Prime over UHF in Chch

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wonderstuff

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#21084 15-Apr-2008 14:17

Hi all,

Yes, this is all very old hat talking about Prime on UHF when there is satellite feeds via Sky and Freeview, but nonetheless I have been meaning to ask this question for a while but never got around to it.

Is Prime on UHF in Chch transmit from Sugarloaf?

My UHF antenna is pointing directly at Sugarloaf and we are pretty close to it. I get Maori TV and some of the Sky UHF channels ok (well in the case of SKY, they are encrypted, but you can hear them), but I get extremely poor reception for Prime.

Any idea why?

Mike

Disrespective

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#123701 15-Apr-2008 16:04

I have Prime working off of Sugarloaf with a frequency of 799.25 as indicated on the Lincrad website.

It's a pretty decent signal too and i'm in Shirley so not even that close. Compared to Freeview though it does look a little snowy at times. Other than checking your frequency i'm not much more help sorry.

duckquack

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#123741 15-Apr-2008 18:20

What type of aerial are you using, is it designed to receive VHF ie TV1,2 and 3 or is it specifically designed for UHF Signal, I live at Burnham just sth of Rolleston and my reception is pretty good and thats from 40-50km away. I'm using a special combi aerial thats a compromise between VHF and UHF, before I got this aerial I could still get the other UHF channels ie Sky, however I couldn't receive Prime.

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#123752 15-Apr-2008 18:40

Prime transmit from Sugarloaf on channel 62 (798 to 806 MHz). Power ouput is 64 dBW or 2.5 MW, i.e., a full powered UHF transmitter. In contrast CTV are on channel 44 and ouputing only 44 dBW or 25 kW.

By poor reception are you simply referring to the low bitrate macro block debauchery that Sky Digital call a picture?? - Prime UHF is merely retransmitting the Sky Digital feed.

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#123759 15-Apr-2008 18:48

Disrespective: I have Prime working off of Sugarloaf with a frequency of 799.25 as indicated on the Lincrad website.

It's a pretty decent signal too and i'm in Shirley so not even that close. Compared to Freeview though it does look a little snowy at times. Other than checking your frequency i'm not much more help sorry.

Got a lincrad here too, over in Wigram

wonderstuff

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#123768 15-Apr-2008 19:10

Hi all,

thanks for your responses.

duckquack: What type of aerial are you using, is it designed to receive VHF ie TV1,2 and 3 or is it specifically designed for UHF Signal, I live at Burnham just sth of Rolleston and my reception is pretty good and thats from 40-50km away. I'm using a special combi aerial thats a compromise between VHF and UHF, before I got this aerial I could still get the other UHF channels ie Sky, however I couldn't receive Prime.

I have two antennas - a UHF one and a VHF that are combined together using a diplexor (I think thats the right term).

I am only about 3km away from Sugarloaf in Bowenvale valley. While I can see the top of Sugarloaf there are a number of trees in the way. Would this be enough to attenuate the signal?

Perhaps the Maori TV transmitter is higher up on the mast than the Prime TV transmitter and Prime transmitter may be hidden from view?

Spyware: By poor reception are you simply referring to the low bitrate macro block debauchery that Sky Digital call a picture?? - Prime UHF is merely retransmitting the Sky Digital feed.

It is a very staticy image which just a ghost of an image of the Prime picture. A bit like the sort of reception you get when no antenna is plugged in. However, the Maori TV picture is solid.

Mike

rugrat

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#124115 16-Apr-2008 17:06

I think 90% of Christchurch gets bad Prime signal. Every house I've lived in I've had diagonal lines going through picture. Had an out door ariel installed at one and asked installer about prime, the answer was that the signal is to strong.

He put a thing on ariel plug to weaken signal, but still lines going through it, and he didn't want to put a stronger one on, as it may start effecting other channels.

Don't know why Prime have to be the odd ball out with transmitting power. One way they could get on Free View, without being on it , when the time comes is by transmitting at that incompatiable power level.

I guess for people that live far enough away the picture is alright, like New Brighton area.

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#124143 16-Apr-2008 18:48

Sky Movies channel 30, Sky Sport 34, Maori 46, The Box 54, Discovery/Trackside 58, Prime 62 from Sugarloaf all transmit at 64 dBW. CTV on 44 are the odd low powered channel out on 44 dBW. VTV 52 - 45 dBW, Shine 56 - 42 dBW are two other low powered channels that transmit from Marley's Hill.

I started to notice diagonal lines on Prime in 2006 - apparent interference from Sky Digital decoder (I don't use the RF connectors on decoder so was not directly from decoder via antenna cable). Replaced decoder and was fine. The only aberrations on Prime that I notice now is due to signal source being low bitrate.

Rugrat: Far away is Kaikoura and Timaru.

Note: 16 km from Sugarloaf in Belfast.

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#124145 16-Apr-2008 19:00

That's strange because Maori TV UHF comes through fine. Haven't got trackside tuned in but from past memory it came through fine to. Always had lines on Prime, even when didn't have sky decoder. Wonder why Prime is so difficult if it's not signal strength?

wonderstuff

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#124146 16-Apr-2008 19:07

Having looked at the frequencies on the Lincrad website, I thought the issue may be with higher frequency stations.

However I have just done a sweep and noted that the Sky channels 30, 34, 54(even though they are encoded) seemed ok, CTV 44 was bad, Maori TV 46 was excellent, Trackside 58 was mediocre, and Prime 63 was significantly worse than CTV. So for me at least it does not seem to be a frequency issue.

Just how much does trees in the path affect signal?

Will this mean that DVB-T may struggle?