RTE DTT

Shane732

Hi guys,

Just a very quick question:

Is there anywhere that I can get a list of where RTE are currently broadcasting DTT? I know they are testing in a number of areas but I can't seem to find out what specific areas!

I'm based in Meath (Ratoath to be exact) - will I be able to pick up DTT if I take the plunge for an MPEG4 tv now?

Also will I be able to receive Welsh DTT?

Thanks!

The Cush

Nothing official but this thread should be reasonably up to date on the DTT transmitters on engineering test at the moment.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055976294

Someone in your area will be able to post more specific information on reception of Irish and Welsh DTT. Lots of threads around discussing UK overspill reception.

watty

However it's premature to buy an MPEG4 TV now unless you have NO TV set. Best to wait till next year. There is no rush.

Soft launch 31st October 2010, full Public Launch sometime 2011 (Between April 2011 and December 2011).

Shane732

watty wrote: »

However it's premature to buy an MPEG4 TV now unless you have NO TV set. Best to wait till next year. There is no rush.

Soft launch 31st October 2010, full Public Launch sometime 2011 (Between April 2011 and December 2011).

Thank Watty - it's not that I'm purchasing a TV set purely for the purposes of getting Irish DTT.

I'm purchasing a TV becuase it's time to upgrade - I currently have a basic 32" Sony TV that isn't even an LCD. I figure that if I'm going to buy a TV now I might as well get one that is MPEG4 as at least then I'll be able to watch the DTT without getting a receiver.

In relation to the overspill is there a particular thread that would be good for me to read about this? I'm not a regular in these parts of boards.ie!!

Thanks for the help guys.

Shane732

Just one other question:

Any idea what site I'd be picking up the analogue signal from at the moment??

Shane732

The Cush wrote: »

Nothing official but this thread should be reasonably up to date on the DTT transmitters on engineering test at the moment.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055976294

Someone in your area will be able to post more specific information on reception of Irish and Welsh DTT. Lots of threads around discussing UK overspill reception.

Thanks for the link to the thread

Sorry to be a pain:

I notice that people are saying they can pick up sound on an MPEG2 tuner from DTT broadcasting, is this correct?

I currently have an MPEG2 tuner in an LCD in a bedroom at home. Should I be able to use the MPEG2 tuner to see if I can pick up a signal??

Thank you guys kindly for the quick replies.

Minstrel27

Shane732 wrote: »

I currently have an MPEG2 tuner in an LCD in a bedroom at home. Should I be able to use the MPEG2 tuner to see if I can pick up a signal??

Thank you guys kindly for the quick replies.

Yes.

watty

Shane732 wrote: »

I notice that people are saying they can pick up sound on an MPEG2 tuner from DTT broadcasting, is this correct?

I currently have an MPEG2 tuner in an LCD in a bedroom at home. Should I be able to use the MPEG2 tuner to see if I can pick up a signal??

It's true at the moment about sound. But AAC is in the basic spec just for Stereo and Mono, not just multichannel. Later the MP2 sound your MPEG2 set gets may be missing.

Also see http://www.techtir.ie/saortv and http://www.techtir.ie/tv-radio/Irish-DTT-Sites
Techtir often has links to specific boards posts. If you are logged in you can search on DTT, FTA or TV3 which you can't on Boards. Use Google to search "three letter acronyms or words" on boards.ie.

Shane732

I think I should have call this thread idiots guide to DTT!

Right - my aerial appears to be facing the Dublin mountains so I'm guessing it's pointing at Three Rock? So hopefully when I go home I should be able to pick up Irish DTT from Three Rock??!!!

On to the UK question... If the aerial is mountaining at the Dublin mountains then I'm guessing it's not possible to receive signal from the Arfon mast? Again I'd imagine the easist thing to do is just tune the TV and see what happens?

Should the TV pick up these channels on auto tune?

Syracus

All, similar question to main thread.

I'm in Ballyroan, Co. Laois, 5 clicks north of Abbeyleix. I just got a Band B UHF aerial and DTT receiver, and hooked them up last night but to no avail. I have the aerial in the attic as it's a rented house. I presumed that the DTT signal would be from Mt Leinster, i.e. CH 45.

Question 1: just how intermittent is the DTT signal from this station, and the rest, i.e. 99% present, 50% present???

Question 2: I was under the impression that the DTT signals were strong and if I could get an analog signal, which I can very well (not sure from where), I should be able to get the DTT signal???

watty

Shane732 wrote: »

I think I should have call this thread idiots guide to DTT!

Right - my aerial appears to be facing the Dublin mountains so I'm guessing it's pointing at Three Rock? So hopefully when I go home I should be able to pick up Irish DTT from Three Rock??!!!

yes
Assuming the right kind of TV and a real transmission
Soft launch October 2010
Public Launch TBD: Some time later half of 2011 (49 sites by Q2 2011 - 97.2% population coverage, Saorsat Q2 2011)

Shane732 wrote: »

On to the UK question... If the aerial is mountaining at the Dublin mountains then I'm guessing it's not possible to receive signal from the Arfon mast? Again I'd imagine the easist thing to do is just tune the TV and see what happens?

Should the TV pick up these channels on auto tune?

You won't get UK TV generally unless you have an aerial that already got it before it was Digital. Some people may be able to install suitable aerials. For 90% of people a Dish + HD sat receiver for Freesat is best for UK TV.

How you initially tune DTT depends on the TV set.

Syracus wrote: »

Question 1: just how intermittent is the DTT signal from this station, and the rest, i.e. 99% present, 50% present???

Question 2: I was under the impression that the DTT signals were strong and if I could get an analog signal, which I can very well (not sure from where), I should be able to get the DTT signal???

Q1: It varies. Mostly OK. But there is NO SERVICE yet!
Q2: It's a bit more complex than that. It depends where you are getting a signal.
List of Masts and if Running here.

DTT Stages

1. 28 sites by Oct 2010 - 94.5% population coverage: Soft or Technical Launch of Saorview
2. 49 sites by Q2 2011 - 97.2% population coverage: Public Launch (before 31st Dec. 2011) and Saorsat available (Satellite copy on Kasat @ 9E using Ka Band, assuming satellite Launch is OK)
3. 51 sites by Q4 2012 - 98% population coverage
4. Analogue Switch off commences 31st Dec 2012 ?

Astro7

watty

Any info on the new Sat. for 9 East.
Has the bird been launched yet .
What will it be called (Eurobird 9A there at the moment )
Can I add the new dish to my Technomate TM 6900 HD Combo Box.?

The Cush

watty wrote: »

It's true at the moment about sound. But AAC is in the basic spec just for Stereo and Mono, not just multichannel. Later the MP2 sound your MPEG2 set gets may be missing.

Dolby Digital + (Enhanced AC3) multi-channel audio is also part of the spec together HE.AAC multi-channel audio and MPEG1 Layer 2 stereo audio.

My recently purchased Sony 5810 is Dolby Digital + and not AAC.

Even though both are part of the spec RTÉ has not indicated which standard they will eventually use or if they will use either. The current HD testcard is using standard MPEG stereo audio, if they are planning to use either of the above multi-channel audio standards in the future you would think they should be testing them now.

The tender for the upgrade of the existing playout facility for "pass through" live HD playout and the installation of a new HD playout facility makes no mention of any new audio standard only that "a mixdown facility from Dolby E encoded signals to stereo will be required" and that "only stereo sound will be carried on the service and no HD post production facilities are included"

If they do eventually adopt either I can't see them dropping MPEG audio completely (continues to be part of the spec), too many products out there without AC3 or AAC and based on their previous track record, when digital Nicam stereo was introduced mono audio continued. On DTT analogue teletext will run alongside MHEG-5 digital text and a DVB-SI epg will be duplicated by an MHEG-5 epg for equipment without the Saorview mandated MHEG-5.

watty

1) Updated today: http://www.techtir.ie/isaa/saorsat/preliminary
2) Launch is sometime between Nov 2010 and Jan 2011
via http://www.eutelsat.com/satellites/upcoming-launches.html

between November 2010 and January 2011

3) Kasat (or Ka-sat or Ka-Sat)
4) Eurobird 9A is Ku Band. Can you receive it? How? Kasat uses Ka band so needs a different Diseqc or multiswitch port if you are using Eurobird 9A. With a suitable Ka band LNBF and dish receiving 9E your box should work. Next year Best you add a new sat position.

If you are motorised then you can't easily use the motorised system for Ka Band and Ku Band. There are people that have "kludged" a Ku waveguide pickup inside (or a 17mm hole cut in rear) a C-band LNB and fed this to a separate Ku LNB. It's possible that such a kludge might work for Ku + Ka, but the signal level would be badly impared on both bands. AFAIK you don't get commerical dual band LNBFs

wave guide diameter approximate (pipe with pickup stubs to Electronics behind horn)
C Band (4GHz) 2", 50mm
X Band (10.5GHz) 3/4", 19mm
Ku band (Sky/Freesat) 2/3" 17mm
Ka Band (Kasat) 0.4" 10mm (maybe 11mm)

The Cush

Astro7 wrote: »

Any info on the new Sat. for 9 East.
Has the bird been launched yet .
What will it be called (Eurobird 9A there at the moment )

Launch still scheduled for end of Nov and will be called Eutelsat Ka-Sat.

watty

The Cush wrote: »

D

If they do eventually adopt either I can't see them dropping MPEG audio completely, too many product out there without AC3 or AAC and based on their previous track record, when digital Nicam stereo was introduced mono audio continued. On DTT analogue teletext will run alongside MHEG-5 digital text and a DVB-SI epg will be duplicated by an MHEG-5 epg.

The problem is HD.

having four HD channels (RTE1, RTE2, TV3, TG4) +
RTE news now, Childrens, TV3e, Film channel, Oireachtas TV +
12 Radio stations
on only two 25Mbps Mux?

AAC saves about 2.7Mbps if all the stereo (TV and Radio) uses it instead of MP2 at same perceived quality.

They may simply not have AAC encoders yet. I have never believed that "tests" tell you the spec. The Spec tells you the spec

In the minimum spec they seem to labour the point on AAC not just for HD or Multichannel. http://rtenl.ie/downloads/RTE-FTA-DTT-Receiver-Spec.pdf

What current un-certified gear does or doesn't do surely misses the point of a "minimum spec"?

Astro7

Thanks watty,
I have no problem receiving 9 East at the moment. I am using 3 dishes....2 fixed and 1 "movable" ( 1.2 Mt with steering rack from a Ford Fiesta ) so I might be able to add a Ka Sat Dish later !

The Cush

watty wrote: »

They may simply not have AAC encoders yet. I have never believed that "tests" tell you the spec. The Spec tells you the spec

or Dolby Digital + encoders?

Correct, the specs tell you the spec and the spec includes

• HE.AAC Level 4 multi-channel audio and
• Enhanced AC3 (“Dolby Digital Plus”) multi-channel audio and
• MPEG1 Layer 2 stereo audio

and RTÉ have not indicated which multi-channel audio standard they will eventually use.

watty wrote: »

What current un-certified gear does or doesn't do surely misses the point of a "minimum spec"?

Uncertified equipment includes at least the basic audio standard MPEG1, which is also included in the "minimum spec" and there is no indication from any official source that this will be dropped completely (from the spec or in service) in favour of one of the multi-channel standards, this is only being speculated on here.

Multi-channel audio is mandated like MHEG-5 in the "minimum spec" and yet we have "analogue" teletext and a DVB-SI epg transmitted on DTT (also a waste of space surely) and haven't heard anyone speculating that they may diappear soon. All are included in the "minimum spec" just like MPEG1 Layer 2 stereo audio.

watty

The spec also has AAC stereo audio

Shane732

If my aerial is pointed at Three Rock then what frequency should I be able to pick up the DTT on?

Shane732

I'm picking up a DTT signal. The tuner is telling me there's 16 Digital channels - a lot of these seem to be radio. I am picking up RTENL though (only audio as I only have a MPEG2 tuner at the moment!)

Sweet!

Signal strength is 53, is that ok?

yes that is ok.

ch 54

Kristopherus

Can anyone please confirm that a tuner with TNT in any tv/video equipment from France can pick up the Irish DTT.

fleet

Am I right in thinking that Threerock DTT isn't carrying audio on RTE1, and TNG?

I only have audio on RTE2.

scath

Kristopherus wrote: »

Can anyone please confirm that a tuner with TNT in any tv/video equipment from France can pick up the Irish DTT.

Answer is it will pick up Irish DTT but won't show picture. TNT is equivalent to Freeview in France, as Irish DTT uses new video encoding MPEG4 but TNT uses older MPEG2 video encoding. France has a TNT HD standard that is MPEG4 so compliant with Irish DTT in most respects. Freeview HD is a step further in being future proof and backward compatible. TNT won't show picture of Irish DTT, only sound

Kristopherus

scath wrote: »

Answer is it will pick up Irish DTT but won't show picture. TNT is equivalent to Freeview in France, as Irish DTT uses new video encoding MPEG4 but TNT uses older MPEG2 video encoding. France has a TNT HD standard that is MPEG4 so compliant with Irish DTT in most respects. Freeview HD is a step further in being future proof and backward compatible. TNT won't show picture of Irish DTT, only sound

Thanks very much, Scath. I had confused the TNT with the TNT HD tuners.:(

scath

Kristopherus wrote: »

Thanks very much, Scath. I had confused the TNT with the TNT HD tuners.:(

You're welcome Kristopherus. Yip its like confusing Freeview and Freeview HD. I'm sure many consumers may confuse them but that is what information campaigns should be about and hopefully Saorview will do it right. The advantage here is that we didn't launch in the MPEG2 era we only tested and piloted ('98,99, 2006-2008). Main bit of info for public here is don't buy Freeview just buy Saorview. For the likes of yourself, Freeview HD or TNT HD...basically a brand with HD after it and not a Television with HD only, but a platform with HD after it.

Of course Saorview may not use HD moniker but will be similar to TNT HD.