Perth, Hillarys - Cable Antenna?!

**caminperth** · 27-06-09, 03:01 PM

call out to anyone who may be able to offer advice..

My area is Hillarys. About 3 years ago I moved into our house and found the existing signal to be poor or non-existent for most channels. I called an installer round and he found that we were connected to a "cable" antenna coming from the street. He then supplemented this with an antenna mounted in the roof-space and a Kingfisher amplifier, combining it with the cable.

This seemed to work for a while, however has been slowly losing SBS, Seven & Nine more frequently and now cannot pick it up at all. I've been up there and made sure that the cabling is going from the antenna, to the joiner with the cable signal and then direct to the TV outlet and have wound the gain up on the amplifier. This has netted me a signal for Seven.

SBS and ABC are my main channels (the tour starts soon!) and I'm not worried if I loose out on the others.

Any advice? Or should I just get an installer around?

Thanks in advance,
Cam

*****
Update - have just found that the antenna is connected as VHF and the cable is connected as UHF. Does this mean that I won't actually need the cable for normal digital TV?

**mate** · 27-06-09, 04:56 PM

Ask yourself this, did you spend a lot of money on a big flat telly? Then if you did spend a bit more money and get the antenna fixed professionally.

**caminperth** · 27-06-09, 06:25 PM

Mate - thanks for the informative response..

I've already spent around $500 with one installer for a solution which obviously isn't working so yeah, I'll go and blow some more eh?

I'm trying to find out some info on this "cable antenna" so that I don't get fed more BS next time..

Anyone else? Constructive feedback/info would be greatly appreciated.

Cam

**mate** · 27-06-09, 06:29 PM

offer advice and not taken up, maybe i'll just be like e veryone else around here and ignore 1st time posters with attitude.

**caminperth** · 27-06-09, 06:47 PM

**edited as mate retracted his insults**

All,

Please ignore the above, the last thing I came to this forum for was abuse.

I've found out that the cable may be part of a "Master Antenna System" that exists through parts of Hillarys. Not sure who maintains it though.

I'd really appreciate some info if anyone can provide.

Thanks,
Cam

**bambbbam** · 27-06-09, 10:39 PM

I imagine you would get a lot of salt corrosion in that area.. I've not heard of a street antenna though..

**Fernbay** · 28-06-09, 09:40 AM

Originally Posted by caminperth

Mate - thanks for the informative response..

I've already spent around $500 with one installer for a solution which obviously isn't working so yeah, I'll go and blow some more eh?

I'm trying to find out some info on this "cable antenna" so that I don't get fed more BS next time..

Anyone else? Constructive feedback/info would be greatly appreciated.

Cam

Thats why I charge at $100/hr + parts.

The 10 years or so that I've spent getting trade qualifications at tafe for electronics, TV, aerials & refrigeration would have been better spent becoming a doctor or a lawyer.

$250 would cover a basic install.

$500 would be the starting point for a basket case install.
I think you might have to part with more of the folding stuff

**Tecom Master** · 29-06-09, 12:52 AM

is your propertey part of a strata title? if so the matv system is the responsibility of the strata manager. If it's not strata titled who knows who the matv system belongs to.
putting tv antennas in the roof is usually a waste of time. either way you need swomeone to have a look at it that has a feild strength meter to establish what the problem is and the best solution.