10 February 2013

Digital TV signal loss in Gungahlin?

| Gungahlin_Bob
Join the conversation
11

For the last two years I have had no issues with Digital Signal on the TV in the Gungahlin area.

In the last month, I seem to be getting extremely high bit error rates on Win and occasionally Prime to the point that it comes up with Weak Signal. This usually happens at night, and sometimes could be several hours before a decent signal comes back. And no storms or rain and in most cases no clouds when these issues occur.

I have a reasonable background in electronics and antenna design from Amateur Radio days, so I understand, signal loss, benefits of Quad Shielded cable, amplifiers etc, and everything is in check and been checked.

Absolutely nothing has changed in the house or to the cabling for over a year, which is when I found that the antenna wall connections were not even connected (at the splitter) and we had been watching TV for a year using basically the cable running in the wall. What it does provide however is an indication that the signal is quite solid, and improved greatly when we connected to the Antenna proper. Antenna is still in the same direction, nothing moved…still pointing to Black Mountain.

I have also rescanned a few days ago to pick up all the channels again, just in case, but with no change.

I also know that the incorporated signal information built into some of the later digital TV sets should not be relied on, more for comparison than a source of truth but when this problem occurs with WIN, the signal strength is still high, in fact it is the same as when we are receiving a good signal, its just the bit error rate starts rising, initially with some minor bit errors, rising to 2000 bit errors and at that point diving off the “digital cliff” as they call it.

Sorry for all the detail, just thought it easier to provide all information and see if others are seeing similar issues.

Join the conversation

11
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest

MyGungahlin said :

Certainly sounds like you have done all the right checks. The last thing that could be at fault is the TV. Do all your TVs suffer the same fault?

I’d also suggest this. A couple of years ago my TV had fairly ordinary reception for the WIN and ABC channels. I put it down to a recent move and the fact that I was using an old portable antenna, and ended up having a connection to the roof-mounted aerial installed in that room.

Problem persisted so I tried out a different TV – ABC and WIN came through clear as day. Tried my TV in another room and still had issues with WIN and ABC. Came to the conclusion that something was wrong with the tuner so we hooked it up to a STB.

TVs don’t really last as well as they used to.

Certainly sounds like you have done all the right checks. The last thing that could be at fault is the TV. Do all your TVs suffer the same fault?

If the effect is only local to you and those around you then it’s more likely to be a local interfering signal. Especially if the drop outs follow a pattern. It’s worth checking your neighbours and if they are having the same problem then contact the ACMA and make an interference complaint. They should send out a Radio Inspector with the gear to track it down.

I was getting severe interference on shortwave and AM broadcast radio and so were my neighbours. I lodged a complaint with the ACMA and the Inspector came out and found the local Transact box was open, probably opened by a possum. Got Transact out to fix the box and the interference went away.

OLydia, I’m in Kambah as well and ABC is terrible here too. Apparently they transmit on the same frequency from both Tuggeranong Hill and Mt Taylor. They are supposed to be synchronised so they don’t interfere but I’ve always had problems. I minimised the problem (TV’s are ok but the Myth system still doesn’t like it) by changing the antenna to a higher gain one with better rejection of signals from the back of the antenna. In your case I’d recommend getting one of the local TV antenna installation places out to get a better antenna installed.

Yep +1 for issues with WIN and all WIN related stations. I’m in Palmerston, only really started having these issues after the digital switchover happened. was finding that PRIME stations would occasionally have issues, but primarily it’s WIN now. I’ve tried multiple different tuners/STB and seem to be having the same issues with all. WIN will occasionally work (only had a couple of blips last night during the NRL) and just flicked it on now to test and it’s unwatchable.

OLydia said :

I’ve been getting poor digital reception for all ABC channels and occasionally SBS in Kambah (western side of Kambah Pool road) for several years. We can view the ABC through our pay TV set top box but not through the TV antennae.

Do not despair as you are not missing much as the production on ABC TV (especially News 24) is pretty poor as well.
Try tilting the antennae more to the left.

I’ve been getting poor digital reception for all ABC channels and occasionally SBS in Kambah (western side of Kambah Pool road) for several years. We can view the ABC through our pay TV set top box but not through the TV antennae.

Gungahlin_Bob7:41 pm 11 Feb 13

@iceu,

That’s the issue I am referring to, and yes I am from the same area. Being up on the hill doesn’t appear to have any advantage….

@Switch, yes, after checking the Governments digital ready site, it shows my signals coming from Black Mountain, and alignment of the Antenna is spot on. Have also tried the Antenna a few degrees either side as well…

Anyone else in the area seeing similar….

Ours is bad too. In Ngunnawal. We are getting “blips” every 30 seconds or so, where the signal strength goes from high to low, then back up again quite quickly.

cynical_rendering12:45 am 11 Feb 13

The LCD are missing out on their ACA & TT. They’ll have nothing to talk about at work tomorrow…

Well, I don’t think anything much has changed at Black Mountain, if that’s where you are getting your signal from. With all the rain lately, is there a chance some water has got into your cabling? I once found that my feed had been slowly wicking water into it over the years until it corroded the cable completely, internally. But from the outside it looked fine, no sign of any damage.

ScienceRules12:35 pm 10 Feb 13

Sounds like an excellent reason to move to Gunghalin, especially if the other boganified channels are permanently on the fritz as well.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.