You need to understand a few things about how TV is transmitted in different areas around the country, to be able to setup your antenna to receive the best signal. There are 2 major factors:
1. Is the signal VHF or UHF.
2. Is it transmitted Horizontally or Vertically.
At home in Bacchus Marsh, we get our TV signal from Mt Dandenong (Melbourne). There are 4 VHF channels (2, 7, 9 and 10) and 2 UHF channels (SBS and C31). The signal is transmitted horizontally. If you look at the antenna on my roof, it has some long elements (VHF channels) and lots of short elements (UHF channels). Also the elements run parallel to the ground - Horizontal.
Over Christmas we stayed at Inverloch, It has 5 channels, all UHF (short elements) and Vertical transmission (elements at right angle to the ground). The other weekend we stayed a Shepparton, it has 1 VHF channel - Vertical, and 4 UHF channels - Horizontal.
The point I am trying to make, is that when you arive in a new area, and setup your TV antenna, you need to know where to point it, as well as whether it needs to be Horizontal or Vertical.
Unfortunatley, the stock Wineguard is only best setup up for Horizontal VHF reception, so If you happen to be in Inverloch for example (Vertical UHF), you will struggle to get good reception. There is an add on available for the Wineguard, I think called the "Wingman", which improves UHF reception, and I have seen mods on the net to be able to change the Winguard to vertical.
I use a couple of methods to get my antenna setup right when arriving in a new place;
1. Look around at nearby houses and make note of their antenna setup, which way they are pointing, whether they are horizontal or vertical, whether the antennas have a mix of long / short elements or just short.
2. I have an App on my iPhone called "Antenna Mate". It has a database of all of the TV transmitter locations in Australia, with details of UHF / VHF and Vertical / Horizontal. When you arrive at a new place, I fire up the app, and it uses the phone's GPS and compass to point me in the direction of the nearest transmitter, then I can look up the details of the transmitter and see how to setup my antenna.
3. There are also websites with details of TV transmitters, eg:
http://deeperimage.com.au/component/gmap/?view=gmap which also gives you the info of Frequency and Polorization.
Finally, for Digital TV in particular, make sure you are using quality cables. The cheaper "Reject Shop" type cables just don't seem to cut it for digital signals.
Jason
