I aware that Pelangi transmitter is also there too. (SFN with Gunung Pulai and Skudai)

I personally think that transmitter is actually meant to improve indoor coverage for myFreeview signal for Johor Bahru City area and also outdoor coverage for some parts of Johor Bahru. (which in some areas the Pelangi transmitter have line of sight with Gunung Pulai and also Bukit Batok Singapore.)

In Singapore, various small transmitters are installed across the island for indoor reception on high rise blocks (HDB) and are in sync/SFN mode with the main Bukit Batok transmitter. (However, according to what I read on Singapore's forum, many complained the signal is quite weak until the indoor antenna used must be specifically positioned or it will have no reception.)

FYI, the frequency for SCTV receivable in Johor Bahru is 679.25Mhz, available since early 2000s until myFreeview signal starts on early 2016. (Currently reception is unavailable because MYTV Digital TV disturbs the reception for this service, that frequency can actually to be used for detect if the digital TV transmitter is up or not.)

In outdoor reception mode Mediacorp DTT has fairly decent signal. It was heard that the signal is not strong enough for some areas indoors.
Also I heard that they changed from 64QAM to 16QAM.

MYTV only use that frequency partly due to an television frequency agreement done between Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia in the past.

For digital TV, Malaysia will get 39,41,43,45,47,49,51,53 for clear frequency and share 21-26 with Indonesia.
Indonesia got 40,42,44,46,48,50,52,54 for clear frequency and share 21-26 with Malaysia.
Singapore get its exclusive block of 27-38.

However, in the past, analogue frequency agreement between 3 countries are different. Malaysia get even frequency while Indonesia get the odd ones. Singapore have exclusive usage of block from channel 27-40 + 24. Indonesian authorities tend to use almost every frequency available to use until causing most cities it have very crowded spectrum.

In Jakarta alone (current situation) there is some 20+ analogue UHF TV channels and some digital channels packed into the spectrum. Based on what I read, the original plan for Indonesia TV allowed 6 blocks of 7 UHF channel allocated and in most area, the authorities just allow 1 block of UHF channels allocated to each locality. (Larger cities get up to 2 blocks). When they allowed more nationwide commercial channels to be broadcasted, it have to modify the allocation until causing packed spectrum in major cities.

The situation in Johor is there are some 20-30 TV channels just in Johor Bahru alone for channels in 3 countries. (In some areas there is overlap with multiple Malaysian masts which make much more harder to allocate TV frequency.) When TV1 moved frequency from VHF Band I to UHF in 2010, they moved to channel 28 for Gunung Ledang (the same as Channel U analogue), it caused complaints on Channel U Facebook, especially those live in Northern Johor because most lost reception for Channel U. (However, it doesn't cause reception issues in Singapore and some parts of Southern Johor because Gunung Pulai blocks the signal from Gunung Ledang.) Reception only resumed when digital TV starts transmission.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 11 2017, 11:22 AM

The original UHF TV frequency plan for Indonesia is on page 49 (In Indonesian of course)
https://denysetia.files.wordpress.com/2011/...anuari-2010.pdf

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 11 2017, 11:05 AM

In UK, main masts usually uses Horizontal polarization while relay transmitters usually uses vertical polarization.
One exception is one main TV mast in UK that is close to French coast (Rowridge) uses mixed polarization to reduce potential signal interference from French transmitters.

Mixed polarization option should be make available for Gunung Pulai, Skudai and Pelangi masts. Maybe they do not use vertical polarization because of legacy issues/existing UHF antenna could be used for reception without having extra installation.

Actually it is Suria/Prime 12 frequency, not Vasantham's.
TV3 frequency on VHF in Peninsular Malaysia is mostly on VHF 11/12.

It is actually poor planning done by Malaysian authorities (They assume viewers do not receive Singapore TV and use standard aerials height at 10m).
Poor planning issues exists inside Peninsular Malaysia especially for RTM channels/TV3 VHF/TV Alhijrah, not limited to just Gunung Ledang/Bukit Batok clash due to all masts in Peninsular Malaysia uses horizontal polarization.

Mediacorp TV reception (Channel U/Suria) in Southern Johor (excluding Kulai, Pontian .etc) is not affected because Gunung Ledang's signal is shaded by Gunung Pulai.
IMHO TV3 should be only broadcast on UHF band across Malaysia from the start of transmission and no analogue TV licences shall be allowed/allocated after NTV7.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 11 2017, 01:32 PM

Due to such reason, Mediacorp do sometimes air ads (Especially Channel 8) that only sell products on Johor Bahru that can target both Malaysians and Singaporeans.

Additional frequencies unlisted/Correction:
103.7 THR Raaga FM (THR Gegar on 2-6am, the same configuration for entire West Coast of Peninsular Malaysia)
104.9 Ai FM
106.7 Klasik FM

Although 98.4 MHz Melody FM is transmitted on Gunung Pulai mast, but the FM reception is attenuated in some parts especially south east of Gunung Pulai to protect 987FM, thats why there is 103.3 MHz to boost signal coverage.

103.3 MHz and 105.3 MHz does not transmit from Gunung Pulai to protect Gunung Ledang. (103.3 from Metropolis Tower, 105.3 from TM Sentosa mast to have some reception in Johor Bahru, there is no more frequency to allocate in Gunung Pulai)

The sound quality for 102.5 MHz is almost unlistenable/sound like dog's breakfast as it has heavy sound processing to improve perceived coverage (102.5MHz is transmitting Best FM on Bukit Tinggi, Johor, another example of poor frequency planning of Malaysian authorities).

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 20 2017, 03:21 PM

Update:
TV3 HD stop testing Dolby Digital Plus transmission. (You can't expect much as it is just a test)

MYTV do not even bother fixing the time of their system.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 20 2017, 09:32 PM

Minimum FM signal protection necessary between Gunung Pulai and Bukit Batok is 0.4MHz due to closeness and high power between both transmitters. The FM reception for some parts of Johor Bahru is actually quite poor for 98.4MHz since I know that the radiation pattern is modified to not send full power for Johor Bahru.

I don't really sure about radiation patterns about Best FM 102.5MHz on Bukit Tinggi but the radiation pattern might be designed to radiate towards Mersing. As for Fly FM Gunung Pulai, I sure that there are some heavy processing that makes the audio quality sounds so awful.

I don't sure about clear reception for Malaysian radio stations in Singapore as I never test there.

Even Mediacorp TV stops sending DD+ audio (192kbps) in preference for HE-AAC audio for Channel 5 when they switch modulation mode from 64QAM to 16QAM.

I have done some comparison for Mediacorp TV and found that NICAM (analogue TV) sounds much better than HE-AAC digital audio.

In UK they send most digital radio stations in MP2 and in 80kbps Mono (most commercial stations) or 128kbps Joint Stereo (for BBC stations) and there are little complaints except from the audiophile community/some listeners.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 21 2017, 01:15 AM

If both Gunung Pulai and Metropolis Tower use the same frequency then there will be some interference issues for 987FM.

They always offer HE-AAC 5.1 surround sound + HE-AAC 2.0 audio combination for all HD channels from start. As for DD+ audio, they did offer as an extra soundtrack for Channel 5 until they switch modulation to 16QAM. (Total usable bitrate was dropped from around 20Mbps per multiplex to just slightly about 15 Mbps, as a side effect of bitrate drop the picture become more blockier on more complex scenes)

MP2 audio is used for UK DAB Digital radio from around late 1999 until now for compatibility issues. Most other countries using DAB has already switched to / only use HE-AAC (DAB+) audio.

If Astro Radio have option to only use 98.4 MHz in ommi directional radiation pattern, they will only use 98.4 MHz for whole of Johor Bahru. They will rather not waste money to have extra transmitters on Metropolis Tower. I tuned the FM signal via my mobile phone and the signal is is really weak in some areas if compared to other stations transmitted on the same Gunung Pulai mast. Remember that the FM tuners in the past are less sensitive than what we have now.
In Klang Valley, the FM reception on the move is poor in some areas due to terrain but all commercial operators choose to not waste money to have extra transmitters for KL. RTM themselves have 2X frequency for each main national stations in Klang Valley.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 21 2017, 02:12 AM

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This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 22 2017, 04:46 AM

TV3 SD feed switch to "GM" mode again.
(Interestingly, the HD feed, which is on "test" mode, does not switch to "GM" mode. There might be some future for some of the Media Prima channels will be permanently broadcasting in HD quality)

UPDATE : They switch to "GM" feed for SD with a purpose to test "in programme promo" using HD feed. "In programme promo" does not seen on SD (GM) feed.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 23 2017, 02:34 AM


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On last Friday, All Media Prima channels switches to GM mode (with exception of TV3 HD/tonton Feed/TV3 via HyppTV)
But even when they switch to GM mode at last Friday as a test, it is like a crazy mess.

They switch Analog TV feeds, TV3 DTT SD and channel NTV7/8TV/TV9 on HyppTV to GM feed but not TV3 feed on HyppTV. Perhaps TV3 HD might make available on HyppTV soon???
While on GM mode, TV3 HD feed on DTT (which did not switch to GM) become very unstable until colourbars generated by the MYTV system appears. (the colourbars also appears on RTM channels while RTM was interrupting their feed on multiple platforms to have maintenance)
When airing programmes, the regular TV3 feed is somewhat ahead than the GM feed, ended up the regular feed was running longer promos plus a music clip while GM feed is running shorter promos to chase up the time.
NTV7/8TV/TV9 went blank screen on DTT for sometime (the only thing shown is that shitty watermark) when these are showing GM testcard feed on Analog TV.

Unfortunately, I did not take a picture for NTV7/8TV/TV9.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 26 2017, 04:25 AM


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RTM only adopt colour TV transmission when almost all other countries had adopt Colour TV.
RTM channels in HD quality? No for now consider they can even create mess for their digital TV channel strategy, even for just ONE channel. (Remember the branding changes from TVi >TV5>TVi within days?)

At least Media Prima do some progress for HDTV and Digital channel strategy. (although these are in test transmission for Media Prima).
For TV Alhijrah, they are kind enough to make their HD feed available to some platforms. (Although the picture quality for their so called HDTV is so bad enough that it actually looks like high bitrate 576i SDTV.)

Currently the only way to enjoy decent HDTV service in Malaysia for now is via pay TV (Astro/HyppTV via Unifi/Fibre) or if lucky enough, live close enough to transmitter range of Singapore/Thai/Brunei TV.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 27 2017, 04:47 AM

For what I see on Media Prima, they have introduced "Odyssey Strategy" partly to reduce traditional revenue (TV/Press) which experience serious drops in recent years. CJ WOW SHOP and Rev Asia acquisition are just part of their strategy to reduce reliance on traditional revenue. In fact, CJ WOW SHOP revenue has record growth QoQ until they establishes test transmission of 24hrs CJ WOW SHOP channel. Even with tight budgets, they are still able to start/test TV3 HD and Drama Sangat channel.

I really wonder why RTM does not send channels in HDTV quality despite they already have the technology to send TV channels on 720p over official online streaming site. (It is just stretched 4:3 SDTV, does not look like HD at all.) Based on my observation most current productions has probably being produced in HD, just with letterbox/some cropping. I don't really expect much from RTM since they can even mess up for just 1 TV channel (TVi>TV5>TVi). Based on my guessing based on the date of Colour TV launch, maybe we need to wait the magic date, RTM TV 55th anniversary (28 December 2018) for RTM channels in HD? Maybe they will start earlier??? As this is RTM, who knows.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Nov 28 2017, 01:15 AM

Thai Dramas on 8TV? Already been there for a few months.
However, some HK TVB dramas are still shown on 4:3 format even at this point (Only for dramas aired on NTV7, those aired on 8TV already make the switch to 16:9) (for those broadcasted in HK on 2015) although Media Prima has switched to 16:9 ratio in August 2017, which is quite weird.
In addition, they did not upgrade their presentation (like ident, parental guidence notification, sometimes even promos) and some own produced live programmes into 16:9/HD. NTV7 news also does not switch to 16:9. Plus, some SD picture quality content shows like a crap ever since they crap their picture into unwatchable 144p/240p and then recovered to normal quality last few months.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Dec 2 2017, 03:10 AM

IMHO these "title" things shown on TV1,TV2,TV3,8TV,TV9,TV Alhijrah are not an improvement but completely useless and very annoying like that "siaran digital" watermark given the wide availablity of EPG with just a click of button. But given the EPG for Media Prima is not stable and analogue TV are still there, these are still needed for some time. Really hope that these can be phased out for good (I think that they wont because they are desperate to got viewers). These "title" thing is first introduced on TV9 (on Analogue era, at that time it is useful because many are still using analogue TV) and then spread to TV2, TV3 ,TV1, TV Alhijrah and now 8TV. You wont see these things being imposed on Astro/HyppTV in house channels due to they have complete EPG.

This post has been edited by shaun_kok: Dec 4 2017, 09:57 PM