We will be going on a half lap leaving sometime in April. Heading from SA up through Ayers Rock etc probably as high as Darwin and then cutting across through Camoweal and into North Queensland. Will be be able to get free to air TV anywhere, particularly up through the centre, or do we have to get a Satellite dish system. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.
KFT said
03:47 PM Feb 3, 2016
G'day Bazzasdream,
If you are planning on staying in bush camps or away from towns your chances of getting TV are remote. Even some caravan parks have little to no reception.
We have a VAST satellite systems that allows us to view TV wherever we are.
We have dealt with Satplus for quite a few years now and the service and after sales support is excellent.
We have an 80cm dish which is the minimum required for the northern areas of Australia and that size is much easier to aim. We also have a digital satellite finder which only indicates on the C1 satellite. This is important as the sats are quite close together and aiming at the wrong one can be frustrating.
many members here are using the VAST system for TV while travelling.
hope that helps
Frank
-- Edited by KFT on Wednesday 3rd of February 2016 03:47:53 PM
terrola said
08:13 PM Feb 3, 2016
what kft has wrote is spot on
i have a satellite finder which has a small tv screen when it locks on to satellite you have a tv channel on screen
then just un screw cable connect to van point and you have tv
and it only locks on to the right satellite well worth the few extra dollars
enjoy your trip
Phillipn said
09:55 PM Feb 3, 2016
KFT wrote:
G'day Bazzasdream,
If you are planning on staying in bush camps or away from towns your chances of getting TV are remote. Even some caravan parks have little to no reception.
We have a VAST satellite systems that allows us to view TV wherever we are.
We have dealt with Satplus for quite a few years now and the service and after sales support is excellent.
We have an 80cm dish which is the minimum required for the northern areas of Australia and that size is much easier to aim. We also have a digital satellite finder which only indicates on the C1 satellite. This is important as the sats are quite close together and aiming at the wrong one can be frustrating.
many members here are using the VAST system for TV while travelling.
hope that helps
Frank
-- Edited by KFT on Wednesday 3rd of February 2016 03:47:53 PM
Frank is spot on, he mentioned a 80cm dish, any smaller and its a waste of time.
Aus-Kiwi said
11:02 PM Feb 3, 2016
I need help . It has worked in the past but re registering . I keep getting no signal sign .. Ahhh !! I know it's the set up !!
valiant81 said
07:55 AM Feb 4, 2016
Ho Aussie - kiwi;
With your problem can you get channel 800 this is a default channel, If your dish is aligned up and pointing to the correct sattilight ??. If not and you can't get channel 800 this your problem your dish is off dirrection. Other things to check are, 1/ Do you have 13 Odd volts on the end of your coax cable, useing a digital mulimeter. 2/ The LMB may have failed and the only way with out some exspencive equipment is by replacement. 3/ Damaged cable and/or connections, even a crushed cable can kill the signal.
Once you have found the problem ?? set your sattilight receiver to channel 800 and even if your receiver has not been switched 'on' by Vast service channel you should be able to receive this channel.
ONCE you can receive channel 800 and only then do you contact Vast ( E-mail works the best ) and ask to have your receiver 're pinged'. This may take a while and could take from a few mins to a couple of hours. The authorisation is good for 6 months and then has to be renewed. While waiting for the 're ping' leave you dish alone, leave your receiver on channel 800 and switched on. If all good you hopefully will be good to go in a couple of hours. A good way is to see if you have been switched on is to try and see if you can receive channel 5 this is channel 10. If not go back to channel 800 and retry a bit later ( a couple of hours ).
The Vast people only operate from Monday to Friday ( as far as i Know ).
Aus-Kiwi said
04:48 PM Feb 4, 2016
Thanks for that . It's an Oyster brand ..As supplied, fitted by Winnebago .. The box has been sent to Vast for re program ., last year .
KFT said
04:54 PM Feb 4, 2016
Aus-Kiwi wrote:
I need help . It has worked in the past but re registering . I keep getting no signal sign .. Ahhh !! I know it's the set up !!
AK have you checked the settings in your satbox? make sure the LNB frequency is correct for your model of LNB which could be either 10,700Ghz 11,300Ghz or universal.
If you have a satfinder of some sort connect it between the box and the dish and see if you actually have some signal. This will tell you if the dish is a) pointing in the right direction B) if the LNB is working.
The other thing is to check the continuity of the co-ax to the dish and if the 13v dc present.
Frank
TheHeaths said
04:57 PM Feb 4, 2016
Bazza,
in answer to your question, you will be able to get free to air TV without a satellite system in most major places as you head north. You will need to be in towns, and will not get reception in free camps in general terms, but if you are using Caravan Parks you can travel without satellite. Certainly we have had reception in places such as Glendambo, Coober Pedy, Marla, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Threeways, Mataranka, Katherine, Darwin, Cloncurry, Richmond, Hughenden, Charleville, Winton, Longreach etc.
Having said that, if you do intend to do a lot of travel, in remote areas, and do enjoy TV, a satellite system may be a good investment for you.
bazzasdream said
06:37 PM Feb 4, 2016
Thanks very much for everyones help. Maybe our list of expenses will have to put the satellite system second, behind the diesel heater and before the generator. Really appreciate everyones help and hope to see you out there living the dream.
PeterD said
10:07 PM Feb 4, 2016
You don't have to go outback to miss out on TV. We are sitting here in Omeo and listening to radio as the park is in a sheltered position from the TV TX.
If you know how to or learn how to sort the data in Excel files you can produce new smaller data bases. I sort the pages into states and copy the data for each state into new files. I then sort the new files by latitude so I can work down the listings and find the transmitters in the areas where they are locators as the names of the stations may not accord the name of the town I am looking for. There is also lat/long data you can feed into Google or Bing maps. I also hide the columns I am no interested in.
We will be going on a half lap leaving sometime in April. Heading from SA up through Ayers Rock etc probably as high as Darwin and then cutting across through Camoweal and into North Queensland. Will be be able to get free to air TV anywhere, particularly up through the centre, or do we have to get a Satellite dish system. Your advice would be greatly appreciated.
G'day Bazzasdream,
If you are planning on staying in bush camps or away from towns your chances of getting TV are remote. Even some caravan parks have little to no reception.
We have a VAST satellite systems that allows us to view TV wherever we are.
Have a look here for more info: www.satplus.com.au/collections/caravan-satellite-tv-systems
We have dealt with Satplus for quite a few years now and the service and after sales support is excellent.
We have an 80cm dish which is the minimum required for the northern areas of Australia and that size is much easier to aim. We also have a digital satellite finder which only indicates on the C1 satellite. This is important as the sats are quite close together and aiming at the wrong one can be frustrating.
many members here are using the VAST system for TV while travelling.
hope that helps
Frank
-- Edited by KFT on Wednesday 3rd of February 2016 03:47:53 PM
what kft has wrote is spot on
i have a satellite finder which has a small tv screen when it locks on to satellite you have a tv channel on screen
then just un screw cable connect to van point and you have tv
and it only locks on to the right satellite well worth the few extra dollars
enjoy your trip
Frank is spot on, he mentioned a 80cm dish, any smaller and its a waste of time.
Ho Aussie - kiwi;
With your problem can you get channel 800 this is a default channel, If your dish is aligned up and pointing to the correct sattilight ??. If not and you can't get channel 800 this your problem your dish is off dirrection. Other things to check are, 1/ Do you have 13 Odd volts on the end of your coax cable, useing a digital mulimeter. 2/ The LMB may have failed and the only way with out some exspencive equipment is by replacement. 3/ Damaged cable and/or connections, even a crushed cable can kill the signal.
Once you have found the problem ?? set your sattilight receiver to channel 800 and even if your receiver has not been switched 'on' by Vast service channel you should be able to receive this channel.
ONCE you can receive channel 800 and only then do you contact Vast ( E-mail works the best ) and ask to have your receiver 're pinged'. This may take a while and could take from a few mins to a couple of hours. The authorisation is good for 6 months and then has to be renewed. While waiting for the 're ping' leave you dish alone, leave your receiver on channel 800 and switched on. If all good you hopefully will be good to go in a couple of hours. A good way is to see if you have been switched on is to try and see if you can receive channel 5 this is channel 10. If not go back to channel 800 and retry a bit later ( a couple of hours ).
The Vast people only operate from Monday to Friday ( as far as i Know ).
AK have you checked the settings in your satbox? make sure the LNB frequency is correct for your model of LNB which could be either 10,700Ghz 11,300Ghz or universal.
If you have a satfinder of some sort connect it between the box and the dish and see if you actually have some signal. This will tell you if the dish is a) pointing in the right direction B) if the LNB is working.
The other thing is to check the continuity of the co-ax to the dish and if the 13v dc present.
Frank
in answer to your question, you will be able to get free to air TV without a satellite system in most major places as you head north. You will need to be in towns, and will not get reception in free camps in general terms, but if you are using Caravan Parks you can travel without satellite. Certainly we have had reception in places such as Glendambo, Coober Pedy, Marla, Alice Springs, Tennant Creek, Threeways, Mataranka, Katherine, Darwin, Cloncurry, Richmond, Hughenden, Charleville, Winton, Longreach etc.
Having said that, if you do intend to do a lot of travel, in remote areas, and do enjoy TV, a satellite system may be a good investment for you.
You don't have to go outback to miss out on TV. We are sitting here in Omeo and listening to radio as the park is in a sheltered position from the TV TX.
Download this Excel file - Broadcast Transmitter Data (Excel version) (ZIP [602kB]) - This contains pages listing all TV, AM and FM stations in Oz.
If you know how to or learn how to sort the data in Excel files you can produce new smaller data bases. I sort the pages into states and copy the data for each state into new files. I then sort the new files by latitude so I can work down the listings and find the transmitters in the areas where they are locators as the names of the stations may not accord the name of the town I am looking for. There is also lat/long data you can feed into Google or Bing maps. I also hide the columns I am no interested in.