PRESS RELEASE 26 March 2012
Mainland TV to Introduce digital TV channels along side
Freeview
Mainland TV is now broadcasting 8 digital TV channels and 2 radio stations from Observatory hill Nelson ( Ch 26 Horizontal polarity at 25 DBW ) and the same 8 channels from the Takaka Hill site - near the main road SH6 summit ( Ch27 Vertical polarity at 29 DBW ).
Mainland has
introduced a number of new terrestrial digital TV channels including two of its
current analogue TV channels.
Viewers who receive Mainland TV analogue TV channels now only need a digital TV or a terrestrial digital TV set top box or a terrestrial digital recorder.
If viewers are not tuned to Mainland they will
need one UHF TV antenna mounted vertical polarity pointing half way between Mt
Campbell & the Takaka Hill highway summit or an antenna pointing to
Observatory hill.
Viewers should receive all the digital TV channels & new digital TV channels providing their antenna has a line of site view to the hills behind Motueka or Observatory hill & the hill 200 metres north of the centre of NZ.
If not most viewers can tune to Observatory hill Nelson on digital channel 26 using auto or manual tune.
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Tuning in tips
You may need to perform regular auto tuning on your TV's or set top boxes as we finalise the channels and as new channels come on line.
It is important to ensure you have the correct polarity for the sites you are tuned to. You may need to perform a manual tune on Mainland ch26 horizontal polarity if you are close to Observatory hill with a UHF antenna pointing at it. If you have 2 UHF antennas and live in Richmond, Stoke or Tahuna then ch 26 Observatory hill may be the best option. Select manual tune and select ch26 then press enter.
Some Nelson City viewers can get their TV
antenna installer ( or do this themselves) to remove the UHF antenna reflector
so they can receive both Mainland digital & Freeview on the same antenna at
the same time. This is only an
option in some inner City areas. It may be worth trying, to save having to buy
two antennas.
The reflector
normally adds gain to the antenna and reduces signals from behind the antenna
that can cause reflections, multipathing and phase errors. If you live in an
area where Observatory hill is to your South west and Freeviews site just 200
metres north of the centre of NZ is to your north east you could try removing
the reflector and pointing the antenna at the weakest signal. It usually works
fine doing this as the driven element remains in phase to both signal sources
and reflections are minimised as both signal sources should be very strong to
over ride reflections or multipathing.
Before you buy a digital TV or have
an antenna installed
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Before you buy a
digital TV or set top box make sure the shop shows you it going on all the
Freeview and Mainland digital TV channels before you buy.
If they can not,
we suggest you try another shop. When you arrive home you should select
autotune and retune it in as in your location the receiver may find a better
signal as both Mainland and Freeview use two sites both with the same channels
to enable you to receive a signal in most locations. There will be spots where
you can receive Mainland and not Freeview and visa versa.
When it comes to
TV antenna installers don't take reception advice as always true. We encounter
complaints from viewers, about installers who have given the wrong or bad
advice.
If one installer
can not provide reception get a second or third opinion.
Generally if you
can see the Takaka Hill where the main road goes over the top and you can see
Mt Campbell you should have no problem receiving both Mainland & Freeview
digital TV channels.
Point your
antenna in the vertical plane half way between the Takaka hill and Mt Campbell.
If you can see
Observatory hill Nelson then your should receive Mainland using horizontial
polarity. If you can see the hill 200 metres north of the centre of NZ (above
the wood) you should receive Freeview.
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For more
information please see our website ( www.7-media.net)
or talk with your local
TV antenna installer