SABC through DVB-T2 on HD TV?

You need a need both UHF and VHF so it's best to get a panel antenna. You can get them anywhere, I got from Mica. I'm using a HDHomerun Duo and it works fine. I've also used the Giga T230 USB sticks and they're also ok, but a bit for me they were a pain to keep neat.

You can either look for the frequencies on the net but they're all different depending on where you are, so the best thing is to let the software do a full scan. There are only 2 for each region that are open in any case for eTV and SABC.
 
Having read the above, thought I'd try an old trick from way back in another century.

- Standard TV Ellies co-ax cable bought this morning from the local Spar
- A large Paper Clip suitably butchered as per the pic. It is covered in plastic so I stripped off a bit to make the connection.
- A small piece of Press-stick to prevent the the Paper clip from wobbling in the connector..
- Plugged the arrangement into the antenna plug of my four-year-old Samsung Smart TV and went to the menu and scanned.

The result can be seen from the attached. Although the pic says the channels loaded were Data/Other, there were all the SABC channels, about 3/4 ETV ones and lot of radio station. Obviously the TV pic was fairly erratic due to hand movement and it was difficult to find the best direction/polarization. The 'antenna' was held by my wife who has now declared me insane. Our home is in on the Umhlanga side of Durban. Between us and the transmitter, which I think must be Alverstone (Midway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg - 40 kays), is an 'old style' 14cm and another 28cm brick wall. Beyond that is a considerable amount of tall Durban bush which I should imagine is considerable obstruction to any RF signals.

Readers will be pleased to hear that now I know DTV signals exist were we live, I have ordered a Funke DVBT2 active antenna. (We gave DSTV the heave-ho at the end of last year).

I have also attached a frequency chart for Durban - it was downloaded, I think, from the Sentech site, but that was a couple of months ago, so the exact details are a bit scratchy. I know it covered the whole of SA but I just extracted the local details.
 

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Bandwidth, so that is the "size" of a channel. According the PDF it is still on VHF and UHF. My folks still have a VHF antenna up on the farm. We used to pick up SABC 1 and 2 from the tower above Constantia, so I guess I should take the receiver their and see what it picks up.
 
I am way out of my league here (I've been sailing the ocean blue for the last 50 years or so ) but attached is the table of European DVB-T2 Channels - doesn't look too much different from those South African Channels/frequencies I sent earlier. I do think those frequencies in the Sentech table are for analogue analogue transmissions, but the DVB equivalent are not far different, so a regular UHF antenna should receive DVB-T2? Well, my paper clip device did.

From what I can read, the important part of dedicated TVB antenna specs is the ability to exclude LTE signal interference, and signal amplification? I also concur with Rouexentor's comments about bandwidth. On ships we used to have bandwidth overflow problems on many HF radio telephony channels. - not so much of a hassle these day. Most comms at sea are VHF or satellite (plus cellphones....).
 

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NO need for fancy antennas at all. Just need a wideband UHF antenna, and a TV with a DVBT2 tuner, that is all. There is no encryption on the SABC multiplex and on some of the e-tv stuff. DSTV multiplex (go tv) is encrypted.
Only need a DVBT2 set-top box IF you are in an area where there are no terrestrial transmitters and then it is a satellite STB that is required, or, if you only have an analogue tv and want to pick up DVBT2.
In the end it depends on the TV -- analogue ---- need a terrestrial or satellite DVBT2 STB.
Digital HD - with a DVBT2 tuner, just a normal wb UHF antenna.
Digital HD TV no DVB tuner ----- STB
DSTVs Go TV service ---- STB (theirs) because it is either satellite or terrestrial and it is encrypted.
 
Digitaluser said:
Hi - I am looking for a DVBT2 set top box in Cape Town - I understand that China Town may sell them - would the instructions, onscreen information and remote be in English - has anybody had experience of setting them up - thanks:)
Click to expand...



https://www.takealot.com/amo-digital-tv-decoder-dvb-t2-receiver/PLID53811424


AMO Digital TV Decoder DVB-T2 Receiver R349 Takealot
Free To Air TV Receiver

The AMO Digital TV Receiver is a digital TV decoder with DVB-T2 functionality which allows you to make use of the free digital frequency TV channels at home.
The decoder has eleven different free local channels which are:
SABC Sports, SABC1, SABC2, SABC3, SABC NEWS, Parliament, eTV, eXTRA, eMOVIES+, eTOONZ, and eBELLA.
19 Local Radio Stations:
SA FM, Metro FM, Thobela FM, 5FM, Lotus FM, Umlobo Wenene, Ukhozi FM, Channel Africa, Good Hope FM, Radio 2000, RSG, X-K FM, TRU FM, Ikwekwezi FM, Phalaphala FM, Ligwalagwala FM, Munghana Lonene FM, Lesedi FM, and Motsweding FM.
The Amo Digital TV Decoder DVB T2 does not use a satellite dish, it only uses a normal RF connection TV Aerial, preferably outdoor antennas. With the added USB port, you are able to connect external mass storage devices, also allow you to use the PVR functionality that lets you PAUSE, RECORD, and REPLAY, live TV.
What's in the box
1 x AMO Decoder
1 x AMO Decoder Remote
1 x RCA Cable
2 x AAA Batteries
 
Rouxenator said:
I know, but what do I need? UHF? VHF? Back when I still watched analogue TV you could buy a grid antenna and it was either UHF or VHF depending on the orientation. If you have direct line of sight to the transmitter you could use a Yagi if you wanted UHF.

What I need is a list of transmitters, where they are and what band they are broadcasting on.
Click to expand...
im no expert on this but the VHF and UHF days are numbered.
It is an analogue signal
The DVB system is digital so a completely different antenna is needed, like a DSTV decoder for example and not a big ass braai grid.
Your DVB will not pick up VHF and UHF
 
Chuckmyster said:
im no expert on this but the VHF and UHF days are numbered.
It is an analogue signal
The DVB system is digital so a completely different antenna is needed, like a DSTV decoder for example and not a big ass braai grid.
Your DVB will not pick up VHF and UHF
Click to expand...

HVF simply stands for Very High Frequency and UHF stands for Ultra High Frequency. Up until recently both these bands were used exclusively for broadcasting Narrowband and Wideband Frequency Modulated Analogue signals. Nothing in the antenna design makes the antenna an inherent "Analogue" or "digital" antenna.
In fact the "braai grid' antenna is a simple wideband antenna suitable for use to receive any transmission in the UHF band. The only possible reason for a modification to an existing wideband UHF antenna will to be to reduce the bandwidth of the antenna and to filter out the future use of a large portion of the band by the mobile operators when they start to get their allocation of the band previously reserved for broadcasting. So, in a sense, the only change needed would be to reduce the "bandwidth" of the braai grid design somewhat. You could do that with a simple addition of a bandpass filter when the time comes. But right now, a piece of wire stuck into the back of a TV that has a DVBT2 tuner will probably be good enough for many to receive a DVBT2 signal. A STB is only required IF you don't have a TV with a built in DVBT2 tuner or you are in an area where DTT will only be available via satellite, like in the SKA restricted area in the Northern Cape, where no terrestrial broadcasting OR any other mobile service is available for that matter. A simple DVBT2 receiver in the form of a dongle will work just as well. A DVBT2 receiver still picks up a signal in the UHF band. VHF transmissions are almost completely out of the picture in the future as that portion of the band has been allocated to other services.

Analogue broadcasting should have been shutdown years ago.
 
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Finally, the only other reason for a STB existing for DTT terrestrial is IF the signal is ever "encrypted". Because then you will need some or other "Smart Card" decryption setup, currently provided for in a STB. No one will ever need a STB for DTT terrestrial FTA transmissions IF every single modern HD TV is equipped with a DVBT2 tuner by default.
Or should I say, all we need is for the existing tuners already present in these TVs to be activated in the sw and a normal terrestrial antenna socket to be provided ---- :laugh:

I have a 5-year old Sinotech 32 inch flat panel HD ready TV. No reference anywhere in the manual that it was both Analogue and digital terrestrial capable, except for a tiny obscure entry that had obviously been missed when the manual was re-written for the SA market. It turned out that not only was there a digital tuner available but that tuner is able to receive ALL the DTT standards available in the World with automatic detection of the standard in use. All that was required was to scan the band and hey presto there all the channels were and still are.
 
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try time said:
You would use a satellite. And most hd Tv's have a digital tuner on board. For example my Hisense has a DVB -t2 tuner, which is the european standard, and what is being used by SABC.
Click to expand...

Incorrect, the T part of DVB-T2 means Terrestrial, hence NOT via satellite and therefore requires a UHF/VHF antenna (aerial)

(The Satellite counterpart of DVB-T2 as used in Europe is DVB-S2)
 
Chuckmyster said:
im no expert on this but the VHF and UHF days are numbered.
It is an analogue signal
The DVB system is digital so a completely different antenna is needed, like a DSTV decoder for example and not a big ass braai grid.
Your DVB will not pick up VHF and UHF
Click to expand...

DVB is broadcast on UHF and VHF - the only difference is that it's a digital signal, not analogue.

Analogue TV signals take a lot of bandwidth - hence the call for analogue shut down.

You can squeeze many for digital TV channels in the same amount of bandwidth as one analogue TV channel. (up to 20 IIRC). Also, freeing up analogue spectrum allows for more mobile networks and wireless internet ISPs to use the airspace.

There is no difference between digital and analogue in terms of electromagnetic spectrum. The only difference is one is encoded digitally, and the other not.

It's like Morse code. You can send Morse code on exactly the same frequency as a normal voice, and technically Morse code could be seen as "digital" although they both can occupy the exact same VHF frequency. (heavy oversimplification there).
 
genetic said:
DVB is broadcast on UHF and VHF - the only difference is that it's a digital signal, not analogue.

Analogue TV signals take a lot of bandwidth - hence the call for analogue shut down.

You can squeeze many for digital TV channels in the same amount of bandwidth as one analogue TV channel. (up to 20 IIRC). Also, freeing up analogue spectrum allows for more mobile networks and wireless internet ISPs to use the airspace.

There is no difference between digital and analogue in terms of electromagnetic spectrum. The only difference is one is encoded digitally, and the other not.

It's like Morse code. You can send Morse code on exactly the same frequency as a normal voice, and technically Morse code could be seen as "digital" although they both can occupy the exact same VHF frequency. (heavy oversimplification there).
Click to expand...
wow, holy smoke, that is super cool. Thanx :)
 
The aerial at my folks place is one like this, mounter vertically and pointing towards Constantia. As I said before, back in the 90s we used it to pick up SABC 1 and 2 on VHF.
TAV04.png


Seeing as some people are able to pick up DVB-T2 with a paper clip I think having an external one like this will help with picking up most of the channels. I'll give it a try on the weekend and see what happens.
 
Rouxenator said:
The aerial at my folks place is one like this, mounter vertically and pointing towards Constantia. As I said before, back in the 90s we used it to pick up SABC 1 and 2 on VHF.
TAV04.png


Seeing as some people are able to pick up DVB-T2 with a paper clip I think having an external one like this will help with picking up most of the channels. I'll give it a try on the weekend and see what happens.
Click to expand...
Yes it would! maybe not with the best reception, but it depends on the signal strength available. Maybe you would need to change the polarisation from HOR to VER but that would be it.
And yes spoken like a true DIY'r .Try it and if does not work, then panic. :D:p:cool:
 
Further to my post at the weekend, I substituted my bent Paper Clip for an old bunny-ears antenna I found in the garden shed. A huge difference in reception. Bunny ears perched on top of the TV, behind two walls and a huge amount of bush. I found (on the Samsung Smart TV), Channels 800 to 845. The following won't display programming and screen advises I need a CI card or Decoder:

801 to 807 (Channel Africa, Channel O and others)
821 to 827 (Mnet Go, some Mzanzi Stuff)
841 (Supersport Select)

But

808 to 812 work well with good quality:
808 Mnet HD,
809 Xbella,
810 E-Extra,
811 E-Movies,
812 E-Toonz

And also:

SABC Channels on 834 to 838
834 SABC 1
835 SABC 2
836 SABC 3
837 SABC News
838 Sport HD
(828 Parliament TV also available.....)

The balance of channels not mentioned above receive local SABC radio channels, including 5FM & RSG.
 

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