For most Australians the switchover will be a simple matter of buying the right equipment and enjoying all the benefits of digital television but for many Yorke Peninsula residents, who already experience poor television reception, it doesn’t look like much will change.

YP residents who live on the fringe of established commercial television broadcasting licence areas, which includes the Copper Coast and the western side of YP, won’t be able to access Channel Nine, high definition digital TV or freeview TV.

Some Copper Coast residents are within the Spencer Gulf licence area but receive what is called “fortuitous reception” from the Adelaide licence area.

Adelaide broadcasters are under no obligation to improve or guarantee this signal — in fact they are not permitted to do so.

Those who don’t receive fortuitous reception have to be content with receiving standard definition transmissions from Southern Cross Broadcasters in Port Pirie and, as some Copper Coast residents, who are digital ready have found out, this signal has already proven to be inconsistent and unreliable.

Timetable for the switchover

YP has three licence areas: Regional SA and Broken Hill/Spencer Gulf, Adelaide and other areas of South Australia (Remote Central and Eastern Australia licence area).

Port Broughton, the Copper Coast and all YP towns that fall north of a line drawn east from Moonta, across the top of Yorke Peninsula, are in the Regional SA and Broken Hill/Spencer Gulf licence area and receive television transmission from Southern Cross Broadcasting in Port Pirie.  

This area is the first to go with the analogue system to be switched off in the second half of 2010.

YP towns south of this line, including Port Hughes, down to the heel of the peninsula fall into the Adelaide license area and the western part of the foot of the peninsula falls under the Remote and Eastern Australia license area).

The analogue system for these two areas will be switched off in the second half of 2013.

When can you switch to digital TV?

You can switch over to digital television from now and you will need to switchover by the time the changeover is completed in your area.

What do you need to be ready?

To be ready for the changeover you need to  buy a digital TV or convert your analogue TV to digital with a set top box or a digital TV recorder.

To make sure you are getting the best possible TV reception for your area you should consult your local TV retailer or an aerial/antenna installation business.

For more information you can log onto www.digitalready.gov.au or phone the information line 1800 20 10 13.

Why digital TV?

The current transmission of analogue and digital broadcasts, side by side, is seen as inefficient and costly and is using most of the space that is available for television broadcasts.

Turning off the analogue signal will free up a considerable amount of the broadcast spectrum so it can be used by other services.

The Federal Govern­ment says it is important for Australia to keep pace with global technological advances and digital technology is being adopted all over the world.

“Digital television also promises a better viewing experience with better sound and picture quality,” the government says.

Copper Coast community voices its concerns

Peter Leaney reading responses to the petition and numerous letters he has written in the hope of improving television reception on the Copper Coast.

The CEO received a reply from Gavin Bowman from the minister’s department.

Moonta’s Peter Leaney also expressed his concerns by organising a petition which was signed by 385 Copper Coast residents asking the Federal Government to delay switching off the analogue system until the digital reception in the Copper Coast area is improved.

Currently residents within the Copper Coast who receive poor or no digital reception can switch back to the analogue system but from mid-2010 they will only be able to access digital television.

If the digital transmission signal is weak there will be pixilation or no picture at all. 

Analogue, on the other hand, will still provide a picture with varying degrees of snow, depending on how bad the reception is.

In his letter, Mr Bowman said the Australian Government acknowledges the importance of free-to-air television to regional Australians and is committed to ensuring no viewers will lose access to television services in the process of switching to digital-only broadcasting.

The Digital Switchover Taskforce is concerned with the issue of digital conversion in areas of signal deficiency, such as Kadina, Moonta and Wallaroo.

Television services for the Copper Coast are transmitted from northeast of Port Pirie and Mr Bowman suggests the distance “seems likely to be a factor in the quality of the digital signal received in the area”.

“In locations where commercial broadcasters have not set up transmitters, this situation is often rectified by the setting up ‘self-help’ retransmission facilities by the local council or other groups,” Mr Bowman said. 

“I note there are no retransmission facilities, either broadcaster established or self-help in the Kadina-Moonta-Wallaroo area.”

Residents within the Regional SA and Broken Hill/Spencer Gulf licence area will only receive a Standard Definition (SD) service and not the High Definition (HDTV) service, available in other licence areas, because Southern Cross Broadcasting is exempt from the obligation to provide a HDTV service.

“As is the case with the issue of establishing transmitters in particular parts of a licence area, the decision about whether or not to provide a HDTV service is ultimately a commercial one for individual broadcasters,” Mr Bowman said.

Federal Member for Grey, Rowan Ramsey, and State Member for Goyder, Steven Griffiths, have both expressed their concerns about the switchover to digital television to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy on behalf of Peter Leaney and the affected residents within their constituencies.

What can you do?

If you are concerned about poor reception, pixellating television and inconsistent reception, Peter Leaney urges you to write to the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Suite MG70, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600.

In your letter it is important to state:

1. You have installed either a digital TV or a set top box.

2. You have the correct antenna pointed towards Port Pirie.

3. Your antenna is in good repair.

4. The proportion of viewing time you receive a bad signal.

5. Your name, address and post code.