29 October 2015 Television reception issues in Yass The ACMA has recently conducted an investigation of the reported television reception difficulties in Yass and the findings are outlined below, including options for improving television reception. Television coverage in Yass Most of Yass falls within the coverage area of the Canberra VHF television services broadcast from the Black Mountain tower. Some parts of the town are also able to receive UHF South West Slopes television services from Mt Ulandra. Because the township of Yass lies in a valley, the higher parts of the town are expected to receive good coverage, with coverage levels decreasing to fringe- area coverage in the lower parts of town. Fringe-area coverage can still provide reliable television reception using an appropriate fringe-area antenna installation. 1 A few parts of Yass that have hills close by in the direction of both Black Mountain tower and Mt Ulandra are obstructed by the terrain and are unable to receive reliable terrestrial television services. Attachment A provides a map detailing TV coverage levels in Yass based on the ACMA’s coverage investigations. Background Digital switchover As part of the digital television switchover, the ACMA conducted a coverage evaluation program (CEP) that performed a series of television coverage measurements across many towns in Australia including Yass. 2 The CEP measurements in Yass were performed in November and December 2010, with Canberra services switching over to digital only television in June 2012. These measurements identified that while the television coverage in Yass was good 1 Before the retune in November 2014, a fringe-area antenna installation for Canberra services in Yass comprised separate high-gain VHF and UHF antennas mounted up to 10 metres above ground. Now, only a single high-gain VHF (Black Mountain tower) or UHF (Mt Ulandra) antenna is required. 2 ACMA Coverage Evaluation Report for New South Wales—ACT and Southern Tablelands switchover area (June 2011). Page 1 of 8
Transcript
29 October 2015
Television reception issues in Yass
The ACMA has recently conducted an investigation of the reported television reception difficulties in Yass and the findings are outlined below, including options for improving television reception.
Television coverage in YassMost of Yass falls within the coverage area of the Canberra VHF television services broadcast from the Black Mountain tower. Some parts of the town are also able to receive UHF South West Slopes television services from Mt Ulandra. Because the township of Yass lies in a valley, the higher parts of the town are expected to receive good coverage, with coverage levels decreasing to fringe-area coverage in the lower parts of town. Fringe-area coverage can still provide reliable television reception using an appropriate fringe-area antenna installation.1 A few parts of Yass that have hills close by in the direction of both Black Mountain tower and Mt Ulandra are obstructed by the terrain and are unable to receive reliable terrestrial television services.
Attachment A provides a map detailing TV coverage levels in Yass based on the ACMA’s coverage investigations.
BackgroundDigital switchoverAs part of the digital television switchover, the ACMA conducted a coverage evaluation program (CEP) that performed a series of television coverage measurements across many towns in Australia including Yass.2 The CEP measurements in Yass were performed in November and December 2010, with Canberra services switching over to digital only television in June 2012. These measurements identified that while the television coverage in Yass was good for some areas, some patchy areas were likely to experience reception difficulties. The report identified that a fringe-area antenna installation may be required to receive reliable reception in many parts of Yass.
The report found that the analog television coverage in Yass was also patchy, with the same areas of poor or no coverage, and that the digital services had matched the analog services. As the broadcasters had met their same coverage obligations and the digital switchover had no requirements for the broadcasters to improve coverage, the broadcasters chose not to install a local broadcast site in Yass.
Households located in the parts of Yass with poor or no coverage need to consider the Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) service. The government’s VAST service is 1 Before the retune in November 2014, a fringe-area antenna installation for Canberra services in Yass com-prised separate high-gain VHF and UHF antennas mounted up to 10 metres above ground. Now, only a single high-gain VHF (Black Mountain tower) or UHF (Mt Ulandra) antenna is required.2 ACMA Coverage Evaluation Report for New South Wales—ACT and Southern Tablelands switchover area (June 2011).
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intended to provide an alternative for those households who cannot receive adequate terrestrial television reception.
RetuneThe Canberra services retuned in November 2014. Only the ABC and SBS services changed frequencies, with SBS changing from the UHF to VHF band. Although the ABC changed frequencies, it moved within the VHF band. These limited frequency changes would have had no impact to television coverage in Yass, especially when considering Prime, WIN and Southern Cross services made no changes. Households with antenna installation that could receive the commercial services reliably before the retune would be expected to receive all services reliably following the retune.
One of the benefits of the retune was that it simplified the requirements for antenna installations—households in Yass now only need a single high-gain VHF antenna to receive all Canberra services.
ACMA Yass reception investigation, April–July 2015The Federal Member for Hume, Angus Taylor MP, contacted the ACMA in March 2015 advising that many of his constituents in Yass were reporting television reception difficulties. The ACMA was also contacted by a local antenna installer reporting widespread television reception difficulties across Yass.
Following these reports, the ACMA commenced an investigation into television reception in Yass, and as part of this investigation, performed television coverage and interference measurements across Yass in April, June and July 2015. The ACMA found that signal levels were comparable to those measured earlier as part of the digital switchover. The ACMA also uncovered an unusually widespread problem with power line interference that is highly intermittent, which affects many, though not all, households.
Parts of Yass that receive weak signals from Black Mountain and are subjected to power line interference are likely to experience intermittent reception difficulties. This is exacerbated by a number of inadequate antenna installations in the town. A map detailing TV reception levels in Yass based on these measurements is included in Attachment A.
The ACMA has been working closely with the local electricity supplier to help resolve these interference issues. Unfortunately, from the ACMA’s experience, it usually takes a long time to resolve widespread interference of this type.
The ACMA also found some households had faulty masthead amplifiers that were emitting spurious signals and causing interference to their neighbours’ television. The ACMA has successfully resolved these cases, by issuing notices to the owners requiring deactivation of the faulty devices.
Options to improve television reception in YassThese problems are not cheap or simple to fix and the ACMA is now in discussions with government, broadcasters, community representatives and the local electricity supplier about the best way to improve television reception in Yass.
Households in Yass experiencing reception problems may want to consider the following steps: > In areas where reliable terrestrial reception is not available (due to poor television
coverage as shown in Attachment A), households may want to consider installing the VAST service.
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> In areas where reliable terrestrial television reception is available, as shown in At-tachment A: > Households may want to consult with an antenna installer to ensure their an-
tenna installation is suitable for fringe-area reception.> Households with a fringe-area antenna installation that continue to have re-
ception problems may seek assistance from the ACMA by completing the R202—TV interference: Request for investigation form after their system has been inspected by an antenna installer and confirmed that their reception problem is a result of external interference. The installer will also need to complete Part B of the R202 form.
> Once the ACMA has determined that power line interference is the cause, the viewer will need to report the interference to the local electricity supplier to resolve.
> The local electricity supplier would continue to work on resolving power line interference where it is evident that power line interference is causing recep-tion difficulties and adequate terrestrial television reception would be other-wise available.
Some households may be able to receive alternative UHF coverage from the South West Slopes television tower located at Mt Ulandra. These households should contact an antenna installer to confirm if this is the case. These UHF services are also less prone to power line interference.
Before considering any major antenna installation upgrade, households need to be cautious—while improving antenna installation would improve reception, the presence of power line interference in parts of Yass means that viewers may still experience some reception difficulties, although less often.
Alternatively, installing a local UHF broadcast (retransmission) site in Yass would provide a single, community-wide solution to the reception problems.
Even though broadcasters did not have any obligations to extend their coverage as part of the switchover to digital television, broadcasters have put in place a number of new broadcasting sites to address particular reception or coverage issues experienced in other areas. In general, this means most broadcasters are now reasonably unlikely to consider further extending their terrestrial digital television coverage due to the significant infrastructure and operational costs involved, unless there was a compelling commercial incentive.
The ACMA does not have a role in mandating or in allocating funding for these types of services. The ACMA’s role would be limited to providing assessment of a proposal for the new broadcasting site from the channel planning and licensing perspective.
Retransmission services can be provided by third parties on a self-help basis, such as councils, mining companies and local community organisations; however, to date no one has emerged with the willingness or the means to install a retransmission site in Yass.
More information about establishing retransmission sites is available from the ACMA website . 3
3 Information about digital television terrestrial self-help retransmission services are available from www.acma.gov.au/Industry/Broadcast/Spectrum-for-broadcasting/Spectrum-digital-television/digital-television-terrestrial-self-help-retransmission-services or via http://tinyurl.com/mq23sdg.
From the ACMA’s experience with other communities that have also been affected by complex reception problems, it may take some time before a final solution is agreed and implemented.
Where can I get more information?Below is some additional information, including a map of Yass that shows areas with poor or marginal reception from Black Mountain tower, as well as areas that may be able to receive alternative coverage from Mt Ulandra. There is also guidance for households about what may be causing their reception problems and options to improve their reception. While the map should provide a useful guide, only an experienced antenna installer would be able to provide specific advice for individual households about their best option after measuring the television signal level and quality at each location.
The ACMA’s TV reception information hub also provides information on how to resolve TV reception issues, focusing specifically on the importance of an optimised antenna installation for reliable TV reception.4
The ACMA is also working with the local Federal Member of Parliament and other key stakeholders to find the best combination of solutions going forward for the problems uncovered in Yass.
4 Visit the ACMA’s TV reception information hub at www.acma.gov.au/tvreception.
Please note: The coverage map and associated information are indicative only. Consult an
experienced antenna installer for the best advice before purchasing or in-stalling reception equipment.
Figure 1: Yass digital television coverage areas
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Key to map Causes and recommendationsPoor coverage areas (red areas)
Households in poor coverage areas (red areas) are unlikely to have adequate VHF coverage over time. These households should consider applying for the Viewer Access Satellite Television (VAST) service.
Marginal coverage areas—susceptible to PLI(dark orange areas)
Households in marginal coverage areas (dark orange areas) are just within the limits of fringe-area coverage and may be unlikely to get adequate reception if they are affected by power line interference (PLI).
These households should consult an antenna installer to assess if adequate VHF television reception is possible or if VAST is their best alternative.
Marginal coverage areas—less susceptible to PLI(light orange areas)
Households in marginal coverage areas (light orange areas) are above fringe-area coverage but may still be unlikely to get adequate reception if they are affected by power line interference. However, they may be able to considerably reduce the occurrence of disturbance by utilising a fringe-area antenna installed up to 10 metres above ground.
These households should consult an antenna installer to assess if adequate VHF television reception is possible or if VAST is their best alternative.
Areas with alternative coverage from Mt Ulandra(blue areas)
Households in areas with alternative coverage from Mt Ulandra (blue areas) may be able to receive adequate reception of the South West Slopes television services. These services use UHF frequencies and are less prone to power line interference.
These households should consult an antenna installer to assess if adequate UHF television reception is possible from Mt Ulandra or if VAST is their best alternative.
Other areas Households outside the poor and marginal areas are expected to get reliable TV reception if they utilise a fringe-area antenna installed up to 10 metres above ground. Households with an optimised antenna installation in these areas are more likely to have adequate immunity to power line interference. The ACMA has found that households that use masthead amplifiers (boosters) are more susceptible to power line interference.
