Get The Best Reception - Brisbane

[alanh]

James Kirk, Where did I say that channel 36 would be switched off prior to retune day? I did not. I replied to the poster to use channel 7 because his UHF reception was poor. SBS channel 7 came on as I posted. More of your mudslinging rubbish is all I ever expect from you,. Alanh

[MLXXX]

James T Kirk may respond to alanh's query, but in the meantime I note the following.

Hi all,

I live in Underwood south of Brisbane and until about a week ago I had good reception on all digital free to air stations.

Now I cannot watch SBS. The tuner reports "No Signal" and the picture only appears occasionally and usually very pixelated with no continuity.

My antenna is on a two story house with nothing blocking immediate line of sight.

Before I go looking for broken equipment is there anything that has changed recently that could affect the SBS signal strength?

Thanks.

The above is a viewer's question which alanh answered as follows:

oznigma,

Don't bother, SBS will start transmission on channel 7 on 28th may at around 11 Am.

You will need to do a rescan afer that time

AlanH

It will be noted that the viewer reported nothing blocking line of sight. This contrasts with the situation I reported last night for my household of tree foliage precluding line of sight reception and noticeably affecting UHF reception. (UHF transmissions are more susceptible than VHF to attenuation by tree foliage.)

Alanh's suggestion to the Underwood viewer to side-step the issue by waiting about a fortnight for SBS to appear on a VHF frequency could I feel have reasonably been suggested as a fallback position, e.g. "if you haven't resolved the problem by 28 May, be aware that a new frequency for SBS is likely to be available from that day that you could tune to". However alanh's response did not canvas the issue of what might have caused the change. It is possible failure of the antennna and/or cabling for VHF reception was/is imminent, depending on what actually caused the change in reception.

On the question of when to do a rescan, alanh's words "[y]ou will need to do a rescan after that time" were somewhat ambiguous. They could have been read as suggesting that a retune would be necessary for everyone on 28 May, though what I think alanh probably meant was that he recommended to the viewer that they do their rescan then, in order to side-step their issue with the UHF frequency.

I also note that the Brisbane community station will be remaining on UHF this year, though I recall the plan is for the frequency to drop down to UHF channel 28.

Edited May 28, 2013 by MLXXX

[Theres Always Radio]

Yes that is true.

James

Oops delayed another day.

James

[Theres Always Radio]

James Kirk, Where did I say that channel 36 would be switched off prior to retune day? I did not. I replied to the poster to use channel 7 because his UHF reception was poor. SBS channel 7 came on as I posted. More of your mudslinging rubbish is all I ever expect from you,. Alanh

AlanH

I dunno, lost interest in replying to you.

My mudslinging is quite specifically targetted at you to highlight to the reader that you have no involvement in radio or television in this country and are generally a misguided menace or just a nutter.

James

[alanh]

I have been much more involved in TV and radio in this country more than you have ever been and ever will be.People who live in glasshouses should not throw stones!

Edited May 30, 2013 by alanh

[Mr Flibble]

I'm finally getting something from the Brisbane South East transmitter but...

Myswitch says...

"

ABC 536.5 29

SBS 641.5 44

Seven Network 578.5 35

Nine Network 620.5 41

Network Ten 557.5 32

"

& I'm getting...

SBS on 29 ?

Ten on 44 ?

Seven on 35 (but blank screen)

Nine on 41

ABC on 32 ?

Maybe still just testing but mixed up frequencies are a bit weird??

Edited May 30, 2013 by Mr Flibble

[Theres Always Radio]

I have been much more involved in TV and radio in this country more than you have ever been and ever will be.People who live in glasshouses should not throw stones!

AlanH

Ludicrous and easily proven false by a series of google proof questions you can't answer that took me all of five minutes to come up with.

(1) What is the most common cause of quadrature distortion in a PAL transmitter?

(2) If you need to correct ICPM on a transmitter that is of a vintage before ICPM was corrected which adjustment would you select to improve this?

(3) The most common high power transmitters in Australia are manufactured by ??? why do they have a CIND meter?

(4) To precisely set the two sound carriers in analogue television what is required on top of a stable crystal oscillator reference?

(5) What is the most common valve used in high power VHF television in Australia?

(6) What are the two most common voltage used in solid state power amplifiers?

(7) In common amplification PAL transmitters what are the two most encountered intermodulation frequencies?

(8) Give me five differences between a Harris Z10 and a 10FM?

(9) What is the most common valve used in ABC high power FM transmitters.

(10) When EHT on a transmitter is switched off, what two events occur and in what sequence.

James

(PS Dear reader, if you are the poor sod in the industry who gets asked these questions by AlanH, don't help him)

[Guest Malich]

Gee... I would've just pointed to the long list of Alan Hughes' fundamental errors and lack of understanding of the technical subjects he craps forth on, evident both here on this forum and in his many ACMA submissions (e.g. recommending DRM using NVIS @ 26MHz).

Not to mention the many outrageous claims Alan Hughes has made (e.g. "H265 decompressors can decompress H264 signals. H264 decompressors can decompress H265 signals but will not produce the depth infomration") which his is never willing or able to support with evidence.

[MLXXX]

What gets on my goat is the failure to retract flawed claims after others have provided sourced, helpful clarifications, for alanh's benefit. For example, we are still waiting for an admission from alanh that his following claim was based on a misreading of the published survey results:

According to the last DBCDE digital tracker survey in the last quarter of last year 92 % of TVs had HD tuners

Edited June 1, 2013 by MLXXX

[Mr Flibble]

Brisbane South East finally up & running properly. Brisbane channels now available as per channel assignments on myswitch website.

Signal seems a little weak for my close proximity but much better than Mt Cootha signal. Hopefully it will improve when I remove the old antenna & the neighbour's palm tree gets a little higher so the fronds aren't in my line of sight.

[Theres Always Radio]

Brisbane South East finally up & running properly. Brisbane channels now available as per channel assignments on myswitch website.

Signal seems a little weak for my close proximity but much better than Mt Cootha signal. Hopefully it will improve when I remove the old antenna & the neighbour's palm tree gets a little higher so the fronds aren't in my line of sight.

Hi Mr Flibble

Establishing a new site can present a variety of issues, glad they have it working fine for you.

Unsure where you are in Ormeau but you mentioned the signal seems weak. The lowest ERP is from east through to south and the highest towards Loganholme.

James

Edited May 31, 2013 by James T Kirk

[Mr Flibble]

... The lowest ERP is from east through to south and the highest towards Loganholme.

Thanks James,

I know that the signal strength meters built in to digital tv devices are only really good as a general guide but at 3-4km due east of the new transmitter my Toppy 5000 reads signal strength of 65-70% across all channels. The myswitch site shows that at 13km east of the transmitter the signal strength is still considered 'good', the same as for 3-4km. I would have thought that if you were getting 'good' signal at 13km then at 3-4km it should be at least 90%? Or do those kinds of distances not really affect signal strength? At my previous address I got 90-100% signal with the same gear, no line of sight (on far side of a hill) 15km from Mt Cootha (albeit a more powerful transmitter).

I have direct line of sight to the tower, except for some palm fronds about 20m from my antenna. I had all wiring replaced with quad shield RG6 & F-type fittings. Currently I still still have the old antenna & the new one combining backwards through a splitter then running about 10m to a 4-way splitter to the tv gear. This is why I was a little surprised to only get 60-70% signal strength. Now that the new transmission seems stable I'll remove the old antenna & 1st splitter / (combiner?) & see if I can prune a frond or 2. Could a single tree at that range affect the UHF considerably?

Cheers,

[I am not a duck]

Currently I still still have the old antenna & the new one combining backwards through a splitter then running about 10m to a 4-way splitter to the tv gear. This is why I was a little surprised to only get 60-70% signal strength.

While it may be possible to combine two antennas pointing at different transmitters through a splitter, & have it work, I doubt whether it would be an optimum solution.

Now that the new transmission seems stable I'll remove the old antenna & 1st splitter / (combiner?)

That is the first thing I would be doing, and then checking the results.

Could a single tree at that range affect the UHF considerably?

In my experience, vertically polarised signals & trees may not be a good mix. Antenna position & location can also be a factor. Try the splitter removal first & see how you go.

[Theres Always Radio]

Thanks James,

Currently I still still have the old antenna & the new one combining backwards through a splitter then running about 10m to a 4-way splitter to the tv gear.

Cheers,

The above to me means your receive system is a completely unknown quantity and unassessable due to your method of combining.

I agree with M'bozo.

James

[Theres Always Radio]

AlanH

Ludicrous and easily proven false by a series of google proof questions you can't answer that took me all of five minutes to come up with.

(1) What is the most common cause of quadrature distortion in a PAL transmitter?

(2) If you need to correct ICPM on a transmitter that is of a vintage before ICPM was corrected which adjustment would you select to improve this?

(3) The most common high power transmitters in Australia are manufactured by ??? why do they have a CIND meter?

(4) To precisely set the two sound carriers in analogue television what is required on top of a stable crystal oscillator reference?

(5) What is the most common valve used in high power VHF television in Australia?

(6) What are the two most common voltage used in solid state power amplifiers?

(7) In common amplification PAL transmitters what are the two most encountered intermodulation frequencies?

(8) Give me five differences between a Harris Z10 and a 10FM?

(9) What is the most common valve used in ABC high power FM transmitters.

(10) When EHT on a transmitter is switched off, what two events occur and in what sequence.

James

(PS Dear reader, if you are the poor sod in the industry who gets asked these questions by AlanH, don't help him)

For AlanH to claim "I have been much more involved in TV and radio in this country more than you have ever been and ever will be." my google proof test appears to be quite revealing, no response as yet to the above. Someone with good industry knowledge would know the answers readily.

AlanH has put another article in the June 2013 Silicon Chip magazine which is a print version of the rants he places on this web site.

Again he is telling people in this article they do not need a UHF capable antenna and in the same article talks about community tv on UHF. AlanH, the community televisions friend, what a dill he is.

Sadly it appears the standards of Silicon Chip magazine are falling, on the upside it is another opportunity for readers to count how many errors one man can make on just four pages..

James

[Mr Flibble]

Thanks guys. The extra reversed splitter was only ever a temporary measure designed to save a long crawl through the roof every time I wanted to check whether the new transmitter was operational yet.

Now with it removed & a straight through connector in place, the Toppy reports signal strength of about 75% (was about 65% before) although it continuously bounces around +/-2% which I guess might be due to the palm tree blowing in the wind. More things to test tomorrow. Interestingly I spent most of the day at my sister's place where she has just had the exact same antenna as mine installed. Her Toppy 5000 reports rock solid 99% signal across all new channels. She is 13km NNW of the new transmitter at Tanah Merah. (I note that the northwards transmission is a higher strength than eastwards but forget where I found those figures)

[MLXXX]

Sadly it appears the standards of Silicon Chip magazine are falling, on the upside it is another opportunity for readers to count how many errors one man can make on just four pages..

For a regular subscriber to the magazine it could provide such an opportunity.

For a non-subscriber like myself briefly perusing the latest issue of the magazine at the newsagents it was sufficient to see what to me was a very questionable claim, in emphasised font, to the effect that a VHF/UHF antenna would not be needed when the restack is completed. I shied away from the article [and from the magazine].

[dbrmuz]

I have been much more involved in TV and radio in this country more than you have ever been and ever will be.People who live in glasshouses should not throw stones!

FFS,are you STILL here spinning your crap???

Unbelievable how those in charge (HA!) are happy to lose intelligent,helpful & productive members (nbound,DrP to name two) due entirely to your hateful attitude and absolute lack-of-understanding of virtually everything you comment on.Why can you never reply to questions,yet DEMAND replies to yours?

This forum is a laughing stock thanks largely to you,Alanhandsondick,and I now read that some lame-arse magazine has published four pages of your BS! Amazing!

Instead of attacking those who DARE question your alleged knowledge,how 'bout doing something productive around here. Like leaving.

[Guest Malich]

I shied away from the article [and from the magazine].

Grabbed one when I was at the fart-toy shop yesterday - I was so stunned by getting a parking spot, finding a staff member who wasn't completely useless (he knew the knobs weren't all wearing ties and standing behind the counter), and eventually finding the single-gang 50k 16mm linear pots in a bin marked "50k linear, 16mm, single gang" (and not, as I first thought, in the other bin marked "50k linear, 16mm, single gang" - which actually held double-gang pots) that I forgot to just skim it and bought it by mistake.

I'll read it sometime; hopefully there won't be another of Leo's famous opinionated crazy-old-man-channeling-Alan-Jones style rants and I'll be able to make it to the actual content without throwing it away in disgust...

[dbrmuz]

Interesting article about Alanh here:http://www.naturalne..._influence.html

If a sociopath is presented with a collection of facts, documents and evidence showing that he lied or deceived, he will refuse to address the evidence and, instead, attack the messenger!

Edited June 2, 2013 by dbrmuz

[Mr Flibble]

...In my experience, vertically polarised signals & trees may not be a good mix. Antenna position & location can also be a factor. Try the splitter removal first & see how you go.

Looks like you hit the nail on the head. Palm tree about 25m from antenna. With the antenna behind the central fronds signal ~65% and variable. Behind even the (leaves?) of a single frond signal was ~80% and variable. Clear of the palm altogether and signal solid at 99%. So as to be well clear of the palm, final location is actually behind a leafy branch of a gum tree a few hundred meters away but that doesn't seem to be affecting the signal at all.

Cheers.

[I am not a duck]

Looks like you hit the nail on the head.

Pleased it worked out for you.

[Guest Malich]

AlanH has put another article in the June 2013 Silicon Chip magazine which is a print version of the rants he places on this web site.

Just got around to reading it. Since it's off topic to this thread, I've started a new thread in the O/T section...

Edited June 3, 2013 by Malich

[bluetoo]

Apparently, older Sony TVs auto scan in background and may get confused when SBS is broadcasting on two channels (7 and 36) prior to moving to channel 7 on 27th June. Today, I get no sound but no picture on channel 7 SBS.

Tech support at Sony is presently clueless. If you want to watch SBS prior to changeover day, manually tune ch 36. Any factory reset or autotune as recommended by Sony or SBS will not fix this problem.

[MLXXX]

Good reception with the new frequency for 31 Digital

In one room of the house we use a connection to an external antenna which allows reception of all of the local television stations without difficulty. In another room we rely on a simple indoor antenna consisting of two telescopic rods in a V shape. [We are about 10km from Mt Coot-tha, but tree foliage is in the line of sight.]

I was pleased tonight to find that for the first time with the indoor antenna we can receive the community broadcaster "31 Digital" (logical channel 44), previously known as Briz 31. With the 27 June 2013 "retune" in Brisbane, the frequency dropped down from 599.5MHz (UHF channel 38) to 529.5MHz (UHF channel 28).

Previously on the higher frequency (and as recently as a few days ago, after the retune to the lower frequency) we could not receive 31 Digital with the indoor antenna.

Misleading website details

31 Digital have struggled with advising technical details of what frequency they are broadcasting on! For many months their webpage http://www.31.com.au...n-to-31-digital, has stated:

I need the technical details of the broadcast.

31 Digital’s digital service is broadcast from the Mt. Coo-tha site on UHF channel 32 (frequency 599.5 MHz).

The transmission uses QPSK modulation, and carries a single standard definition television channel in MPEG2 format.

The logical channel number of the service is Channel 44.

In fact, prior to 27 June 2013, they were broadcasting on UHF channel 38 (599.5 MHz), not 32. And now they are broadcasting on UHF channel 28 (529.5MHz), but the webpage has not been updated.

A colleague of mine advised 31 Digital by email about incorrect quotation of channel number some months ago, but he tells me he received no acknowledgment...

We hardly ever watch 31 Digital but it is good to know we can receive it, even with the indoor antenna, if we need to.