Brisbane TV transmitters and reception: the complete map
Greater Brisbane is served by three main transmission sites, and they do not agree with each other: different bands, different power, and - the part that breaks antennas silently - different polarisation. This page holds the verified data and what it means for the antenna on your roof.
By the Topline Antennas crew · Published 28 August 2026 · Data: ACMA-derived, verified August 2026
The verified data
The three transmitter sites
Everything below is drawn from ACMA-derived records (via ozdigitaltv.com), checked August 2026. If another page gives you a suburb list with no source and no date, this table is how you check it. Prefer to skip the reading? Our interactive transmitter finder takes your suburb and returns the likely site, the compass bearing and the antenna type.
Mount Coot-tha — the main Brisbane site
TXA T-Site, 445 Sir Samuel Griffith Drive, Mount Coot-tha. This is the site most of the city points at: VHF Band III, horizontally polarised, 50 kW ERP, omnidirectional. The community broadcaster Briz 31 also transmits from Mount Coot-tha on UHF RF 28.
| Network | RF channel | Frequency | Power | Polarisation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seven | 6 | 177.500 MHz | 50 kW | Horizontal |
| SBS | 7 | 184.500 MHz | 50 kW | Horizontal |
| Nine | 8 | 191.625 MHz | 50 kW | Horizontal |
| Ten | 11 | 219.500 MHz | 50 kW | Horizontal |
| ABC | 12 | 226.500 MHz | 50 kW | Horizontal |
Darlington Range — Brisbane South East
Crown Castle site off Cliff Barons Road, Darlington Range. Built because the terrain south-east of the city shadows Mount Coot-tha. Everything about it is the opposite of the main site: UHF, vertically polarised, directional, 1.8 kW - roughly one twenty-fifth of Coot-tha's power, which is why aim and antenna choice matter so much more down here.
| Network | RF channel | Frequency | Power | Polarisation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | 29 | 536.500 MHz | 1.8 kW | Vertical |
| Seven | 30 | 543.500 MHz | 1.8 kW | Vertical |
| Nine | 31 | 550.500 MHz | 1.8 kW | Vertical |
| Ten | 32 | 557.500 MHz | 1.8 kW | Vertical |
| SBS | 33 | 564.500 MHz | 1.8 kW | Vertical |
Gregors Creek — the north-western corridor
TXA site at the D’Aguilar Highway and Pohlmans Range Road, Gregors Creek, serving the Somerset and Kilcoy corridor where the D’Aguilar Range blocks the city sites. Again UHF and vertically polarised, at 3 kW directional.
| Network | RF channel | Frequency | Power | Polarisation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABC | 41 | 620.500 MHz | 3 kW | Vertical |
| Seven | 42 | 627.500 MHz | 3 kW | Vertical |
| Nine | 43 | 634.500 MHz | 3 kW | Vertical |
| Ten | 44 | 641.500 MHz | 3 kW | Vertical |
| SBS | 45 | 648.500 MHz | 3 kW | Vertical |
Suburb by suburb
Which site serves which part of Brisbane
Most of metropolitan Brisbane - the inner city, the northside through Chermside to the Moreton Bay corridor, the west to Ipswich, and the bayside - is Mount Coot-tha territory. At 50 kW omnidirectional it is deliberately hard to miss; inner suburbs often have the opposite problem, a signal so strong that adding a booster makes reception worse.
Brisbane’s south-east is the exception that catches everyone out. Springwood, Daisy Hill, Shailer Park, Loganholme, Beenleigh, much of Logan and the Redlands sit in terrain that shadows Coot-tha - which is exactly why Darlington Range exists. An antenna here often needs to be rotated 90 degrees into the vertical plane and aimed at a different site entirely. This is the single most common "our reception has always been rubbish" cause we see in the south-east: a horizontal VHF antenna, faithfully pointed at a transmitter the terrain hides.
The north-western corridor - Kilcoy, Woodford, Esk and the Somerset country - uses Gregors Creek, again vertical UHF. Between zones (Cleveland, parts of Logan Central, the Samford and Dayboro valleys, the Caboolture fringe) the honest answer is that terrain decides, not the map: those are meter-reading addresses, and guessing costs a second callout.
Your suburb, specifically: use the transmitter finder - it computes the bearing and distance from your suburb to all three sites and flags the borderline zones.
The consequence
What this means for the antenna on your roof
The two facts above - band and polarisation - decide the hardware. They are not tuning details; they are physically different antennas mounted in physically different orientations.
| If your site is | You need | Mounted | Typical failure when wrong |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mount Coot-tha | VHF Band III antenna | Elements horizontal | UHF-only antenna misses the five main channels entirely |
| Darlington Range | UHF antenna | Elements vertical | Horizontal antenna loses ~20+ dB to cross-polarisation: works in fair weather, pixelates in wind and rain |
| Gregors Creek | UHF antenna | Elements vertical | As above, plus terrain shadowing if aimed at the city instead |
A polarisation mismatch is the cruellest fault in this list because no amplifier fixes it - a booster amplifies the weak, noisy signal you are mis-receiving, noise and all. If reception is marginal and someone's first suggestion is a booster before a meter reading, that is the wrong order. One more modern gotcha: the frequencies directly above the TV bands now carry 4G/5G mobile signal (the 700 MHz band), which can overload older wideband antennas and amplifiers - the fix is a filter or a current antenna, not more gain.
This is also why our antenna installs start with identifying your serving site and end with a signal reading at the outlet, handed to you - the reading is the proof the geometry is right.
The auto-tune trap
Why your TV tuned itself to the wrong city
Brisbane’s fringes overlap the Gold Coast (Mount Tamborine) and Sunshine Coast transmission areas. A TV auto-scan on a strong-antenna home can lock onto the neighbouring market first - you get the right networks with the wrong local news, wrong EPG times, and often a weaker signal. The fix is not a new antenna: re-run the scan (manual scan of your correct RF channels, from the tables above, is fastest), and if the wrong market keeps winning, the antenna aim needs looking at. Full walk-through in our channels troubleshooting guide.
Questions
Brisbane reception FAQs
Is Brisbane VHF or UHF?
Both, depending on your serving site. Mount Coot-tha - most of the city - is VHF Band III (RF 6 to 12, horizontal). Darlington Range (south-east) and Gregors Creek (north-west) are UHF, vertically polarised. That is why 'what antenna do I need in Brisbane' has no single answer.
Which direction should my antenna point?
Toward your serving site: from most of Brisbane that is Mount Coot-tha (west of the CBD); from the south-east, Darlington Range; from the Somerset corridor, Gregors Creek. The transmitter finder on this site gives the compass bearing from your suburb. Remember the plane matters as much as the direction - vertical sites need vertical elements.
Why do my neighbours get better reception than me?
Usually one of: a different antenna type or plane (this page's whole subject), a tired antenna or corroded connections, tree growth in your signal path specifically, or over-amplification on a strong signal. A meter reading at the antenna and at the outlet separates these in minutes - guessing does not.
Do I need a booster in Brisbane?
Inner Brisbane, usually no - Mount Coot-tha's 50 kW is already strong, and amplifying it can overload the tuner and make reception worse. Boosters earn their keep on fringe signals, long cable runs and multi-outlet splits. The right amplifier decision comes from a signal reading, not a symptom.
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