Digital TV Technical Discussion

I used to think that too!
I never realised Mt Cenn Crauich was so far north of Dubbo.

I’ll never forget walking into a Coonabarabran pub in 1994 and seeing Capital Television (now 10) with an ad for ‘Bathurst City Centre’ on their smallish CRT TV, when I had expected to see NBN or NRTV.

1 Like

Yeah I thought it was closer to Dubbo as well. I know some people in the analog days in Coonabarabran, Narrabri, Gunnedah, and I think even some parts of Tamworth could get both Mt Dowe and Mt Cenn Cruaich

2 Likes

Mt Cenn Cruiach was receivable in Dubbo on VHF as was Mt Canobolas but you needed a good antenna for both.

The off air program inputs at Buninyong Hill UHF(just east of Dubbo at the Telstra R/T) come from either place. Buninyong Hill was setup so people in Dubbo could use a small UHF antenna.

3 Likes

It’s possible but you will need a good high gain band 4 (UHF Low Antenna) plus a booster. A good yardstick would be if your portable radio can pick up the FM Signals from Dowe, The ABC’s on 96.7, 99.1, 99.9, 100.7 & 101.5. Plus GGG on 97.5 & NOW FM on 98.3. if these signals are receivable I’d say yes

2 Likes

All channels should drop their SD simulcast and broadcast in MPEG-4 HD DVB-2

2 Likes

It could be wrong, but this thread on Whirlpool suggests WIN has moved all their multi’s over to MPEG-4 in Hobart. Hopefully the OP can shed some more light. Are any members in Tassie able to confirm?

3 Likes

@DudeLizowski05 apparently said that he couldn’t see 9Gem or 9Go on his TV in the WIN thread:

I reckon they are using Tassie as a test market, like 7 is with 7twoHD in RQLD.

1 Like

Wonder if they’re MPEG4 HD. Big move if so.

1 Like

Ahh, I missed that post. Thanks @TBoy ! Pretty much confirmed they’re MPEG-4 then.

That’s the million dollar question.

2 Likes

I’ve just messaged @ando9185, hopefully he can shed some light on this!

2 Likes

Doesn’t look like any change in North Tas. All multichannels still coming through as SD according to my TV. Can’t tell if MP2 or MP4 but I don’t think anything has changed.

2 Likes

Thanks for checking mate. If you end up finding out they’re MPEG-2, let us know! But otherwise that does it for me - SD MPEG-4 for WIN Tassie multi’s then.

I wonder if this is just a nothingburger like WIN Wollongong changing to HD-only that time, or if it’s a test to get 9GemHD up and running?

1 Like

Can confirm all WIN multi channels are now in MPEG4 576i in Hobart around 1.5mbit avg each, compared to 4mbit avg on the WIN MPEG2 SD simulcast on ch8.

WIN HD is averaging 7-8mbps (2mbps more than 7 TAS), and is looking great.

3 Likes

Jesus how is that even watchable?

Thank you for confirming the changes too :pray:

2mbps in front of 7 TAS. They are averaging 7-8mbps.

2 Likes

Ohhh. Well then, that’s impressive.

Why do you reckon they’ve done this? I can’t imagine they’d need to ditch MPEG-2 to make room for a future HD simulcast.

It’s a pointless simulcast though if Gem SD and Gem HD are both MPEG-4.

Interesting to see what the final end game is.

2 Likes

Agree, i can’t imagine there’d be any receivers that can do MPEG-4 but not in HD. Unlike some early MPEG-2 receivers that couldn’t decode HD.

I recall back in 2005, SD only MPEG-2 set top boxes were around $200, HD compatible units were double that.

1 Like

Yeah, I’m pretty confident there’s no MPEG-4 SD only receivers on the market - at least not terrestrial ones.

Certainly hope they do the flip to then make 9Gem a HD channel. I wonder if 9Go going HD is in the pipeline, or if we’ll see Gold go HD.

1 Like

Never. What a waste of bandwidth if they did.
MPEG4 SD is the best option for Gold.