Help with Freeview across the sea to Co.Down?

Vince Cable

reboot wrote: »

Could it be,that I am picking up interference from Moel-Y-Parc on the IOM rig which as you know is Group B /V,and that this interference is coming from the back of the Yagi?

Interference to what? MYP isn't co-channel with Port St. Mary or Beary Peark & adjacent channels have to be very much stronger than the wanted channel to cause problems.

reboot

Vince Cable wrote: »

Interference to what? MYP isn't co-channel with Port St. Mary or Beary Peark & adjacent channels have to be very much stronger than the wanted channel to cause problems.

Quite so.
The reception has improved somewhat by removing the mast head amp,and after a long run of co-ax,feeding the attenuated signal into a variable gain amp.The aerial is panned approx 5 degrees off the Tx.
HD signal steady during the day but disappeared last night,due to prop and trop?
Thanks for your input,still a bit of a mystery though.

Vince Cable

5 degrees is hardly worth talking about & well within anyone's margin for error. Also, there are 3 txs using those channels on IOM, 2 of which should be receivable at your location at least to the point where the weaker one could cause interference.

Seems like random variations in the signal are appearing to coincide with your alterations to the setup. If I wasn't getting a usable signal all the time, I wouldn't bother.

Peter Rhea

Vince Cable wrote: »

Also, there are 3 txs using those channels on IOM

There's actually 5 of them, the 3 that form the SFN & those at Laxey (20W) & Union Mills (2.5W).
Terrain seems to lend itself to frequency re-use in a relatively small area.

Peter Rhea

Vince Cable wrote: »

5 degrees is hardly worth talking about & well within anyone's margin for error.

Might be all it takes to null out an off beam co-channel tx though, without reference to the exact bearing of the wanted one?

Vince Cable

Peter Rhea wrote: »

There's actually 5 of them, the 3 that form the SFN & those at Laxey (20W) & Union Mills (2.5W).

Those latter 2, along with Jurby (40W) are hardly likely to trouble anyone in Co. Down though.
Port St. Mary (2kW) & Beary Peark (200W) are the only ones I'd be thinking about. BP also has the advantage of height.

reboot

Vince Cable wrote: »

5 degrees is hardly worth talking about & well within anyone's margin for error. Also, there are 3 txs using those channels on IOM, 2 of which should be receivable at your location at least to the point where the weaker one could cause interference.

Seems like random variations in the signal are appearing to coincide with your alterations to the setup. If I wasn't getting a usable signal all the time, I wouldn't bother.

Seems like good advice,will just have to go back to my other location,where I can enjoy 4 analogue signals,three in 4/3 format from Camlough.

Peter Rhea

Here's a piece by Bill Wright about combining aerials to discriminate against unwanted signals (you have to know where they're coming from though).

Also an older article on the same theme, it's called 'Eliminating Ghosts' & demonstrates the same phasing technique for nulling out unwanted signals.

reboot

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Here's a piece by Bill Wright about combining aerials to discriminate against unwanted signals (you have to know where they're coming from though).

Thanks for that will take time and read it properly.
I believe the interference comes from Llanddona as suggested before on the thread,interesting that post code checker now saying that HD reception is not possible from this location.Well it is now.

petronius

I wonder if you could post reception reports here
http://ukfreeview.mpeg4ireland.com/map

It may be good for others to see what is possible

reboot

petronius wrote: »

I wonder if you could post reception reports here
http://ukfreeview.mpeg4ireland.com/map

It may be good for others to see what is possible

Thanks ,have done I think,no mention of IOM Tx,have put me at Arfon?
But some of the report makes sense I hope.

Peddyr

petronius wrote: »

I wonder if you could post reception reports here
http://ukfreeview.mpeg4ireland.com/map

It may be good for others to see what is possible

You might want to include Port St Mary Tx in the IOM which is being received in parts of Counties Down & Louth and maybe the Beary Pairk Tx also?

reboot

Peddyr wrote: »

You might want to include Port St Mary Tx in the IOM which is being received in parts of Counties Down & Louth and maybe the Beary Pairk Tx also?

Picking up a weak sig.on RTE Mux1 and 2 outside Castlewellan on Ch.44 and 47,Cairn Hill B/H?
Might be better looking for Monaghan?.Hard to find out ERP details etc.

Peter Rhea

Might be asking a bit much of Monaghan over that distance & terrain.

As for ERPs, there's nothing published afaik & I don't think there's much point relating them to the analogue levels, for the smaller sites anyway as analogue UHF coverage is often poor.

reboot

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Might be asking a bit much of Monaghan over that distance & terrain.

As for ERPs, there's nothing published afaik & I don't think there's much point relating them to the analogue levels, for the smaller sites anyway as analogue UHF coverage is often poor.

You are right of course,I was just so pleased to pick up the HD from RTE ,plus the Mux 2 sig,and could have been away on a hack with the Technika box for £30.
Alas I don't have the height,and by the time I moved to higher ground,the cable run was too much.
Could find nothing on Monaghan even though line of site it would be closer.I think the two Channels,(44 and 47 only),may be from Cairn Hill,long way off but a lockable picture ,when it didn't fade.
Will just have to wait,and go back to Camlough and 4 by 3 pictures.
Maybe at least the Dab Tx will fire up soon?

reboot

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

For the HD mux alone, I still think Caldbeck offers the best chance. It's a very high antenna broadcasting at 100kW ERP though I don't know how directional it is. Ch. 30 is barely used throughout the UK and Ireland even after DSO here. With a big enough Group A aerial and an amp and a bit of height, this could be successful.

Have eventually gone back to your helpful suggestion and Caldbeck appears to be the solution to HD reception as you pointed ,out on Ch 30.
So far so good ,awaiting return of normal Irish weather.

reboot

reboot wrote: »

Have eventually gone back to your helpful suggestion and Caldbeck appears to be the solution to HD reception as you pointed ,out on Ch 30.
So far so good ,awaiting return of normal Irish weather.

Gone again,give up!

reboot

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Might be all it takes to null out an off beam co-channel tx though, without reference to the exact bearing of the wanted one?

Considered panning way off IOM for ch 50,(Vince Cable,suggesting 5 degrees making no difference),HD returns,and SD still with me (Again given HP lift etc).
Sony Bravia not outputting the menu on Video out,not making this easy.Have had to resort to Tesco STB on the roof.feeding monitor in.
Must be nice to have proper gear.
Hope someone interested in this,don't want to bang on if no one interested.
BBC replied,saying "If we had ham,we could have ham and eggs,but we have no eggs."

Mr. Rabbit

reboot wrote: »

Gone again,give up!

Sorry if this has been mentioned before but, have you tried Cambrett Hill in Southwest Scotland reboot ?

Although it's Freeview Lite (there's talk the com. operators are interested in this transmitter) , I'm currently receiving all 4 HD channels reasonably well here in Jordanstown South Antrim. This transmitter also comes in well over much of East Down (the Ards Peninsula for example). For some odd reason, reception seems to have improved dramatically over the last few weeks.

I take it Kilkeel will be your local TV transmitter after DSO ?

Kilkeel will also be Freeview lite so maybe your best bet is Freesat, rather than wasting any more money on terrestrial.

Vince Cable

Are you sure it's still Cambret Hill you're getting?

What channels are the muxes on?

Mr. Rabbit

Vince Cable wrote: »

Are you sure it's still Cambret Hill you're getting?

What channels are the muxes on?

Positive.

Channels are 41 and 44. HD multiplex is on 47 (horizontally polarized)

Whilst out for a walk yesterday ,evening I noticed a few aerials vetically polarized and pointing east. I'm wondering if Stranraer is receivable around here as well ? I could get a signal from it before DSO.

Mr. Rabbit

I get some channels from Caldbeck under lift conditions.

Digifriendly

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

Sorry if this has been mentioned before but, have you tried Cambrett Hill in Southwest Scotland reboot ?

Although it's Freeview Lite (there's talk the com. operators are interested in this transmitter) , I'm currently receiving all 4 HD channels reasonably well here in Jordanstown South Antrim. This transmitter also comes in well over much of East Down (the Ards Peninsula for example). For some odd reason, reception seems to have improved dramatically over the last few weeks.

I take it Kilkeel will be your local TV transmitter after DSO ?

Kilkeel will also be Freeview lite so maybe your best bet is Freesat, rather than wasting any more money on terrestrial.

A TV in our church hall in Moira has picked up Cambret Hill on high pressure days but then lost it again. Having read reports of improved signal from this transmitter on these boards I tried to receive it on Saturday from the idtv but unfortunately not a whiff came through.

reboot

Mr. Rabbit wrote: »

Sorry if this has been mentioned before but, have you tried Cambrett Hill in Southwest Scotland reboot ?

Although it's Freeview Lite (there's talk the com. operators are interested in this transmitter) , I'm currently receiving all 4 HD channels reasonably well here in Jordanstown South Antrim. This transmitter also comes in well over much of East Down (the Ards Peninsula for example). For some odd reason, reception seems to have improved dramatically over the last few weeks.

I take it Kilkeel will be your local TV transmitter after DSO ?

Kilkeel will also be Freeview lite so maybe your best bet is Freesat, rather than wasting any more money on terrestrial.

thanks for the suggestion,but I have to agree with Vince Cable,Caldbeck is A/H and HD on Ch 30.
If you scroll up on this thread you will find I looked at Caldbeck,in fact changed the whole set up here ,and was disappointed when after stunning results ,found it too like IOM was transient,with weather conditions.
Can't receive Kilkeel annalouge at this location due to local terraine,so don't hold out much hope for DVB-T2.
The RTE system appears to be much more robust as a transmission system at this location,although I know there are benifits of the BBC/ITV system.
Is it more likely that you are looking at Wales?,which is romping in under lift conditions,but pity the man who expects to watch a programe from start to finish.
I would be grateful if anyone could confirm if Caldbeck has an increase in ERP,for what ever reason,then its back to the chimney pot,only looking for 3 UK,HD channels,not much to ask for the licence fee.

Vince Cable

Mr. Rabbit is referring to Cambret Hill, a Scottish relay of Caldbeck.

The only reason I queried him on this is because Black Hill which is co-channel has recently gone to full power, so I would have expected reception to have worsened, if anything.

reboot

Vince Cable wrote: »

Mr. Rabbit is referring to Cambret Hill, a Scottish relay of Caldbeck.

The only reason I queried him on this is because Black Hill which is co-channel has recently gone to full power, so I would have expected reception to have worsened, if anything.

Sorry for my confusion,post switching between Cambret Hill and Caldbeck.Pity C Hill is vert,not that easy for me to have a look,but worth a try. Thanks to you and Mr.Rabbit

Peter Rhea

Cambret Hill is horizontal polarisation.

reboot

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Cambret Hill is horizontal polarisation.

Right again,sorry I meant IOM is vert and C Hill Hor,hence my problem in getting to the aerial to switch polarity,and will it be worth the effort.?
Sony Bravia thinks it is seeing a sig on Ch 51M,whats with the M?

Mr. Rabbit

Vince Cable wrote: »

Mr. Rabbit is referring to Cambret Hill, a Scottish relay of Caldbeck.

The only reason I queried him on this is because Black Hill which is co-channel has recently gone to full power, so I would have expected reception to have worsened, if anything.

Could be the reason for the better reception Vince, especially if Cambrett Hill is being directed away from Black Hill.

It's definitely been a more robust and stable signal at this location over the last few weeks so it'll be interesting to see what it's like when the bad weather starts in October. Freeview is afected by heavy rain and bad weather, especially if you're on the edge if the service area.

Can't receive Kilkeel annalouge at this location due to local terraine

Very surprised at that reboot as the map on Brian Butterworth's site dioes show quite extensive coverage stretching into Annalong:

http://www.ukfree.tv/shutdowndetail.php?tx=IJ281180

Obviously Freesat along with Saorview from either Clermont Cairn, Three Rock, or Kippure, is probably your best bet if that's the case.

If your not getting either Caldbeck, Winter Hill, or Moel-y-Parc on terrestrial, then there's probably no point faffing around and wasting any more money on terrestrial.

lucernarian

Going on maps I have and also Google Streetview, Kilkeel's coverage stretches up the A2 as far as George's Quay. Annalong and the immediate area seems to be well within coverage. I'm also suprised at the lack of Kilkeel reception.