Satellite TV

I have been a member of CMCA for quite a number of years, and have operated a satellite TV-equipped motorhome throughout Australia while doing business supplying free-to-air satellite TV to all Australians. This means I have had Satellite TV in our motorhome for the past 16 years and moved through all the technology changes, and supplied thousands of customers with picture-perfect TV everywhere in Australia.

I have been particularly interested in the mobile aspect of satellite TV in motorhomes and the best ways to ensure great TV viewing no matter the location.

There are a number of misconceptions and misunderstandings around about satellite TV so in this article I would like to cover as many aspects as possible with a view to enlighten and seek discussion from members. Hopefully at the end of the day members will be able to know exactly which configuration of equipment will suit them best.

I will deal predominately with scheduled TV services, and cover briefly the unscheduled ones. The scheduled services are important, as it is these services that are:

• guaranteed to stay there.

• are fully supported by the industry, government and broadcasters.

• have equipment approval processes that provide guarantees that service will be correctly received.

There are a number of other services that are reportedly available but need proper scrutiny by the viewer if money is being invested to receive them.

Understanding the Scheduled Services

We refer to these services as new Direct to Home Free to Air Digital Satellite TV and Radio Broadcasting Service now being delivered in Australia to all Australians, including those on the move in motor homes and caravans.

Many enthusiasts exaggerate the number of services available, so it’s important to understand what services are currently available. The main services are detailed below; ABC, SBS, Seven Central, Imparja, Golden West, WIN, educational service and radio services. There are other services on Optus and other satellite including special interest channels and one way internet. Not all services open on all receivers. Our standard receivers are Optus approved for all Optus Free to Air services. Other receivers may or may not receive services correctly, so the user should be aware of many product differences between those designed to receive approved service and other generic receivers.

Direct to Home Satellite TV reception is great. It means that no matter where you live in Australia, from Halls Creek to Hobart, or from Marble Bar to Mallacoota, your television reception will be superb.

The original Remote Area Broadcast Service was known as HACBSS and commenced with the first launch of Aussat in 1985 transmitted in a special format for satellite transmission called B-Mac. It offered ABC only, and pricing was around $3000. It bought years of joy to many, especially first time Television Viewers.

Things have changed since then. The number of services available has increased and pricing has reduced significantly.

The new Direct to Home Digital Australian Service commenced in mid 1999. This service operates right around Australia providing ABC, SBS, Commercial Services and a number of specialised TV and Radio services.

Without satellite television you will find everyday terrestrial reception is very limited by topography such as mountains, buildings and even the earth’s curvature. Weather patterns often interfere with reception. Reception can be marred by local electrical interference and band space is limited so numbers of channels are restricted. Satellites have none of these restrictions, programs can come from next door, or half way round the world with picture perfect digital quality. With Australian Free to Air Satellite TV, you own your equipment and we encourage our customers to self-install, which keeps the cost down. We are always available for encouragement and assistance.

Australian Direct to Home Free to Air Digital Services - Enjoy Them All:

ABC and SBS Television and Radio in all states PLUS Commercial TV services from the 7, 9 and 10 networks via their regional affiliates. See table for a full list of services currently available.

Because of the technology of the transmission system, all sound is in superb Digital quality. When listening to these services directly by satellite, you’ll realise the full benefits of Digital reception.

ABC Programming Including News and Weather

The ABC has 5 separate television broadcasts available on the satellite. These services broadcast from Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Darwin and Perth. Each channel is responsible for their own programming, however, they may use the National feed from Sydney for all or part of their News broadcast.

The typical content of the News includes National Headlines followed by State based news content. The same format is used for the weather forecast. There is no specific regional content for news or weather as the satellite broadcasts services to a large population over a great land area.

More specific regional news and weather is available on the many radio services which broadcast news bulletins every hour on the hour.

One of the great benefits of satellite viewing is that you have available, news services from other states. Similar benefits occur with ABC Radio Services.

Remember, during summer time, Perth is 3hrs behind, Darwin & Brisbane 1hr behind and Adelaide 1/2hr behind Sydney time.

Seven Central

Seven Central is an independent regional station based in Townsville. With the aggregation of terrestrial services in Queensland operating since January 1, 1991. Seven Central’s programs now provide Seven Network programming with local insertions appropriate to their satellite audience. Their licence covers the satellite delivery area east of the WA border.

Imparja

Imparja is an independent channel based in Alice Springs and takes programming from the Nine and Ten Network. Their licence also covers the satellite delivery area east of the WA border.

Golden West

Golden West is an independent channel operating out of Bunbury in Western Australia and serves the satellite audience in WA only.

WIN

Win is a channel Nine affiliated service servicing their satellite audience in WA only.

SBS

SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) provides multi-cultural service in four time zones.

Don’t be fooled by the name, programs are excellent with English language coverage of World News, current affairs, documentaries, and serials. SBS is often known as ‘the other channel’.

Educational TV Services

Specialised services such as Westlink are now available at no cost to the satellite viewer.

Radio Services

The new Digital platform allows a multitude of radio services to be provided at relatively low cost to the broadcaster.

This has brought us specialised Narrow casting services such as: the 7 great channels of no commercial music courtesy of Satellite Music Australia, Radio Italia, BBC World Service Radio, United Christian Broadcasting and for the racing lovers, the Four TAB radio.

Narrow Casting

This is a relatively new term used in Australia and it relates to services with specific appeal to narrow audiences, rather than to broad audiences. Australian legislation and licensing does differentiate between them with more relaxed rules for Narrow casting. Such services are the shopping network and specialised educational services.

Conditional Access

Customers should be aware that TV and Radio Broadcasts in Australia on satellite have always been and still are Conditional Access. This means that the broadcaster can control who watches and who listens, even though there is no charge for the service. This particularly affects the four current commercial operators, namely Seven Central, Imparja, Win and Golden West. Some Narrowcast operators, namely the Shopping Network elects not to use conditional access. Some narrowcasters, however, do elect to use conditional access but allow non-commercial users access. These include BBC World, Satellite Music Australia and others.

ABC and SBS is conditional access but in practice there is no restriction on use. These broadcasters may however restrict access for special events that may be time zone sensitive.

This is not noticeable where ABC and SBS services are concerned but the Commercial Broadcasters do actively restrict their service locations in accordance to the condition of their licence.

Pay TV services use the same type of technology, only they charge for their service, own the equipment and do not cater for motorhome owners. PAY-TV operators do not provide the Australian Satellite Free to air Services.

Satellite Commercial Service areas:

It is important to understand that the four satellite commercial operators have licenced areas just like terrestrial operators, but there is a difference:

• Satellite signals cover the whole of Australia so the viewing is controlled by the conditional access card, just like Pay TV, but without paying.

• This means that motorhome owners must be physically in the broadcaster’s service area to be turned on.

• Turning on is easy, just phone them up with your address in Bourke Caravan Park or whatever. We have full maps and listings of just where the licence areas are.

• Motorhome owners may be aware that there has been new legislation regarding black spot areas. This new legislation covers areas where terrestrial TV operators have a licence to operate but don’t provide an adequate service. In practice this is fine for permanents, but not appropriate for motorhome owners, who do not stay for long in one place.

We have customers who are on oilrigs, who travel, or who have motor homes or caravans, or just go on holidays to very out of the way places. Most of these customers do take their satellite gear with them. Satellite signals are receivable almost anywhere in Australia. If you are in doubt about coverage from any particular broadcaster, please discuss this with us.

Pay TV Reception

For those of you who are subscribers to the PAY-TV services, do not overlook the capability of your equipment to allow you to watch these services when you are away. This means that your free to air equipment can be configured to receive (without guarantee) the pay services, but it does mean that you need to already be a satellite pay customer at home. You just take your card with you.

Equipment

VIDEOSAT’s advertised package of a 90-cm system is perfect for receiving these satellite services over most of Australia and will provide more than adequate signal margin for most viewers.

We have the Campersat range of systems specifically designed to cater for the customers who are on the move.

There are some issues that need to be considered with motorhomes:

• Standard dish size is 90 cm although if you travel to the far north, or far south west going up a dish size to 1.2 meters may be appropriate, apart from the inconvenience in carrying.

• The pay TV foot print is not Australia wide, it just covers a narrow banana shaped band say 500KM wide from Rockhampton to Adelaide, with spots in Darwin and Perth. Outside this area Pay TV will not be reliable.

Configuration Issues

• 240V – yes the satellite box does need 240V but it is light on power at 30 watts.

• The integral mounts in the Campersat range fold down on the roof, providing an added security bonus.

• Many Aussie motorhome owners do their own thing on mounting their dish away from the motor home. This removes the restriction of the vehicle having to be able to be parked where it can see the satellite

• The Satellite is located above the Solomon Islands, so pointing varies from just east of north in Eastern Australia to just north of east in Western Australia.

• The satellite look angle is up at 70 degrees at the Cape to below 35 degrees in southwest WA. Unlike normal TV, we need nothing in the way of the beam. Even small trees have water in their leaves, which soak up the signal something fierce.

• The easiest way to point the dish is to use a small test meter. We supply these as part of the Campersat kit.

Consider your dish as a large torch. Any intrusion into the beam by trees or buildings will reduce the satellite signal. The beam must just clear any obstruction. It doesn’t have to be clear around the dish only in the beam path.

Recommended Dish Sizes

As Optus is the carrier for the majority of services, it is prudent to use dish sizes they recommend for the grade of service. In practice 90cm is adequate for virtually all of Australia except for the far north.

In practice there is no variation in picture quality received until there is no signal left for the digital electronics to decode. The picture then rapidly fades to nothing until signal is restored. Some users have reported OK reception on 60-cm dishes. It is important to note that picture quality remains the same. What is lost is fade margin, so when signal drops below what the receiver needs, the picture is not noisy, - it just isn’t there at all!

In practice the dish sizes recommended by Optus take into account factors such as weather, equipment, aging etc.

There are additional factors under broadcaster control that will have some additional effect on the actual margin for error.

The Optus footprint signal however does reduce in the Far North and CapeYork areas. In these areas we suggest up sizing of the dish.

Options and Accessories:

VIDEOSAT also has all the accessories needed to make the most of your satellite system. We have a number of different mounts available ranging from the budget and portable mount to our Campersat permanent mounted version with fixed interior adjustable mount. We always encourage our customers to have a Signal Strength meter to help with the initial installing and any subsequent realignment.

We suggest you review your complete proposed installation with a view to optimising all of the services and options needed. Such items include, correct operation of the radio services, possible re-transmission of services around the home, distribution to multiple television sets, shared control of the satellite receiver and integration of pay Services.

For further information call Videosat for some friendly and helpful advice on 02 9482 3100. Or visit our web site www.campersat.com.au.

Wally Shand, General Manager Videosat Pty Ltd

(02) 9482 3100 , email wally@videosat.com.au