How to test for DVB-T reception?

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › How to test for DVB-T reception?

joepenman

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#76822 7-Feb-2011 16:18

Hey guys,

At the moment i have a Sky Dish and I think a UHF aerial installed.

I know i can get Freeview over Satellite using my dish but since i have a HDTV i would like to see if i can get DVB-T.

There are some trees around my house so i would like to test this before going out and buying a terrestrial STB..

How can i test for reception etc, if i get Prime does that mean i'm good to go?

Thanks!

xpd

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#436351 7-Feb-2011 16:20

General rule of thumb appears to be that if you can get a reasonable Prime signal, you should be able to get HD.
How often that rule has failed/worked, who knows :)

Gavin / xpd / FastRaccoon / Geek of Coastguard New Zealand

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joepenman

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#436353 7-Feb-2011 16:24

Lol quick answer!! The reception on prime isnt the best but thats possibly due to dodgy aerial or it hasnt been tuned properly..

Dingbatt

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#436355 7-Feb-2011 16:25

Whereabouts in the country are you? I see a whole bunch of additional places are getting DTT.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=76799

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Behodar

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#436359 7-Feb-2011 16:30

xpd: General rule of thumb appears to be that if you can get a reasonable Prime signal, you should be able to get HD.
How often that rule has failed/worked, who knows :)

In my experience it's not the best rule, eg. I have flawless analogue Prime but I've had no end of trouble with getting Freeview HD to work reliably. Some days it's fine, other days it breaks up, and sometimes there's no signal at all :(

But as mentioned, it'd help to know where in the country you are.

joepenman

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#436361 7-Feb-2011 16:35

Dingbatt: Whereabouts in the country are you? I see a whole bunch of additional places are getting DTT.

http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=83&topicid=76799

I'm in Epuni, Lower Hutt.

99% sure i am in coverage for terrestrial but due to a few trees around the place am not so sure if i can get any decent reception?

joepenman

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#436364 7-Feb-2011 16:39

Behodar:
xpd: General rule of thumb appears to be that if you can get a reasonable Prime signal, you should be able to get HD.
How often that rule has failed/worked, who knows :)

In my experience it's not the best rule, eg. I have flawless analogue Prime but I've had no end of trouble with getting Freeview HD to work reliably. Some days it's fine, other days it breaks up, and sometimes there's no signal at all :(

But as mentioned, it'd help to know where in the country you are.

Hmm i see, so not the best way to test then..

Do you think these problems are due to weather or just your location?

richms

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#436366 7-Feb-2011 16:40

ime, if analog is unwatchable but in colour then digital is good to go

Richard rich.ms

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joepenman

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#436369 7-Feb-2011 16:43

richms: ime, if analog is unwatchable but in colour then digital is good to go

Cool thanks, that's reassuring :)

Anything else i could try?

Behodar

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#436383 7-Feb-2011 17:02

joepenman: Do you think these problems are due to weather or just your location?

I hesitate to "hijack" the thread but I guess that this is far enough on-topic;

I think it's a combination of location and weather, since it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. I'm in Whakatane, which is not in the official HD coverage area, however my parents 5 km away are able to get it without any issues so I assumed that I'd be able to get it too.

Prime, Trackside etc normally come from Mt Edgecumbe (although the transmitter site is called Putuaki or something similar), which does not transmit Freeview. If I point my aerial at Mt Edgecumbe then I get flawless reception because it's so close. I can also point at Te Aroha, which does have Freeview. In that case, I get watchable but not flawless analogue, but patchy Freeview.

When I bought the gear, I wasn't too concerned because Mt Edgecumbe was on the list of proposed 87% coverage transmitters. It has subsequently been removed from the list without warning (and was the only location to be removed; all the others are still there). I contacted Going Digital (Ministry for Culture and Heritage, I believe) a couple of weeks ago but they could not supply any further information as transmission sites were apparently still under discussion. An article about coverage expansion appeared on Stuff.co.nz today without listing Whakatane/Mt Edgecumbe but I'll wait for an official announcement before pressing the matter further.

On another note, Tauranga (Kopukairua) is also within line of sight but I can't get Freeview from there either. I can see the analogue channels (and they're watchable) but can't see the digital ones at all. Te Aroha is unreliable on some days, but confusingly I get absolutely nothing from Kopukairua even if I try to manually enter the frequencies.

Speedy885

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#436604 7-Feb-2011 22:53

Does the HDTV have inbuilt Freeview (most do but not all)? if it does then just plug your UHF antenna into the tv and see if you can pick anything up. Freeviewnz.tv says Epuni is "very likely" to get Freeview HD also Make sure you have your antenna pointed at MT kaukau as this is most likely the transmitter site that is closest to you.

joepenman

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#436649 8-Feb-2011 07:44

mikelday: Does the HDTV have inbuilt Freeview (most do but not all)? if it does then just plug your UHF antenna into the tv and see if you can pick anything up. Freeviewnz.tv says Epuni is "very likely" to get Freeview HD also Make sure you have your antenna pointed at MT kaukau as this is most likely the transmitter site that is closest to you.

Hi mate, unfortunately it's a few years old (55" Sony Bravia Rear Projection) so it doesn't have an inbuilt tuner.

Jaxson

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#436677 8-Feb-2011 09:25

Perhaps this:

Digital Signal Meter From Jaycar

Speedy885

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#437081 8-Feb-2011 23:31

Try the meter Jaxson has suggested but after looking on the jaycar site it says this:

Note: Due to the distressingly large number of people returning this product under our satisfaction guarantee policy this product no longer has a satisfaction guarantee. Experience has shown that the product is reliable and not likely to be faulty either. We do this with great reluctance but have no choice.

So people have been testing the signal and then returning it because the dont need it anymore LOL!

bfginger

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#437089 9-Feb-2011 00:35

joepenman:
Hi mate, unfortunately it's a few years old (55" Sony Bravia Rear Projection) so it doesn't have an inbuilt tuner.

Does it have HDMI?

joepenman

45 posts

Geek

#437099 9-Feb-2011 06:17

Yes, it has hdmi.