lacehim Posted October 2, 2006 Posted October 2, 2006 Does anyone have any info about when Southern Cross Seven & Imparja are going digital in Mount Isa or surrounding areas? We have ABC & SBS both on digital and running for months already. There doesn't seem to be any info about if or when it will happen.
alanh Posted October 2, 2006 Posted October 2, 2006 lacehim, The main problem is that there is no standard for digital TV from satellite for remote Australia. The problem is that none of the commercial services pay their way and so the government has to subsidise it. Satellite bandwidth is expensive. Remote Australia should press for the MPEG4 compression standard which is in use in Europe. This will enable HD TV in the same data bandwidth as SD using the MPEG2 compression standard used in DTV on ground based services. I do not know about Qld, but the WA commercials have been transmitting in digital for some years, but it is not widescreen and there is no other fruit. These satellite programs are received in Mt Isa and retransmitted. Satellite commercial stations are WAW (GWN in WA), W0W (WIN WA), IMP (Impaja) and QQQ (7 central) owned by Southern Cross. The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts is the Commonwealth department who sets the standards. AlanH
lacehim Posted October 3, 2006 Author Posted October 3, 2006 Thanks for the reply alanh. I did contact Imparja, they said in 6 months, but more like a year for digital. Southern Cross 7 didn't bother to answer. I have to admit that I'm getting a little fed up living out here. I love technology and gadgets but it just seems that when people start providing these new services like Digital TV, and ADSL2+ etc the last thing they think about is providing it to the whole of Australia. Considering our population we are the size of a suburb of Brisbane and expanding we still seem to be years behind. Oh, has anyone noticed that on the old analoge tv that they still have the HD displayed for movies etc. I really feel like phoning them up and asking how I can watch it in HD on my new projector!
lacehim Posted October 12, 2006 Author Posted October 12, 2006 Found out that they are still awaiting legislative outline for remote area digital broadcasts and it will probably be 12 -24 months before this is done. And it's unlikely that remote area services will include HD content! Great!
froggy Posted October 15, 2006 Posted October 15, 2006 (edited) Found out that they are still awaiting legislative outline for remote area digital broadcasts and it will probably be 12 -24 months before this is done. And it's unlikely that remote area services will include HD content! Great! Why don't you set up a satellite system. Will get you what you are after. Edited October 15, 2006 by froggy
lacehim Posted October 15, 2006 Author Posted October 15, 2006 What sort of satellite system? I don't know much about satellite at all. I already have Austar via satallite, but that's no help with the other channels. They have digital ABC & SBS, but they are also broadcasted via Austar. What's missing is 7 & Imparja (which is 9 & 10 mixed together). I don't know about anyone else but I'm just getting fed up waiting for digital. It just seems like the remote areas are an after thought, like usual.
matturn Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 lacehim,The main problem is that there is no standard for digital TV from satellite for remote Australia. The problem is that none of the commercial services pay their way and so the government has to subsidise it. Satellite bandwidth is expensive. If it's that expensive, how can such niche and lowly viewed channels as ICTV and the various TBN channels on high powered Australian beams stay afloat? There's a whole channel devoted to Centrelink teleconferencing. Any subsididy is likely to be marginal given that all FTA TV licencees have to pay large annual fees to the federal government. Most likely, any government assistance would be in the form of partial to complete exemption of those fees. Remote Australia should press for the MPEG4 compression standard which is in use in Europe. This will enable HD TV in the same data bandwidth as SD using the MPEG2 compression standard used in DTV on ground based services. MPEG4 is great, and should be made part of all Australian digital TV platforms. But the gear isn't mainstream yet - it's only just starting to be used in Europe now. I do not know about Qld, but the WA commercials have been transmitting in digital for some years, but it is not widescreen and there is no other fruit. All the remote FTV sat licences in Australia have been digital since 1999. But digital doesn't mean widescreen, it doesn't mean 5.1 sound, it doesn't mean HD, it doesn't mean a lot of things.
matturn Posted October 16, 2006 Posted October 16, 2006 What sort of satellite system? I don't know much about satellite at all.I already have Austar via satallite, but that's no help with the other channels. They have digital ABC & SBS, but they are also broadcasted via Austar. What's missing is 7 & Imparja (which is 9 & 10 mixed together). I don't know about anyone else but I'm just getting fed up waiting for digital. It just seems like the remote areas are an after thought, like usual. The sort of sat system in question is Optus Aurora - the government allocated standard TV system for remote Australians. You'd be eligible to recieve Imparja and SC Central in digital that way. Though unless your analog reception is poor, you might not get any benefit out of it. There's no widescreen, no 5.1, no HD, there isn't even any ABC2. Austar isn't likely to have commercial FTA stations on it until the government brings in a must carry rule. Which may well be never. Coonan said a few months ago that the remote areas might never get digital terrestrial, and that sat was probably the best way for them to get digital TV. Of course cities like Mt Isa and Alice Springs are obvious exceptions to that.
alanh Posted October 20, 2006 Posted October 20, 2006 Matturn, Austar is a pay Tv company, The ABC, SBS, 7 Central and Impaja, GWN (WAW) and WIN (WOW) are free to air stations and have their own satellite channels. (Commonly subsidised by state or federal govenments for satellite costs) AlanH
schmick_mick Posted November 18, 2006 Posted November 18, 2006 You never know, DDA may oneday get their network out that far, which at the least will give you WIN. At present they have added to their network with a link from MT Hopefuel out to Blackwater.
DEEJ Posted November 25, 2006 Posted November 25, 2006 lacehim PM me with any questions about the sattelite thing because that's my only option in Cloncurry. The dish is the last step and I want that done before the year is out. I'd be quite happy to help set something up if you want to go that direction.
alanh Posted November 25, 2006 Posted November 25, 2006 All, The remote area free to view TV which is on the Opus Aurora satellite has been digital for some years. It is cheaper for satellite costs. These signals are SD quality but without the fruit. I would recommend that these viewers raise public awareness of the decision to be made on Remote TV standards and push for MPEG4. Its price will plunge in the next year or so due to wide takeup in Europe. This will allow you to get HD tv in the same satellite cost as is being paid now. Remember some of the satellite costs are paid by state & Commonwealth governments. The signals are DVB-S which is the satellite version of the DVB-T used on the ground. If you get a home satellite receiver for this service it will be digital. These signals are turned into analog in small towns and transmitted. These transmitters are often paid for by shire councils, mining companies or aboriginal corporations. In Cloncurry it is slightly unusual, the ABC and Southern Cross Central are paid for by the ABC and the company, but SBS and Impaja have been paid for by the shire council. AlanH
DEEJ Posted November 26, 2006 Posted November 26, 2006 Yes Aurora is one option but in an area given terrestrial coverage getting a card authorised for SCTV and Imparja is difficult and there isn't any HDTV on that service anyway. Additionally for existing Austar customers it can be as easy as a few changes to the pickup on the satellite dish and possibly an extra cable or two if multiple recordings are desired. It's also possible to pick up the links the remote broadcasters use and that requires a slightly different setup but it well in the realm of reality for most. I only live 130 km's from Mt Isa what works here will work there depending on what he wants. And FYI it wouldn't be the first time the two council operated TX's have been off air here for four months in the five years I've been living here. Personally I'd like to see the Aus govt. change it's tune on who is elligible for satellite reception for a slightly more relaxed approach and save small councils the hassle of having to put up with people like me that want to get the best that's up there.
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