Why is my TV reception bad? 12 common causes in Melbourne homes

If your Melbourne TV reception has gone bad — pixelation on ABC, dropouts during a thunderstorm, missing 7HD or 9HD — the antenna is rarely the actual problem. After a decade of service calls across Melbourne and Gippsland, the same dozen faults come up again and again.

1. Corroded outdoor connectors The F-connector at the antenna spends years in sun, rain and salt-laden air. The braid corrodes, the centre pin oxidises, and the digital signal-to-noise ratio collapses. Replacing the connector takes minutes and often resolves the entire fault.

2. Perished coax in the roof cavity Coax installed before 2005 is often non-quad-shielded and routinely fails after 15-20 years. We see this in older homes across Eltham, Heidelberg and the inner-eastern suburbs.

3. Splitter losses after extra TV points Every passive splitter loses 3.5-4 dB per output. Add a few extra TV points without an amplifier and the signal at the wall plate falls below the digital threshold.

4. Over-amplified systems In strong-signal areas like Box Hill and Glen Waverley, an oversized masthead amp clips the signal and causes pixelation that looks identical to weak signal.

5. Wrong antenna for the area Mornington Peninsula homes pointed at Mount Dandenong with a metro-grade antenna often need a high-gain UHF instead. The wrong antenna is the wrong tool.

6. Storm damage Summer thunderstorms regularly snap antenna brackets, blow elements out of alignment and let water into the masthead. We carry replacement antennas on the van for same-day fixes.

7. Old analog wall outlets Outlets installed before digital switchover (2013) often pass analog fine but choke digital. A new wall plate is a five-minute fix.

8. Tree growth blocking line-of-sight Twenty years of gum-tree growth in the Northern suburbs eventually blocks UHF. Sometimes the answer is height, sometimes a different antenna position.

9. Apartment MATV faults Shared antenna systems in unit blocks routinely fail at the building-wide amplifier or distribution panel. Owners corporations need a registered cabler — not a tenant DIY job.

10. Old amplifier power supplies Masthead amps need a power injector at the wall — and the injector wall-warts have a finite life. Replace the injector before condemning the amp.

11. Missing or wrong channel re-tune After every channel re-allocation (last big one: 2020), TVs need to be re-scanned. A surprising number of "broken" reception complaints are unscanned tuners.

12. Cheap indoor "rabbit ears" antennas They never work properly in Melbourne metro suburbs. A proper outdoor antenna is non-negotiable for reliable digital reception.

What to do next If you're in Melbourne or Gippsland and the picture isn't right, call us on 0497 098 109 or request a free quote. We diagnose with a calibrated digital signal meter on the roof — no guesswork.