Hi

I installed a DSE SD Set top box on 2/3/2005. Tuned every station in fine. Signal strength was 76%-94% depending on station. Signal quality was 80%-95%.

About 2 weeks ago SBS started to get sound glitches then the picture would stick on one scene for a few seconds.

The problem gradually got worse over 10 days until SBS was unwatchable. All of the other stations were fine.

Now the other stations have all deteriorated to the point they are almost still distorted images but SBS is now mostly fine with a random momentary glitch every 4 or 5 minutes.

Signal strength is still 70%-85% but the signal quality on the non-sbs stations now moves between nothing - 40% then 76% then back to nothing.

I thought my set top box was failing but called the shop and found that the shop owner and one of his staff have almost the same pattern of disruption.

I live at Sandgate which has line of sight to Mt. Cootha and no hills to cause shadows. My analogue is off the same aerial and everything is working as before. Great reception on every station but ABC which has some white dots of interference on it. (One of the reasons I went to Digital)

I saw another post where SBS had relocated to Mt. Tamborine and was slowly cranking up the power.

Has anyone else seen the same pattern? Does anyone have clear information on what changes are happening at the broadcast stations or of any other signal which has appeared to interfere with reception?

Thanks Alank

Firstly, what DSE store???

Secondly, my DSE box is fine on all channels but SBS. I've never been able to get SBS here at Everton Pk anyway. SBS is dodgy best of times

I bought it at at Tandy Chermside. They have offered to replace it if I ask them to.

I'm still not sure if it's the box or the broadcasters.

I have just rescanned all of the channels and SBS is coming in at about 80% for strength and quality. All of the other channels' quality is so low it doesn't recognise them as stations.

Have you seen the post about SBS moving to Mt. Tamborine and slowly increasing power?

Alank

I'm in Brisbane's southside at Eight Mile Plains and I've often written about this SBS problem. I recently commented how I cleaned up my aerial and also installed a wall socket amp to give me more signal and thereby eliminate this weak SBS signal problem (figuring I could fix the problem myself immediately rather than wait for SBS). After doing this my SBS reception was fine for a few weeks.

Well, yesterday I arrived back home after 3 weeks overseas. Last night I turned on SBS and, lo and behold, it was back to it's broken up signal and completely unwatchable. My amp is still installed and operating fine so I am at a loss at what to do next. What are SBS doing? Why is their signal level degrading? Why doesn't anybody have a definitive explanation about why this is happening? As I have said before, I rang SBS directly and they although they alluded to some kind of technical problem, they were quite evasive when queried about it.

All,
SBS analog 28 CTQ 31 analog and SBS Digital 36 are the only UHF TV transmitters in Brisbane.

The typical metropolitan TV antenna for all Capital Cities except Canberra, Hobart and Darwin is designed to go to channel 35. So they are slightly less sensitive on channel 36.

Lots of older antennas in Brisbane were designed to receive channel 0 as well as channel 2. This is the best way of picking up impulse interference ever created. Impulse interference will cause sporadic pixellation and sound chirps. Corrosion on antennas will aggrevate this problem.

Read Get the best reception
Which transmitter and which antenna at the head of this strand for antenna recommendations.

The power of all Tambourine and Springbrook translators is being increased. The Brisbane transmitters will remain unchanged.

Markb,
Wall amplifiers are not the way to go it should be a masthead amplifier.

How old is your installation. What type of antenna are you using?


AlanH

Its Mt Tamborines Fault

We have done a few jobs in Brisbane and have ran into this problem,we have phoned SBS and they are aware of the problem,aparently its got something to do with the timing we were told.

all you other stations going seems strange tho

Alan, I have only been in my house for 2.5 years. The antenna is dual VHF/UHF but I don't know how long it has been there. My antenna points towards Mt. Cootha.

What I don't understand is why I can receive SBS 100% for 2 years, then see it suddenly deteriorate? As I have said, I solved the problem once by installing a wall amp but it seems SBS has deteriorated savagely again over the last 3 weeks and now I get a black screen even with the wall amp!? All other stations are still 100% signal (in the red). How is it that they have not changed, yet SBS has been dropping over the last 8 months?

I am suspicious about this Mt. Tamborine issue. I found this notice yesterday on the DBA site http://www.dba.org.au/uploads/documents/Gold_CoastApr05.pdf which mentions that SBS started new transmissions from Mt. Tamborine in Sep-04 and again increased their transmission power last month. These dates are very co-incident with my independently observed problems here in the southside of Brisbane - hence my suspicions. There must be somebody here who knows about this?

I'm at Westlake (near Jindalee) and have never had any problems with SBS? I'm pretty close to Mt. Cootha, so not sure if that makes any difference?

Its Mt Tamborines FAULT

Its time for SBS to fix the problem

Re my posting #86 SBS in Brisbane


Partree

Im at Springwood.

Use to get SBS fine also, get nothing now. DAMN YOU SBS. If you not going to sort you crap put bloody Pizza on channel BT or something!!!! (Mythbusters, Southpark etc are all ready available)

Marks story is of concern, spending time $'s improving a setup that USE to work (and works for all other networks) to find only weeks/months later it was a waste and is now useless again.

SBS don't even reply to emails............. then again they probably don't even have an ISP etc bahaha, or their ISP just can't "reach" the internet haha