Poor SBS reception in Melbourne's north?

[traveller (Bo)]

I am having a lot of trouble tuning to SBS since they switched frequencies. I lost count the number of times I retuned my TV (Samsung LED 5 series 2008 model). I can get it occassionally, then signals lost after 10 mins.
All other channels are working fine. Wife is now complaining because she can't tune to Eurovision
I live 10km north of Melbourne CBD, so I don't think its a transmission issue. Do I need to climb on the roof to re-adjust my antenna?

Bo

[scagman (John)]

Hi Bo,

I've been having issues with them as well. The reception/signal is good but when I goto sbs1 it will show sbs2 and then later when I go back it will be back to showing sbs1 as normal. Even if I retune sbs1 will still show sbs2. This only happens on the PVR, the TV will be fine. I loose all abc channels when it rains. I've tried playing with the antenna but only when its dry. I aint getting up there in the wet.

Cheers

[killswitch (Edison)]

Originally Posted by traveller

Do I need to climb on the roof to re-adjust my antenna?

Bo

Have a look at the tv antenna next door and around your street, they should all be oriented the same way.

If your antenna doesnt match theirs then it needs to adjusted the same way.

[GTB_an_Owl (Geoff)]

interesting that you find the problem is in the PVR John

i have exactly the same problem here on the Central Coast, NSW

and my PVR is not a cheapie (cost over $600 a few years ago now)

geoff

[Larryp (Laurie)]

How old is your antenna? If it has been in use for a long time, it may need replacing-sure solved my problems!

[mithrandir (Andrew)]

Bo, SBS has moved to VHF7 (184.5MHz). They did the same in Sydney.

All the "Melbourne" transmitters are at:
TXA, 12 Ornata Road MOUNT DANDENONG 37:50:20S 145:20:43E
TXA, 8 Eyre Road MT DANDENONG 37:50:12S 145:20:47E
Tower Broadcast Australia, Eyre Road MOUNT DANDENONG 37:50:11S 145:20:50E
All transmitters at Mt Dandenong are on VHF Band III except MGV32 which is at the top of UHF Band IV.

If you are considered to be in the "Melbourne Inner Suburbs" SBS is on UHF57 (732.5MHz). All transmitters are at:
Bourke Place, 600 Bourke Street MELBOURNE 37:49:03S 144:57:17E
All the Bourke Place transmitters are in UHF Band V. There is no MGV from there.

You might check if your antenna is for the right bands, but if you get HSV on 177.5MHz or on 774.5MHz then SBS should in theory be OK. They all have the same transmitter power. Maybe your antenna or cabling is corroded or damaged.

Also quality cables and fly leads help a lot. I was getting several dB of loss in one fly lead and replacing it with an RG6 one improved things dramatically.

[traveller (Bo)]

Thanks all. A quick response to some of the suggestions.
Cable corrosion: if there is a cable issue, it would affect all stations. The fact that I can get excellent reception in all other channels means I can safely rule this out.
Antenna too old/unable to get SBS frequency: again, I can pick up signals between the SBS frequency, so I am inclined to rule this out also.
Antenna orientation: it is aligned the same direction as my neighbours, visually anyway.
Anyway, will keep eliminating issues. May try a signal booster as next option. But I am only 10km from Bourke st as the crow flies, and I am fairly certain distance is not an issue.
May try manual tuning as well.
Bo