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Saorview question

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  • 02-05-2011 9:23pm
    #1
    doniem
    Registered Users Posts: 245 ✭✭


    I've seen in the forum where people have sound but no picture which indicates they have frreview compatible tvs but not saorview. however i have 3 tvs with mpeg4 tuners, 2 of which are listed on the "TV's working with Saorview - The List" thread and the picture I'm getting is broken at best. Some days it will work perfectly for a few hours and then go back to being very poor for a few more days. I have 2 of the philips 32PFL5605H and an LG 32le4900. there is a link to a short video of the bad picture im talking about here.
    I have tried it in cork city and in west cork and got much the same thing in both places. I have also set the philips tvs location to italy and england but neither were much better.
    any suggestions greatly appreciated.


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    #2
    fat-tony
    Registered Users Posts: 2,705 ✭✭✭fat-tony


    The symptoms are those of insufficient signal quality and strength. You should have a UHF aerial of the correct group for the transmitter you are receiving from and the downlead and plug should be in good condition. What is your analogue signal quality like from the aerial?

    You're not using one of those "one for all" indoor aerials, by any chance?


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    #3
    doniem
    Registered Users Posts: 245 ✭✭doniem


    thanks for the reply. no its not one of those, in the apartment i rent its a communal aerial for the whole building that i'm plugged into and in my home place in west cork it's an aerial in the attic.


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    #4
    fat-tony
    Registered Users Posts: 2,705 ✭✭✭fat-tony


    When you say communal aerial, is this cable TV from UPC or similar, or is it a local UHF aerial which receives the Irish channels only?

    If it's cable TV carrying a range of channels, then it may not be optimised for the UHF signals from the local transmitter - Collins Barracks maybe?

    As regards your attic aerial in West Cork - what transmitter is it pointed at? Do you get TV3 reception on it currently? Mullaghanish is transmitting Saorview. You should get it on a Group A UHF aerial that currently receives analogue TG4 and TV3. If you're in a spot in West Cork serviced by an in-fill transmitter it may not be carrying Saorview. Try here for coverage map http://www.saorview.ie/make-the-switch/coverage-checker/coverage-map/


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    #5
    doniem
    Registered Users Posts: 245 ✭✭doniem


    I don't know the specifics but I think its a uhf aerial on the roof of the apartments which picks up Rte tv3 and tg4. I put in the frequency for mullaghanish in the Philips TV in west cork as well as using auto tune but received the same result. The analogue signal in west cork gives Rte 1 and 2 tv3 quite clearly and poor tg4


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    #6
    fat-tony
    Registered Users Posts: 2,705 ✭✭✭fat-tony


    Mullaghanish transmits RTE One and Two on VHF and TV3 and TG4 (and all Saorview) on UHF. VHF aerials have longer elements than UHF (and usually fewer). You may need to purchase a UHF aerial for the attic there. Did you try the coverage checker map I linked to? If you're close to the Collins Barracks transmitter in Cork city a cheapo indoor aerial from a €2 shop may well provide you with sufficient signal. The elements on the aerial will need to be pointing up and down as Collins Barracks is vertically polarised on UHF channel 50.


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    #7
    doniem
    Registered Users Posts: 245 ✭✭doniem


    I checked the coverage linker and my place in west cork is covered by the Clonakilty transmitter as i'm only 6 miles from there. I'll check what type of aerial it has Wednesday.

    I'm only 2 miles from Collins Barrack so I'll try one of those aerials tomorrow.
    thanks very much for the assistance i really appreciate it. I'll let you know how i get on.


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    #8
    fat-tony
    Registered Users Posts: 2,705 ✭✭✭fat-tony


    Have a look at this post in the aerial thread in the stickies:
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=60897584&postcount=4


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    #9
    doniem
    Registered Users Posts: 245 ✭✭doniem


    Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I got an indoor aerial like you said and it picked up the signal perfectly. I haven't checked out the homeplace yet but will do soon. Thanks for the help lads


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    #10
    doniem
    Registered Users Posts: 245 ✭✭doniem


    ok so i checked at home and we have a vhf aerial and a uhf grid aerial in the attic. the signal strength on the tv is consistently at around 50% to 70% and the signal quality changes between 0% & 100% every few seconds. Im not sure if it matters but beside signal quality it says (BER:0.0 x 1e-6). As things stand the digital rte channels work for a few minutes and then cut out for hours. i tried moving the grid aerial and i have it horizontal for the mullaghanish polarisation but it doesnt get much better.

    I have ordered a red group a contract aerial which i plan to put on the chimney which will hopefully improve the consistency of the signal.

    Do i still need the vhf aerial in the attic or will the uhf aerial (theoretically at least) pick up all the terrestrial channels?


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    #11
    fat-tony
    Registered Users Posts: 2,705 ✭✭✭fat-tony


    doniem wrote: »
    ...

    I have ordered a red group a contract aerial which i plan to put on the chimney which will hopefully improve the consistency of the signal.

    Do i still need the vhf aerial in the attic or will the uhf aerial (theoretically at least) pick up all the terrestrial channels?
    The group A aerial will pick up the Saorview signals (which have all the TV and radio channels) and analogue TV3 and TG4 from Mullaghanish. You won't need a VHF aerial, unless you need to pick up RTE One and RTE Two analogue. Analogue will be switched off completely late next year in any case.


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