What’s happening with TV reception?

Saturn Antenna's Laurinda Spencer, Rod Farr and Tony Grant at the tower, only metres from their workplace but since the retune, say their TV reception is patchy or nil

Saturn Antenna’s Laurinda Spencer, Rod Farr and Tony Grant at the tower, only metres from their workplace but since the retune, say their TV reception is patchy or nil

We’ve had the retune and restack – but for some there’s no reason to rejoice.

The Community News has received complaints about lack of television reception in sections of Rainbow Beach, and a lack of response for locals when they complain to authorities.

Problems appear to be widespread, people living metres from the tower have days they receive no TV coverage at all. Stations that regularly appeared are now patchy.

It is a serious topic: tourists expect to have adequate TV coverage, and the problem is affecting our business community too.

Saturn Antennas is only 200m from the antenna on the school side of the junction on Carlo Road and Karoonda Road.

Owners, Peter and Margaret Grant said the erratic reception means they cannot test their antennas, slowing production of their Australia wide product.

Peter continued, “We used to have perfect reception – now some days we have nothing. The business has been challenged  as we test every antenna we make. We have a national business that relies on antennas working properly in rural areas.”

“Our office has been inundated with calls of locals complaining about TV reception.”

He says technicians have advised Warren Truss’s office that nothing has changed.

WIN Networks blame it on “restacking” (when “TV channels are moving to make room for new services”).

The Department of Communications told the Community News that key locations in the town are not in their coverage area! They sent a long generic list and advised checking the antenna and type or consulting an installer.

They explain:

Retune is national program that involves over 400 towers across Australia moving some free to air TV channels to different frequencies to free up spectrum for new services such as mobile broadband.

 All free to air television channels changed frequency at Rainbow Beach on 16 October and there were no reported issues at the transmission site.”

The transmitter at Rainbow Beach, located at the Rainbow Beach sports field, is being used by broadcasters to reach areas to the immediate east of its location. Areas to the north or west, which include the Rainbow Beach Golf Course and Carlo Point, are not within the targeted coverage area.

As a result, these locations will receive relatively weak coverage that could additionally be affected by issues caused by terrain and trees. The Department of Communications is not aware of any issues which would be impacting the reception of services in the targeted area.

Residents in the Rainbow Beach area who are experiencing difficulties receiving the TV services from the sports field site should consider whether they are in the coverage area.

There are two other sites which may provide a more reliable service for residents living outside the primary target area, with the most likely alternative being Tin Can Bay, or possibly Cooloola Cove. (their unedited response is below)

Margaret Grant says, “That statement is totally incorrect, according to myswitch.digitalready.gov.au , some localities like Carlo Point, will never, ever get reception from Cooloola Cove.”

“Other general information is about any area, nothing to do with our specific problems in Rainbow Beach.”

Peter advises,With our local knowledge, we have evidence that some of that information is incorrect. The strength of the signal from  the local tower has reduced dramatically –   in some instances the signal strength is only a half of what it used to be on some channels.”

“The reception has altered, it has nothing to do with people retuning, restacking, or having the right antenna – people have done that, and done the right things.”

Peter thinks there are two things to consider: they have changed the frequency and changed the aerial. Since the retune the antenna has been altered, but Peter believes problems are more to do with tower.

“Bringing the aerial lower down the tower, has created a lower quality of signal for many in town.”

“Since October 16, that’s when we have been having the problems… If it was resident’s antennas, reception would have been affected when we first went digital – not causing problems now.”

Peter has spoken to the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA) and is researching further, taking readings and photos.

“We need people power and ammunition to fire at this – we need to know what streets are affected.”

So Saturn Antennas are keeping a local register – call 5486 3471 – so they can record the number of people having difficulties and location, to assist authorities and rectify the matter.

For further information, try:

ACMA Hotline 1300 850 115  www.acma.gov.au.

The ‘Retune’ website (http://retune.digitalready.gov.au/)

MySwitch website (http://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/)

Digital TV retune hotline on 1800 201 013,

Mr Truss’s office on 4121 2936 or 1300 301 968 (Freecall)

 


Responses in full re poor TV reception in Rainbow Beach

From Mr Truss’s office:  

We will continue to assist people who have contacted Mr Truss’s office in relation to their digital TV reception issues. However, there a few additional avenues that people may wish to try:

The ‘Retune’ website is the first point of call (http://retune.digitalready.gov.au/). This may be more useful for people in the Rainbow/Cooloola Coast area who are not aware of the October 16 retuning, as it gives some instructions on how to retune your TV set to the new digital frequencies.

Secondly, the MySwitch website (http://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/) will let you input your address and provide information about signal quality, signal frequencies (for those people who wish to manually test and retune channels).

Thirdly, affected residents may wish to call the Digital TV retune hotline on 1800 201 013, to access specific and technical advice, as TV reception issues may be due to individual factors that vary from case to case.

Residents are also free to contact Mr Truss’s office on 4121 2936 or 1300 301 968 (Freecall).

From WIN networks:

If there are issues with reception/retuning it’s best to head to the website and go to the help section as it is to do with the restack. If people need further help/advice, they can also call through to the Digital Ready Information Line on 1800 20 10 13, 8am to 10pm (AEST), 7 days.

The definition of a restack can be found on the website: http://retune.digitalready.gov.au/help-and-advice#161 along with other help and advice:

The TV channels are moving to make room for new services. This process is referred to as the ‘restack’ within the broadcasting industry, because some TV channels are getting restacked to a different position.

We believe this is caused by digital restacking in the area. Residents should go to the government website http://digitalready.gov.au/ for information on how to access the restacked channels.

From Department of Communications:

TV Reception in Rainbow Beach

Retune is national program that involves over 400 towers across Australia moving some free to air TV channels to different frequencies to free up spectrum for new services such as mobile broadband. All free to air television channels changed frequency at Rainbow Beach on 16 October and there were no reported issues at the transmission site.

Planning and work for the new services was done in consultation with all broadcasters and the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).

The transmitter at Rainbow Beach, located at the Rainbow Beach sports field, is being used by broadcasters to reach areas to the immediate east of its location. Areas to the north or west, which include the Rainbow Beach Golf Course and Carlo Point, are not within the targeted coverage area. As a result, these locations will receive relatively weak coverage that could additionally be affected by issues caused by terrain and trees. The Department of Communications is not aware of any issues which would be impacting the reception of services in the targeted area.

Residents in the Rainbow Beach area who are experiencing difficulties receiving the TV services from the sports field site should consider whether they are in the coverage area. There are two other sites which may provide a more reliable service for residents living outside the primary target area, with the most likely alternative being Tin Can Bay, or possibly Cooloola Cove. The most appropriate site depends on individual circumstances but is primarily based on location.

In addition, viewers should also check if their antenna is the right type for the area and is at a reasonable height and location to overcome any local obstructions. Simple improvements to reception can be achieved by confirming that all connections are secure (viewers might try taking out all connections and then putting them back in) and that good quality cables are being used.

Viewers may also consider consulting an antenna installer, who can take accurate measurements of the digital coverage, check and select the best antenna for the location, find the best position for the antenna to maximise reception and seek to minimise the impact of interference.

The most common cause of digital reception difficulties is poor quality or inadequate antenna systems. Problems might include:

  • corroded or broken antennas
  • antennas not mounted high enough
  • incorrectly polarised antennas
  • antennas with insufficient or too much gain
  • poor quality, inadequately insulated, cabling
  • unnecessary or faulty masthead amplifiers (boosters).

Viewers can find the location of the local sites and confirm technical details on mySwitch (http://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/) however it is noted that predictions of coverage do not take into account trees and buildings and these can be a major feature in determining the best site for individual locations.

Problems with transmission quality or interference can also be referred to the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) by contacting the ACMA Hotline 1300 850 115 or visiting www.acma.gov.au.

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