audiofeline Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 Our TVs normally receive a good quality TV signal. However, on bright clear hot sunny days during summer the quality of ABC-TV (eg. 2, 24) often has digital noise, or can't get the signal. I understand these atmospheric conditions can decrease the power of the transmitted signal, and it appears to be affecting the ABC bandwith. Our ariel is in the ceiling, visually is in good condition. It came with the house when we bought it (prior to the digital switch-over), so is decades old. Would replacing the ariel be a fix for this problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ray4410 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 5 minutes ago, audiofeline said: Our TVs normally receive a good quality TV signal. However, on bright clear hot sunny days during summer the quality of ABC-TV (eg. 2, 24) often has digital noise, or can't get the signal. I understand these atmospheric conditions can decrease the power of the transmitted signal, and it appears to be affecting the ABC bandwith. Our ariel is in the ceiling, visually is in good condition. It came with the house when we bought it (prior to the digital switch-over), so is decades old. Would replacing the ariel be a fix for this problem? yes i am having the same problem with channel 2 not all the time but now and then the same problems as you described so i don't think it's your Ariel that is the problem just Digital Gremlins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted February 25 Share Posted February 25 It's probably Tropospheric ducting. That is, under certain conditions like, hot days, you can get interference from transmitters further away than would normally affect you. You can try shifting the antenna a bit, in the hope that you are pointing further away from the distant transmitter and it has less effect. I get it here too.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryT Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 On very hot days you get some interesting physics happening that causes signal issues, in the old days that would have been a bit of static or ghosting and would mostly go unnoticed, but with digital it's packet loss which can corrupt the picture heavily. I recently made 2 adjustments to my TV wiring that solved some intermittent signal issues. 1. The house was originally wired up with a large high gain distribution amplifier to run 10 TVs, but now has just 4 tuners in a rack together. The gain on the amp could be turned all the way down while still receiving a strong signal on all tuners , might not even need it at all at this point. Too much gain amplifies interference, causes distortion of the waveforms and leads to more signal issues. this solved the main problem for me. 2. Installed a filter that band passes the DVB frequencies and cuts everything else, like all forms of mobile phone signals, Am/FM, stray RF of all kinds. Your tuners are supposed to be more or less immune to frequencies outside of their designed frequency band, but they can still cause interference and other digital gremlins when they are strong enough. This made reception of the weaker signals much cleaner. After doing both of those I haven't had any complaints about TV reception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aechmea Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Similar here. Once upon a time - no problems. Then started to get break-up/no signal on SBS and ABC. There are lots of trees in the way of the main TV transmitter for the Hunter region; maybe they are thicker now. Called tech. He said that aerial wasn't really the best type and was old. Replaced aerial; same problem. Oops. Got up on roof again and checked strengths; decided to point aerial in the completely opposite direction at a low power booster transmitter meant for bits of Port Stephens. It has fixed SBS and ABC but now the commercial stations suffer breakup depending upon weather conditions. Much worse when the sun is low in the western sky. Why visible light has the effect that it does escapes me. I sorta need 2 aerials; one pointing south for 7,9,10 and one pointing north for 2 and 3. We just put up with it. Based on my place I would be rotating (a bit or maybe a lot) the aerial as a first step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.dent Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 We're about 75km away from the transmitter and we get the dropouts in really hot weather. It's reached the point that we just stream everything if there's a problem with the FTA signal. It works out a lot cheaper than paying for a better antenna/booster or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a.dent Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 This thread caused me to search antenna v aerial and I got this from Wikipedia. Well I found it interesting anyway. The words antenna and aerial are used interchangeably. Occasionally the equivalent term "aerial" is used to specifically mean an elevated horizontal wire antenna. The origin of the word antenna relative to wireless apparatus is attributed to Italian radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi. In the summer of 1895, Marconi began testing his wireless system outdoors on his father's estate near Bologna and soon began to experiment with long wire "aerials" suspended from a pole.[4] In Italian a tent pole is known as l'antenna centrale, and the pole with the wire was simply called l'antenna. Until then wireless radiating transmitting and receiving elements were known simply as "terminals". Because of his prominence, Marconi's use of the word antenna spread among wireless researchers and enthusiasts, and later to the general public. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_m_54 Posted February 26 Share Posted February 26 Quote Hilly or heavily forested areas can disrupt how TV signals reach you, as well as a phenomenon called atmospheric ducting. Ducting is when distant services interfere with local services during certain weather conditions. It is more common during warmer months and usually occurs (or is noticed) more often in the early evening. https://www.acma.gov.au/tv-reception-problems-and-fixes Quote Seasonal ducting Even with correct antenna installation, some viewers in the Hunter region may experience poor TV reception because of the natural phenomenon known as atmospheric or signal ducting. Atmospheric ducting of TV signals happens when distinctive weather conditions, especially high-pressure systems and still conditions, causes distant broadcast signals to travel further than planned. These unintended ‘rogue’ signals then interfere with local signals because antennas and receivers can’t differentiate between the local signals and those being ducted from distant TV towers. Seasonal ducting affects mainly households in the townships north of Newcastle that receive services from Mt Sugarloaf, as Mt Sugarloaf services operate on the same channels as the high power transmission site that serves the Illawarra area to the south of Sydney. Summer is the most common time for ducting to occur, but it can happen at any time if conditions are right. You may be able to tell it’s ducting if your TV reception is affected in the late afternoon or early evening. https://www.acma.gov.au/tv-reception-hunter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted March 2 Author Share Posted March 2 I bought a "4G/LTE Filter for Digital TV Reception" from Jaycar, it actually made my problem worse (that's not to say that the filter doesn't bring benefits to other TVs). For under $20 it was worth a try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stereo coffee Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 (edited) On 25/02/2024 at 4:25 PM, audiofeline said: Our TVs normally receive a good quality TV signal. However, on bright clear hot sunny days during summer the quality of ABC-TV (eg. 2, 24) often has digital noise, or can't get the signal. I understand these atmospheric conditions can decrease the power of the transmitted signal, and it appears to be affecting the ABC bandwith. Our ariel is in the ceiling, visually is in good condition. It came with the house when we bought it (prior to the digital switch-over), so is decades old. Would replacing the ariel be a fix for this problem? ABC VHF 12 TV Melbourne have a planned outage 4am - 4.30am on 6th of March , so there might be an issue they are aware of, and are fixing. See if reception improves Wednesday morning. Edited March 3 by stereo coffee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted March 3 Author Share Posted March 3 Thanks. I've also been having similar trouble with the Channel 7 on some days. I've looked at the ariel in my roof, it has a sticker saying "compatible with colour and black+white TV" which gives clues to it's age. It also doesn't seem like it has very many elements compared to new ariels I've seen online. I'm thinking it's time to upgrade! I believe that many new ariels have the 4G filter built in now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PositivelyMusicallyGeared Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 I was having similar problems until a couple of weeks ago when I bought and installed a "4G/LTE Filter for Digital TV Reception" here locally, for a couple of bucks. And I have a ten year old TV. Occasionally, I still have some noises in the picture, but no breakup. This is a huge improvement. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stereo coffee Posted March 3 Share Posted March 3 (edited) 2 hours ago, audiofeline said: Thanks. I've also been having similar trouble with the Channel 7 on some days. I've looked at the ariel in my roof, it has a sticker saying "compatible with colour and black+white TV" which gives clues to it's age. It also doesn't seem like it has very many elements compared to new ariels I've seen online. I'm thinking it's time to upgrade! I believe that many new ariels have the 4G filter built in now. Hi Rob This article gives insight into the very popular for TV reception Yagi/ Uda antenna , it might be of help : https://www.digikey.co.nz/en/blog/the-yagi-antenna I recall in 2021 building one on a old broom stick by cutting slots into the wood for the seven elements, It continues to work a treat receiving TV in a remote rural area . Commercial versions follow the basic principles, but DIY gives you more flexibility to really go to town . This installation shows the importance of knowing where transmission is coming from, and details the basic design but what is needed to go further, if you wish to. Of course its not the only type you can use for TV Edited March 3 by stereo coffee 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Fi Whipped Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 I haven't used a TV antenna in years because we stream everything, so many upsides like watching content when you want and not when they want to show it, replays on demand and archival content etc. Possible for you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted March 7 Author Share Posted March 7 Thanks, it's a good idea, but we don't have a smart TV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Fi Whipped Posted March 7 Share Posted March 7 2 hours ago, audiofeline said: Thanks, it's a good idea, but we don't have a smart TV. If interested an Apple TV for around $220 will provide all the smarts you need in the most convenient source you’ll ever use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted March 8 Author Share Posted March 8 Thanks, I have an older model Apple TV that has some of the streaming on it, I usually use it for netflix streaming. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
audiofeline Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 An update. I didn't mention that the antenna has a splitter, the main TV was OK and had reception problems less, the other TV (a cheap one) was having the reception problems regularly this year. Got an antenna guy out and he measured the signal strength for the cheap TV as poor, the other TV's strength was good. He replaced the antenna with one that had built-in filters, etc. He said the leads used between the TV and wall weren't great quality (they are the standard ones available, some were a "higher quality" I bought from Selby). He made new leads from RG6 cable, he said they would be better. Not only do both TV's have perfect reception now, the picture quality on both has improved. Thanks for all your help and discussion. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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