Seymour Digital Services

[McDigital]

G'day,

I've got notification that Seymour has it's first Digital TV service, with SBS testing in the area. I'm not currently in the area but will check it out on the weekend to see the results of this.

Can anyone in the area confirm what's on air there?

[McDigital]

G'day,

Since this last post, Ive checked myself in town and found no services on air.

But there's good news. I've checked the updated Reception Locator, and everyone but WIN is coming to the party

ABC - July 07

SBS - July 07

Prime - April 07

SC10 - August 07

WIN - TBA

That's more positive than the last update

[McDigital]

G'day,

There's even better news on this subject

ABC - Testing

SBS - Testing

Prime - June 07

WIN - June 07

SC10 - June 07

This is bound to cause some interest in this thread surely

[McDigital]

G'day,

ABC is officially on air, they might say they're testing but it looks like normal programming to me

By the way, is it normal for half of the ABC2 watermark to be visable on a 4:3 screen?

[mtv]

By the way, is it normal for half of the ABC2 watermark to be visable on a 4:3 screen?

You need to match the format output of the STB to the type of screen.

The most common is screen type 4:3 letterbox.

You will then see the entire widescreen picture (with black bars on the top & bottom of the screen).

[McDigital]

You need to match the format output of the STB to the type of screen.

The most common is screen type 4:3 letterbox.

You will then see the entire widescreen picture (with black bars on the top & bottom of the screen).

I'm familiar with that feature mate, I shall get onto that next time im up there

On another note, my mate has got into a new house, and has an aerial pointing towards Bendigo for Digital TV services, he reports that ABC and SBS are the only ones available, no commercials can be recieved

My thought is that, with ABC now testing in Seymour on UHF 53, it would be impossible to recieve WIN on UHF 54, true?

[mtv]

Depends on many factors.

Is the antenna your mate has pointing to Bendigo, a wideband type? eg. Bands 4 AND 5

Adjacent channels can be a problem. It will depend on how strong the local signals are in relation to the distant ones, how the antennas are positioned and configured, if there are amps used etc.

Too many variables to determine possible outcomes without a site test.

Good news to see some local transmissions happening for you at last though.

[McDigital]

Depends on many factors.

Is the antenna your mate has pointing to Bendigo, a wideband type? eg. Bands 4 AND 5

Adjacent channels can be a problem. It will depend on how strong the local signals are in relation to the distant ones, how the antennas are positioned and configured, if there are amps used etc.

Too many variables to determine possible outcomes without a site test.

Good news to see some local transmissions happening for you at last though.

G'day,

We've got it working somehow, even before I made my trip to town. My mate has got Bendigo services coming in clear and has also got a channel named "Goulburn Valley" which is broadcasting WIN locally, so there's no need to get it from Bendigo. The quality of Southern Cross Ten though is pretty good, that MyTalk channel is a waste of space though

[digitalj]

Commercials to all come on-air 1-june 2007 (next friday)

[McDigital]

Commercials to all come on-air 1-june 2007 (next friday)

G'day,

Good work digitalj, I like it when a person can disect some information and set the record straight in here

The thing is, WIN is already broadcasting, so I would assume it's testing like the ABC and SBS services

The report on the Bendigo signals, after viewing the channels over 2 weeks is, that Night time reception works better than during the day. In fact, there's hardly a watchable signal on Southern Cross Ten during the day from Bendigo, but it's fine at night

There also seems to be some other channels that are unwatchable, but the sound of one of the channels is either Prime or Seven, as there was footy on Sunday afternoon. It'll be good when they get the local transmitters on air

[McDigital]

G'day,

It's just on 11:45pm and we've scanned here in Seymour and still nothing on either 60 or 63 (Prime and SC Ten)

WIN's reception is at the moment, unwatchable, its just a blank screen with audio cutting out. And it's supposed to be a local transmitter.

ABC and SBS are fine.

Just watching Prime on analogue at the moment, the watermark was solid white for a moment, now its back to the normal see through look. I raise this issue because I think somewhere else on these forums, someone posted a screenshot of Prime first coming on air, and the watermark was a solid white logo.

I'll keep checking the locator, and scanning tomorrow. But at the moment, it looks like if it gets on air, the signal will have to be the same coverage area as the ABC and SBS' current range

[mtv]

WIN are most likely transmitting on low power during a test-phase.

This is common practice.

[mabs]

With my setup pointed toward Bendigo I get the 3 Seymour channels clear, had no interruption to signal, but it helps that there is only one tree between me and the transmitter (I'm on Tallarook St). So far Prime and SC10 haven't lived up to thier 1-June date, but Prime is no suprise, so it just won't get watched, by me anyway.

[Guest jforge]

For those in the dark. As per the "Reception detail for Seymour" site http://www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=22 Prime Digital came to air soon after the scheduled date, 1 June 2007.

WIN, ABC, ABC2 and SBS are also already on air, even though the reception detail only shows WIN on air and the others in the testing phase.

The detail seems to have a few holes in it, as TEN (the remaining channel), was also scheduled to go to air on 1 June 2007. But didn't.

There seems to be no other reference to TEN's schedule anywhere on-line.

Does anyone out there have any further info? It would be nice to give anologue the flick at my place.

Also, Prime has additional channels or views. Is this for multiple angles for sporting broadcasts?

At Long Last we have something. Happy viewing.

[McDigital]

G'day,

Just checked the reception before, and still couldnt find Prime or SCTen, So I dont know where your getting Prime from. Maybe the STB im using doesnt want to pick it up

[digitalj]

G'day,

Just checked the reception before, and still couldnt find Prime or SCTen, So I dont know where your getting Prime from. Maybe the STB im using doesnt want to pick it up

Or maybe they're testing daytime only or they are picking up PRIME from some place ele?

[Guest jforge]

G'day,

Just checked the reception before, and still couldnt find Prime or SCTen, So I dont know where your getting Prime from. Maybe the STB im using doesnt want to pick it up

I'm picking up Prime Shepparton, Prime View 1, 2 & 3 from Meadows Hill, Seymour.

Funnily enough I'm also getting Prime HD, and I'm only using a standard def STB. All other HD channels say "not supported" with my box. So I'm guessing there's some mistake and the HD channel is broadcasting standard def.

I've watched at various times. It seems to be on 24/7. Comes in clear, no drop outs. I'm assuming it's full power.

Still no SC10.

Has anybody checked out the digital radio available thru your Digital STB? The ABC Dig stations are well worth a listen.

Edited June 9, 2007 by jforge

[digitalj]

I'm picking up Prime Shepparton, Prime View 1, 2 & 3 from Meadows Hill, Seymour.

Funnily enough I'm also getting Prime HD, and I'm only using a standard def STB. All other HD channels say "not supported" with my box. So I'm guessing there's some mistake and the HD channel is broadcasting standard def.

I've watched at various times. It seems to be on 24/7. Comes in clear, no drop outs. I'm assuming it's full power.

Still no SC10.

Has anybody checked out the digital radio available thru your Digital STB? The ABC Dig stations are well worth a listen.

PRIME HD is SD all the time except for when Native HD is on, e.g. Home & Away. but it will only be 576p on those programs.

[McDigital]

G'day,

There's a problem I've noticed now. I can see that there's a signal on UHF 60, But the STB here scans the frequency, but finds nothing to add into the channel list. Signal and Quality are the same as the other channels. But no extra information comes up when Manual Tuning

[McDigital]

G'day,

To better explain things, I've taken a photo of the Manual Search screen on the STB.

The highlighted channel is where Prime is, where the signal and quality is just inside the required range to effectively get a picture, but the extra information that is seen on UHF 57 at the top of the screen, is not on UHF 60

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/5865/image353mr3.jpg

As a side note, signal and quality on any other channel without the extra information, shows no coverage signal or quality on the bars

Can this be overcome so we can view Prime?

[digitalj]

G'day,

To better explain things, I've taken a photo of the Manual Search screen on the STB.

The highlighted channel is where Prime is, where the signal and quality is just inside the required range to effectively get a picture, but the extra information that is seen on UHF 57 at the top of the screen, is not on UHF 60

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/5865/image353mr3.jpg

As a side note, signal and quality on any other channel without the extra information, shows no coverage signal or quality on the bars

Can this be overcome so we can view Prime?

Maybe the transmitter's been turned on, but no info is being input into it?

[McDigital]

Maybe the transmitter's been turned on, but no info is being input into it?

G'day,

This might have been the case, as I retuned UHF 60 this morning, it found all 5 Prime stations. Now all I have to sort out is the reception, which is just like WIN was when they were in Testing mode

Now we wait for SCTen to come

BTW - For those that are wondering why reception isnt the best when stations are in testing mode, location is along Angelsey Street (where apparently there's a dip along the area so the reception isnt good, thats why our analogue is on Bendigo stations, and only SCTen on Digital)

[Guest jforge]

SC TEN, now in July.

Prime now on air. It's official.

http://www.dba.org.au/index.asp?sectionID=22

[Guest jforge]

Hi folks,

Still curious about when we might be able to receive the remaining digital service in the Seymour area, I decided to email SCTEN, as the dba website was still predicting a July start as we went into August.

Here is the reply.

"Southern Cross Ten intends to have the Seymour digital transmitter on-air during September.

Unfortunately the information given on the dba website on this occasion was incorrect due to the late delivery of equipment. I can confirm however that the digital transmitter for the Seymour site has now arrived and pending no unforeseen issues will be installed over the next few weeks with a final on-air date proposed for September. As per ACMA requirements for starting a new transmitter the final on-air date will appear in the public notices section of the Seymour Telegraph at least a week prior to the start date.

I hope this assists and sorry for the delay with the start of this service."

Regards

Ken McWhae

Chief Engineer

Southern Cross TEN Victoria

Lily Street | Bendigo VIC 3550

[mtv]

jforge,

Ken is a top bloke, so what he says is factual.

Unfortunately from time to time, things do happen beyond our control, but at least Ken will always be up front about them if there are delays and take the time to answer questions, unlike another certain network which largely ignored it's audience' enquiries.