Any way of getting better reception in Gorey, Wexford?

Zascar

My parents live in Gorey in Wexford. They have a large ariel on the roof which picks up the starnard 7 or so channels, but the recpetion is poor. Sometimes depending on the weather is it truly auful. My sisters and I just bought them a really nice Samsung Flatscreen TV, and its a shame to have such a quality TV but the picture is terible sue to a poor signal. I think they have a booster on it but it doesn't do much good.

The only other option I can think of is Sky - but they don't want it, its too complicated for them, it's quite expensive, and has loads of chanels they'd never watch. I'm wondering are there any other options? There is no NTL etc that i know of in the area.

I'm not really too up to date with these things but is there anything available like Digital Freeview over here etc. Any other options that don't cost a fortune and that can be operated by technophobic oldies?

5h4mr0(k

You could get them a non Sky satellite dish for picking up the Free To Air (FTA) channels e.g BBCs, ITVs, Film4. You'd have a one off charge to get the dish, and box and installation, but after that it's free (apart from the TV licence).

You'll find lots more information in the Satellite forum.

lucernarian

If the reception is that bad, mabye there's something wrong with the aerial setup?? I've found that using good quality satellite cable, the likes of CT 100 etc. make a pretty big difference in reception. Water could be leaking into the existing cables or amp. I presume the UK channels are the worst affected? Are the Irish ones crystal clear?

Does anyone know if it's feasible to get Freeview from Blaenplwyf or Preslei in Gorey??

Ulsterman 1690

Are you using Mt Leinster for RTE1/2/TG4

IIRC there was a relay/transposer opened in Gorey a few years back but older aerials are probably still pointed at Mt Leinster

Zascar

Ulsterman 1690 wrote:

Are you using Mt Leinster for RTE1/2/TG4

Sorry I've no idea what that means. I know they get S4C instead of Channel 4 if that makes any difference?

Ariel would have been installed about 5-6 years ago. Would it be worth investigating an upgrade?
Cheers

lucernarian

Mount leinster is just the name of the transmitter. The channels are obviously the irish channels.

Could you tell me what the quality of each of the channels are like currently, as I asked earlier?

If the signal is worse than what it was when the aerial was installed, it's definetely worth checking out. Even if not, there's lots of things that can be done. Like using better parts for the booster, amp, cable etc. The installer may have used cheaper parts 5-6 years ago.


Btw. any relay will not have TV3. Mt. Leinster is only about 15 miles away from Gorey. I'm sure the signal would be more than enough even with low hills/buildings in the way.

Zascar

Thanks. So as we are relativly near there is no real reason that the receptions should be bad? BTW they do have TV3 I'm 99% sure.

My parents said that usually its fine except during the summer it gets worse. However “fine” is not very impressive to me, still a bit grainey. RTE1 and 2 are usually better than the UK channels. Sometimes for no reason that I can think of the signal in the bedroom upstairs looses severl channels, but they come back later without changing anything, weird..

Perhaps a TV/Ariel expert could take a look at it and tell whether a parts upgrade would do any good?
Thanks for your help.

Ulsterman 1690

Mt leinster is the main television transmitter for the South East of Ireland
it carries the four Irish channels

Unfortunately like all main transmitters it only reaches about 85-90 % of its target area and there are a few coverage blackspots where reception is not the best. One of these areas is Gorey (or parts of it anyway)

To address this problem about 10 years ago RTE put up a small relay transmitter to "fill in" the reception blackspot. This relay carries RTE 1 2 and TG4 but not TV3 (youll still need to rely on Mt Leinster for that)

If your RTE aerial is older than this its probably still pointed at Mt Leinster.

Your UK channels come from a transmitter in Wales (not sure which one/s is/are available in Gorey) but if replacing it make sure if possible the new one is freeview ready

Zascar

OK cool. So what channels does Freeview give me?

lucernarian

I see now that there's a decent-sized hill between Gorey and Mt. Leinster. Another option could be the Kippure transmitter to the north of you, which also has all 4 Irish channels.

There should be two aerials up on your roof at the very least. If not, you'll need to get an aerial sorted out for the Irish channels.

Ulsterman summed it up well.

Freeview gives all the extra BBCs like 3, 4 and interactive etc. And the extra ITVs also. See this link: http://www.freeview.co.uk/channels/

It's unlikely that you can get it right now, but they will be changing all transmitters in Wales to freeview so it's important that the system is good enough to pick up the freeview channels properly. Any half-decent aerial installer should know what to do.


Btw, they should come to Drogheda to see how bad the reception for RTE is. The town centre can only get good RTE from Cairn Hill, 60 miles away. Clermont carn is 20 miles away.

St Senan

The Uk channels in Gorey come from Preslei also the relay Transmitter is up Clonattin hill in the town. Zascar parents best bet would be to contact Mylie Redmond about looking at their Aerial. He is a long time in the Aerial rigging Buisness in Gorey. A lot of people in and around Gorey are scrapping their UK aerials and getting the free to air channels through a dish, Some parts of the town can't receive tv3 at all.

lucernarian

Good stuff. You could PM the number to Zascar. Do you know if freeview can be picked up from Preslei in Gorey??

St Senan

To_be_confirmed wrote:

Good stuff. You could PM the number to Zascar. Do you know if freeview can be picked up from Preslei in Gorey??

Freeview can be picked up in some areas around Gorey especially around the Tara hill and Castletown areas, In Gorey town itself around Creagh hill and some parts around the kildermot/Mount Alexander area but i think if the signal drops below 60db forget about picture. thats why a lot of people are getting Free to Air dishes put up. And thank God the bypass opened today

scaller

Zascar

Got the PM - Thanks. They live 1 mile south of the town - lets hope they are in range!

Ulsterman 1690

Btw, they should come to Drogheda to see how bad the reception for RTE is. The town centre can only get good RTE from Cairn Hill, 60 miles away. Clermont carn is 20 miles away.

I could never understand why Drogheda was never cabled. A fairly big town and most of it (bar maybe the north end) seems to be too lowlying to get the UK terrestrials.

Can they not use Kippure for the Irish channels.

One of the reasons why reception of Mt Leinster in Gorey was/is problematic is international agreements limit the amount of power that Mt Leinster can radiated eastwards. In order to protect (apparently unused) PMR allocations in Britain

paulbds

I have Freeview and I get the signal from Preseli transmitter.
Reception usually ok but terrible tonight - -as a result of the weather.

I did put this offer up on another part of this BB and only had 1 reply and the person involved was not able to get to Wexford.

What was the offer.....I have just replaced my old freeview box with a PVR freeview box. I am more than happy for anyone that wishes to collect my redundant freeview box from me can have it for nowt (well maybe a coffee or a pint). I just couldn't be bothered taking it back to UK when I return on Saturday
I am just next tt Whitford House Clonard Village) in Wexford and will be going to the races tomorrow night (weather permitting).
If you don't have a decent UK signal, it will be of no use to you

Just pm me

Paul

lucernarian

Good to know Ulsterman. Cheers.

OT I know, but Drogheda is indeed a good candidate for cabling, and Mount Oriel cannot quite cover all of the town with MMDS. And the town has more housing per square km than usual in Ireland and the streets are handy for overhead cabling in most cases. And picking up RTE radio is dodgy either Clermont Carn or Kippure would be stronger

There's a lot of Kippure VHF aerials but I'm not sure how better it is at getting into valleys (I've LOS to Kippure from the roof so I can't check). In the centre, there's a few VHF aerials and more grid aerials for Cairn Hill. Of course, VHF from Kippure rules out TV3 and TG4. Except for the very lowest parts, there's lots of MMDS aerials too.

Ulsterman 1690

To_be_confirmed wrote:

Freeview gives all the extra BBCs like 3, 4 and interactive etc. And the extra ITVs also. See this link: http://www.freeview.co.uk/channels/

And if youre reliant on a Welsh transmitter if gives the option of English C4 as well as Welsh

marclt

IIRC, Gorey UK aerials are mostly pointed at Presely and when you get to Arklow they are usually pointed at north Wales... can't be Llanddona because the aerials are Vertically polarised. Arfon maybe?

Following digital switchover, DTT from Presely will have a massive power increase. Currently BBC mux and Digital 3&4 (ITV) are broadcast at 500w with the others at 1kw. Post switchover BBC/Digital 3/4 and a third public service mux will broadcast at 20kw each with the commercial ones at 10kw.

Plus at the moment there is reduced power working (has been ongoing since april until next Monday) for maintenance work.

Marc