TV reception

Visit the website of the TV station or call their contact phone number to check if they have planned maintenance, faults or outages that will affect your location.

Each TV station is responsible for the transmission of their signal and their maintenance schedules.

TV signals are sent from towers. Your antenna and equipment need to be set-up to receive the strongest signal to your location.

Check on the mySwitch website

Go to the mySwitch website and enter your address. mySwitch will tell you:

• the TV transmitter that has the strongest signals to your location
• the direction to point your antenna
• the level of expected signal coverage in your area
• the TV channel frequencies for your address
• if your antenna should be vertical or horizontal
• if there are any known reception issues for your area.

Areas with poor or no reception

mySwitch may show that you live in an area with poor reception, fortuitous reception or no free-to-air TV coverage. If so, you may be able to get viewer access satellite television (VAST). Find out how to apply for VAST.

Most problems with TV reception are from antenna and cabling that is faulty or may not have been installed properly.

You should check your:

• antennas
• cables, fly leads and connections
• TV or set top box receivers
• signal boosters.

Antennas

TV antenna last 10 to 15 years. They can be damaged by bad weather or birds. Common problems with antenna that can affect your TV reception include:

• broken, missing or rusty parts
• wrong type for your area
• not tall enough
• in the wrong spot on your roof.

Your TV antenna needs to be:

• the correct type of antenna for the TV channel frequencies in your area, with correct antenna gain
• in the right position on your roof and pointing in the right direction
• in good condition
• set up correctly.

Your antenna should also have a 4G filter installed to protect your signal from mobile phone tower signals.

Check if you have the right design, size and type of antenna for your location at mySwitch. It will also tell you:

• if your antenna needs to be pointed horizontally or vertically at the correct TV tower
• how high your antenna needs to be.

You should only have a single antenna installed on your roof. Legacy or broken antennas should be removed.

Adding more antennas will not improve your TV reception, it can make the problem worse. Using indoor TV antenna ('rabbit ears') can also cause reception problems.

Cables, fly leads and connections

Cables and fly leads should be:

• straight, not bent
• not too long
• in good condition.

To meet Australian standards, the cable that connects your antenna to your TV should be a quad-shield coaxial cable (type RG6).  

Check the connection between your wall socket and TV or set-top box.

If you have a connector or splitter to split the signal from your antenna to 2 or more TVs, this will reduce the signal level and may reduce reception quality.

TV or set top box receivers

Check your TV or set top box receiver is tuned to the right channel frequencies for your location. Check mySwitch for a list of the correct frequencies for your location.

Use your remote control to manual tune (rather than auto-tune) to the right frequencies.

Signal boosters

Use a signal booster or amplifier only if necessary (if you are on the edge of coverage and get a weak signal). They can cause reception problems by overloading your TV receiver with TV or mobile phone signals. They can also cause interference to your neighbourhood.

Interference is when other signals affect your TV reception. Sometimes the interference can be caused by geography, weather or even a TV station, but mostly it’s due to things in or around our home.

Interference from within your house

Electric appliances send out high bursts of energy that can interfere with TV reception.

Appliances with an electric motor, thermostat-controlled appliances and others can cause interference. For example:

• swimming pool pumps
• power tools
• washing machines
• hot water systems
• refrigerators
• pool chlorinators
• LED lights
• light switches and power boards
• electric fences.

Turn off the appliance and see if your TV reception improves. If it does, turn the appliance back on again and check if the interference comes back. This will confirm if the appliance is causing interference. If so, get a qualified person to fix your appliance or replace it.

Outside interference  

Check with your neighbours if they have reception problems at the same time you do. If so, it could be an external power source, such as:

• power lines (especially if it’s during hot, dry and windy weather or at night)
• streetlights – when they turn on or off or if they are broken or flashing on/off
• equipment used by people in your neighbourhood, like amateur and CB radios or signal boosters.

If the antenna installer determines that powerline or streetlight issues are causing the interference, report it to your local council or electricity company. For other confirmed external interference issues, ask the antenna installer to help you to fill a Digital TV interference online form to get our help.

Mobile phone towers

If you have the right TV antenna and equipment for your location, your reception should not be impacted by a mobile phone transmission tower. However, reception problems are more likely if you are within 1km of a phone tower and have a signal amplifier.

You should call a local antenna specialist. If a phone tower is causing your TV reception problems, your technician may recommend:

• installing a simple filter to your equipment
• replacing the antenna with one that has the filter built in
• removing a signal booster if not needed
• move your antenna so it is less likely to pick up mobile signals.