DAB in Ireland: RTE multiplex closed

dellWlan · 07-08-2011 7:06pm

bkehoe wrote: »

Woodcock Hill doesn't cover anywhere to the North.

The coverage map pretty much shows no coverage to the north - northwest but I'm getting it in Ennis no problem. Don't know about the rest of the county though.

CrowdedHouse · 10-08-2011 3:06pm

I presume it's Woodcock Hill I'm picking up near Roscrea ? I was surprised to find any DAB. Radio showing 227.36 Mhz

glimmerman123 · 10-08-2011 5:29pm

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I presume it's Woodcock Hill I'm picking up near Roscrea ? I was surprised to find any DAB. Radio showing 227.36 Mhz

How long have you been picking up DAB outside Roscrea and roughly how many miles outside the town is it when you start to pick up the signal? The next time i'm passing through i will bring my portable DAB radio with me.

swoofer · 10-08-2011 6:09pm

what make of dab radio do I need for ennis? not a clue as yet but keen on the facility to "pause" radio if possible.

gbc--

Digifriendly · 10-08-2011 6:19pm

Anyone any idea how much power Clermont Carn is emitting and is it nulled to the north?

dellWlan · 10-08-2011 6:38pm

GBCULLEN wrote: »

what make of dab radio do I need for ennis? not a clue as yet but keen on the facility to "pause" radio if possible.

gbc--

I'm using a vita audio R2 in ennis, here's the successor http://www.vitaaudio.com/products/r2i

Haven't checked the specs of it or the R4i but my R2 doesn't have a pause feature. Apart from that it's an excellent quality radio.

L1011 · 13-08-2011 2:28pm

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I didn't think Kippure had DAB at all...

Definitely has it, the day it went live I lost signal entirely

and once they'd got the sync correct it meant I no longer needed a loft antenna.

lawhec · 15-08-2011 12:11am

Digifriendly wrote: »

Anyone any idea how much power Clermont Carn is emitting and is it nulled to the north?

From the best of my knowledge, the DAB TX aerial at Clermont Carn is on a southern leg of the mast, lower down from the TV & FM aerials, a yagi pointing between SW and SSW (I think the bearings 215 degrees). ERP I don't know, but considering previous reception reports it's probably 5-10kW max.

lucernarian · 15-08-2011 9:54am

I think lawhec is right, they use the same method for DTT before switchover. A single set of UHF panel antennate pointing SSW. http://www.digitalradio.ie/images/DAB_Dec09_hiRes.jpg shows a rough extent of coverage. By a coincidence, the places marked with indoors coverage tallies substantially with places where an unamplified indoor aerial works from a window for Saorview. It's by no means definitive though.

The Boyne Valley has unimpressive coverage from Trim onwards, but I can't tell if a DAB/+ site at Mt. Oriel would fill that in. Anyway expanded coverage probably won't happen for 3 years at least IMO. By which time hopefully they'll stick with DAB+ and have a format that should stand the test of time. Alongside FM of course:D

L1011 · 15-08-2011 1:48pm

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

By which time hopefully they'll stick with DAB+ and have a format that should stand the test of time. Alongside FM of course:D

"stick with"? They're still broadcasting in DABv1 and there's still a very poor selection of DAB+ units around...

I have one of the first ones sold as DAB+ upgradeable but the DAB+ firmware for it is hard to find. Its the one Total Broadcast can sell you if you want in-car DAB+ mind so clearly they have the firmware.

bkehoe · 15-08-2011 7:54pm

MYOB wrote: »

I have one of the first ones sold as DAB+ upgradeable but the DAB+ firmware for it is hard to find. Its the one Total Broadcast can sell you if you want in-car DAB+ mind so clearly they have the firmware.

You probably already have the firmware with DAB+ support if it's the unit I think you're referring to. Or if not then just get version 1.5 from the UK website.

You simply need the licence key to unlock it. Have a look at the manufacturers Australian website and go to support for the DAB+ upgrade key.

The versions Total Broadcast sell come DAB+ enabled out of the box as they are Irish stock as opposed to UK stock.

Mr. Rabbit · 16-08-2011 1:41am

lawhec wrote: »

From the best of my knowledge, the DAB TX aerial at Clermont Carn is on a southern leg of the mast, lower down from the TV & FM aerials, a yagi pointing between SW and SSW (I think the bearings 215 degrees). ERP I don't know, but considering previous reception reports it's probably 5-10kW max.

Any plans to increase power/make it omni directional Lawhec ?

The directionality can't be anything to do with frequency allocations in the North, surely. Is there an intention to beam it in the direction of NI at some stage ?

kilkenny31 · 16-08-2011 6:45pm

Can anyone tell me what type of DAB radio i need to pick up stations in the south kilkenny area?

lucernarian · 16-08-2011 6:58pm

MYOB wrote: »

"stick with"? They're still broadcasting in DABv1 and there's still a very poor selection of DAB+ units around...

I have one of the first ones sold as DAB+ upgradeable but the DAB+ firmware for it is hard to find. Its the one Total Broadcast can sell you if you want in-car DAB+ mind so clearly they have the firmware.

Ah, I didn't word that so well. What I should have said was that hopefully they'll settle on using DAB+ by the time the BAI/RTE expand digital radio nationally.

bkehoe · 16-08-2011 7:10pm

kilkenny31 wrote: »

Can anyone tell me what type of DAB radio i need to pick up stations in the south kilkenny area?

You need a DAB+ compatible radio to get all the stations being broadcast but any old standard DAB radio will receive some of the stations in the trial that are in standard DAB (Beat 102-103, 4FM, Radio Nova, talkSPORT, Phantom & Sunshine 106.8). The company running the trial are Pure dealers so I'm sure they could recommend something if you contacted them - totalbroadcast.net

L1011 · 16-08-2011 7:58pm

bkehoe wrote: »

You probably already have the firmware with DAB+ support if it's the unit I think you're referring to. Or if not then just get version 1.5 from the UK website.

You simply need the licence key to unlock it. Have a look at the manufacturers Australian website and go to support for the DAB+ upgrade key.

The versions Total Broadcast sell come DAB+ enabled out of the box as they are Irish stock as opposed to UK stock.

Shall give that a go when I'm back from Wales, may end up driving down to make sure it works

bkehoe · 16-08-2011 10:24pm

MYOB wrote: »

Shall give that a go when I'm back from Wales, may end up driving down to make sure it works

Decided to look it up to save you some time

; http://support.pure.com/au/troubleshooter.php?do=view&id=4

board.eddy · 21-08-2011 12:01pm

i live in south tipp area, just today bought a DAB radio but cant get any stations ?

swoofer · 21-08-2011 12:15pm

i think you made a boo boo, its not nationwide yet and it may be a long time before it is, from a few posts back this is the coverage we have

Three Rock (Co. Dublin)
* Clermont Carin (Co. Louth)
* Kippure (Co. Wicklow)
* Spur Hill (Co. Cork)
* Woodcock Hill (Co. Clare & Limerick City)

no mention of tipperary, where did you buy radio and did shop say it would work? for my benefit how much and what make is it? i am in clare

gbc

board.eddy · 21-08-2011 12:21pm

ok thanks for the reply, i bought it in tesco

just assumed that dab was available because they are selling them. i shall return it promptly ! i might try using it at home first because i live near waterford city and a company called total broadcast consultants are doing trials nearby

swoofer · 21-08-2011 12:36pm

Thank you for that on total braodcast, have a look at their site, it has a coverage map.

gb-

extopia · 21-08-2011 2:09pm

Apologies if this has been asked before, I tried searching with no luck.

I bought a DAB radio in ASDA in Northern Ireland. Worked fine picking up UK stations in Donegal, but now in Dublin I can't receive any stations at all. Is it a compatibility issue?

swoofer · 21-08-2011 3:17pm

you should say make, and you may need or get a software update, its dab and dab+1 formats

gbc

extopia · 21-08-2011 3:38pm

This is the one I'm talking about. According to a sticker on the bottom of the radio it's DAB Band III 174.928 MHz to 239.200 MHz.

http://direct.asda.com/ASDA-DAB-Radio/000591113,default,pd.html

Mr. Rabbit · 21-08-2011 4:14pm

I bought a DAB radio in ASDA in Northern Ireland. Worked fine picking up UK stations in Donegal, but now in Dublin I can't receive any stations at all. Is it a compatibility issue?

DAB broadcasts in NI aren't DAB+, though you can get DAB+ radios. Check before you buy.

and you may need or get a software update

If there's no USB port then he wont.

As far as I'm aware, DAB here doesn't do over the air software updates.

extopia · 21-08-2011 5:06pm

OK now I'm confused... do I need DAB or DAB+ radio? And is the frequency range I mentioned above OK for the RTE multiplex?

No USB port on the radio, btw.

CrowdedHouse · 21-08-2011 5:17pm

I receive DAB in the range you have(from Limerick I think), maybe you're just unlucky to be in a poor reception area. I have full strength in an upstairs room but it's unusable in my kitchen

Johnboy1951 · 21-08-2011 5:34pm

extopia wrote: »

OK now I'm confused... do I need DAB or DAB+ radio? And is the frequency range I mentioned above OK for the RTE multiplex?

No USB port on the radio, btw.

From what little I have read Dab+ is the intended transmission ...... using AAC codec in place of MP2 I think.

Tests are apparently being carried out in both formats at least by some carriers.

http://www.totalbroadcast.net/DAB.html

How to Receive DAB and DAB+

DAB radios have been available in Ireland for several years, largely due to centralised supply by UK-based chains, although lately independent retailers have started stocking DAB radios.

However care must be taken - UK-based chains tend to stock UK-specification radios, which often do not support DAB+. This will be the format used in Ireland when the system is rolled out, so its important to ensure that any radio you buy is future-proof.

Elmo · 22-08-2011 11:26am

The BAI received 3 expressions of interest for radio service on Soarview. None of which came from any established independent FM broadcaster. They are Easy FM (Country Music), Raidió Rí-Rá (Irish Language Young peoples) and Digital Radio Ltd. (An 80s Station). Each broadcast online or have had tempoary licences. Dusty Rhoads is behind Digital Radio Ltd, I assume the 80s service is Mocha.

Elmo · 22-08-2011 12:07pm

The BAI received 3 expressions of interest for radio service on Soarview. None of which came from any established independent FM broadcaster. They are Easy FM (Country Music), Raidió Rí-Rá (Irish Language Young peoples) and Digital Radio Ltd. (An 80s Station). Each broadcast online or have had tempoary licences. Dusty Rhoads is behind Digital Radio Ltd, I assume the 80s service is Mocha.

DAB in Ireland: RTE multiplex closed

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