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Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by GarryP
(Post 11481146)
Changing sockets would definitely come under the closed shop of "needs an electrician" here
In VIC you can change your own plugs. I think in QLD you can't. BB |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by GarryP
(Post 11481146)
Don't even think of it.
Changing sockets would definitely come under the closed shop of "needs an electrician" here - and none of them would do it. Yes, don't do this. I doubt you would find an electrician that would be willing to fit UK sockets, despite them being far superior.
Originally Posted by GarryP
(Post 11481146)
As far as fibre broadband - its a painful topic. Australia was to have a proper fibre network (fibre to the home) and part of it has been rolled out. However the right wing nutters got in and screwed it up (under Murdoch orders it seems). So now not only has the rollout stopped, but their aim is "fibre to the node" which equates to the UK kind of fibre broadband - but which will be horrible with the naff Telstra copper. The hope is the far right loons will get kicked out in a few years and the thing righted, but damage will have been done.
However, in the meantime be careful about where you pitch up - some locations you can't even get ADSL because Telstra is even less competent than BT and don't have enough ports. Add it to you list of things to check before you rent/buy. Yes, don't get your hopes up that you will be getting good internet speeds. I live in inner city Sydney, and get a massive 3.1 mbps. :(
Originally Posted by Buzzy--Bee
(Post 11481833)
State-dependent.
In VIC you can change your own plugs. I think in QLD you can't. BB Yes, no problems in NSW - you just can't do it in a workplace without a proficiency training course. S |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
How long do you plan to stay in Australia? Unless you are only here for a short time it makes sense to change the plugs on the equipment rather than using extension boards brought from the UK. After all, you may well buy some new appliances whilst you are here - if all your power points are full of UK extension boards you're stuffed!
Yes, in Qld any such work legally has to be performed by an electrician - but the only time doing it yourself would be a concern is if your faulty wiring caused a fire - if there was a fire caused by something else your insurer couldn't refuse to pay out because of an illegally fitted plug. |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by paulry
(Post 11481188)
That's the cleverest plan, IMO. Not only do you save yourself the hassle of having to change all the plugs but you also get surge protection built in - important for the unpredictable weather we often experience here :thumbsup:
We had a brownout earlier on this year that fried our PC (Western Power paid my claim without any argument) To avoid this problem, I bought a UPS - which also protects against surge That bad electrical storm a few weeks ago took out the power lines at the top of our street. The UPS kicked in and shut down the PC as planned. There was the added benefit of continued wifi and internet as I have the router and modem connected to it too. When power was restored after 4 hours, it single-phased and there were brownouts with intermittent cuts into the night. The UPS handled them all with ease |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
Get a UPS
Another big electrical storm going on at the moment. A think the telephone and power lines got hit as both the internet and power dropped out but the UPS kicked in and did its job |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by Amazulu
(Post 11485578)
Surge protection is fine but does not allow for brownouts (low voltage) or single-phasing (loss of phase)
Brownouts can be potentially harmful to motorized appliances. But normal voltage to PCs is even voltage so low that incandescent bulbs dim to 40% intensity. If voltage drops lower, electronics simply power off - without damage. Some brownouts can be preceeded by a surge that would well exceed 1000 volts. Then the utility hardware would cut off power or a brownout would follow. No protector adjacent to a computer claims to protect from that type of anomaly. Informed consumers install something completely different (unfortunately also called a surge protector) that makes such transients irrelevant. So irrelevant that the homeowner does not even know a surge existed. These proven 'whole house' protectors come from companies with better integrity including Novaris, Clipsal, and ABB. And (like all protectors) is only effective when connected low impedance (ie 'less than 3 meters') to a single point earth ground. BTW, a pure sine wave UPS can output 400 volt square waves with a spike of up to 500 volts on the 230 volt power cord. Due to superior surge protection already inside electronics, this 'UPS in battery backup mode' power is ideal. But may be harmful to motorized appliances. A UPS also does not claim to avert that above discussed surge. Since the surge is done in microseconds. And a UPS takes milliseconds to respond to any changes. |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by kjchapman1
(Post 11480328)
My plan was to take the TV, Sonos, computers Coffee machine (a MUST) ect with me, chop the uk plugs off and hard wire OZ plugs p
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Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by winston_1
(Post 11487989)
The TV won't work in Australia unless you buy a local set top box.
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Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by old.sparkles
(Post 11488092)
Not true - some older TV's wont work without a set top box but newer one's should be fine.
It is the bandwidth which is the killer. |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by winston_1
(Post 11488227)
You are wrong. Australian DVB-T uses VHF and UHF tuning at a 7MHz bandwidth. UK uses UHF only at 8MHz bandwidth. Also the spot channel allocations are different, Australia uses non standard channels.
It is the bandwidth which is the killer. I'm no expert on this, far from it, but I know a lot of people were posting on here and getting assistance with retuning which got their UK tVs to work ok :) |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by winston_1
(Post 11488227)
You are wrong. Australian DVB-T uses VHF and UHF tuning at a 7MHz bandwidth. UK uses UHF only at 8MHz bandwidth. Also the spot channel allocations are different, Australia uses non standard channels.
It is the bandwidth which is the killer. |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by old.sparkles
(Post 11488230)
Don't think that is true anymore. Certainly my TV has an Australian selection (only cheap Asda TV not some high end buy) and is running fine with no set top box. Of the 4 TV's we bought, 2 connected direct to aerial (one 2 years old, and one a little older), one is used for games and DVD's only but I suspect it wouldn't work being around 8 years old, and one requires a set top box (also around 7 or 8 years old)
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Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by winston_1
(Post 11488234)
Interesting. The cheap supermarket TVs are more likely to have an Australian selection. The high end known brands are the main problem. Panasonic in particular are hobbled to only work in one country. Some UK ones won't even work in Ireland.
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Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by Buzzy--Bee
(Post 11481833)
State-dependent.
In VIC you can change your own plugs. I think in QLD you can't. BB |
Re: Plugs & Sockets
Originally Posted by winston_1
(Post 11488236)
So if you take your gear across the border, then change the plugs, is it legal to take it back to QLD?
I would say that without question that any electrical work done out of state would need to be re-certified by a locally accredited and licenced electrician, to ensure that it conforms with the new state's regulations... S |
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