Kindlestown DTT

ianx

Can anyone give up to date info on the Kindlestown transmitter? Is it transmitting DTT (orientation, channel, is the transmission directional or omni?) and should I be able to pick it up with this sort of terrain?



I tried before with an old UHF aerial on the roof outout success but I'm not sure if there were problems with the equipment/set-up.

fat-tony

DTT is active from the Greystones relay in Kindlestown on CH52 UHF. It's vertically polarised and carries RTE1, 2, TV3 and TG4 and the RTE rolling news service, plus the four main radio channels.
I don't know if the signal is shielded to the NW (looks like you're in the Kilmac area?) as the intended service area is Greystones/Kilcoole, where reception is restricted somewhat from Three Rock( DTT CH54/61) by Bray Head and the Little Sugar Loaf.

ianx

Yes I'm about 700m up from the main road and I think I would have full line of sight to Kindlestown with another 10m of height.

Three rock is blocked by the hill behind and close to the house.

Should I be going for a high gain aerial or something else?

fat-tony

Is your aerial oriented properly for vertical polarisation? I assume it's outside on the chimney or whatever? The stated power for Greystones analogue is 500W (don't know what it is for DTT). Can you receive the analogue signals from Greystones on 53, 57 and 63? If not, then it's unlikely you will get the DTT signal. If you can receive the analogue signals (even weakly), then the digital stuff should come in, assuming the transmitter radiation pattern is the same.

I have been experimenting with a contract aerial and masthead amp in an attempt to get a signal from Arfon in Wales without success. There is a slight rise in elevation from my house (in Greystones) towards the sea which is scuppering my attempts, though.:(
I notice that the ground rises from your location also, which might put you in a "dip" as regards reception.

rurs

Just to add, Kindlestown is receivable in Bray*, so Kilmac should be no problem.
From my own experience, line of sight doesn't seem as important with DTT, so I would check all your cabling etc.
Can you get anything from Three Rock? I set up my a friend in Kilmac on DTT who had very poor analogue from Three Rock, (Lots of ghosting, wavy lines, snow), and its been rock solid for them. Didn't touch the aerial, just tuned in a Sagem Picnic box.

*When I say receivable, I mean it's reaching me, but my aerial is aligned for three rock, so on channel 52, the picture breaks up very badly, although sound is OK.

ianx

I got up onto the roof this morning with Colour King and confirmed that I can pick up a decent signal from Kindlestown. I just need to source a mount for the gable (signal not so good at the chimney) and a 4-5m pole.

fat-tony

Good to hear you have had some success:)

ianx

Got signals at 80-90% and can decode with a friend's Technomate box. However my PC is not playing ball. I've a Terratec Cynergy card which is not playing ball. I'm getting sound but no picture. However I can playback recordings.

What other countries are using the same DTT configurations as us (might help me with the software settings)

rurs

Apparently the system used in New Zealand is the closest in spec to ours.

Sound with no pictures suggests a codec problem.
What file format are the recordings in? If they are MPEG2, it suggests that the Terratec card is not picking up the right codec for viewing. I've seen mention of a 30 day trial of Power DVD or something which installs the right codec, (for MPEG4) which is still usable after the trial.

BTW, what software did you use for the terrain maps in your first post? I'd be interested in having a go with it myself.

ianx

Rurs,
Thanks for the response. I agree it does seem to be a video codec problem. It's just the Terratec and Mediaportal software is just not giving very much debug info....

The files are "ts" format even though I've configured the terratec SW to use AVI. They are replayable and appear to be mpeg4 (no surprise there!).

I have the Xvid, PowerDVD and ffdshow mpeg4 decoders installed.

The mapping software used is "OSI Trail Master". I have it for the area covered in the attached pic. It's heavily copy protected (aka a pain in the "back") but I'm happy to do a trace for you if your in the covered area.