Thanks for checking.
Pedantic is my middle name, lol. Finding logic within WIN’s channel naming is a lost cause, but at least they’re back to being somewhat accurate. You could say 7TWO in caps matches Sydney?
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Seven’s own naming isn’t great. 7TWO matched the old logo style, but then they consistently have “7Bravo” despite the logo being a lowercase B.
Plus at least WIN have 7mate on the x3 spot where it belongs.
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Why didn’t 7 ever move it to 7/63 after they switched to HD anyway?
No idea, but they’re seemingly sticking to it. When they took over GWN7’s transmission, they moved 7mate from 63 to 64, despite never going through an SD-HD transition like other markets. Quite odd.
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They did it with a simulcast, then kept the ‘HD’ number of 74 instead of moving it back to 73.
Nine will be fun once/if they ever drop the simulcasts, as those numbers will be weird regardless of if they keep the HD or SD allocations.
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Satellite dish anyone?
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Recently I noticed what must be a DYI antenna install on a nearby street at the bottom of a hill. It consisted of a UHF Yagi antenna pointed approximately due east :smile.
Then yesterday I went past a house that had a fairly new looking VHF antenna but installed backwards - so the reflectors were pointing at Mt Coot-tha.
However, worse wast 2 doors down - a UHF phased array antenna on top of a medium sized pole. It was mounted horizontally, parallel to the ground pointing skyward! Hard to imagine it could receive anything at all.
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I’ve seen a few near home on new townhouse developments that are pointing to the Kotara repeater, but have ALL of the antennas mounted horizontal when it should be vertical.
There are a number of old ones where the wind has spun them around 180 degrees or pointing at the ocean.
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For DYI installs, part of the problem is places like Jaycar, Bunnings, Ideal Electrical etc selling UHF antennas to people in Brisbane suburbs. Some people obviously don’t have any idea.
And for those buying on-line from Amazon,there are some pretty dubious claims being made. Here’s a VHF/UHF antenna that can receive signals from 200 miles away and in 4K!
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Having a UHF aerial for a VHF service is far from ideal, but they would still work OK if there is visible line of sight to the transmitter. Lots of folks in my neighbourhood have what look to be UHF aerials from the post analog/ pre restack days still working just fine after the restack took place.
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Re Jaycar, I think they do know a bit, at least some staff do.
Once i went there to buy a 4 element VHF yagi for my DAB mini HiFi radio, and the bloke asked me what was using it for as he said all TV around my area is UHF and that I needed a different antenna if it was for that.
I told him it was for DAB and he said “Ah, that’s the only reason why we sell them here”.
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Agree - I can regularly received Wide Bay with a UHF antenna in Brisbane.
The UHF install at the bottom of the hill is now gone - there’s little chance that it would have worked without a lot of breakup as it was completely shielded from the transmitters.
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And I’ve received Sydney VHF on my vertical phaseed array UHF antenna that is pointed in the same direction when tropo is about.
I noticed that this house on Higginbotham Road in Ryde has two antennas on each side of the house pointing in different directions.
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That bottom cap, where did you get that one from? Doesn’t look like MySwitch.
It is indeed my switch.
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Their sales of UHF antennas may eventually drop off if Newcastle is the next to go DAB. It’s a surprise it hasn’t, at least the ABC should be broadcasting in DAB there as well as the Central Coast. Hopefully with the new management, this will happen sooner rather than later.
Chain hardware stores have a nasty habit of stocking the wrong antennas for a region. So many VHF/UHF combo units seen in Bendigo stores when we don’t have anything of VHF.
Yes, I’ve seen VHF Band III antennas newly installed for local UHF reception…
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Still no word on Seven changing to MPEG4, and to HD on more channels in Sydney and Melbourne.
Unless someone has inside knowledge…
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Could some of the UHF antennas pointing in the wrong direction be for radio used for business purposes? Saw a UHF antenna on a business pointing in the completely wrong direction and assumed that was the case.