No Freeview HD in Wellington apartments?

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ajw

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#481807 16-Jun-2011 12:21

pedrogarcia: And the reality is that urban apartment dwellers like me tend to be younger, tech savvy and unprepared to settle for standard definition broadcasts.

My body corporate won't install Freeview HD so we just go on forking out for Sky. At least I can watch '16 and Pregnant'.

Why not buy a free to air satellite decoder with built in upscaler to 1180i.

Jaxson

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#481811 16-Jun-2011 12:26

ajw: Why not buy a free to air satellite decoder with built in upscaler to 1180i.

Because it's not going to give as good a picture (for the real HD shows at least) and you miss out on the 5.1 sound capabilities.

Reality

mm1352000

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#481845 16-Jun-2011 13:52

Yes, sat and terrestrial can be mixed into the same cable as the frequency ranges don't overlap. I do that at home and don't even need filters. We have one TV with a Freeview sat receiver, another (that hasn't been upgraded yet) receiving analog, and my HTPC receiving Freeview HD, Optus D1 + D2 + C1/D3, analog TV and FM... all essentially from a single feed.

cyril7

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#481868 16-Jun-2011 14:22

You should use appropriate diplexers to combine and de combine LBand and UHF spectrum, reason is that typically each type of tuner does not always offer an nice impedance to the other band, this can cause bad reflections (poor return loss) within the cabling system that can totally screw your signals. Diplexers will prevent this from happening.

Cyril

mm1352000

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#481878 16-Jun-2011 14:33

I guessed as much, however adding diplexors would probably reduce the signal strength/quality marginally too (another split so to speak). I get away with it at the moment, but definitely something I'd consider for the future if I encountered problems...

richms

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#482057 16-Jun-2011 22:25

I had massive issues when I tried doing it ghetto styles with 2 splitters to combine and split on the single cable out to the garage. Diplexers cleaned up the UHF so much it wasnt funny, had all sorts of diagonals over the upper UHF whenever a sat box was on and therefore powering the LNB. Also doesnt help that its grotty old RG59 but the sat works sweet as thru it so not gonna dig up and replace it.

Richard rich.ms

Jaxson

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#482119 17-Jun-2011 09:26

richms: I had massive issues when I tried doing it ghetto styles with 2 splitters to combine and split on the single cable out to the garage. Diplexers cleaned up the UHF so much it wasnt funny, had all sorts of diagonals over the upper UHF whenever a sat box was on and therefore powering the LNB. Also doesnt help that its grotty old RG59 but the sat works sweet as thru it so not gonna dig up and replace it.

There's so much bad in that....
Basic splitters, RG59, buried...

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kiwisat

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#482126 17-Jun-2011 09:37

It might be worth giving one of these antenna http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=384191416 a try. I can report success just deployed indoors in Wgtn CBD apartments. They run on the smell of an oily rag when it comes to digital, they just need a sniff of signal.

richms

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#482421 18-Jun-2011 01:02

Jaxson:

There's so much bad in that....
Basic splitters, RG59, buried...

Was here when we got the place, once I redo the watermain etc I will replace it with conduit. There is only about 5m of the really bad stuff, at either end I have taken RG6 to as close as possible so its not that bad ;) and with complete overkill on amplification at the house end (dual outlet dist amp, one goes to house splitter, one goes to the cable to the garage, which has another dist amp in it) levels are fine overall. But you can get my modulated CCTV cameras on a handheld LCD portable TV in most of the yard so there is a lot leaking out ;)

Richard rich.ms

KFB

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#483911 21-Jun-2011 20:27

Jaxson: Couldn't sat and terrestrial be mixed on the same cable, with the appropriate use of faceplates / splitters at the users end?

Yes, If they are passing the LNB output arount 950 to 1500MHz they should be able to mix in the lower frequency terestrial signals and present both to each apartment.

wferreira

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#484075 22-Jun-2011 00:20

No freeview in Miramar either. Not at my corner on Darlington Rd.

bnapi

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#484079 22-Jun-2011 00:27

pedrogarcia: I recently moved from an apartment building in Wellington which wasn't wired for Freeview HD into another one, and have been informed by the building managers that it is also only wired for Sky. There's a UHF aerial on the roof, but it is not connected and will not be connected, apparently.

Just wondering with the govt now announcing firm timelines for switch over, how many other apartment dwellers are like me and compelled to pay monthly subscriptions just to watch TV in HD?

Do you own or rent the apartment? If you own, can't you attach a freeview antenna to your outside wall? Do you have a deck because if you do couldn't you attach the antenna do that?

Jaxson

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#484146 22-Jun-2011 08:44

bnapi: can't you attach a freeview antenna to your outside wall?

Often there are body corporate rules that oversee apartment complexes.
Typically they don't allow this so as to ensure property values are maintained etc for all owners.

richms

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#484437 22-Jun-2011 15:30

Jaxson:
bnapi: can't you attach a freeview antenna to your outside wall?

Often there are body corporate rules that oversee apartment complexes.
Typically they don't allow this so as to ensure property values are maintained etc for all owners.

Yes, but in more advanced countries there are laws that prevent the enforcement of rules against the installation of reception antennas, which was recently improved to include internet services. No idea if NZ allows for that sort of thing.

There was issues in the past with body corps in some student slum-like apartments doing exclusive deals with certain telcos, IMO thats not on but they seemed to get away with it.

Richard rich.ms

pjamieson

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#494276 17-Jul-2011 12:57

pedrogarcia: My body corporate won't install Freeview HD so we just go on forking out for Sky. At least I can watch '16 and Pregnant'.

The way I see it this really sux and you have a few options to "force" the situation:

1) As others have said, buy a small outdoor aerial and attach it to your apartment in the most offensive way you can. If there is a complaint, go into mediation to resolve the issue that they don't provide DTT reception.
2) Offer to pay towards the costs of installation for the whole building (maybe take up a collection). The cost should be minimal if it is just wiring up the UHF and adjusting the filters.
3) Depending on what type of Body Corp it is, go to the next meeting and complain, or get voted onto the residents panel and put forward the motion to install DTT (using the loss of value from DSO as an argument).
4) Get your local Labour/Green MP to start a protest march to parliament ;-)
5) A mixture of the above.

I took this approach in a really old apartment in Newmarket when we only had VHF/UHF Analog and we wanted Sky Digital to each apartment. It was a huge job and only cost a few thousand, devided over 60 odd owners, and it added value to my landlords asset.

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