Welsh digital switch over-Irish reception questions answered

Verso

Just an update on my previous posting. I get signals from Preseli and when I replaced my wideband aerial with a Unix 52 Group B I received Channel 43 at 90% Quality but could not get anything better than 32% Quality for Channel 46.

I tried again to-day and the position remained the same no matter how I tweaked and turned the Group B.

However as I have a variable masthead amp I reduced the gain and to my surprise the Quality for 46 jumped up to 66% straight away. With some more adjustment the Quality now varies between 65% and 75%. Possibly with some more careful adjustments I might improve on this. Meanwhile Channel 43 maintains it's 90%.

What still puzzles me is that with fringe reception I always thought the higher the gain with the masthead amplifier the better. I can understand with a strong reception area the gain could be reduced.

mrdtv2010

Verso: Aha! you are saturating the AGC on the receiver. Turn down the gain. Its best to have variable gain amps. This is a common problem with high power DTT which is why you need variable gain amps. Look at aerialsandtv.co.uk for an explanation. You have a high spec system with masthead which is overloading the tuner: often you need to know the dynamic range which the tuner can handle. In the UK a lot of amps have had to be removed after DSO. A variable gain amp allows you to adjust for conditions. I presume PQ is now very good after this find? I think a new sticky will be needed soon, but I am off for a week or two and look forward to reading the reports after Easter. Good result!

petronius

any chance ye could post reception reports from uk freeview tv http://ukfreeview.mpeg4ireland.com/map would be good to know what transmitter you are pointing at if your using masthead amps and what type/ height of aerial you have

I put them in there,2 of them.
But you'd be better off mining the reports from here and adding them yourself.
You're not going to get many people bothering to sign up with reports for you tbh.

DigiDec

BP very strong in Dublin all last night and this morning, all muxes, weakened a bit now.

That would be the high pressure lift.
Lifts usually are better from late afternoon onwards and weakest in the mornings.

gkp1

Deleted User wrote: »

That would be the high pressure lift.
Lifts usually are better from late afternoon onwards and weakest in the mornings.

Yes, my Arfon was suffering some breakup last night so I decided to retune and picked up BP on ch 27 with signal strength in the 40s. Quality was variable, not surprising as aerial (Triax Unix 52 group is polarised for and pointed at Arfon. I wonder why Arfon reception got bad, it had been solid for the past week?

Lift sends signal all over the place so it sometimes means that your own tx dips.

Presely this lunchtime is on fire.
Signal 100% and blasting mt leinster on 42 and 49 to kingdom come.
We've also got sky news on 45 today.

DigiDec

Preseli comig in good in Dublin too at the moment.

prioryc

using powerlink powercinema yesterday i did a scan & it received 123 channels?
every thing is fine up to channel 14:film4 then it goes nuts...
14,15,16,17,18 = film4
19.= qvc
2021,22,23,24=4music
25=dave
26-30=viva
30-35=idealworld
36=bidtv
37-41=itv4
42-46=dave ja vu
47-e4
48-e4+1
49-fiver
50-fiveusa
51-itv2+1
52-56=virgin1
then the rest with multiple babstation on 65-69

all workin today well too

petronius

Deleted User wrote: »

I put them in there,2 of them.
But you'd be better off mining the reports from here and adding them yourself.
You're not going to get many people bothering to sign up with reports for you tbh.

Cheers BB, I dont have anything to do with the site, its just that I think it would be good to have a more graphical representation of the coverage of DTT from the UK and indeed DTT here in Ireland for punters.

Anyways, planning on moving my Aerial to try and get DTT from wales this weekend.

On the Northside of Dublin, what do you reckon my chances are?

pretty good at the moment given the high pressure lift.
After that,hard to say.

I'd imagine Howth would block a lot of stuff from wales on you normally up there at that angle.
You could try caldbeck or port st mary IOM?

ocj

Hi petronius,

Let us know how you get on?
I'm in Skerries and tried last year to receive dtt from wales but didn't have any luck.
What kind of set up are you using?

Sam Russell

Just a short update on the Bray site. The BBC channels from BP are OK, but C4 for example breaks up a bit. The signal is better in the day than at night.

No measurements yet, I will not be able to do that until the middle of next month. I will then check every mux for signal stength, and try to optimise the aerial direction and height, and also try and see what signals are arriving.

Keep you posted.

yoda81269

On Sunday I purchased an Aldi Medion 19" LCD TV with Freeview and when I turned it on he asked me if I wanted to select auto installation which auto tunes all the channels which I did.
On completion of the auto tuning it had picked up all the UK Freeview channels in the Digital TV mode but then it automatically turned off. I re-powered the TV but the Freeview channels have since disappeared and when I redo an installation and auto tune it does not find the channels again. I spoke to a Medion technical support person and he said that if the TV picked them up the first time then it should do it again, there is no technical reason as they why it powered off and lost the Freeview channels or at least that is what he is saying, I'm a conspiracy theorist !!!

I'm in County Louth, 10km north of Drogehda, has anybody else had a similar experience, any thoughts ?

Try to do a full factory reset.

Then auto tune and if you get them then be sure and SAVE them.

Verso

I am in North Wexford on the coast. Yesterday Preseli on channels 43 and 46 quality at 93% - this afternoon down to 23% and no reception (poor or no signal). Any one else experience this, hope it's not my system.

It's the one in one hundred times when presely goes low.
Sea fog causes it and there were banks and banks of it in the irish sea yesterday and today.

I've had intermittent break up since yesterday for a few seconds at a time.

bothyhead

Deleted User wrote: »

It's the one in one hundred times when presely goes low.
Sea fog causes it and there were banks and banks of it in the irish sea yesterday and today.

I've had intermittent break up since yesterday for a few seconds at a time.

The same here last night. It's only about the second time that It's totally gone since the analogue was switched off last year. In the good old days, my reception was mainly snow, and it was only on a fine summer's day that it was crystal clear; now the situation is reversed

Verso

Thanks for replies Black Briar and bothyhead. To date I have been delighted with reception from Presely and am pleased that it was not my system.

Will try again when I get back.

mrdtv2010

This is the difference between digital and analogue TV. Over AWGN threshold and BER < 1 exp-7 == perfect pictures all the time. You will get the odd dropout: the system is engineered for 99.8% availability. In analogue you do not have an error correction system unlike DVB-T1/T2. This is why the digital system is so reliable. The fog was probably ducting in stronger distant signals causing signal quality impairments. It does NOT behave like analogue TV: it is much more reliable.

marclt

Wales:
10 March 2010: West Wales (Blaenplwyf and relays) – coinciding with switchover.

31 March 2010: South East Wales (Wenvoe and relays) – coinciding with switchover.

30 March 2010: Swansea (Kilvey Hill and relays)

13 April 2010: Carmarthenshire (Carmel and relays)

1 June 2010: North East Wales (Moel Y Parc and relays, except Storeton Wales: 15 June 2010)

8 June 2010: East Central Wales (Long Mountain and relays)

29 June 2010: Pembrokeshire (Preseli)

13 July 2010: Anglesey, Lleyn Peninsula & Snowdonia (Llanddona, Arfon and relays)

mollser

Thats great news re HD

Just one question, can HD test signals be picked up from the Presely transmitter yet?

Cheers

FREETV

mollser wrote: »

Thats great news re HD

Just one question, can HD test signals be picked up from the Presely transmitter yet?

Cheers

It's due to broadcast HD from the tenth of June this month, I just read it on the web.

ocj

Hi,
I'm after some advise.
I have and aerial very just like this http://cgi.ebay.ie/Wideband-Digital-TV-Aerial-Freeview-Roof-Loft-Outdoor-/270409408143?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_ConElec_TVAerials_RL&hash=item3ef5a81e8f

Would it be possible to pick up freeview from wales with this in the dublin area?

reslfj

ocj wrote: »

Hi,
I'm after some advise.
I have and aerial very just like this http://cgi.ebay.ie/Wideband-Digital-TV-Aerial-Freeview-Roof-Loft-Outdoor-/270409408143?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_ConElec_TVAerials_RL&hash=item3ef5a81e8f

Would it be possible to pick up freeview from wales with this in the dublin area?

If - and that may be a very big IF - your location allows reception from Wales - the linked-to aerial is not a good choice. It is much to small and wideband.

Search this site for 'Wales' or 'Arfon' or 'Blaenplwyf' (Blaen plwyf) and you will find good advice.

For aerial advice take a look at the A.T.V site .

A large group B will be best for Arfon.

Lars

ocj

ocj wrote: »

Hi,
I'm after some advise.
I have and aerial very just like this http://cgi.ebay.ie/Wideband-Digital-TV-Aerial-Freeview-Roof-Loft-Outdoor-/270409408143?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_ConElec_TVAerials_RL&hash=item3ef5a81e8f

Would it be possible to pick up freeview from wales with this in the dublin area?

Not a hope.
Thats a tiny "contract" aerial.
Too small for long distance reception.

You need one that looks like this [but vertically polarised-the one in the picture is horizontally polarised] and you need an unobstructed sea view towards Arfon.

FREETV wrote: »

It's due to broadcast HD from the tenth of June this month, I just read it on the web.

Nothing as of today the 8th.
I understand it fires up on the 10th.
I don't have my equipment ot view it yet but will be ablse to see its signal strength and quality so as to know when it fires up.
I'll report when I see it on.

mrdtv2010

Deleted User wrote: »

Not a hope.
Thats a tiny "contract" aerial.
Too small for long distance reception.

You need one that looks like this [but vertically polarised-the one in the picture is horizontally polarised] and you need an unobstructed sea view towards Arfon.


Nothing as of today the 8th.
I understand it fires up on the 10th.
I don't have my equipment ot view it yet but will be ablse to see its signal strength and quality so as to know when it fires up.
I'll report when I see it on.

This may be delayed till 29th JUne 2010 due to extended works on the relays. Stand by for an announcement. T1 boxes may not be able to read either signal strength or quality of T2 signals so these don't reveal the exact status.

marclt

mrdtv2010 wrote: »

T1 boxes may not be able to read either signal strength or quality of T2 signals so these don't reveal the exact status.

Seems to be my issue.... despite having very good signal from Carmel, I get nothing on the HD frequency.

It might help people to make the switch if they could see a place holder at least...

Ho hum. I don't see it coming on air until the date as published at the end of last year.

FREETV

ocj wrote: »

Hi,
I'm after some advise.
I have and aerial very just like this http://cgi.ebay.ie/Wideband-Digital-TV-Aerial-Freeview-Roof-Loft-Outdoor-/270409408143?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_ConElec_TVAerials_RL&hash=item3ef5a81e8f

Would it be possible to pick up freeview from wales with this in the dublin area?

Hi, the aerial is too small as the others have said. A large Hirschmann high gain grouped aerial would be a good one to purchase. Expensive though but strong, that is what my Dad had installed by a contractor and it is still up since 1986 and working well. I have the cheaper Triax Unix 100s and the Group A one is over nine feet in lenght. They are tinny the elements though and much weaker. Do you mind us asking exactly where you are in Dublin please? It will help the others give you advise on whether it is possible. I am renting in Swords so cannot put up aerials on the gable wall and their is no chimney only some type of hump at the top of the roof and it is at least thirty feet high and I doubt it if I could receive Welsh reception in the attic. If I could get hold of a tall ladder them maybe I could clamp a six feet long pole to the hump which would be a 35 or 36 feet aerial height. How tall is your roof and your mast? Arfon is on a relay transmitter, not a main one so only has about 25 or so of the stations as it is Freeview Lite, whereas the main transmitters have double that between tv and radio stations.