BBC1 reception in Drogheda

calex71

Sorry if this has been posted before , nothing came up in a search.

I'm only down at my parents place the odd week end and more so now over xmas. BBC1 seems to be unwatchable anytime ive been down here usually when i go to watch dr. who or merlin on a saturday night lol. Don't watch much else on it tobe honest. All other channels are as good as expected channel 4 is dodgey in summer though thats down to the weather.

Doesnt seem to be any pattern to bbc 1 going off though. hot or cold rain or shine. I mean its been on and off for the last few days ive been here but folks say this is always the case with it.

Just wondered if anyone else in the area had an issue or if i should have a tinker with things.

lucernarian

I've seen no problems with BBC1 reception. BBC2 is usually the best for me but it was very weak one evening a week or so ago.

There's 2 NI transmitters which can be picked up in Drogheda, Divis and Kilkeel. I'm served by the Kilkeel one which needs the Divis one to work, so both BBC1s should be fine. Over such a long distance, any number of factors can affect it, and with this high pressure that's around I'd say it's the weather.

Finne1993

Hi to anyone who might pick up on this question! I was installing tv's into a friends house outside Dundalk this week and he was keen to be able to have the 8 analogue stations, (BBC1, BBC2, UTV, CH4, RTE1, RTE2, TV3, TG4) available to him in all his rooms, 8 TV's i might add and not one of them with a digital tuner! He already had Sky but wanted the facility to watch different programmes in each room. So i suggested an aerial set up was probably the cheapest road that will do the job for the next 3 or 4 years anyway, I got a group C/D aerial for signal from Claremont and that blasted in no problem, it nearly would've worked with a length of co-ax above the tv the signal was that strong, i went for a group A DC Quad aerial fixed on the chimney with a masthead amplifier for the BBC signal from Divis but signal is disappointing, UTV is almost perfect, CH4 is good but the 2 BBC channels have a watchable but poor snowy picture, I had'nt much time to mess about outside with different amps etc but, i did however take time with the positioning of the aerial to make sure i had the best possible picture. Going by the picture its does'nt look like an over amplified signal but i did use a high gain aerial and a fringe A1228 28db amp. the stations came in at UHF no's 31,27,24,21 His house is about half a mile off junction 16 of the M1 (Dundalk South turn off) After doing a bit of reading up on it i see that Killowen Mountain broadcasts using the same channels, I'm hardly picking that up am I?? then i saw the Camlough mast broadcasts on channels 58,64,61,54. should I have tried them instead? any help with this would be greatly appreciated

lucernarian

Killowen Mountain doesn't broadcast towards Dundalk at all. It supplies a signal towards Kilkeel in Co. Down as it's completely cut off from any other BBC transmitter in NI.

Camlough would give a good signal currently, but when the Irish DTT channels start working from Kippure and Three Rock in the Dublin mountains, there will be interference on the NI channels from Camlough.

What's a DC quad aerial?? A pic would be helpful. Does it look like a small fireguard by any chance, with 4 X shaped antennae in front of the metal grid?

You probably know this already, but make sure the little rods or X shaped elements are fixed horizontally so as to have it like e.g. >< instead of XXXX
><
><
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Finne1993

I bought it in Watters in Culloville, now that its installed I'm thinking to myself I would've got just as good of a signal with a regular aerial. I had the elements turned the way you said, it explained all that clearly on the assembly instructions. The DTT transmissions from Three Rock would hardly affect the signal coming from Camlough would they? The Aerial would be pointed in the total opposite direction or am I forgetting something?

lucernarian

Aerials are usually better at picking up signals from behind than from the sides (perpendicular to whatever way the aerial is pointing.)


As for Three Rock, when the O2 trial was broadcasting on Ch 26, many people who could pick up one or two freeview channels couldn't pick up the mux on Ch 26. And I remember someone in this forum saying that it could be received again, once the O2 DVB-H signal was switched off. I'm virtually certain that RTE 1 and 2 from Three Rock stop many areas in Louth from picking up the main BBC channels on freeview, even if they can receive some freeview channels.

And I can get fuzzy, just about watchable Camlough at the moment. I can't pick up Channel 4 from it though, it's completely wiped out by the PSB mux from Three Rock. Kippure and Three rock will be broadcasting at much higher power in the next couple of years or so. On the same channels as Camlough.

That's a good aerial, most likely an ordinary aerial would be a fair bit worse. It's crucial to find the best spot for the aerial, especially having it as high as is feasibly possible. Only thing you can do is to try making different changes to the setup, and see what happens.


Btw, I assume you're using an aerial combiner, with one input for the group A aerial and another input for the RTÉ aerial? (e.g 21-37/39-68 or 21-50/52-68) And make sure that power can pass through the diplexer thingy to reach the amplifier for the big Group A aerial.

Finne1993

Thanks for the reply, Yes, i have A-C/D thru leg diplexer with only the group A aerial amplified, its a similar set up to my own at home except its a group A and B i've diplexed for 3 rock and Kilkeel. The only reason Camlough came into my head is that I was messing about with my own aerials, I live at the tip of the Cooley Peninsula and by chance i came across the Camlough channels,(58 64 61 54) When i took the aerial out of my attic and put it out the window the stations came in as good as perfect through a cheap amplified 10 element group C/D aerial i bought for €8 which i thought very strange as the Cooley Mountains should be blocking any view i have of it (Cooley and Mourne Mountains completely block my view of Claremont Carn and Divis.

I see exactly where you're coming from and it would complicate things in the future if i aligned his aerial with Camlough, ah it'll just have to do him for now, he has Sky and a freesat box in another room, his whole set up of tv's is gonna have to change or get STB's in a couple of years for DTT anyway, i'll worry about it then!