All,

Analog TV switchoffs are;
ACT between 1^st January - 30^th June 2012


Follow the sequence below to determine what you need to do. This applies to new and existing installations, in which pixellates (picture breaks up into blocks) and the sound chirps)

Antenna Selection

1. Determine the most appropriate transmitter site
Most regions have a main transmitter shown in bold and some translators. Translator is of lower power than the main transmitter for the region. Translators are used to fill in a shadow area caused by the local terrain. A translator converts the signal from one channel to another to prevent interference.

Click on
Transmitter List to find you likely transmitter site(s)

Open on another screen Coverage Area Maps and select the state and your DTV transmitter. If present this will give you a coverage area map to determine which site is best for you.

If an antenna technician can provide evidence that there are no signals at your site, you can get the ABC, SBS, two commercial stations and some radio channels directly from a satellite. Go to the end of this post.

2. Select the antenna type
From the spreadsheet use the antenna type to select the link below


C34
H5

Caravans/Marine

Indoor Antennas

Antenna Type Drawings

[b]Cabling
It should be quad shielded RG6 with F connectors at any joins.
This is to minimise the pick up of electrical switching and TV signals other than picked up by the antenna.

Masthead amplifiers Should only be considered if the measured digital signals show there is too little signal. If that is not an option try the above techniques first.

Recognising interference
Better Television & Radio Reception

Please note this is general information. Use an antenna installer who can measure digital signals for strength and error rates.(They should be able to give you Bit Error Rates (BER) figures of less than 8 e-4) If they cannot do this, get someone else.

Apartments and retirement villages use Master Antenna TV systems (MATV)

MDU Handbook. This document is designed for presentation to the Body Corporate or the building owners.

Remember that analog transmitters will be switched off between Dec 2009 Metro, and 2013 in the last regional areas.

These systems contain amplifiers for individual channels. In any non-digital installations you will generally find some digital channels are not receivable due to this filtering. Prior to upgrading or installing an MATV system make sure all receivers are digital or have a set top box. This will mean that the channel amplifiers can be retuned or replaced rather than installing another set of 5 amplifiers. Then specify that the installation must conform to Australian Standard 1367-2007. This will ensure that all digital channels will be available, including HD and surround sound when available.

Radio – FM, DAB and DRM
FM
None of the antennas listed above are designed to receive FM radio. The best way is to have an independent system Please read FM Antennas

DRM is another type of digital radio which will replace AM radio and will not use any of the above equipment.

More Information
How to get into Digital TV Pt 2 -What to do about the antenna "Silicon Chip" April 2008
For TV Antenna Basics +
For Radio Thread

Out of area reception
If an antenna technician can prove no TV signals are available, then a free to air satellite receiver is an option.
Stations available


The programs are transmitted through the satellite in digital form, but in some towns are then retransmitted in analog. A home satellite receiver will receive the signal in digital, however there is none of the enhancements such as multi channel, wide screen etc.


To obtain reception read the following link
Out of area reception


AlanH
Please post any queries in this geographic viewer's forum

This infomation is incorrect.
Fraser has a very small translator behind Mt Rodgers at the CSIRO. It's only 10 watts and transmits SBS on UHF 53 & ABC on UHF 56, analog only.
The channels quoted above are digital channels for Tuggeranong Hill and Mt Taylor.

Licensed television broadcasters
Refer to pages
Canberra = 20
Fraser = 39
Tuggeranong = 101
Weston Creek / Woden = 108 / 109

Cheers Gadget

Gadget,
Eventually Fraser will use those channels digitally when installed.

I should have added For start dates see http://www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=22

Thanks

AlanH

AlanH
In the case of Fraser, it really was a stop gap translator. In most cases reception from Blk Mtn is posible, even more so with digital. The analog ABC & SBS are poor to say the least from this little translator, not many people use it at all. A good technician can pick up all channels from Blk Mtn.
I'll wait and see if they change the Fraser Translator, but to date I have not heard of any plans.
Gadget

Analog ABC in Canberra is transmitted on VHF 9, therefor the above mentioned antennae will still receive the Analog ABC transmissions.


You still mention this as fact, I have seen no documention nor been told of any such plans to date. I would hate to confuse any people living in the Fraser area as to what may or may not happen in the future. I really would like to have the plans for this translator confirmed, before anyone starts to expected the unexpected.
Alan, where did you obtain this information?
Gadget

Gadget,
As you requested http://www.aba.gov.au/tv/digitaltv/planning/act/ch_act.htm.
I edited a lot of these posts and the occasional error gets through. I will correct it now.

I am using an Antsig 197 ( http://www.arlec.com.au/EnlargedPic.asp?Pa...r=1&Product=111 ) pointed at Tuggeranong Hill and get great reception with this antenna. I must admit that I have a clear line of sight and I am only 5 or 6 KM away.

That said, I am also picking up all the Black Mountain channels as well with only slight interference with this same antenna (pointed the wrong direction, UHF only and 20+ KM away without direct line of sight.

I'm in Weston Creek (Rivett) and the reception pages indicate I can't get Channels TEN,PRIME & WIN from MT. Taylor..
Can I get these from Black Mountain? or is it too far?

petrax,
At the end of my post there is a link to the DBA site where you can select your location. It will tell you if the transmitter is on air or when it is likely to start.

AlanH

according to the dba site these stations are due: TBA
for Weston Creek in ACT, is this correct?

but my current analog reception is from Black Mountain so can I assume I can also get my digital reception from there too.

If your Analog reception is from Blk Mtn then use Blk Mtn for your Digital.
Rivett is a pretty good suburb for Blk Mtn reception, you should be ok.
Mt Taylor is really only for some areas of Weston and Waramanga.
Gadget

does any one know what this stationcode is : CBN64 from the ABA site:
http://www.aba.gov.au/broadcasters/television.htm

Note there are alot of broken links to the analog tv pages.

It's Prime's callsign and UHF frequency in one.

CBN64 is Prime from Mt Taylor (analog UHF ch64), CBN is their callsign.
Gadget

Beat me by a keystroke Kenneth

and by process of deduction CTC is TEN... simple eh... um ABA should have a code reference somewhere

petrax,
Ten affilliates in NSW are CTC for the southern part of the state and NRN for the northern part of the state. The both have logical channel numbers starting with 5 where as TEN in capital cities have a logical channel numbers starting with 1. All 3 "stations" in NSW have parts of their programs different ie advertising, news...

AlanH

Having just bought a SD box and my antenna pointing at Mt Taylor discover my horror that it is only transmitting ABC and SBS in digital and yes DBA lists the other commercial stations as TBA. Here it is from the horse's (plural - AKA engineers from Prime and Win based here in ACT) mouth- there are no plans for the commercial stations to transmit digital from Mt Taylor. They have found that the footprint of digital is enough that Black Mountain and Tuggeranong covers the ACT. ABC and SBS got in early and upgraded all sites. The others sat back and learned.
No help for me and anyone else who is set up for Mt Taylor!!

Alan - thanks for all the info... Unfortunately I may be a little under-knowledged as it all looks fairly technical to me! Are you able to offer a few simple steps to help?!
Basically, I live in Bruce in the ACT, with a mountain top between me and telstra tower. I had poor analogue reception (esp. 7 and 10) hence bought the STB. Now with the stb, I seem to be having trouble with channels still when it says reception is weak. It varies though all the time and is almost more frustrating to watch with a supposed weak signal (when it goes all blotchy) than when it used to be watching the fuzzy analogue picture! Is there any way I can fix that? Sorry to bother you!

Who is a good antenna mob? WIN is playing up and I can't do with out finals footy. It works mostly, but the sound drops out and then I have blocky vision. Feel free to msg me with details. I'll tell you the suburb upfront - Fraser.

Cheers,

This is slightly incorrect.... all digital channels are broadcast on VHF Band 3 only. You will only require a Band 4 horizontal antenna if you still wish to pick up the analogue channels in this band which are 28 for SBS, 31 for WIN and 34 for Prime.

Adza, you are slightly incorrect.

SBS is still on UHF for digital from Black Mountain (UHF30 to be exact - you will see this in alanh's post).

Of course (as you can also see in alanh's post) Win, SC10, ABC and Prime are VHF.

My apologies... I read it as Channel 3........... can I duck for cover now? Of course 3 is not used for digital TV.... I must have been drinking that day

Alan is right. For SBS digital, you require Band 4. The others are astou say, in Band 3.

It's acutally CTC7
CTC is Captial Television Canberra.

They are the television stations call-signs (remember the old CB days when everyone had a call-sign or a handle? Hang-on, I think I've just shown how old I am!)

TCN9 - is channel 9 Sydney, and GTV9 is Channel 9 Melbourne. I bloke I work with has been at Black Mountain Tower since it was built and he knows what they all are. He worked on Television Transmitters until the year 2000 when Telstra sold off the ABC and SBS maintance contracts for the TV and AM/FM radio.

Col.

Col T,
They are still used in licences, see ACMA. I have used them in all the Get the best reception pinned posts in all geographic viewers' forums.

CTC Is Canberra Television with the C for Australian Capital Territory

AlanH

Alanh
Can you tell me if a Windgard or Omni brand tv aeriels are suitable
for digital reception on a caravan (constantly travelling). If not what should i get
cheers

norto,
Antenna Survey Caravans and Marine
AlanH

Before deciding what is required to provide the best reception, first you must know what signal levels and quality are present at a given location.

The key to digital reception is obtaining signals of adequate power and quality At THE ANTENNA.

Amplifiers should only be used to compensate for distribution losses, not to try and increase signals which are too low/not present.

Over-use of amplifiers without prior knowledge of signal power and Bit Error Rates is almost guaranteed to not only amplify existing problems, but to also create new ones.

Selection of the correct antenna for a particular location, together with accurate digital measurements to locate the best mounting location for the antenna are things which make every installation unique.

A "blanket post" across every regional area DTV forum recommending such bad practice may be considered 'trolling'.

As you are a new member, having only joined the forum today, burnoutking2 perhaps you could share with us your location, what channels you are receiving and from where, and what antennas and amplifiers you are using to achieve this.

I have my suspicions this poster is closely related to recently suspended troll, tyrewarmer20/dodgy

This means I should get rid of my horizontally polarized UHF antenna, as I only view digital channels from Black Mountain. I can take down the ugly UHF antenna I used with analogue TV, as well as the combiner on the antennae pole. Yipee!

Is this still true?

Rod

Damn: Didn't see the bit about SBS still being UHF. One channel puts a spanner in the works. I suppose there had be some reason why I kept the UHF antenna when I originally switched to DTV. We do watch SBS now and again.

I live in O'Connor and last night my digital reception dropped out. The old skool feed through my TV was unaffected. I'm trying to ascertain if this reception issue is related to my Pana DMR-EX75 or did others experience a similar problem last night???

It was a dud unit. I replaced my EX75 from JB Hi-Fi Civic and the replacement unit auto-tuned without problem.

So I live in the Avenue Apartment block in the city - with an antenna in the roof wired ot my apartment. I've just bought a new plasma with integrated HD tuner and I get pretty poor reception. Would I be better off buying an indoors antenna to use with it?

Cheers in advance...

cagehead,
The best option is to connect this antenna, however if this is not possible, then read the first post in this strand. Click on the indoor antennal link.
Your problem is that the main transmitters use vertical and horizontal polarisation. Rotating the antenna on some channel changes will be a pain.

AlanH

Sorry Alan I'm not sure I know what you mean. I can't physically change the antenna as I am in an apartment block. Is that what you mean?
Thanks.

The ACMA Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations Book and the ABC Reception advice page both list ABC Digital Canberra (Channel 9a, Black Mountain transmiters) as broadcasting at 205.625 MHz, rather than 205.5 MHz, the channel nominal centre frequency. However my Beyonwiz DP-S1 and DP-H1 both say that they scan channel 9a at 205.5 MHz.

Does anyone on the forum know what frequency ABC Digital Black Mountain is actually transmitted on?

I've asked My ABC , but they say: "Due to the number of enquiries we receive, it may be up to 28 days before you receive a reply."

Peter

prl,
Why are you so concerned about the frequency. Channel 9A is infact European channel 9 so all digital tuners will tune it. The ABC's reply is standard for them. When they eventually answer the answer will be of no help. When you do the standard search it should find the signal unless the signal is either the wrong signal strength or contains too many reflected signals. The 125 kHz offset will probably be removed when analog TV is switched off.

AlanH

Hi AlanH.

I'm trying to eliminate it a possible source of reception problems. The tuner tunes to channel 9a, but to 205.5 MHz, not to the frequency that the ACMA & the ABC reception page say that ABC Digital Canberra is broadcasting 205.625 MHz. I'm aware of the adjacent analog channel, but it's not going to be turned off in the immediate future.

Peter

Peter,
What sort of interference do you have?
Is your signal coming from a Master TV antenna system or an individual antenna?
There is another digital ABC transmitter on channel 9A in Bateman's Bay/Moruya. It also has the 125 kHz offset. It is horizontally polarised and Canberra us vertically polarised. This sounds to me like a single frequency network, where the frequencies must be identical.

The most likely cause is a strong FM radio signal overloading your system.

AlanH

Occasional uncorrected blocks.

I doubt that the 9a transmitter in Batemans/Moruya is causing interference. I'm 6km from the 50kW vertically polarised transmitter on Black Mountain, and 100 km from the 500W horizontally polarised transmitter at Batemans/Moruya. My antenna is vertically polarised and directed at about 90deg off line-of-sight to the Batemans/Moruya transmitters. The Bateman's/Moruya transmitter has a directional antenna, and from the coverage map on the ABC reception site, its main lobes seem point north and south along the coast and seawards, and up the Araluen valley; all away from Canberra.

I think that FM radio interference is a more likely cause of the problem than the Batemans/Moruya transmitter.

Anyway, it's interesting speculation, but doesn't go near my original question, which was a quite specific one about the actual transmitter frequency of ABC Digital Black Mountain.

Alan, I think you are saying that the ABC frequency in Canberra is currnetly at 206.625 Mhz?

I have been chasing a similar question about the Latrobe Valley Txmter with the ABC.
About a month ago, I believe it was transmitting at 627.375 Mhz, and was confirmed by both a PC based app, and the ABC in response to my query.
But currently it it seems that it is transmitting at 627.500 Mhz.

This information was being chased up to see if we could determine the veracity of a PVR's information re the actual freq tuned to.

prl,
You should try an attenuator in the input to the receiver as the signal is likely to be too strong. 1ABCFM is on 102.3 MHz 102.3 * 2 = 204.6 MHz. Channel 9A 205.625 - 204.6 = 1.025 MHz. This frequency is well within the bandwidth of the ABC9A transmissions.

So firstly I would try the attenuator as it is cheaper. If that does not work an FM filter should be tried.

Grampus,
A PVR is not a calibrated frequency meter. he only thing I can add is that GLV42 in the Goulburn Valley and TVT42 East Devonport are both on 627.5 MHz. They are all horizontally polarised.
An offset of -125 kHz is unusual, they are usually +125 kHz.

AlanH

Alan, thanks for the advice, I am well aware that a PVR is not the definitive tool.

I had a response from the ABC a month ago to advise me that they were transmitting Ch42 on the Goulbourn Valley txmitter at
627.375 Khz.
This was also seen in the output from a PC app as being 627.375 as well.
Since then it appears that the freq has altered to 627500.

The info below was supplied in 2004 from the Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations 2004 (Internet Edition)
Of course it is well out of date now. But it showed that the lower offest was being used at the time.

ABLV42 Latrobe Valley National 627.375 H OD 400k -38 24 2 146 33 48 1158094
ABLV NTL Broadcast Tower MT TASSIE

Grampus,
As of this month it is still 627.375 MHz according to the ACMA

AlanH

Yes its a little confusing.
Maybe someone is a little tardy in updating some tables?

I've just used the DOS based utilty ScanChannelsBDA.exe.
If I try and scan 627.375 as a unique freq. The s/w doesn't find it.
But if I use 627500, it does.

It appears that in this mode (single frequency) the utility won't try to use offsets.

Where if I ask it scan all australian frequencies, it will try the base frequency first, then try both upper and lower offset.

Hi everyone,

I'm new to Canberra and have been reading the blogs on this thread. I am very much a novice in this area and appreciate the information provided. I live in Watson and can see Black Mountain Tower from the roof of my house. Reading the spreadsheet on what type of antenna is recommended for my area, it appears I need a type C Band 3-4 antenna. However, when I checked the other reference for a suitable manufacturer, I couldnt find specifically a Band 3-4 antenna. There were Band 3-4+, but I'm not sure if they do the same job.

Could someone please help.

Regards,
Greg

Basically you need an antenna that does VHF 6 to 12 (ABC and the commercials have frequencies for digital within this range) and also have one that can do UHF 30 for SBS.

I'm sure one of the antenna guru's will be able to spread some more light on the antenna type, but from what I gather the Band 3-4+ does the same job (although looking at Google, it actually seems to go a bit further to VHF 14 which is a bit interesting/useless).

Meaghers,
Please read the first post in this strand "Get the best reception".
Canberra requires special antennas because the channel 6 - 12 section needs to be on its side and the channels above channel 27 have to be parallel to the ground. This is called a cross polarised antenna.

There is a link to band 3 & 4 antenna in the post mentioned above. you need the crosspolarised type.

AlanH

Thanks for your replies. I did read all of the posts and attachments, but couldnt find specifically a crosspolarised Band 3-4 antenna listed in your antenna manufacturers, only 3-4+ antennas. Thus my question is really;can a cross polarised 3-4+ antenna be used in lieu of a cross polarised 3-4 antenna? Kenneth believes it does.

Kind regards,
Greg

Yes Greg, it can.

The + just means it's UHF receiving capability extends beyond band 4 (eg: it goes part way into band 5).

Bearing in mind that if you can see the transmitter site your signal will be strong enough to cope with an antenna that's not 100% perfect. Another good guide for which antenna to use is to look around at what the neighbours are using.

Unless of course they're using an indoor antenna which confirms a very strong signal.

Thankfully "rabbit ears" haven't been banned yet