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Get switched on to digital
The big switchover to digital TV from analog in our two biggest cities is just a few weeks away – December 3 in Sydney and one week later in Melbourne. And while Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Hobart have already gone digital without the sky falling in, and many of us in the eastern states are already hooked up to the new services, there’s a bit of confusion out there in older and smaller apartment blocks.
QUESTION: I am on the Executive Committee of a small block of 11 units. Does current strata law demand that the entire building be up-graded to receive the digital signal? Fair Trading says the Owners Corp only has to repair or maintain existing facilities and is not legally required to install new technology.
They think we can advise owners and tenants to get their very own set-top-box instead. Someone said that the existing analogue TV antenna may be able to be retro-fitted with some type of inexpensive Conversion Box that can pick-up the new digital signal which can then be picked-up by the owners/tenants own personal set-top-box which they, themselves, own.
Others have advised that all that is needed is a personally-owned set-top-box to receive the digital signal. I would appreciate your comments. – J.L.Baird, via Flat Chat Forum.
ANSWER: Do Owners Corps have to upgrade if their aerials and cabling won’t carry digital signals to all homes? A recent Appeals Court ruling in NSW (which will almost certainly be used as a precedent in interstate cases) said that strata owners corps don’t have to upgrade infrastructure to the latest whizzbang technology to satisfy increased demands by owners.
However, they do have to restore non-functioning parts of common property so they are working again. Your apartment block’s TV cabling falls right in between those two stools. I reckon providing a TV signal to all your units after the analog switch-off means the owners Corp is obliged to upgrade, if need be, to newer technology. But the good news is you certainly don’t need to provide everyone with set-top boxes.
So what does an owners corp do, if they haven’t already prepared for digital? A quick door knock to see if anyone is already on digital would be the first step. If there is someone merrily watching re-runs of ancient sitcoms on digital channels fed by your cabling system, you probably don’t need to do anything.
If not, the digital signal may not be strong enough and your residents could be getting by on analog, where a weak signal only means a degraded reception while digital is pretty much either on or off.
If your current system can’t provide strong enough digital signals you have to do whatever is required to make it work again. That could range from upgrading your aerial, amplifiers and cabling to installing a satellite dish.
The website digitalready.gov.au has THIS PAGE which explores possible issues in multi-unit buildings and suggests how to fix them.
If any owners can’t afford a set-top box or digital-ready TV, the website also has a page explaining financial assistance programs for people in need.
There’s also more on this HERE on the Flat Chat Forum.
FLAT CHAT LIVE: Just a quick reminder to Sydney readers that the live, Q&A style version of Flat Chat is on this weekend November 9, as part of the Strata Community Australia (the strata managers’ industry body) Owners Day. Strata industry experts – confronted, cajoled and corralled by yours truly – will answer your curly questions.
Click HERE or go to the Flat Chat website for more details.
And next weekend (November 9) the Owners Corporation Network (representing strata owners) is holding a day-long seminar about the benefits and challenges of upgrading your common property. Once again, I’m holding the talking stick. Find out more about why it’s not a good idea to have the best unit in the worst block by clicking HERE or HERE .
Both these events are happening in Sydney but if there’s anything going on in your part of the country, wherever you may be, please let us know so we can pass it on. Just register on the Flat Chat Forum and take it from there.
The opinions offered in these Forum posts and replies are not intended to be taken as legal advice. Readers with serious issues should consult experienced strata lawyers.
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I can answer the question from both a professional (I am an electronic engineer) and a practical point of view
(The governmants digiatl TV website covers most of this in some detail)
Most strata rsidents by now are receiveing difgatal TV. If you can receive channels 72,73, 90, 99 etc then you are reeiving digital. (this sort of assumes that people have a digital receiver of some sort, but by now most people do) In this case there is no need to do anything when analog is switched off. This again is on the assumption that a common antenna is used for most units.
If you can’t receive any or some digital channels, it indicates that the signal at the lot is not sufficient. In this case it’s necessary to get an antenna expert in to diagnose the problem and upgrade.
There are antenna labelled digital ready, but the only real difference is that they are smaller than an analog antenna as they do not have to receive analog channels 2 and 0. the old analog antenna will wotk just fine on digital signals.
In my strata, we had poor reception on some digital channels even though we were in a high strength signal area. The antenna’s were 35 years old, so we replaced them (only) and the problem was solved. It was a few hundred dollars only.
Most older starta could do with a replacement of an old antenna, so we just chnaged out ours under maintenance.
Robert
Can someone help with clarification on this please?
One of the uits in our block of 6 does not have an antenna point in their unit. They have Foxtel connected via cable and use that for accessing tv channels.
Is it it up the strata corp or the individual unit owner to add an antenna point in the unit?
I think most of the units here have Foxtel.
thanks!
When was your block built?
When was your strata scheme registered?
When was Foxtel invented?
What did the residents of your block do for entertainment between 1956 and the momentous invention of Foxtel?
The obvious answer to your question is that the owner of the unit in question has removed the original TV outlet or re-used it for the Foxtel connection.
Not the OC’s responsibility to re-instate.
ALL very good points Kangaroo. That makes sense completely. I know it’s not an OC issue, just needed to clarify why not! I now understand.
It seems that most of the units are not receiving digital reception but I will ask about internal aerial connections now. There IS a roof aerial, so that should be enough for reception I gather. Will follow up from this angle and expect others to fall in line.
thanks, Mrs.
@Kangaroo said:
When was your block built?When was your strata scheme registered?
When was Foxtel invented?
What did the residents of your block do for entertainment between 1956 and the momentous invention of Foxtel?
The obvious answer to your question is that the owner of the unit in question has removed the original TV outlet or re-used it for the Foxtel connection.
Not the OC’s responsibility to re-instate.
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