[Dazzler]

I've mentioned in another tread that we have some issues with our Digital TV reception where we live in a Rural setting just out of Devonport Tasmania.

With 2 x Antennas connected via a diplexer and 1 x Masthead Amplifier/Booster and 1 x Signal Splitter Booster we get most channels ok until it gets windy and then it can be a bit hit and miss (Many trees between us and the transmitters)

Anyway, for around $1000 I can get a professional to set us up with an 85 cm Satellite dish and 2 x receivers that will fix the reception 99 % of the time on our 2 main TV's ..

Looking on Ebay though it looks like I might be able to do the same thing for less than half that 

Do we have any experts on here that can guide me as to things like what benefits/ requirements for size of dish, brand of receiver etc..? Probably be a month or two before I do it as spending other money at the moment on house mods..

Will be searching Whirlpool forums etc.. for info when I get a chance

[asathorny]

I can't really help ya out Dazz your on a different hemisphere.

However I am also thinking of getting a 85 ctm dish, probably a moterised one with twine LNBs.

The reason is, you may have heard the it rains occasionally over here, and I get fed up when it does because with the MINI dish which SKY provided that causes lots of bit mapping...

I am assured that a bigger motorised jobbie won't be too bad when it chucks it down.

Also, I can run another box, maybe an Open-box or Spider-box and pull soccer games from remote countries, whilst simultaneously the wifey can be watching the dross in the main lounge room.

 

 

[Phil №❶]

Wait till after our comet close encounter, there may not be any satellites.

[Aussie Keith]

Have a chat to the neighbours and see whats working best for them. There's a lot of theory goes into the design and provision of these things but only your neighbours can tell you what works properly or not for sure.

[Dazzler]

Have a chat to the neighbours and see whats working best for them. There's a lot of theory goes into the design and provision of these things but only your neighbours can tell you what works properly or not for sure.

Not many neighbours (we are all on 2 acre blocks) one has a subsidised satellite setup because his reception is even worse than mine ..

The "expert" that came to tweak my reception recently is the one that quoted me $650 for a dish one receiver or $1000 with 2 receivers .. he said 85cm Dish on my existing antenna pole would work fine.. Most other neighbours just mumble about the sh1t reception but do nothing to fix it ...

[Phil №❶]

Get line of sight to the tower. Chop down trees in the way, water in the leaves attenuates the signal

[Dazzler]

Get line of sight to the tower. Chop down trees in the way, water in the leaves attenuates the signal

I wish ... There is a sizeable ridge covered with trees on PRIVATE land .. Ironically, we are probably less than one Kilometre from the nearest Transmitter but it is on the other side of the ridge 

[Doggie 1]

I believe Bob Brown, having left mainstream politics, now runs a small Tasmanian-based company called Trees-R-Us, experts in tree felling, mass prunings, land clearing, building dams in streams/rivers etc.
You should give him a call.

[Dazzler]

I believe Bob Brown, having left mainstream politics, now runs a small Tasmanian-based company called Trees-R-Us, experts in tree felling, mass prunings, land clearing, building dams in streams/rivers etc.
You should give him a call.

Yeah, likely story 

You've given me an idea though .. I might suggest leaving the trees on the ridge will be conducive to improving Tasmania's economy (they would be sure to cut them down then) 

[Phil №❶]

Gonz can create a bombing training mission, give him the (correct) coordinates, no trees. 

[Doggie 1]

Gonz can create a bombing training mission, give him the (correct) coordinates, no trees. 

Good idea and FatBoy might be able to help from above.

[The Gonz]

Good observation about water attentuation in the foliage. A study using European pine forests yielded a 10dB absorpsion for common airborne radar frequencies around 10GHz. Also, line of sight is king at those frequencies - if not direct, then by reflection. Any chance a reflector or repeater can be put up on your property? A well designed reflector - if the geometry is right - may not even need to be powered. And as for dish diameter, larger is always better for gain for any given wavelength, proportional to dish area (aperture).

[Dazzler]

Thanks for the info Gonz but I'm guessing our share of the cost of a repeater would be more than $1000 

Unless I can get more than just free to air with a larger dish sounds like 85cm might be the best compromise.

Thing is I don't want to spend 300 or more on stuff off ebay and then get no result and have to go cap in hand to this guy and pay his prices .. but if I can do it a nice saving is to be had. 

[eye30]

Any possibility of cable TV?

or being remote you miss out unless you pay $$$$$$ to have it laid to your place.

[Dazzler]

Any possibility of cable TV?

or being remote you miss out unless you pay $$$$$$ to have it laid to your place.

Our TV is truly free to air so even if it were available I don't like paying ongoing charges for something others get for free.

We are getting 3 months free trial on 11 Foxtel channels via the internet but only 5 of those are really worth having. We will make a decision in early April if we want to pay $19.95 p/m to keep having them.

[Dazzler]

My Antenna guy is on holidays and free to air TV has been really patchy .. Sick of it 

So..I got another Guy around who will do a lot more than the first guy was going to do (satellite wise) for $1100..All new cabling and screw on connectors etc with exposed co-ax in conduit. He has done more than 200 installations in the last 6 months..

With this guy we will still have our antenna connection available as well.

He guarantees we will get very stable reception on both our big TV's (coming on Friday morning)   

[Doggie 1]

Great news Dazz.
Do it right, do it once.

[Phil №❶]

Sounds like the way to go. 

This last week and ever since we moved here randomly at night we loose the digital. Starts off with the picture breaking up, then freezing, then weak or no signal message. I'm sure it's interference from a device but I can't pinpoint it, it's not in our house. We have to have a masthead amp to get any picture and unfortunately, they amplify everything, even the interference. In time, it will be one reason we leave here coz I like my shows and it's always when something good is on. RPA and the like 

[Dazzler]

Phil,

You might be eligible for VAST (which is what we will be using Phil) to get it on just one TV probably only about $700 - be worth looking into 

The TV reception here would be one of the few negatives...(Hopefully sorted this week) 

[rustynutz]

Reception has been pretty patchy here at times too...It happens every summer for some reason. 

Luckily we get the Melbourne stations as well as the local ones so usually it's just a matter of swapping between them.

Still a pain in the a*se though......

[Dazzler]

Reception has been pretty patchy here at times too...It happens every summer for some reason. 

Luckily we get the Melbourne stations as well as the local ones so usually it's just a matter of swapping between them.

Still a pain in the a*se though......

We get the local Transmitter and the stronger one from Launceston as well (but they are both quite patchy)

Ironically, the other guy that did some aerial work for me said in the Summer we actually pick up Melbourne stations here which upsets the local ones 

[rustynutz]

So much for improved viewing, hey? 
While it's great when you have good reception, it's a pain when reception is crap.
At least with analog you could still watch it, even if it was a bit fuzzy...

[Dazzler]

I have upgraded our satellite setup to recordable with a special "activated" remote which cost an additional $55. You need to connect a powered external HDD up to 1TB (hard to find that small now but I found a Verbatim USB 3.0 one)

Unfortunately, it didn't like the drive when it tried to format it (came up with errors) Both my Laptop and Desktop with acknowledge the drive and load the drivers but it wont show up as a drive (I hope it isn't knackered) paid top $$ ($129)  Nothing is simple these days

I have an older Seagate 1TB drive I can spare but a bit scared to try that (don't want that to be knackered too) 

I have some running around for Trish this morning so have to leave it until later to sort.   

[Phil №❶]

Might need to use a partition manager to put a NTFS partition back, that the comp can see.

[rustynutz]

 

[rustynutz]

Have you tried going into Control Panel\System and Security\Administrative Tools then selecting "Disk Management"? 

[beerman]

What's the reception like now Dazz,

This has given me an idea for my parents, who live in the Gold Coast Hinterland and reception has been rubbish forever....

and since their pensioners, I'm hoping the Government will give them a handout.....Before the cash runs out.

[Dazzler]

What's the reception like now Dazz,

This has given me an idea for my parents, who live in the Gold Coast Hinterland and reception has been rubbish forever....

and since their pensioners, I'm hoping the Government will give them a handout.....Before the cash runs out.

Reception is great with the satellite but believe it or not we miss the adds  You mainly get adds for Alice Springs, Katherine (the town not the girl) and outback Qld + some boring repetitive scenery loops as fill ins.

We tend to watch the stable channels like 7 via our antenna and just switch to the satellite input on the TV for the unstable channels (TDT etc..)

Thanks for the advice about the HDD I will try those suggestions. 

[beerman]

My parents mostly watch Aunty, so they would be happy to be able to see that most of the time (I know satellite can go a bit rubbish in heavy rain).

[Phil №❶]

What's the reception like now Dazz,

This has given me an idea for my parents, who live in the Gold Coast Hinterland and reception has been rubbish forever....

and since their pensioners, I'm hoping the Government will give them a handout.....Before the cash runs out.

$12 Bn Hole, I think it already has