There are dodgy spots for TV reception all over the Mountains, judging by the response to last week’s Gazette story about Mt Victorians losing some of their channels.
Unhappy viewers from Glenbrook, Blaxland, Winmalee and Springwood, further up to Hazelbrook and Lawson, and some in Wentworth Falls, Leura and Katoomba all complained about having trouble getting free-to-air stations.
But Katoomba antenna specialist Scott Tomkins said it was likely that reception could be improved for everyone.
“It could be as simple as a $30 filter or $200-$260 for an amplifier and a similar amount to upgrade an antenna,” he said.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigated the problems at Mt Victoria and found a range of issues were having an impact on reception.
“These included power line interference, masthead amplifiers being overloaded by 4G mobile broadband signals and other sources of intermittent interference which the ACMA is continuing to investigate,” a spokeswoman said.
She added that the “biggest factor” affecting the Mt Victoria households were the masthead amplifiers (signal boosters) being overloaded by 4G mobile broadband signals.
Ian Grant, from the Blackheath-based Connections in High Places, was certain the interference was being caused by the Optus tower.
“As most of the antenna equipment is designed for channels 6-12 VHF and 21-69 UHF, the Optus signal on channel 64 is overloading masthead amplifiers in the immediate area,” he said.
Both tradesmen said the problem could be fixed with a filter to cut out the unwanted frequencies or by reducing the amplifier’s UHF signal.
“Most issues can be resolved for $80 to $100,” Mr Grant said.
One of the affected Mt Victorian residents has written to ACMA, asking that it pay the cost of the antenna work she and her neighbours will have to get done to restore their TV channels. Janene Theol noted that Optus had paid AMCA $650 million for bandwidth in an auction of the digital dividend spectrum in 2013.
“As ACMA has made so much money from the sale of the 700 MHz band, it is felt that ACMA should pay for the works to be undertaken, not just in Carrington Ave but all those who have been affected.” Ms Theol wrote.
Mr Tomkins said it was not just mobile phone towers that could affect TV reception - it also depended on terrain and topography.
“I’ve got areas in Blackheath where it’s fine in one street but in the next you can get no reception at all. If you are down low with a hill between you and the transmitter, you can have problems.”
Mr Tomkins said he had fixed “dozens of these problems from South Penrith all the way up to Mt Victoria”.
In areas with very poor reception, people can have a government-approved satellite free-to-air system installed. More details are available at www.myvast.com.au.