RTE Announce FTA Saorsat service

Ronnie Raygun

zg3409 wrote: »

It sounds like the diplexer you have is the incorrect type.

Maybe you should read his post properly.

Peter Rhea

Peter Rhea wrote: »

So you're 100% sure that this 'sat 1' cable you connect to is actually the one that's connected to the triplexed outlet (& not actually 'sat 2')?

Yes Peter, I checked that by using the signal strength feature on the sky box. At first, I had indeed unknowingly cut the Sat2 cable, but once I discovered this I swapped the connections at the wall plate.

zg3409 wrote: »

There are other splitters which look similar but are not the same. Anyway connect the TV aerial to the black connection in bottom left. Connect the satellite dish to the red connector bottom left. The top connector is the combined signal that travels down to the room.

You need a displexer with:
One lead marked Sat (950-2250)
One marked TV (5-860)
One marked Combined (5-2250)

One side should say "power pass". If not you do not have the right type. It sounds like the diplexer you have is the incorrect type.

The wall plate I have looks more like this, except mine does not have the telephone socket (I guess mine is a few years old now)




The two shotgun cables come down and a single coax goes back up to distribute the Sky+

I have checked the diplexer works, by inserting it into the coax that carries the satellite signal down to Sat1/TV/Radio using the SAT connector on the diplexer - and then by inserting it between the new aerial and the return cable (which I am using "backwards") and the Set Top Box using the TV side of the diplexer. However, when I try to combine the signals on the diplexer in the loft, using both the inputs, and "uncombine" them on the Sat1/TV/Radio wall plate, it doesn't work.

I need to see if taking the Sat1 feed cable off of the wall plate and just joining it to the STB feed works, then I will have isolated the problem to the wall plate, maybe?

Is there anything strange about the frequencies used in Ireland for DTT that might be outside the UK based spec of the kit I'm using??

Thanks for your very valuable help, guys

Peter Rhea

Deleted User wrote: »

Is there anything strange about the frequencies used in Ireland for DTT that might be outside the UK based spec of the kit I'm using?

No, we use the same UHF frequencies as the UK.

Might be no harm to post a pic/link/make & model of diplexer.

Peter Rhea

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Might be no harm to post a pic/link/make & model of diplexer.

Will do, as soon as I get home! Thanks

Apogee

From Saorview rep:

Saorview: Brian wrote: »

Testing of the satellite is ongoing, but I am very happy to say at this stage the tests look very positive. I will be in a better position in January/February to provide more information on this.

Regards,

SAORVIEW Brian.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Will do, as soon as I get home! Thanks

Guys, thank you for all your help. When I got home I set about removing the wall plate and re-checking all the connections. I am delighted to report that I now have what I wanted, with Sat1 carrying the DTT signal and the wall plate box working correctly. It must have been finger trouble, but I am enormously grateful to Peter Rhea, zg3409 and all who helped out. many thanks and happy Christmas!:)

moro_original

Hi Apogee,

Thanks for the update on Saorsat, I nearly didn't notice it amongst all the talk of wall plates.

dmcdream

Hi,

Would anyone be able to recommend a good quality DiSEqC motor and LNB, suitable for a Triax 110cm dish?

If possible, could you also tell me where I might get these online?

Many Thanks!

rlogue

There will be I think a problem using motorised dishes to pick up Ka-Sat given the need for separate Ka and Ku LNBs?

Would a separate Ka-Sat dish be the way forward and use a DiSeqC switch to connect the motorised Ku band dish and the Ka band dish together?

watty

You can't use a single motorised dish for multiband easily. A C band/ Ku band combo LNB is possible, but they work badly.

There are two solutions for a single dish:
A special reflector that reflects one band and not the other just in front of LNB focus and then for one band it's a Gregorian or offset Cassegrain.
OR
A mechanical device to swap LNB.

Then also you need cascaded Diseqc. Very few "main stream" boxes support cascaded Diseqc well.

I solved Motorised issues by having two dishes. One is 110cm motorised to a single receiver.

The other 90cm approx Triax has 4 way bar for 28, 19, 13 & 9E. It feeds a 16 output multiswitch for up to 16 tuners. It can be expanded to over 2000 tuners (over 1000 PVRs)

The 3rd Left dish is for C Band (an experiment, nothing important), it was VSAT.

Centre dish is 110cm Motorised

The large 2nd LNB was for Astra2Connect @ 23.5E as experiment. It's gone.

Close up of current arrangement

The far Left is 28.2E for Sky/Freesat and far right is 9E (Saorsat maybe in February).

28.2E has to be position 1 so Sky boxes and Freesat boxes in Freesat mode will work.

The triax bar angles up more than usual by mounting upside down. Needed for correct relative Elevations.
I also added new hole off centre on the bar so that the centre arc is 16E rather than 19E for the 9E to 28E range.

rlogue

Nice dish farm!

I've whittled away my receivers over the last year down to two. One of my receivers is a HTPC with two 28.2 inputs and a TeVii DVB-S2 USB to drive the motorised dish. Effectively I'm now getting Freesat and about five extra channels that I want and all the FTA foreign channels I want off one box. If I were in range of Ka-Sat adding an extra tuner would be straightforward and from the end user perspective the Saorsat channels would be just extra channels on the list.

dmcdream

rlogue wrote: »

There will be I think a problem using motorised dishes to pick up Ka-Sat given the need for separate Ka and Ku LNBs?

Would a separate Ka-Sat dish be the way forward and use a DiSeqC switch to connect the motorised Ku band dish and the Ka band dish together?

To be honest I'm not too worried about Saorsat/Ka Sat reception at the moment. I've all but given up on waiting for the appropriate LNB to come on the market.

I'm sort of the opinion now "I'll believe it when I see it". If/as/when it launches, I'll look at a second dish solution. Of course there is also the remote chance that SaorVIEW will make it up to my part of south Belfast once RTÉNL turn up the juice at Clermont Carn after 24th October 2012.

'Elusive' and 'mysterious' are two words that spring to mind about Saorsat. Why is it shrouded in so much secrecy? Eutelsat should have called the damn thing 'Narnia'! LoL

watty

Everything at RTE is like that.

Peddyr

dmcdream wrote: »

To be honest I'm not too worried about Saorsat/Ka Sat reception at the moment. I've all but given up on waiting for the appropriate LNB to come on the market.

I'm sort of the opinion now "I'll believe it when I see it". If/as/when it launches, I'll look at a second dish solution. Of course there is also the remote chance that SaorVIEW will make it up to my part of south Belfast once RTÉNL turn up the juice at Clermont Carn after 24th October 2012.

'Elusive' and 'mysterious' are two words that spring to mind about Saorsat. Why is it shrouded in so much secrecy? Eutelsat should have called the damn thing 'Narnia'! LoL

Don't count you chickens before they've hatched lads. Read this from 'Saorview Brian' over on the Terrestrial forum. He says "The satellite option we are currently testing, should it go ahead,"... "Should it go ahead". Sounds like a wee bit of doubt there my friends.

Gerry Wicklow

Peddyr wrote: »

Don't count you chickens before they've hatched lads. Read this from 'Saorview Brian' over on the Terrestrial forum. He says "The satellite option we are currently testing, should it go ahead,"... "Should it go ahead". Sounds like a wee bit of doubt there my friends.

You would have to wonder, given the tight budgets these days, if they are rethinking the value of the SaorSat option. Just how many viewers in these hard to reach areas would want/use SaorSat? How many, of necessity, currently have $ky and are happy with it? How many people could be convinced to go to the trouble and cost of a new dish and box setup purely to get the irish channels?

moro_original

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

Just how many viewers in these hard to reach areas would want/use SaorSat?

147

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

How many, of necessity, currently have $ky and are happy with it?

93

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

How many people could be convinced to go to the trouble and cost of a new dish and box setup purely to get the irish channels?

48

Gerry Wicklow

...and next weeks lotto numbers are ?
:)

moro_original

:P

Mr. Rabbit

Peddyr wrote: »

Don't count you chickens before they've hatched lads. Read this from 'Saorview Brian' over on the Terrestrial forum. He says "The satellite option we are currently testing, should it go ahead,"... "Should it go ahead". Sounds like a wee bit of doubt there my friends.

Noticed that myself Peddy.

I wonder what the alternatives are should Saorsat not go ahead ?

Mr. Rabbit

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

You would have to wonder, given the tight budgets these days, if they are rethinking the value of the SaorSat option. Just how many viewers in these hard to reach areas would want/use SaorSat? How many, of necessity, currently have $ky and are happy with it? How many people could be convinced to go to the trouble and cost of a new dish and box setup purely to get the irish channels?

Perhaps sorting out the rights isues and a free to air service on Freesat might be cheaper in the long run

Sam Russell

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

Perhaps sorting out the rights isues and a free to air service on Freesat might be cheaper in the long run

Perhaps Saorsat was just a negotiation ploy to have more trhan a take it or leave it from Freesat. Saorsat is still a cheap option.

The Cush

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

Perhaps sorting out the rights isues and a free to air service on Freesat might be cheaper in the long run

Still not going to happen, Peter

€1.5m p.a. for Saorsat vs. rights payments for the UK and some of continential Europe, 100 million people according to RTÉ .

Mr. Rabbit

100 million people according to RTÉ .

A figure that's grossly over estimated Cush, in my opinion. 50 million people would watch RTE in continental Europe if it was free to air ? Come on, RTE have got to be kidding. There aren't even 50 million TV viewers in the UK, let alone 50 million that actually have sattelite TV and who would go to the trouble of tuning in RTE under the other channels option.

Still, they'll have to sort something out if Saorsat doesn't go ahead.

I agree that forking out several hundred Euros for a satellite system just for a handful of RTE stations might not be an attractive proposition for a lot of people that can't receive Saorview.

watty

The Carriage on ka-sat is nearly as cheap as Freesat EPG, never mind the much higher cost of 28E carriage. The "rights" issue or FTV card (which has political problems not just costs) would be many many times more expensive.

Wait and see

RTE probably don't want any early promotion or availability of Saorsat as they want people to get aerials where they can.

rlogue

Until they get to the point that it would be cheaper to provide a Sky sub to the few thousand houses that actually need Saorsat?

Sam Russell

What would it cost RTE NL to add say ten extra sites for DTT? Would it approach the cost of Saorsat?

What would a full backup system for Saorview sites?

It would be relatively simple for RTE NL to design (or have designed) a self-help system consisting of a stellite dish, receiver, and transmitter to provide a small fill-in deflector. This would cover communities who will be unable to get either service. If it cost under €10,000 it might be a viable solution if it covered 50 houses or so. Lower price or larger communities would help. It might be possible to run it on solar power.

I think the delay is because it is digital. The two words go together in this country.

rlogue

Perhaps Saorsat won't actually happen then?

watty

rlogue wrote: »

Until they get to the point that it would be cheaper to provide a Sky sub to the few thousand houses that actually need Saorsat?

At least 20,000 homes.
Plus a backup feed for all TX sites (Sky charge)
Plus adding the extra channels not on Sky that sky has no intention of paying carriage for so there is backup feed (needs to be MPEG4 and have the MHEG5 etc)

Not plausible.

Wait and see.

watty

Sam Russell wrote: »

What would it cost RTE NL to add say ten extra sites for DTT? Would it approach the cost of Saorsat?

What would a full backup system for Saorview sites?

It would be relatively simple for RTE NL to design (or have designed) a self-help system consisting of a stellite dish, receiver, and transmitter to provide a small fill-in deflector. This would cover communities who will be unable to get either service. If it cost under €10,000 it might be a viable solution if it covered 50 houses or so. Lower price or larger communities would help. It might be possible to run it on solar power.

I think the delay is because it is digital. The two words go together in this country.

They would need another 50 or 60 small sites at least and then STILL would need satellite as backup feed.

lawhec

rlogue wrote: »

Perhaps Saorsat won't actually happen then?

Since it hasn't launched yet, there's always a chance that it may not fully launch other than tests. However considering the numbers involved against other expenditure, if 100% effective PSB coverage is to be achieved it's the only reasonable proposal.

It wouldn't surprise me if RTÉNL is making up a database where no Saorview reception is likely post-24/10/12 even with a high-gain amplified external aerial, and look to see how many would be interested in such a Saorsat "scheme" as a result, getting bulk orders in to partly subsidise the service.

A 28.2E FTV card scheme (especially when Sky rent the transponder for RTÉ, TV3 and TG4 to be carried, unlike the UK terrestrials) or any notion of it being FTA are still complete non-runners IMO.