TV not finding channels? Do these in order before paying anyone
Half the antenna repair calls we take in Brisbane end without a ladder coming off the van. This is the exact order we triage in - including the fix that costs nothing.
By the Topline Antennas crew · Published 24 August 2026 · Brisbane, QLD
Step one, always
The free fix: a manual retune
Here is the Brisbane-specific problem almost no TV manual mentions: parts of this city receive Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast transmissions well enough for a TV’s auto-tune to store them. Your TV then files “Seven” under a distant transmitter’s frequency, that borderline signal falls over in weather, and the channel “disappears” - while the antenna on your roof is perfectly fine.
The fix is a manual tune: instead of letting the TV scan everything, you tell it exactly which frequencies to store. For most of Brisbane that means Mount Coot-tha’s services on RF channels 6, 7, 8, 11 and 12 (VHF Band III). For the south-east corner served by Darlington Range, it is UHF channels 29 to 33.
In your TV’s menu, look for Broadcasting → Channel Settings → Manual Tuning (Samsung), Channels → Manual Programme Tuning (LG), or the equivalent under “analogue/digital tuning” on Sony and Hisense. Delete the stored list first, add the channels for your transmitter, and skip auto-scan entirely.
If some channels were breaking up while others worked, there is a good chance you have just fixed it for nothing. If every channel is weak or missing, keep reading.
Steps two to five
The checks, in the order a technician does them
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The fly lead and wall plate
Unplug the lead between the wall and the TV, look at both ends for corrosion or a loose centre pin, and swap it for a known-good lead if you have one. The cheapest component in the chain causes a comic share of “dead antenna” calls.
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Every TV, or just one?
If other TVs in the house are fine, the antenna is fine - the fault is that room’s outlet, lead or tuner. If every TV is out, the fault is upstream: antenna, cable, splitter or amplifier.
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The amplifier power supply
Many Brisbane systems have a small plug-pack powering a masthead amplifier - often hidden behind a TV or in a cupboard. If it has been switched off at the wall or died, every channel drops at once. Check it has power and its light is on.
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What changed lately?
New channels missing after a storm points at the roof. After a renovation, think about what a trade might have unplugged. After new neighbours built up or a tree grew - the signal path itself may have closed.
When the free fixes are exhausted
How to know it is genuinely a roof job
If the manual retune did not stick, the leads check out, every TV is affected and the amplifier has power, the fault is up where you should not be: a rotated or wrong-plane antenna, a corroded connection, a failed splitter, or storm damage. That is meter work.
Two honest warnings from the trade. First, do not buy a “signal booster” as a guess - close to Mount Coot-tha’s 50 kW signal, an amplifier regularly makes reception worse, and a quarter of inner-city “weak signal” jobs end with us removing one. Second, be suspicious of anyone who quotes a whole new antenna without putting a meter on the system first - a sound antenna usually needs a $149 to $249 realignment, not a replacement. And when replacement genuinely is the answer, here is what a new antenna involves and costs.
Worked through the list and still stuck? Book a repair visit - the service call is credited toward the fix → or call 07 XXXX XXXX.