DTT in Castletoy, Limerick

SkatesOn

I'm a newbie to DTT, so sorry if this has already been answered:

Can I get DTT in Castletroy?
I saw it on the brother's TV in Dublin at the weekend and the quality was excellent.

I just tried to tune my TV and it seemed to find 9 digital channels, but when you try them it gives you the name of the channel e.g. RTE1, but it says signal too weak.

- not sure is it the TV or the signal?

TV is a Samsung LE26B350F1W
and I have a mains powered rabbit ears type aerial

surf board

tv is a samsung with mpeg4. should be fine for irish dtt. maybe something to do with the aerial or signal. do you have a good LOS to a transmitter?

SkatesOn

I can see Keeper hill, but not sure if they transmit from there?

watty

Woodcock hill.
Same place as the Analogue TV comes from.

Most of Castletroy should be OK, but there is no official service yet and without certification you don't know if any new TV or Setbox is suitable. Don't buy any NEW equipment till saorview logo is on it, especially for Digital TV.


You need a roof top aerial. Those mains powered "rabbit's ears" are frequently poorer than unpowered aerial and can distort signal. There is NO SUCH THING as a Digital Aerial.

If an indoor aerial like this doesn't work you need a proper outdoor aerial. You can try it in the attic 1st.
http://maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=33215


The Indoor aerial will work in Attic better too, than downstairs, usually.

Point it across Shannon River to Woodcock Hill.

SkatesOn

Thanks for that Watty - will try it later...

SkatesOn

FYI:

I went into Maplin and they told me that my TV was probably only MPEG2 and I would need a converter to MPEG4, because "there are no MPEG4 TVs yet in Ireland, they come from the UK which is MPEG2".
- the converter is €300

So I decided to stick with the program and got the above aerial for 9.99, brought it home and plugged it in - didn't work.

Tried it upstairs, hanging out the window & pointing at woodcock - worked perfectly!

So I put it in the attic, disconnected existing aerial and with some tweaking got it working.

Thanks watty & surf board!

watty

SkatesOn wrote: »

I went into Maplin and they told me that my TV was probably only MPEG2 and I would need a converter to MPEG4, because "there are no MPEG4 TVs yet in Ireland, they come from the UK which is MPEG2".
- the converter is €300

So why do they sell all the Freeview TVs?

Why are they selling a converter at €300 when that's exactly what a €60 MPEG4 DTT setbox does? €300 buys you a combo DTT + Satellite + HDD recorder probably

surf board

SkatesOn wrote: »

FYI:

I went into Maplin and they told me that my TV was probably only MPEG2 and I would need a converter to MPEG4, because "there are no MPEG4 TVs yet in Ireland, they come from the UK which is MPEG2".
- the converter is €300

So I decided to stick with the program and got the above aerial for 9.99, brought it home and plugged it in - didn't work.

Tried it upstairs, hanging out the window & pointing at woodcock - worked perfectly!

So I put it in the attic, disconnected existing aerial and with some tweaking got it working.

Thanks watty & surf board!

LOL, no mpeg4 tvs in Ireland!!

Your tv is Mpeg4.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/%60%60SAMSUNG-LE26B350-26%60%60%60%60-Freeview-1366x768/sim/B002IBZJO6/2

Good stuff. Trial & error is best way to find reception. Good thing you didn't shell out €300 for a convertor you don't need. Wonder how many people were sold one that didn't need one?!

glic83

im in dromina just outside charleville does anyone know if it would be possible to get dtt?i currently have a 1m motorised sat dish and a technomate 600 but would like to get rte1,rte2 etc and was just wondering if i should just get an antenna for anologue or one for dtt?

The Cush

glic83 wrote: »

im in dromina just outside charleville does anyone know if it would be possible to get dtt?i currently have a 1m motorised sat dish and a technomate 600 but would like to get rte1,rte2 etc and was just wondering if i should just get an antenna for anologue or one for dtt?

You should be able to receive Mullaghanish, south west of your location, depending on the terrain of course.

The same Group A UHF aerial will receive both analogue (TV3 & TG4) and digital terrestrial transmissions in the UHF band but Mullaghanish also requires a seperate VHF aerial for analogue RTÉ 1 & 2.

glic83

The Cush wrote: »

You should be able to receive Mullaghanish, south west of your location, depending on the terrain of course.

The same Group A UHF aerial will receive both analogue (TV3 & TG4) and digital terrestrial transmissions in the UHF band but Mullaghanish also requires a seperate VHF aerial for analogue RTÉ 1 & 2.

so i would need 2 aerials?think ill just stick with 1 anologue aerial then for the 4 channels

Pat Gleeson

SkatesOn wrote: »

I'm a newbie to DTT, so sorry if this has already been answered:

Can I get DTT in Castletroy?

Yep, no problem
I'm in Castletroy, and get DTT perfectly via Woodcock Hill.

The Cush

glic83 wrote: »

so i would need 2 aerials?think ill just stick with 1 anologue aerial then for the 4 channels

The four analogue channels require two aerials UHF (TV3 & TG4) & VHF (RTÉ 1 & 2) from Mullaghanish. Digital terrestrial television (DTT) when launched will require only one UHF aerial.

If you've managed without a tv aerial until now maybe you should invest in a UHF aerial only. With Saorview DTT due to launch by 31st Oct all four existing analogue channels should be available digitally via the UHF aerial. RTÉ 1 & 2 and TG4 are available digitally in the form of engineering tests at the moment but may be subject to interruption

What I should have added at the end of my last post is check with your neighbours, how many aerials have they on their roofs and in what direction are they pointing. They could be pointing north to Woodcock Hill (all UHF) or Maghera (UHF & VHF) or to a local relay (UHF, no TV3).

watty

Castletroy gets all 4 analogue services from Woodcock hill on UHF.

Mullaghanish and Maghera used to be the two alternates before Woodcock Hiil. Both pretty poor in most of Limerick City.

I'm 6km west of Limerick City on a slight rise so can actually get Maghera, Mullaghanish, Woodcock and with a serious UHF aerial Mt Leinster, some relays and possibly Longford (very poor though, gap up Shannon between Arras and the other side in Co.Clare is direction of Athlone)

Even so I need a low gain mast amp and outdoor aerial at back door to get clear signal from Woodcock UNDER the giant 25m /70ft Beech trees about 100m away.

CHARLEVILLE SHOULD BE A NEW THREAD!!!


I think there is a UHF relay you can get, depending exactly where you are in Charleville.
Also if you are at a high enough location with a good aerial you might even get Woodcock Hill, the issue is the low power of Woodcock Hill rather than the terrain.

10000maniacs

watty wrote: »

Point it across Shannon River to Woodcock Hill.

Just to add, make sure that the aerial reflector element (the big mesh yoke in laymans terms) is furthest away from Keeper Hill. In other words point the smallest end of the aerial to keeper hill.

watty

10000maniacs wrote: »

Just to add, make sure that the aerial reflector element (the big mesh yoke in laymans terms) is furthest away from Keeper Hill. In other words point the smallest end of the aerial to keeper hill.

No.. wrong way. There is no TV TX on Keeper Hill.

The small end points at TV TX and fat end (plate, mesh multiple rods in one place) is at opposite end.

10000maniacs

watty wrote: »

No.. wrong way. There is no TV TX on Keeper Hill.

The small end points at TV TX and fat end (plate, mesh multiple rods in one place) is at opposite end.

Sorry Watty I meant Woodcock. I keep thinking of when there was a deflector system on Keeper. I idiot.:o

watty

Have more coffee ....

fat-tony

glic83 wrote: »

im in dromina just outside charleville does anyone know if it would be possible to get dtt?i currently have a 1m motorised sat dish and a technomate 600 but would like to get rte1,rte2 etc and was just wondering if i should just get an antenna for anologue or one for dtt?

I'm familiar with the location. Most of your neighbours will either have satellite dishes or MMDS service but good VHF and UHF analogue reception is possible from Mullaghanish with two aerials. You can use a single UHF aerial to receive the DTT signals from Mullaghanish also. You will obviously need a compatible MPEG4 receiver or suitable TV. I tuned in a relation's (based in the general area of Marian Terrace) Samsung TV to the DTT service. TV3 is not being carried at the moment, but will/should be there for launch. Remember, these are tests and are subject to interruption.;)