Receiving Uk channels with indoor aerial (in Dublin)

mazza

Can any TV buff advise me please?

I am currently connected to NTL (non-digital) and don't want to continue paying for the service (for many obvious reasons!)

Basically, I want to receive 4 Irish plus 4 UK channels (BBC1,BBC2,C4,ITV) without paying for cable or subscribing to Sky (as I don't watch a lot of TV).

With an indoor aerial (like rabbits ears), I can get the 4 Irish channels, no worries. I was told that the 4 UK channels are broadcast from Three Rock Mountain too (I'm in Dublin in line of sight), but I can't manage to tune them in at all.

Does anyone know if it is possible to get the UK channels in this manner without an outdoor aerial or similar If so, do I need any special type of indoor aerial?

Alternatively, what other options should I explore? Could I buy satellite dish and receiver (with no Sky connection etc) and get the channels I want (are they available free-to-air)? I could handle a once-off payment for this if it got me free from NTL!

Any tips or hints would be appreciated - thanks!!!

Mazza

is

LFCFan

AFAIK there is not a chance in hell of you picking up the UK channels with an indoor arial, even the type you plug in to boost the signal.

Samson

Originally posted by mazza
I was told that the 4 UK channels are broadcast from Three Rock Mountain too (I'm in Dublin in line of sight), but I can't manage to tune them in at all.

I don't think that's true. I've certainly never heard that they were.
As LFCFan says, you don't stand a hope in hell of picking up the british channels with rabbit ears or similar.

loyatemu

check the Community->ICDG->Terrestrial board

i'd imagine you need an outdoor aerial and even then you will probably get the welsh channels and S4C is significantly different to C4.

with a non-subscription satellite dish you can get all the BBC channels, but not ITV or RTE\TV3

carrolls

In Dublin, you will need a large UHF aerial and 20-25 DB masthead amplifier to pick up the Welsh channels. To pick up digital Freeview from Wales, you will need an even taller UHF aerial and masthead amplifier.

Originally posted by mazza
I was told that the 4 UK channels are broadcast from Three Rock Mountain too (I'm in Dublin in line of sight), but I can't manage to tune them in at all.

Reminds me of the story I heard about a local dodgy sky digital installer who told some of his customers that the reception on his sky digital instalations was bad because there were so many dishes going up now, that there was not enough signal for all of them
Categorically the UK channels are not broadcast from Three Rock or from any legal main Republic of Ireland transmitter.
Your best bet to be honest is to get a sky receiver and dish installed witha free to view card.
No subscription after the initial outlay.
You will have to get the card on ebay or some other auction site, but don't pay more than thirty or forty quid for it.
They are available on buy and sell but at a rip odff price.

For more info on all this try this site which is probably the best in the Dublin area for this type of thing.


Regarding aerials....
You might be able to pick up the uk channels with the correct roof aerial and masthead amp from either wales or Northern Ireland but this depends a lot on your location.

watty

If you have been on NTL analog and only have indoor aerial:

1) You won't beleive improvement on Irish channels a proper roof aerial gives.

2) You won't beleive the quality of BBC on Satellite.

As well as BBC Free, there is Performance, Chart Hits, Channel U, The Vault, POP & POP Plus (also has kiddie cartoons during day), Classic FM TV,

about 30 shopping channels

Euronews, CNN, BBC24, ITV NEWs, Sky News

Various Ethnic channels

Community and Open Access TV

over 60 radio stations.

If you are on high ground with good view to North or East, a mast plus quad array might get Analog BBC/ITV/C4. Look at size of masts on Naas Road!

Originally posted by LurkingIcon

If you are on high ground with good view to North or East, a mast plus quad array might get Analog BBC/ITV/C4. Look at size of masts on Naas Road!

Don't even need that type of ironmongery if you live anywhere from say blackrock south to Dalkey and Killiney, I've seen kilkeel come in on a grid.
parts of coastal north Dublin are even luckier with kilkeel.

lawhec

IIRC a deflector has been licenced from the Three Rock site but has never came into service. Maybe this is where the confusion lies?

carrolls

Originally posted by Earthman
You will have to get the card on ebay or some other auction site, but don't pay more than thirty or forty quid for it.
They are available on buy and sell but at a rip odff price.

Never get an FTV card from ebay. The reason is because sometimes after the initial sale, the seller calls Sky to say the card is faulty, and a new card is sent out. The old card is then disabled and the seller tries sell on the new card.
Be aware about this before buying.

mazza

Thanks for all the helpful advice and tips! I appreciate it!

Decision is made:

- dump NTL (yaaah!)
- adopt temporary holding pattern in 4 Irish channel land with internal aerial.
- use spare time in evenings (!) to figure out various possibilites on free TV via satellite.

BTW, just to tie up a few loose ends mentioned in replies above:

- mention of proposed deflector service on Three Rock may have caused confusion indeed with the person who told me these channels could be got with an internal aerial.

- same person it transpires was apparently able to get these channels by just holding a piece of co-axial in the air (with no aerial at all!!!) in Howth. Maybe something to do with the height and clear line of sight to NI, but not do-able where I live.

- have NTL analog via cable at present. Surely you couldn't get NTL analog via an aerial anyway? (that'd kinda defeat the purpose of NTL being able to charge for cable? Or???)

Agent Smith

i can pick up a VERY fuzzy sky one off my areial (indoor)
anyone care to explain how ON HELL is that possiable


(uk sky by the way)

Mike 1972

If youre getting it on VHF its leaking from an analouge cable for a better picture/more channels you could try moving the aerial around for a better signal and maybe add a booster (VHF or wideband) although In theory it is illegal (Broadcasting act 1990) to watch cable TV if youre not a subscriber but in practice if any high court judge with half a brain would tear massive holes in said law if it were ever refered to him/her

If you are getting it on UHF one of your neighbours either has an unappoved videosender or a VERY leaky Satellite box/cable

Surely you couldn't get NTL analog via an aerial anyway? (that'd kinda defeat the purpose of NTL being able to charge for cable? Or???

See above

rubadub

I know a guy living in sandyford who swears he gets bbc1&2 and utv and ch4 with a booster that he has had from the 80's.
I got a fuzzy sky 1 in stillorgan. Using a cheap set-top arial with a inbuilt (probably weak) booster I can get all of the NTL analogue channels BBC1 is watchable and so is Sky one but sometimes they go very bad. Is there a high powered booster that would make these leaked signals from next door watchable?

finnpark

Earthman wrote:

Categorically the UK channels are not broadcast from Three Rock or from any legal main Republic of Ireland transmitter.

This is not true. There are many legal UKTV transmitters in Ireland. They use the old "deflector" system which is totally licensed and legal. I get it in Donegal. You don't have to pay but everyone(most) gives a voluntary donation(usually E50 for 3-4 years-E15 per year). There are legal transmitters in a number of counties.

Im not sure about Dublin though. Dont expext a good picture quality on any station you receive from Wales even with good amps and Antennas etc. In my opinion the best system would be if you and a few neighbours went together to set up a good system and distribute the stations among yourselves.

finnpark

rubadub wrote:

I know a guy living in sandyford who swears he gets bbc1&2 and utv and ch4 with a booster that he has had from the 80's.
I got a fuzzy sky 1 in stillorgan. Using a cheap set-top arial with a inbuilt (probably weak) booster I can get all of the NTL analogue channels BBC1 is watchable and so is Sky one but sometimes they go very bad. Is there a high powered booster that would make these leaked signals from next door watchable?

I think this would be hard to do. Of course you could get a high gain aerial, put a high gain amp(Triax are good) as close to antenna as possible but all this is very expensive and you would still probably not get a good picture.

Mike 1972

Chorus have a "deflector" licence for the Three Rock site (among others) although theyve never used it and its highly unlikely that they ever will.


I think they applied for it to make some kind of point although what that might have been is beyond me :rolleyes:

Richard

Mike 1972 wrote:

Chorus have a "deflector" licence for the Three Rock site (among others) although theyve never used it and its highly unlikely that they ever will.


I think they applied for it to make some kind of point although what that might have been is beyond me :rolleyes:

Maybe it was to stop someone else using it.

Mike 1972

There were the only applicant though.

They applied in other places too (Cork, Limerick etc) although they were only awarded the licence in areas where they were the sole applicant