Whangarei?

[hamisht]

I heard through my sister that her ex-husband can pick up FreeviewHD in town.. anyone else been able to? I live further out of Whangarei and have a UHF antenna in the shed, but would like to know if anyone else is getting it.

[hamisht]

I chucked up my antenna for the hell of it, at the highest point on the house (we are on a hill too) and didn't get anything.  We are in Whakapara if anyone is interested.  Could be the antenna I guess.. but its the same one I used in Hamilton without problems.. probably about 10+ years old..

bugger, was hoping to get the World Cup in HD without using Sky.

[Freeviewshop Administrator]

bugger, was hoping to get the World Cup in HD without using Sky.

If you want the best picture quality you can get (from Freeview) I would recommend the Ultraplus HD receivers as they use the ST7109 and 7110 HD processors with state of the art upscaling, it makes an impressive difference!

Click here to checkout the Ultraplus HD Satellite receivers

[Jenks 51]

Hi Hamish

As I understand the terrestrial freeview fired up on Mt Parihaka (Parahaki) in Whangarei a few weeks ago.
It is not intended to extend further north as far as I am aware ie Mt Hikurangi up near Kaikohe which is probably where you are getting your current VHF terrestrial signals from.

At Whakapara you will need a very good line of sight back to Parihaka to have any chance of picking it up but very unlikely.

[hamisht]

Thanks, I am on a hill, but don't have line of sight to Parihaka.. Is there such a thing as a 'UHF Finder'?

[Jenks 51]

Hi Hamish

I am much closer than you at Kauri and because I don't have line of sight get nothing from Parihaka on UHF so don't like your chances.
Not sure about a "UHF finder", I usually just line up by sight.
Satellite Freeview will probably be your only option

[happyhound]

when i lived in kauri in Apotu rd next to cemetery i could get uhf prime but had a large yagi uruda array with a mast head amplifier.no line of sight and no drop out of signal.never got decent vhf signals on any channel.that area in in a green zone for freeview now so should be ok on HD.

[hamisht]

Hi Hamish

I am much closer than you at Kauri and because I don't have line of sight get nothing from Parihaka on UHF so don't like your chances.
Not sure about a "UHF finder", I usually just line up by sight.
Satellite Freeview will probably be your only option

That's a shame.. I guess we will have to just cope with standard quality until the government decides we and the further north are worthy of getting it lol

[Freeviewshop Administrator]

That's a shame.. I guess we will have to just cope with standard quality until the government decides we and the further north are worthy of getting it lol

It is extremely unlikely that UHF coverage will be expanded any further. However I think that eventually the Satellite service will have to be upgraded to HD.

[satboy]

That's a shame.. I guess we will have to just cope with standard quality until the government decides we and the further north are worthy of getting it lol

It is extremely unlikely that UHF coverage will be expanded any further. However I think that eventually the Satellite service will have to be upgraded to HD.

For that to happen tax payers would have to stop paying for the two freeview tps and the government would have to bring into law what the Canadians and Americans have for FTA broadcasts on PayTV with the amendment that they must not be scrambled similar to this :

Class 3 Licensees

Television Programming Services that Must Be Distributed as Part of the Basic Service

[131-183]
32.  (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section or under a condition of its licence,
         a licensee shall distribute as part of its basic service

  (a) the programming services of all local television stations; and
  (b) the programming services of all regional television stations other than
      affiliates or members of a network of which a local television station
      is an affiliate or member.  [SOR/97-555, in effect January 1, 1998]

[131-184]
     (1) A licensee of a cable distribution undertaking shall distribute
     the programming services referred to in subsection (1) beginning
     with the basic band of its undertaking.  [SOR/97-555, in effect January 1, 1998]

[Freeviewshop Administrator]

For that to happen tax payers would have to stop paying for the two freeview tps and the government would have to bring into law what the Canadians and Americans have for FTA broadcasts on PayTV with the amendment that they must not be scrambled similar to this :

Class 3 Licensees

Television Programming Services that Must Be Distributed as Part of the Basic Service

[131-183]
32.  (1) Except as otherwise provided in this section or under a condition of its licence,
         a licensee shall distribute as part of its basic service

  (a) the programming services of all local television stations; and
  (b) the programming services of all regional television stations other than
      affiliates or members of a network of which a local television station
      is an affiliate or member.  [SOR/97-555, in effect January 1, 1998]

[131-184]
     (1) A licensee of a cable distribution undertaking shall distribute
     the programming services referred to in subsection (1) beginning
     with the basic band of its undertaking.  [SOR/97-555, in effect January 1, 1998]

That would be a great idea (the best idea), but it could also be done in a number of other ways.

e.g. economise on the SD services and move all SD services to 1st TP (drop repeated TV Ones etc) and use second one for HD (upgrade it to DVB-S2 at the same time to make more efficient use of the bandwidth), perhaps even put some of the channels with very low viewer nos on the DVB-S2 TP help the viewers with an upgraded STB etc.