Go to any motorhome rally and you can guarantee one of
the hot topics will always be TV reception and aerials. You can improve quality
markedly by going down the digital set top box path as outlined a few issues back,
but you are still limited to areas where service is available and it is likely
to be 2010 before Australia is well and truly covered. On the other hand satellite
TV will get you better than DVD quality pictures and full stereo sound anywhere
in Australia you can "see" the sky, as well as dozens of crystal clear
radio stations. Yes, you can forget ghosting, crackly sound, fading and all the
other problems associated with watching "terrestrial" TV. Once you have
experienced the perfect picture and sound quality of pure digital satellite transmission,
it is often difficult to accept anything less.
Many are put off by the
dish set up, as this is perceived by most to be too complicated for them. When
you finish this story we promise you that you'll wonder why you didn't try it
sooner, as this article is written from the perspective of a rank beginner, so
you wont find any techno gobbledygook in here. Dish set up time is offset against
never having to tune again. Yes, this is not a misprint. All you need to do is
aim the dish and this becomes child’s play once you're in the know. You don't
even need a satellite "finder" most of the time.
How
Did Satellite Come About?
This article is deliberately simple, so
we will only skim the surface here. Satellite is the method used to provide TV
access to remote areas - known generally as Aurora and originally as RABS - Remote
Area Broadcast Service. It is subscription free once you buy a one off card from
Optus the service provider - around $100 from most satellite dealers. The system
is not designed for use in large cities and you can in fact be in breach of copyright
if you receive signals not intended for you, unless of course you are in a poor
signal area. A recent development is the uptake of satellite by RV'ers travelling
in the outback and this is the focus of this article aimed straight at newbies.
Where Are the Satellites?
Originally
most programs came from the Optus B3 satellite. Now they come from the brand new
Optus C1 which is actually in the same position as B3 used to be. Most satellites
are around the equator and the ones for Australia are located in the vicinity
of the Solomon Islands. In the early days you needed a very large dish, however
since the launch of C1 things have changed markedly for the better, as C1 is a
much more powerful satellite at 110 watts. This means it is much easier to find
and you now can get away with a much smaller, easier to handle dish except possibly
in Tasmania and south west WA. Are All Your Favourite
Shows on Satellite?
Without doubt this is the most important part
of this article! We will be covering this subject in minute detail as it is a
waste of time going satellite if it wont meet your expectations program wise.
Rather oddly you have to dig really deeply to find any info on this via the Internet
and even then you have to plough through message boards. First up lets talk about
just what you can or can't receive on what is called Free to Air satellite (FTA).
Every TV channel is not automatically beamed up to satellite, however it is amazing
what you can receive in some locations - almost as good as home. Lets start on
the east coast and work across Australia. The ABC and SBS are represented in all
States except Tasmania and there are no restrictions on watching, that we currently
know of. SBS has an extra foreign language channel as well, however as yet the
ABC doesn't beam up ABC 2 to the C1 satellite as found in digital set top boxes.
(it will be covered later in an advanced story, as you just have to know where
to look) So in Queensland ABC/SBS wise you get the same as the entire east coast
with no time differences. Tune in to SA and you're half an hour behind. Tune into
WA and you're 2 hours behind. This "time shift" can really work in your
favour. Say you are in outback Queensland and start watching Dr Who at 6PM and
your best mate rings up! All you do is watch it again on SA - 30 minutes behind.
Of course you do have to be careful when daylight saving kicks in, as it's not
in Queensland, however all other states remain the same. So yes, all your favourites
are there on the ABC and SBS plus some extras and the programs are exactly as
printed in the Sunday paper guides. What's on the
Commercial Networks?
Things here aren't quite as rosie and the dealers
sometimes don't always point this out too clearly. First up there is no dedicated
Channel 9 or 10 anywhere in Australia. Channel 7 has the best coverage followed
by Channel 9. So from the east coast on Channel 7 you get Seven Central out of
Townsville (Southern Cross) which is exactly the same programming as Channel 7
in Brisbane. Program times are the same as for all of Queensland. There is no
more channel 7 until you reach WA where we get GWN which of course is 2 hours
behind Queensland and the programming is not always identical, but it is pure
Channel 7. There is no channel 9 in Queensland/NSW/Victoria/SA. However, Imparja
in the NT runs a mix of about 75% Channel 9 and 20% channel 10 and the rest local
- the News comes from 10 though, but you do get "A Current Affair".
Moving to WA you get WIN WA which is 2 hours behind Queensland and is a mix of
9 and 10 and once again they provide the news from 10. Both WIN and GWN clearly
state on their screens "For WA residents only". Quite obviously the
commercial channels want to protect their licensed areas otherwise they could
lose advertising revenue. How Does Aurora Activate
Your Card?
A little hard to get your head around this, as it's a
bit sci-fi! Your numbered Aurora card is unique just to you. Optus "activate"
your "Smart Card" by sending a message to it via the satellite - phone
1300 301 681. You must have the dish aimed and be receiving the Optus tuning channel
for this to work - more on this next issue, as it's not that hard. Sounds a bit
like Big Brother doesn't it particularly when it only takes 10 minutes to send
the message. Many dealers supply kits with this sort of thing already done, so
you get a "turn key" solution - switch on, aim dish and watch. However,
it still isn't the wonder drug, because as soon as you move west things change
as to what you are authorised to watch. Now your initial activation via Optus
doesn't cover all of the commercials, only the ones in your area and these do
not switch on with the initial activation. Here is a summary of how it all works
in practice - the "rules" so to speak! TIP: Try to be on power when
activating your card and leave your decoder switched on as activation can sometimes
take a while and if switched off you may "miss" the signal. If not activated
in 24 hours just ring again and ask for a "re-hit". Optus will ask you
the postcode of your location. You may have problems getting approval if you ring
from your home. Be certain to advise them that you are "mobile". We
have found Optus to be extremely helpful and if busy they will ring you back the
same day. If one has an Optus Aurora card and you are travelling anywhere
EAST of the WA/SA border you will get Seven Central - Southern Cross Broadcasting
(1800 501 063 -
t.reception@southerncrossqld.com.au) and Imparja (Mix of 9
&10 as explained above - 1300 301 683 - decoders@imparja.com.au).
You will not be authorised to get GWN (ch7 - 1300 301 681) or WIN
(mix of 9 & 10 - 1300 301 681). Once you cross the WA/SA border
travelling WEST you call the appropriate telephone numbers as above and OPTUS
will change the authorisations to allow GWN & WIN, but you will instantly
lose Seven Central and Imparja. When you return to EAST of the WA/SA border you
can again call and change the authorisations back. Now this does appear overly
complicated, but in practice it is very simple to arrange and Optus is a delight
to deal with. However, having said that the channels aren't always that quick
to respond - up to 3 days sometimes and they will require your details, rough
itinerary etc. by fax or email. Please don't let any of this put you off, as all
is fixed usually with just a phone call, email, letter or fax. Something to be
aware of though is each authorisation for bonifide travellers only lasts around
6 months after which it is automatically "switched off". You know this
has happened when you get "scrambled" when you select any channel other
than the Optus tuning channel. All your regular stations will normally still show
full quality signal even though you are getting the "scrambled" message
on the screen. So if you don't use your RV for a while and then wonder why your
set hasn't got all or even any of the channels, then this is probably why - your
box is not faulty, you just need to ring Optus and advise that you are still travelling
and they will "re-hit" your card. All of this information outlined
here is only for Free-to-Air sat TV channels. All of the ABC and SBS channels
are unaffected by where you are. So if you are a devotee of "The Bill"
and "Dr Who" you wont be affected at all and you are free to use the
time differences to suit your lifestyle! We do this quite a lot as Dr Who often
clashes with "Happy Hour" when travelling. TIP: You still need to advise
Optus that you are travelling every six months or you will lose Channel 2 and
SBS - 1300 301 681. Commercial stations can be slow to activate
- Imparja can send the authorisation direct from its transmitter so they are generally
quicker. The others usually fax Optus. Is Satellite
Digital and Can I Get 16 X 9 PIctures?
All Australian FTA channels
are now digital. If you have one of the newer wide screen LCD TVs then it will
work perfectly with 16 X 9 and give you total full screen when the program is
transmitted that way provided your decoder supports 16 X 9. On older TVs you may
notice a narrow area of black along the top and bottom. This isn't a problem and
when you eventually upgrade, it will of course go away. What
about Radio Stations?
You have to hear satellite stereo radio to
believe the quality. There is absolutely no static or background noise. Listening
to radio is a wonderful option, as long as you have enough power to run the decoder
for long periods. We should point out at this stage that 12 volt satellite decoders
are as rare as rocking horse teeth, so you have to run an inverter as well. Luckily
consumption rarely exceeds 50 watts, with most being in the 30 watt range and
some as low as 12 watts. So you can listen via the TV as most decoders blank the
TV screen, or you can run it into a radio or CD player, or listen via headphones
depending on the model. We saw a great system the other day using wireless headphones.
This is economical on power, as rechargeable batteries can be used. On program
content your dealer will give you a list from Optus with contact numbers - most
are automatically activated when you register your card with Optus. You can get
the BBC, ABC in all five time zones, JJJ (ouch!) etc. We suggest you look at some
of the Indigenous stations as well, as some have fantastic country and western
continuous music. It's a shame that satellite in Australia wont work as you drive
along just yet. Can I Get a Program Guide?
TV
Week etc. wont do you much good at all. However, the Queensland Sunday newspaper
put Imparja on the back page of their free Sunday TV guides in Eastern Standard
Time. You can view a guide online by a chap called "Windy" on the very
informative Austech Forum. Don't make the mistake of printing this out, as most
weeks it runs to 52 pages! Ouch! Another chap usually does a beautiful 6 page
Aurora highlights for the week. We normally print this out. You can also go to
the channels individual satellite websites for a good guide. Don't forget though
that satellite itself does tell you what’s on "now" and what's
on "next" by pressing the EPG button - sometimes called "Guide"
on some sets. When you are on the EPG page for any station you can scan through
all the other available stations. Most "boxes" even show you a small
picture of the current program, as well as more detail than you will ever get
in a TV guide. Eventually the Electronic Program Guide will be expanded to cover
one months programs. They already do this overseas and it is absolutely brilliant.
You can even "reserve" the shows you want to watch and they come on
automatically and in recording models even set the timer without you doing anything
- what bliss! Something important we haven't mentioned yet, is that the time actually
comes down from the satellite. This means you don't have to go through the frustration
of doing this task every time you stop. Yet another time saver for satellite!
TIP: Imparja don't start broadcasts until 5.30am, but usually run their excellent
weekly program guide from around 5.15am. So when travelling in Eastern Australia,
if you have a recording model it is a good idea to record this once a week particularly
if you can't get Internet access. | 
