Hello to the good burghers of the TV threads.
I have a question regarding C31 Sydney in the late 90s. At that time I could barely receive it in Oatley about 25 km from Artarmon; it was only received clearly in the early 2000s. Does anyone know what power they were running circa 1997-1998? I also remember watching them clearly from Balmain at that time, but this was in full view of the Artarmon TX site.
They were on 10kw ERP and the transmitter site was listed as 66 Dickson Avenue, Artarmon.
Source: ABA 1998 Radio & Television Broadcasting Stations
I remember C31 Sydney was transmitting out of the Optus Tower at North Sydney in the early 00s. It was then moved to the ABC tower at Gore Hill in June 2002 when Renaissance TV was expanded to C31 Sydney after it had launched in Melbourne the previous year.
Living out near Campbelltown, C31’s signal dramatically improved when it moved from the Optus Tower (when I had very poor signal of it) to the ABC tower.
By 2010 was being pumped out of Gore Hill at 550 kW max ERP (SBS-28 was 850 kW).
Not sure if this matches the timeline of events but apparently Renaissance spent big on upgrading C31’s transmitter in Melbourne to improve its overall coverage, and i suppose they might have done similar in Sydney?
I could get DTV reception of TVS on UHF 29 up here near Newcastle before it was switched off in 2015. I recall it ran at 20kw.
Was this the same station as C31?
No, it wasn’t.
The original C31 shut down in 2004 after its licence was revoked by the ABA, with TVS taking over the community TV licence, which was launched in February 2006.
From the ABA archives thanks to archive dot org:
Community television licence allocated for Sydney - 18 March 2004
ABA gives CTS (C31 Sydney) spectrum to broadcast for another 7 days - 16 April 2004
I remember getting a weak signal of the analog TVS in the late 2000s when I was about 10 years old. I also remember the Digital 44 Multiplex with the TV Guides on Channel 4.
And of course there is a ‘Community TV History’ thread! Must admit I couldn’t be bothered trying to find it…
When SBS ramped up its ERP to 850kw and moved to the 7/10 tower, the signal boomed into my neck of the woods far better than any of the VHF signals. So much so that you could get a slightly snowy picture on a set of rabbit ears antennas and a near crystal clear picture on just a VHF only setup. This was out in Richmond and Windsor.
This move occurred in April 2002 (source: SBS annual report 2001-02).
I remember at my place near Campbelltown, through our separate VHF & UHF antennas that was located inside the roof, I used to receive SBS quite well prior to the move from Gore Hill to Artarmon. After that, I lost the signal, and even after adjusting the UHF antenna, the reception wasn’t as good as it was before the move. This was only resolved by putting the antennas outside on top of the roof (I have since changed it to a VHF/UHF combo antenna).
Going even further back, do any of you remember SBS on Channel 0? I believe that switched off in 1986. What was its coverage like compared to the other VHF channels?
The TV DXers in Sydney were rejoicing when that finally switched off.
SBS-28 Melbourne had a similar upgrade around 2000-2001 (when Digital TV began) with new UHF arrays on the NTA and ATV-10 towers. Really only a marginal bump in ERP.
The old UHF antenna on the NTA tower sat atop the ABV-2 antenna, similar to Gore Hill.
I did receive SBS 0 from Melbourne, but that was E-Skip 
Only just, when visiting relatives in Carlingford in Sydney who had rabbit ears. SBS-0 was not as clear as ABN-2 since its ERP was only 10kW.
SBS-0 Melbourne was a stronger signal - 40 kW compared to 100kw of the old ATV-0 signal, which meant it had OK coverage. I recall watching it in Geelong - again not as clear as ABV-2, but not a lot different.
From a Channel 0/28 sign-on circa 1980/81.
“Welcome to Channel 0/28 Multicultural Television, Sydney and Melbourne. A section of the Special Broadcasting Service, transmitting on VHF Channel 0 with a vision carrier frequency of 46.25MHz and on UHF Channel 28 with a vision carrier frequency of 527.25MHz. As well as from the Hyatt Kingsgate Tower in Kings Cross, Sydney, on UHF Channel 54 with a vision carrier frequency of 737.25MHz.”
I do recall watching the SBS test patterns when our family moved back to Richmond from Melbourne in 1985. It was only a black and white, snowy picture and then I recall I wasn’t able to see it anymore. I later worked out that it was tuned to Channel 0 and that the antenna we had didn’t have the super long Channel 0 elements on it, hence the poor signal.
Not exactly 1985, but pretty close to it.
YouTube: Tasmanian History Channel
1980 mate 
