Chronically crappy ABC TV transmission from Mt Tuggeranong

Madam Cholet said :

I can count on one hand the number of times any analogue tv I have known has gone bung.

And that was usually because of an issue with whoever was transmitting the signal, not the receiver. I don’t miss the old aerial dance you had to do to get reception, or the fact that standing in a certain spot made the sound go fuzzy, but when these digital aerials crap-out, they crap out big time.

Post analogue switch off, is anyone stll experiencing issues? We are finding in Tuggers that the TV reception momentarily, (for about 3 or 4 seconds maybe), stops. Sometimes we get the black screen as if we are going to get the fatal “no reception” message, but it springs back in to life again. Just trying to work out if I should call the aerial people or not. Or is this the future of digital tv? I can count on one hand the number of times any analogue tv I have known has gone bung.

Good to see I’m not the only one that had issues (bad that other people are also feeling my frustration…..) Just got a new wizz bang big aerial with masthead powered amplifier, cabling, 4 way splitter and spent a weekend installing said items (sick of crappy reception, thought this would fix my reception issues) Granted, after all this work my reception was FAR better. My frustration returned when ABC seemed to die AGAIN over the 28th-29th.

On one hand it appears that it’s not my antenna installing expertise at fault, rather an ABC transmission issue.

What gets me is that we are in a capital city and we seem to have TV reception issues ……. Being situated in a major city, I find it hard to believe that not only do I need a powered amplifier to get basic tv reception, but at times, even the amplifier is not enough !!!!

When I tuned my digital teli in, it didn’t pick up ABC or SBS at all! I have all the other channels perfectly though (although ch10/OneHD/11 occasionly has a hissy fit).

It’s happening again; three “no signal” screens during the ABC Canberra News tonight.
When I said “chronic” I wasn’t joking.
Well, I guess it’s time to start ringing the local MP and demand my 0.8c a day back.

I’m south of Tuggeranong Hill, and I gave up on trying to watch Q&A on Monday night, and switched off the TV altogether. I’ve also been experiencing occasional lesser problems with ABC TV digital transmissions, and am at least relieved to know that it’s not my TV that’s the problem.

walking by quietly said :

On the south side of Mt Tuggeranong, we had the same weather problem. Eventually gave up and went to Foxtel.

As a newlywed, you shouldn’t be too worried about watching TV!

On the south side of Mt Tuggeranong, we had the same weather problem. Eventually gave up and went to Foxtel.

One of the problems with the ABC down south is that it transmits on the same frequency from both Tuggeranong Hill and Mt Taylor (ch 59). If you are in the north of Tuggeranong there is a good chance you can receive both signals at around the same signal strength. The signals are supposed to be synchronised to avoid interference but I’ve always had real problems with it (I live in Kambah on the foothills of Mt Taylor). The best thing I did to minimise the issue was to move to an antenna with a high front-to-back ratio and point it at Tuggeranong Hill. We still have problems though.

BTW, You’re only receiving ABC from Black Mountain if you are receiving it on ch 9A, ie 205.625 MHz.

DrKoresh said :

Our American cousins are from the, well, freaky side of the family tree though, you must admit. They have some truly astounding ideas on social policy.

Yep. “Astounding”‘s the word.

I too have had ongoing issues with all ABC and PRIME channels since last Thurs. Got back ABC briefly on re-tuning, but all Seven channels had disappeared. Both ABC and Seven channels been coming and going on and off (pixelating, poor or no sound) since then. Most annoying.
I am a Chisholm resident. Have complained to both ABC and PRIME – ABC rang back but at the time I thought the prob had been resolved with them. PRIME said an engineer was on the job.

I have had this problem with the ABC signal since I went digital. QandA on Monday was unwatchable on digital. I was glad that the analogue signal was still up and running and I fear the worst when it gets turned off. Maybe the digital will improve but I’m skeptical.

I was looking forf a repeat of QandA somewhere over the next few days as I would have set the PVR to record it. Couldn’t find one, might be worth checking out the web.

Our American cousins are from the, well, freaky side of the family tree though, you must admit. They have some truly astounding ideas on social policy.

johnboy said :

I’m more of a political compass kind of guy myself. Left v. right is a sign of outdated thinking.

Agreed.

It’s funny that most ‘left’ or ‘right’ commenters on whatever blog you read think that the media is against them. Take the ABC for example. The ‘righties’ think it’s a communist propaganda machine and the ‘lefties’ seem to think they have a vendetta against Julia.

It’s also funny that the Liberal Party policy here in Australia (eg the middle class welfare and private health rebates) would be seen as raging communists by our American cousins.

I have problems with all the HD channels, the 7 channels and One from Black Mountain. Someone said somewhere that once they turn off the analogue transmissions they’ll be able to turn up the power on the digital channels.

Roll on the day.

At the merest hint of rain, all ABC channels break up into a pixilated mess, but my antenna points at Black Mountain from Kambah.

I haven’t had many problems, except for last night.

But then, I did identify myself as a Marxist for a long time, so maybe they didn’t get the memo that my ideology had shifted towards the centre of the compass, and therefore allowed the signal to continue to come to my house rather than moving me to the ABC deprivation plan…

johnboy said :

I’m more of a political compass kind of guy myself. Left v. right is a sign of outdated thinking.

I have to agree. Bi-partisan politics and party loyalties kind of defeat the purpose of democracy in my opinion. Unfortunately, I can’t think of an alternative that would fair any better.

dungfungus said :

Appears no other Rioters watch the ABC which surprises me given its bias to the left.

I always found RA to be a little to the right of most of Canberra.

Madam Cholet said :

I do, I do…and yes, last night was rubbish. Ironically Q and A was at last great viewing with Barry Humphries – but crap picture/sound. I turned to analogue and got a really crap picture with good sound.

I saw that! It was rather brilliant telly, wasn’t it? Barry Humphries and that Miriam lady, they stole the show.

LSWCHP said :

I was watching Hamish Macbeth.

Best show of the century! I didn’t know they were re-running it!

It’s on that pom-orientated commercial channel, digital version. They show wall to wall pom shows including that dreadful one about a woman named Bucket. And Heartbeat.

I find ABC drops out of sound-synch for me quite often, but my signal comes from Black Mountain.

that happened to me regularly – but with all the Channel 7 channels………..

I was watching Hamish Macbeth.

Best show of the century! I didn’t know they were re-running it!

<pedant>
Despite being taller than both Mount Stromlo and Mount Ainslie, the official designation is Tuggeranong Hill, not Mount Tuggeranong. (Same goes for the broadcast site)
</pedant>

By the way, this is the service contour.

I do, I do…and yes, last night was rubbish. Ironically Q and A was at last great viewing with Barry Humphries – but crap picture/sound. I turned to analogue and got a really crap picture with good sound.

Had problems very late last night, but otherwise my ABC signal has been fine (Issy Plains).

I have since been contacted by an ABC technical guy who confirmed that there was a major problem last night which had now been rectified. He said dozens of viewers had called about it.
Appears no other Rioters watch the ABC which surprises me given its bias to the left.