Digital Amateur TV

What is ATV/DATV?

ATV = Amateur TeleVision is the transmission of normal fast-scan television signals within the frequency spectrum allocated to amateur radio. In Australia it is the PAL standard for analogue TV.

DATV = Digital Amateur Television and in Australia it is the same as your normal Digital TV signal (DVB-T) however it is on slight different frequency of 445.5MHz. There is also the DVB-S (Satellite) used within the amateur radio community.

Regular Broadcasts/Groups:

REAST DATV Experimenters Group – 19:30 every Wednesday night (except REAST meeting night)

Digital ATV Frequency – 445.5MHz DVB-T – 7MHz bandwidth.

This is a standard DVB-T digital TV signal which can be received using a Set-Top Box, Digital TV or DVB-T USB Dongle.   

Take a look at VK3RTV for a list of the STBs that work on this frequency.

Historical ATV Photos

Old Studio – March 2010

Current DATV Studio

The first broadcast from the new DATV Studio occurred on 15 May 2019.

Broadcasts may consist of historic broadcasts (Public Domain), ATV, special features, show and tell, interviews, club activities and interesting facts and figures.

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Live stream can be viewed at: https://www.reast.asn.au/news-events/live-stream/

Recordings of each live stream can be found on REAST YouTube Channel.

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How to Receive

You will need a UHF TV antenna with some gain pointed toward the top of the Queen’s Domain to receive the DATV signals. These signals have a much lower power than the commercial TV stations on Mt Wellington.

For digital reception you will need the antenna connect to a Digital TV receiver (set-top box, DTV USB Dongle or built in). You will need to manually tune 445.5MHz as this is not a standard channel number and most set-top boxes and TVs automatically skip this frequency.

If you can enter a frequency, then enter 445.5MHz, 7MHz bandwidth and then search on this frequency. If it finds a station on this frequency it will have the callsign VK7OTC.

A good article on receiving DATV signals can be found on the VK3RTV website.

Broadcast Schedule

Every Wednesday night except the first Wednesday night of the month (REAST Presentation night) is an DATV Experimenter’s Group night.

Broadcasts get underway around 7:30pm with an introduction video then head into our program for the night soon after this.

We take callbacks at the end of the session  on Repeater 2 – 146.700MHz.

Program Examples

Programs can consist of any combination of:

• On-air interviews with visitors, special guests and other interesting amateurs and non-amateurs;

• Show and tell of projects currently being undertaken by members

• Public Domain/Creative Commons video presentations;

• Previous REAST Meeting Presentations (we have recordings of the last 15 years of REAST presentations);

• Outside Broadcasts;

• Other DATV enthusiasts sending their DATV signals to the studio and these being broadcast back out (DATV repeater); or,

• Internet linking with other amateur organisations via skype and other video/audio over IP protocols.

Take a listen to the Sunday morning VK7 Amateur Radio broadcast for information on what is going to be on at the Wednesday night DATV night or take a look at our Facebook page – reasttas.

DATV Library

We have over 200 presentations on DVD in our extensive DATV library.

These are available to REAST members for short-term loan.