I don’t think so.
The new antenna (photo above) has a 4g filter on it.
Hi there,
I agree with TV Cynic, that’s all you can easily do for now.
Does your TV display any signal strength / signal quality indicators - similar to what TV Cynic has posted further above?
Do they show low or high strength?
If good strength but low quality, I’m thinking that you COULD be getting co-channel interference during tropospheric conditions, as you are only seeing ABC, which is on UHF Channel 34, which is one of the less frequently used UHF channels. Are your neighbours having similar issues? If so, that might comfirm that theory.
Failing that, some other options might be:
- Having the masthead amp (assuming it’s an outdoor one) mounted on the pole closer to the antenna should help.
- A Yagi antenna could give better results.
- If you are closer to Yeppoon, Rockhampton East, Mount Morgan or Gladstone, they have other transmitters that might give you better results (though are not as powerful as Mt Hopeful). This would just require re-pointing your antenna on your roof and doing a rescan - seeing what your neighbours set ups on their roof are might help you.
TV Cynic, if you want to only use 1 antenna, go another Log Periodic, don’t use a combined antenna, they are the worst type of antennas. Combined antennas have too many losses & mismatches between the VHF & UHF parts, they were originally made for the low costs of install & to make the installation somewhat more compact & pleasing to the eye, not for signal quality.
If you truly want an exceptional signal quality/strength installation, use separate VHF & UHF antennas & use a diplexer.
Band 2 & 3 antennas are still available, & then just get a Band 4 antenna.
Ultimate install will be 3 separate antennas, a Band 2, a Band 3, & a Band 4, then use a Triplexer.
Another option is using a Band 4/5 UHF antenna, (widely available & cheap) then put a inline 4G Low Pass filter on.
For ultimate reception quality & high gain, every channel across each band should arrive at the receiver almost equal in strength, 2-3db is acceptable, but remember a signal 3db higher or lower will be double or half the power respectively.
Even if all the signals leave the same TX location at the exact same TX power, losses in air purely due to the frequencies & the way radio wave propagate, will mean different signal strengths between bands at the antennas. Band 2 will always drive stronger than Band 4/5.
With separate antennas, attenuators &/or amps can be used to balance signal levels.
This all costs more money. A more robust, installation will always cost more, how far you want to take it is up to you, but don’t expect to put up a combined antenna & get long term reliable medium to long distance reception across all bands.
You’d need to get a competent antenna installer out to do some signal strength measurements, but if you don’t want to do any long distance reception, it may be cheaper & better for you, to use a lower gain antenna/s & then use a distribution amplifier to get optimal signal strength to the multiple outlets, rather than trying to suck every last uV of signal out of the air. Just get the signal you need (or a little above), then amplify it just enough to cover distribution losses in the installation.
TV_Addict,
Possible/likely thing is, a change in the weather has changed the signal path to your antenna, it may now be ducting further out & over the top of you, or it maybe refracting down short of you, in either case there’s not a lot you can do about it, but just wait out the weather change.
You say you are in a weak signal area, & 64km away is a distance, but it is possible that agin the weather could be refracting the signal down right on top of you now, & your signal strength is too strong (gives the same symptoms as too weak a signal)? In any case not much you can do, but wait it out.
Check all easily accessible connections & make sure they’re still firmly in place.
I don’t know the exact make & model of that antenna, so don’t know the exact gain figure, but it may not be the best antenna for your location?
You may get better reception with a phased array antenna such as the Hills Ultimax 36 (UMX36) or a stacked phased array such as the Fracarro PU8F or even PU16F?
Did the antenna installer give you any a signal strength readings report from both off the antenna & at the outlets?
If it’s not just a simple loose connection, in areas of weak signal strength, problems are very hard to diagnose & rectify without knowing what the signal strengths actually are.
Signal strength & quality level indicators on your TV/PVR, etc. are useless, there’s no official standard for them, & they vary widely not just by brand & model, but even by individual appliance. Rough guesstimation at best at what’s going on.
When you say “loose connection” do you mean on the antenna ?
I thought it was just a weather related issue. Yesterday was cloudy, calm and drizzly. However, it cleared in the afternoon and is clear and sunny today… after rescanning I am just picking up ABC’s channels. I’m wondering if the windy weather we’ve experienced, might have moved the positioning of the antenna somewhat ,
The Kingray Power Injector is warm whilst in use , plugged into the back of the tv’s powerpoint. I tried unplugging and replugging the cables in… no change.
The Tv does display signal strength - Says normal for the ABC. At times it tries to pick up Win and Gem but it is a weak signal as they come up a blocky mess and then it says “no signal” and the channel disappears from the channel list.
I asked and a neighbour who is in my street , not directly next to me but several doors down, can pick up everything crystal clear.
It’s a brand new antenna in the photo that was put in last month due to damage to our old one from the cyclone . It’s been working fine for a month until now. We’ve had rain before since then and not had this issue of losing 99 percent of the channels.
Could it be the masthead amplifier that is in the roof playing up ? No the antenna installer didn’t give any signal readings.
Someone is coming tomorrow morning to have a look.
A loose connection is most likely behind the TV, but could be on the antenna if it’s been rather windy.
If you’ve had recent windy weather, yes it could’ve moved the antennas position if it wasn’t tighten enough. The antennas generally have a stepped/notched clamp, which bites & digs into the mast, so if it’s tightened enough, it’s very hard to twist it on the mast.
There could be a problem with the masthead amp in the roof, but it’s unlikely if it’s brand new, the kingray amps are very high quality with few failures. I have replaced some that were probably 30 years old or more & still operating, the power injector plug pack is supposed to get warm when in use.
Let us know what’s found tomorrow.
Hmm… interesting. TV connections seem tight.
Yeah the Kingray amp… only had it 4 years. Though we do live in a coastal area… salty air/rust… maybe an issue.
Just a thought… wouldn’t be a fault in the television in built tuner ? .
Edit : Just checked this afternoon… am picking up ABC,2,3,24, and now WIN,GEM , GO showing are all clear and fine… still nothing else coming up though.
How many more channels can each network physically “fit in” now . With 7, if down the track they wanted to launch yet another channel would there be room ? They have 5 or 6 already ?
Would we see any more tv channels launching this year or next … or not due to capacity ? unless they switch to MPEG4 … ?
Wasn’t NITV the last channel to launch in the past few years before 9Life/SBS Food ?
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If you don’t count the “datacast” infomercial channels (including now defunct ones like Extra 2 and Fresh Ideas TV), then yes! 
There’s no fixed number for the maximum number of stations. It depends on how low they’re willing to go in terms of image quality. At the lowest end of the scale, say each channel is about 1Mbps (similar to what some of the infomercial channels are getting at the moment), you could fit even 20 channels into a single mux.
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Thanks for the detailed response.
What you describe is similar to what I have set up. I have 3 separate antennas with separate amplifiers to suite. One is a phased array UHF for medium distance TV reception, next is a FM antenna for DX purposes then the general purpose mixed antenna. The last has a distribution amp to deliver local TV plus medium distance FM though the house. This makes available Breeze, Rebel, Gold and Sunshine Coast FM on most radios. The antenna is getting a bit old and was constructed with a lot of plastic and that is the one I am going to replace - hence the question about the availability of Band II, III and IV antennas. I want something that can deliver a good FM signal from medium distance (not DX quality) to several outputs as well as the local stations.
Based on the average settings being used by all networks, a simple way to look at it is they can fit about 5-6 MPEG-2 576i SD channels in each MUX. 1080i HD channels take up approx twice the bitrate of SD. 720p HD takes up approx 75% of the bitrate of 1080i. MPEG-4 takes up approx half the bitrate of MPEG-2.
Obviously it’s far too simplistic to make any technical calculations with, but it’s will help you get a good approximate ballpark of if a theoretical lineup may work.
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Guy can’t come now until the end of the day to fix our reception problems.
2 days now and did a rescan now picking up all channels except for SBS and their multichannels. The ones that are being picked up are either fine or a pixellated mess.
Update…
I wasn’t home but from what I was told… (not sure if I’m using the right words) but it was the Kingray power injector behind the tv as well as the one in the roof that they replaced. As i understand it the new tv antenna was fine.
Something about the cyclone mentioned again. Probably can claim it on insurance again.
Not sure why the guy who put the new antenna on last month did not look at the booster unless it was fine till then.
I’m sure they booster and amplifier in the roof had only been there 4 years… maybe the salty sea air had ruined it or moisture from humidity ?
Any idea why ours is in the roof and most in the street seem to be attached to the antenna ?
PSK06: GME Kingray 14V DC 150mA PAL Power Supply $25.00
MHU35F: Kingray F Type Masthead Amp 35dB Gain $65.00
Were the parts used . He said something about electrical disturbances due to the cyclone. Yet I hear that Kingray is supposed to a high quality brand yet our one didn’t even last 5 years.
You may have just been unlucky.
Wonder if that means a brown out that might cause a problem in the current delivered to the masthead??
Five-minute bitrate sample from all the Sydney and Wollongong stations:
Where both metro and regional versions of a channel exist, figures are for Sydney unless suffixed with the regional network’s name.
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Someone told me on another forum, that the masthead amplifer should really be on the antenna. They said it can shorten the life being in the roof cavity with the heat etc. Wouldn’t it be just as exposed on the antenna to wind, rain ,salty sea air and heat etc ?
The reason for it being on the antenna is because to maximise the signal gain from the aerial, so it should be as close to the outside aerial as possible.
It’s not because of heat or exposure reasons.
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Ok. There seems to be a lot of them on the antennas in our street, not many hidden in the roof.
I’m assuming it is close to the antenna.Not sure why our one is not on the antenna.
The person was telling me by having it in the roof, that the heat will kill the electronics over time and shorten the life of it.