DTT in Waterford

MacGyver

Hi guys, i've had a look around but cant find the answers im looking for, im based on the old tramore road in waterford and ive got a tv with mpeg4 tuner.

What i want to know is what do i need to receive dtt.
Ideally i want an attic aerial rather then outdoor but it is an option if necessary. do the antennas need to be pointed in a particular direction and where can i get them locally? is Toners any good for it?

coylemj

You're probably served by Mt. Leinster in which case you'd be picking up RTE 1 radio on 89.6 Mhz. Mt Leinster is to the NE of Waterford city and the DTT signals require a Band B aerial, the analog signal for TV3 & TG4 requires Band A (RTE1 and 2 are still VHF) and to cover both you'd install a wideband. If you're not located in a dip you might just make it with an indoor aerial, buy a UHF indoor aerial (not a VHF/UHF combi) and try it.

Mossy Monk

Suir Valley is in operation. Group C/D aerial required.

_John C

Suir valley has been off for the last 2 - 3 weeks.

Mossy Monk

Apologies

MacGyver

im down in a dip near the outer ring road. i dont mind putting up an outdoor antenna, just indoor would have been easier.

would this work if i was able to make it ?
http://www.tvantennaplans.com/

coylemj

What are your neighbours doing - those that have rooftop aerials that is and what frequency does your car radio use for RTE1 radio when outside your house?

_John C

Mossy Monk wrote: »

Apologies

OK Mossy Monk, I was the only one reporting about the Suir valley transmitter and I never posted that it was off.:o

MacGyver

coylemj wrote: »

What are your neighbours doing - those that have rooftop aerials that is and what frequency does your car radio use for RTE1 radio when outside your house?

All the neighbours use sky or ntl. im using free to air and ntl but the analogue signal is terrible. just checked the car and its on 89.6 for rte1. so it looks like ill need a wideband antenna. Are they directional ? is there a technique to putting them up?

coylemj

MacGyver wrote: »

im using free to air and ntl but the analogue signal is terrible.

When you say you're using FTA and NTL what exactly do you mean? Most people use one or the other but not both.

MacGyver

im using fta satellite in three rooms and have ntl analogue but with the way the signal is we're getting rid of it soon enough. its not too bad on the crt's but on my screen its horrible. no interest in sky or ntl digital.

just looking for alternatives for the irish channels. i think i had read that for waterford i needed an antenna that did uhf and vhf for the analogue channels and wanted to see if i could add the dtt channels into the mix with the one antenna.

coylemj

The absolute foolproof solution is to get a wideband UHF aerial, stick it on the roof pointing NE and you're in business for both analog and digital. RTE1 and 2 are currently on VHF so it's probably not worth your while putting up a VHF aerial since DTT will replace these in time. If you wait until DTT is officially rolled out you should buy a Group B aerial, the analog TV3 and TG4 signals are Group A.

As to whether you could put it in the attic, you said you're in a dip so it's impossible to say. I have this Maplin indoor aerial and it's pretty good at picking up channels in Groups A and B, it costs less than a tenner so would be worth trying, you are well within the coverage area for Mt. Leinster and might be able to get away with an indoor aerial..

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=33215

MacGyver

thanks coylemj, ill probably go with the wideband in the next week or two.

danjo-xx

I'm down near Supervalu and just did a quick test with the old rabbits ears in the kitchen and was surprised to see I picked up all the 4 oirish cnls and pretty good too just had to slightly adjust aerial for one or two.

Like other posters I'm hoping to get away with an attic aerial, might try that €10 cheapie as a trial but its only for high strength signal. But would prefer something like this, tbh (if it worked well for me):D

• High gain wideband analogue / digital TV antenna
• 8 Reflector Elements
• CAI Standard 2
• For use in areas with a weak signal reception
• Improves all available analogue and digital terrestrial UHF TV signals

Decisions decisions:(

Hoffmans

danjo-xx wrote: »

I'm down near Supervalu and just did a quick test with the old rabbits ears in the kitchen and was surprised to see I picked up all the 4 oirish cnls and pretty good too just had to slightly adjust aerial for one or two.

Like other posters I'm hoping to get away with an attic aerial, might try that €10 cheapie as a trial but its only for high strength signal. But would prefer something like this, tbh (if it worked well for me):D

• High gain wideband analogue / digital TV antenna
• 8 Reflector Elements
• CAI Standard 2
• For use in areas with a weak signal reception
• Improves all available analogue and digital terrestrial UHF TV signals

Decisions decisions:(

there was 1 left in pc world yesterday reduced to 36 from 57 bux


is the suir valley coming back online?anyone....

Satdog

Hoffmans wrote: »

there was 1 left in pc world yesterday reduced to 36 from 57 bux


is the suir valley coming back online?anyone....

I'm getting Ch52 in Wexford that appears to be coming form Suir Valley. Someone else living closer maybe able to confirm definitively for you.

Antenna

coylemj wrote: »

You're probably served by Mt. Leinster

there is a DTT transmitter in Waterford city (Rathfadden) which went on test the end of last year. (the first digital-only transmitter)

See this thread:
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055767307

with the following UHF channels (Group-A) mentioned:
Ch22 or 482MHz
ch25 or 506MHz
Ch28 or 530MHz
Ch32 or 562MHz

I do not know which one of the 4 is supposed to be the public service MUX
I think polarisation is vertical (not 100% sure on that)

This new transmitter is obviously there to allow reception on set-top aerials for many people, as both Mt Leinster and Suir valley (when on full power) would probably have been sufficent for DTT coverage of Waterford city area with roof aerials.

slegs

Antenna wrote: »

there is a DTT transmitter in Waterford city (Rathfadden) which went on test the end of last year. (the first digital-only transmitter)

See this thread:
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055767307

with the following UHF channels (Group-A) mentioned:
Ch22 or 482MHz
ch25 or 506MHz
Ch28 or 530MHz
Ch32 or 562MHz

I do not know which one of the 4 is supposed to be the public service MUX
I think polarisation is vertical (not 100% sure on that)

This new transmitter is obviously there to allow reception on set-top aerials for many people, as both Mt Leinster and Suir valley (when on full power) would probably have been sufficent for DTT coverage of Waterford city area with roof aerials.

Waterford City seems to be the best covered place in Ireland for DTT

North Tipp would also be well covered (areas like Roscrea can pick up Maghera, Mullaghanish, Mt Leinster and Cairn Hill)

tlaavtech

slegs wrote: »

Waterford City seems to be the best covered place in Ireland for DTT

North Tipp would also be well covered (areas like Roscrea can pick up Maghera, Mullaghanish, Mt Leinster and Cairn Hill)

The transmissions on Ch22 to 32 ended in early January - It gave NTL time to move RTE 1 on their analogue cable system.

I do not know which one of the 4 is supposed to be the public service MUX
I think polarisation is vertical (not 100% sure on that)

When I did pick up this signal, it was on an antenna configured for Mount Leinster (horizontal I think!)

I will keep an eye on them to see when they come back on, as it may give an indication of the ramp-up to Saorview launch.

As for getting DTT in a dip on the Outer Ring Road, it will have to be a case of suck it and see. Once you can get TV3 properly, you are good to go for DTT.

danjo-xx

slegs wrote: »

Waterford City seems to be the best covered place in Ireland for DTT

So would we get away with an indoor or attic aerial in most cases.:)

tlaavtech

danjo-xx wrote: »

So would we get away with an indoor or attic aerial in most cases.:)

At the moment, the City in-fills are off. The attic or the roof really depends on your exact location and line of sight to the transmitter.

Start off with rabbits ears in doors, and if they don't work try the arial in the attic and then the roof

It will be different for every location.

danjo-xx

tlaavtech wrote: »

At the moment, the City in-fills are off.

Sorry....what do you mean by that?

tlaavtech

danjo-xx wrote: »

Sorry....what do you mean by that?

The signal from Mount Leinster is not sufficient to cover the city strongly enough (not sure which locations exactly). Therefore, there is a small "in-fill" transmitter in Rathfadden near Mt Sion GAA pitch that makes up for these "holes".

DTT from Mount Leinster is on Channel 39, 42, 45 and 49.

The City in-fills are in the range Ch. 22 to 32. These were on test in early January but have been switched off. They were clashing with the RTE1 signal on NTL analogue. NTL have now changed the frequencies, and at some stage in the future, they will be switched on again - presumably in time for the Saorview launch by the 31st October.

Depending on where you are in the City, this may or may not affect your reception of DTT. If you are in one of the City blackspots, and ariel on the roof may not be good enough, but when the in-fills are switched on, rabbits ears may be enough

danjo-xx

tlaavtech wrote: »

The signal from Mount Leinster is not sufficient to cover the city strongly enough (not sure which locations exactly). Therefore, there is a small "in-fill" transmitter in Rathfadden near Mt Sion GAA pitch that makes up for these "holes".

DTT from Mount Leinster is on Channel 39, 42, 45 and 49.

The City in-fills are in the range Ch. 22 to 32. These were on test in early January but have been switched off. They were clashing with the RTE1 signal on NTL analogue. NTL have now changed the frequencies, and at some stage in the future, they will be switched on again - presumably in time for the Saorview launch by the 31st October.

Depending on where you are in the City, this may or may not affect your reception of DTT. If you are in one of the City blackspots, and ariel on the roof may not be good enough, but when the in-fills are switched on, rabbits ears may be enough

excellent and thanks for that. *thumbs up*

tlaavtech

The Waterford City in-fills are back on on the following channels:

22, 25, 28 and 32.

danjo-xx, now is your chance to try out those rabbits ears