New TV Antenna

During my 5-year absence for the circumnavigation Australia made the transition from analogue to digital TV.  When I settled back into the house I decided to try using the TV antenna that I had suspended in the attic in about 1980. To my amazement it worked.

Then while renovating the house I replaced the tile roof with a metal one and  I was again amazed to find that I was still able to get good reception.  I attributed it to the fact that the peak of this roof has line of sight (with a few  trees in the way) to the transmitters across the Helena River valley on the hills in the Kalamunda area (Bickley, Carmel, Lesmurdie).  Every once in a while the ABC channels would would exhibit pixelation for several hours, but I tolerated it, noting that the reception must be near the edge of acceptability.

The about a week ago the ABC started an HD version of digital channel 2 at channel 20.   In theory ABC digital channels 2 and 24 were not affected but I knew different because the  reception of those channels became grossly pixelated and unusable and did not improve.

This morning I telephoned Midland Antennas and was emphatically told two things that I disagreed with: (1) ABC 2 and 24 had not been changed in any way, (2) there was not possible to get any digital reception from an antenna inside an attic under a metal roof.  (Yea, Right!)

 Before noon two technicians, Dave and Tran, showed up in a van.  I gave Dave a tour of the situation.  We agreed that he would place the new antenna on the peak of the roof a few feet from the windvane after he assured me that the windvane would not cause interference.  I told him to look over the cabling setup that I had installed in the attic and to feel free to comment on anything either not required or below standard.  Then I looked at the new antenna and saw that it was black in color and quite sleek. This was  important to me because I didn't want the look of the cottage to be compromised by a large garish antenna.

Dave returned from an inspection of the attic and asked if I had installed all of cabling.  Then he surprised me somewhat by telling me that it was a first class installation, with the correct equipment (e.g. boosters, splitters) and properly installed.  I told him that I liked to do neat work, and that we could thank JCAR (an electrical retailer) for their advice.  (He really really liked the setup: later he used the words "awesome" and "perfect" to describe it.)  To me it is a straight forward installation but after describing some of the messes he's seen in attics I think that he was surprised by what an amateur can do. You can see it by scrolling down http://roberthomerenovation.blogspot.com.au/search?updated-max=2015-05-04T19:16:00-07:00&max-results=7&start=21&by-date=false.

After the work was completed Dave was so confident that he put the ladder away while the 50" Panasonic TV scanned the channels.  I the began a channel scan on the 34" Soniq in the kitchen.

The results were dismal.  The Panasonic had correctly identified 39 digital channels but it could not see any of the ABC channels.  The Soniq's reception of the ABC channels was so bad that it would give up and present a blank screen.

Dave went back up to solve the problem and 10 minutes later I was getting a perfect picture on the Soniq.

Not Too Obtrusive

When climbed down he asked me if I knew what was just as bad as too weak a signal.  The answer was too strong a signal.  In the attic he measured the signal strength at the antenna as 80 ohm, which was good and strong.  But then the signal was passing through my booster, which was taking the signal up to 105-110 ohms, way too high, and driving the tuners crazy.  His solution was to disconnect the booster, but it would be good to know that if ever I had a problem with a weak signal (highly unlikely) I could be able to easily recommission the booster.  (Hmm.  I wonder how many people around Perth can complain about too strong a signal!)

He also surprised me by telling me that contrary to what I had told him the TV points that I had put in the bedroom and office while the house was being re-cladded were in fact connected.  I though that I had left them connected in order to not dilute the signal strength.  He told me that the extra two outlets were not attenuating the system because the connections  to the bedroom and office had been made through a proper splitter.

Peaceful Coexistence

So I now have a very strong TV signal going to four  outlets throughout the house.

For the record, the antenna is a top-of-the-line Hills "Black Arrow" (http://www.sciteq.com.au/shop/hills-fb608582-tru-band-metro-plus-black-arrow-antenna/)

The all-up cost was $285.98, a bargain as far as I am concerned.  And the warranty is for 10 years.