DVB-T Indoor Aerial LIDL?

smithy4mcavan

Hi all,

I just seen this indoor DVB-T aerial in LIDL, it comes in Monday (full spec here http://www.lidl.ie/ie/home.nsf/pages/c.o.20100503.p.DVB-T_Indoor_Aerial), and I was wondering what exactly could I pick up with it?

I live in Cavan so I'm not sure on reception, but I've seen on my cousins TV that has freeview built in and it picks up e4+1. Is there anyway I can pick up freeview without actually buying a dish/kit?

Thanks in advance,

winston_1

Don't know where Cavan is but indoor aerials are generally useless for Freeview unless you are very close to the transmitter. Much better to get a properly installed outdoor aerial.

Kristopherus

Will it pick up the DTT signals now being rolled out by RTENL?

byrnefm

Kristopherus wrote: »

Will it pick up the DTT signals now being rolled out by RTENL?

Only if you have a pretty strong RTÉ signal in your area. However, DTT tends to be a bit more forgiving - in Ringsend, analogue TV was barely viewable in places while the DTT signal was perfect.

lucernarian

I can't think of anywhere in Cavan that can receive good indoor TV reception unless it's on top of a drumlin which most houses aren't. Having said that, I'm only very familiar with the eastern half of Cavan.

The strongest DTT transmitter for most of Cavan would be the Longford transmitter. If you can pick up channels from there (40,43,46,50) on an analogue TV with some sort of indoor aerial, you stand a good chance of an indoor aerial picking up DTT. Obviously it helps if the aerial is looking out a southwards window and there's no hills to the south nearby.

Freeview from NI transmitters will not be possible in virtually any inhabited part of Cavan using an indoor aerial. You need a roof aerial for that. It might be possible in 2013 but it's unlikely.

That "DVB-T" aerial will perform roughly the same as any other amplified indoor aerial that ever existed. If it's good for analogue, it's good for digital and vice versa.

smithy4mcavan

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I can't think of anywhere in Cavan that can receive good indoor TV reception unless it's on top of a drumlin which most houses aren't. Having said that, I'm only very familiar with the eastern half of Cavan.

The strongest DTT transmitter for most of Cavan would be the Longford transmitter. If you can pick up channels from there (40,43,46,50) on an analogue TV with some sort of indoor aerial, you stand a good chance of an indoor aerial picking up DTT. Obviously it helps if the aerial is looking out a southwards window and there's no hills to the south nearby.

Freeview from NI transmitters will not be possible in virtually any inhabited part of Cavan using an indoor aerial. You need a roof aerial for that. It might be possible in 2013 but it's unlikely.

That "DVB-T" aerial will perform roughly the same as any other amplified indoor aerial that ever existed. If it's good for analogue, it's good for digital and vice versa.

Thanks for the reply. So the DVB-T aerial is a no go. Would I need a decoder, or some sort of receiver connected to my UHF aerial on the roof to get the freeview channels?

Sorry about all the questions, a bit lost with the digital tv stuff!

Cheers,

emaherx

If you have a roof top aerial then the "DVB-T Aerial is definitly a no go.
Your current roof top aerial is also "DVB-T ready" as are most coat hangers.

if you want to recieve Digital Terrestrial TV then you need a digital tuner.
Irish spec requires an MPEG4 Decoder. Be careful as most UK Freeview TV's are only MPEG2 and will not work for RTE.

Freeview from the North may well work for you depending on your location and how good your current aerial/amp is.

Can you receive Channel 5 with your current setup? If you can then there is a chance that Freeview will work for you.

Just rember that MPEG4 receivers will work for RTE and Freeview(if available).
But MPEG2 boxes are for freeview only(which may not receivable in your area).

Also Freeview or any DVB-T/DTT dose not require a dish it uses Aerials.
Freesat (DVB-S) however is a similar service (give or take a few channels) and would require a dish and most definitly will not receive RTE.

smithy4mcavan

Thanks that cleared things up. At the moment my aerial is on a about a 30 foot bar, on top of a unused electricity pole so reception is quite good! My cousins about 300m away can pick up e4+1, dave etc so we should be able to get the NI freeview.

I was looking at mpeg4 receivers on ebay, and I'd be paying about 50+, whereas I could get a satellite kit on satellite.ie for 93. I think I'd be better off with the satellite kit. What do you think?

lucernarian

emaherx wrote: »

If you have a roof top aerial then the "DVB-T Aerial is definitly a no go.
Your current roof top aerial is also "DVB-T ready" as are most coat hangers.

if you want to recieve Digital Terrestrial TV then you need a digital tuner.
Irish spec requires an MPEG4 Decoder. Be careful as most UK Freeview TV's are only MPEG2 and will not work for RTE.

Freeview from the North may well work for you depending on your location and how good your current aerial/amp is.

Can you receive Channel 5 with your current setup? If you can then there is a chance that Freeview will work for you.

Just rember that MPEG4 receivers will work for RTE and Freeview(if available).
But MPEG2 boxes are for freeview only(which may not receivable in your area).

Also Freeview or any DVB-T/DTT dose not require a dish it uses Aerials.
Freesat (DVB-S) however is a similar service (give or take a few channels) and would require a dish and most definitly will not receive RTE.

The Channel 5 rule of thumb is not so useful in Cavan. Brougher Mountain has no channel 5 transmitter. If UK TV reception is good enough to allow teletext with little corruption, then you've a good chance of freeview. A freeview box (aka an MPEG2 box) will pick up freeview channels if reception is good enough, but it won't pick up the irish digital channels. The irish digital channels are only good-quality digital versions of RTE1/2, TV3 and TG4, so you won't be missing that much unless you have a dodgy Irish signal. I know windfarms in Cavan are causing problems with RTE reception, e.g. outside Cootehill and Baileboro.

And yes, to get freeview, you'd need to plug a box into an outdoor aerial that gets decent UK reception. Those boxes can be had fairly cheaply, or you can ask neighbours for a lend to see if it works for you. Also, most LCD or plasma TVs have a built in freeview tuner.

smithy4mcavan

Just another quick question, I was looking at my tv spec and it says "DVB-T" digital tuner (full spec http://www.bydabc.com/productinfo.asp?id=728 ) . What does this mean?

Thanks,

lucernarian

Those specs mention:

"Supported Video Formats MPEG-1, MPEG-2"

That means it can show freeview broadcasts but not the Irish digital equivalent channels. Freeview is the name of the DVB-T technology that's used in the UK. DVB-T is used here too but the videos are encoded differently in Ireland, so many DVB-T tellies (like yours) can find both UK and Irish channels but will only be able to show the UK ones.

Your TV should be able to find freeview broadcasts if your reception of the analogue NI channels is good. If you can't do that currently, you may need an aerial upgrade.

smithy4mcavan

I was thinking that alright. Ok I just had a good look at my antennas, the highest is a 91 element as far as I tell ( I think this it it here, http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4bdee20004deb2102740c0a87e010678/Product/View/L3088 )
. The backend of it is pointing towards the north, picking up the NI channels I'm guessing, but the signal is quite poor (very grainy bbc1,2 and channel 4). I think the coax coming from it needs to be replaced, most of the house has that old brown coax.

The smaller antenna is I think a 16 element, its quite old and looks a bit worse for wear, but the picture quality is great. Its pointing towards Cairn Hill direction.

I was planning on getting the freeview satellite kit from satellite.ie for the english channels (perfect picture quality) and I'd also have the freeview channels, and keeping the antenna for rte's, but I see that its all going digital by 2012 so my antenna would be useless then. I'd like to future proof myself, if i got this kit http://satellite.ie/acatalog/Freesat_DIY_satellite_systems.html , is there anyway I can hook up my rte antenna and pick up the dtt? I'm not sure if it decodes mpeg4? I'm probably completely wrong but its worth a try!

Thanks for the help lads,

lucernarian

smithy4mcavan wrote: »

I was thinking that alright. Ok I just had a good look at my antennas, the highest is a 91 element as far as I tell ( I think this it it here, http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/4bdee20004deb2102740c0a87e010678/Product/View/L3088 )
. The backend of it is pointing towards the north, picking up the NI channels I'm guessing, but the signal is quite poor (very grainy bbc1,2 and channel 4). I think the coax coming from it needs to be replaced, most of the house has that old brown coax.

The smaller antenna is I think a 16 element, its quite old and looks a bit worse for wear, but the picture quality is great. Its pointing towards Cairn Hill direction.

I was planning on getting the freeview satellite kit from satellite.ie for the english channels (perfect picture quality) and I'd also have the freeview channels, and keeping the antenna for rte's, but I see that its all going digital by 2012 so my antenna would be useless then. I'd like to future proof myself, if i got this kit http://satellite.ie/acatalog/Freesat_DIY_satellite_systems.html , is there anyway I can hook up my rte antenna and pick up the dtt? I'm not sure if it decodes mpeg4? I'm probably completely wrong but its worth a try!

Thanks for the help lads,

If you get great analogue RTÉ from Cairn Hill, you'll get great DTT from it too so there's no need to change an aerial just for that.

About that big aerial (link doesn't show any aerial) the bulky end with the metal reflector grid should be pointing away from Enniskillen while the thin end with the horizontal metal elements should point towards it. I think that's what you said but I wanted to double-check.

That freesat kit won't be able to work with the Irish channels as you need a sky box and paid-up card to pick them up on satellite. That box wouldn't be able to pick up channels from an aerial at all, only a satellite dish. You'd need a separate box that is able to pick up the Irish DTT broadcasts. Many of the Freeview HD boxes are expected to do this, but it's not a guarantee.

channelsurfer2

i tried picking up cairn hill with the coathanger in the tv yesterdayon my Lg mpge4 tv(tullamore) didnt work.. all I got was a very grainy analogue tv3... so this product would be no good for me? what are the chances of getting dtt from NI once full power is on and analogue is switched off here in tullamore with an aerial?

smithy4mcavan

I'd like to replace the aerial while I'm at it, its only a tenor and god know the next time I'll be up fixing it. Here's an image of the larger 91 element antenna:


I did a quick diagram of the setup I think I'll go with, if you have any feedback or recommend any changes please say so

emaherx

That setup looks fine.

But, I wouldn't rule out Freeview DTT service from the north if you can get it as there are a few extra watchable channels available on Freeview.

Reg'stoy

Anyone bought this yet, have a lg 32lh2000 (tv from powercity last xmas) and was told that I should be able to get Irish Digital tv on it. Have hooked up an ordinary all in one aerial to it and get a broken bog 1 and 2 picture. Hoping not to have to put up an outside aerial, am living in Swords so would an indoor aerial such as this one be good enough.

Am currently entertaining the idea of getting rid of sky and buying either a Mvision HD 300 Combo box, AZBOX HD Premium or Humax Foxsat HDR Freesat 320GB PVR and using them with a digital tv aerial. So much info and I have so little knowledge .

lucernarian

Reg'stoy wrote: »

Anyone bought this yet, have a lg 32lh2000 (tv from powercity last xmas) and was told that I should be able to get Irish Digital tv on it. Have hooked up an ordinary all in one aerial to it and get a broken bog 1 and 2 picture. Hoping not to have to put up an outside aerial, am living in Swords so would an indoor aerial such as this one be good enough.

Am currently entertaining the idea of getting rid of sky and buying either a Mvision HD 300 Combo box, AZBOX HD Premium or Humax Foxsat HDR Freesat 320GB PVR and using them with a digital tv aerial. So much info and I have so little knowledge .

In my experience, especially with various flat screen TVs in north County Dublin, LCD TVs simply don't have great analogue reception capabilities compared to a conventional tube telly. And it's not just that the flatscreen can't deal with noise effectively, they are worse at picking up stable teletext too! This is based on 3 different TVs I've come across.

That may not apply to your LG but Swords would need some sort of outdoor aerial pretty much anywhere in it, and quite possibly for Irish DTT too but every location will be different and you'll have to experiment. Did you access the DTT part of the LG and try to scan in channels that way?

Reg'stoy

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

Did you access the DTT part of the LG and try to scan in channels that way?

I'll be completely honest here and say no, not out of laziness mind you but rather I didn't know you could tune in the digital channels seperately . I shall consult the manual (is there much too it?), by the way this is the aerial I have at home

http://www.oneforall.co.uk/product/index/id/39/title/sv-9031/cat_id/2/type/antennas/sub_id/5/sub_title/

seems I might need an amplified one just from reading the website specs.

Bob_Harris

Reg'stoy wrote: »

I'll be completely honest here and say no, not out of laziness mind you but rather I didn't know you could tune in the digital channels seperately.

If you do an automatic scan I think it scans for Digital and analogue.

You can do a manual scan, making sure it say DTV at the top, use the arrows on the remote to select the appropriate channel. Use this table (P1) to see what channel number you should be scanning based on what transmitter you are receiving from.

The advantage of manually scanning a single frequency is that you can adjust your aerial until you get a signal.