Switchover to DTT: will people lose UK channels?

Geuze

I know very little about TV signals and DTT, so please go easy on me.

I have two queries.

First, take a household in rural Galway or Mayo that currently receives UK channels from a deflector.

With DTT and Saorview, I understand that the get a STB and will get 4 Irish DTT channels. Ok. But, will they lose the UK channels??

Or will the local deflector beam the UK DTT channels??


Second, take a house in Meath or Louth with a roof-top aerial, currently getting 4 Irish + 4 UK channels. At the switch, they get an STB and so get the 4 Irish DTT channels. But what about the UK channels???

I know some people who can't survive without BBC / C4.

mullingar

Is it a licenced deflector?

If not, I believe its days are numbered, but Irish DTT should not effect your deflector system.

TBH, You are better off with a cheap "freesat" satellite system for the UK stations www.freesat.co.uk .

OOC, Are the deflected signals analogue (x4 stations) or DTT (x30 stations) from NI?

watty

Deflectors are pointless ever since C4 and Five joined ITV & BBC on Freesat.

Only get a Freesat HD box (click for more info) and an 80cm solid dish. Even if you have no HDTV

Geuze

Thanks for your replies.

I'm thinking of a rural house in Connacht that pays a fee locally, but I don't know is the deflector licensed. They get 4 UK channels, I think.



In the Meath / Louth situation, everybody I know there has had 6-9 channels all their lives, 2-4 Irish and 4 UK. Does DTT mean they lose the UK channels that they currently get from the roof-top aerial??


My point is if people do not want to install a satellite dish, does the switchover to DTT mean the loss of 4 UK channels?

watty

The deflectors where illegal and temporarily legalised.

They will be gone soon.

What is difficulty with 45+ good channels, HDTV, Widescreen, good quality compared to 4 channels often poor from a so called Deflector (in reality illegal transmitters) with a dish & setbox and no subscription?

They will all be closed soon.

Many people can get N.I. UK TV direct on an Aerial in Meath, Louth, Cavan, Donegal and other places, without a "deflector". They already can get 25+ Freeview Digital channels via aerial. When N.I. Analogue closes in 2012 the digital reception will improve and HD UK will be added.

If you can get good N.I. Analogue direct from Divis or Brougher Mountain, then a Freeview HD box (or HDTV) will work for NI and Irish Digital TV. Over 30 channels today and maybe 6 to 8 HD channels by 2013

Geuze

watty wrote: »

The deflectors where illegal and temporarily legalised. They will be gone soon.

OK, thanks for that info.

What is difficulty with 45+ good channels, HDTV, Widescreen, good quality compared to 4 channels often poor from a so called Deflector (in reality illegal transmitters) with a dish & setbox and no subscription?

They will all be closed soon.

Fair enough, I don't support anything illegal.

Can I clarify that your reply confirms that thousands of people in rural Connacht, Munster, etc. will then have to get a satellite dish to continue to receive the 4 UK channels??

This is my key issue....


Many people can get N.I. UK TV direct on an Aerial in Meath, Louth, Cavan, Donegal and other places, without a "deflector".

Yes, this is the other group that I'm referring to.

They already can get 25+ Freeview Digital channels via aerial. When N.I. Analogue closes in 2012 the digital reception will improve and HD UK will be added.

I see, so this group will then receive the 4 UK DTT channels via their normal aerial, without dish.

If you can get good N.I. Analogue direct from Divis or Brougher Mountain, then a Freeview HD box (or HDTV) will work for NI and Irish Digital TV. Over 30 channels today and maybe 6 to 8 HD channels by 2013

THANKS.

Mike 1972

watty wrote: »

a so called Deflector (in reality illegal transmitters)

Er theyre not illegal they have licences (or most of them do anyway) and are no more "illegal" than local radio, malt whiskey or driving at more than 4 miles/hour.

OP All analouge TV signals in Ireland (RTE and deflectors) are due to be shut off at the end of 2012. Some deflectors might even disappear before this time. If you want UK channels Freesat (not to be confused with $ky) is the way to go.

watty

If you read carefully I mentioned they had been made temporarily legal.

The Cush

Temporarily legal in this case is 13 years by the end of Dec 2012.

watty

Yes, but they did think DTT was rolling out in 1999, 2001 or 2002.

Macy0161

Geuze wrote: »

In the Meath / Louth situation, everybody I know there has had 6-9 channels all their lives, 2-4 Irish and 4 UK. Does DTT mean they lose the UK channels that they currently get from the roof-top aerial??


My point is if people do not want to install a satellite dish, does the switchover to DTT mean the loss of 4 UK channels?

The north is due to switch off analogue in 2012 anyway, so they would be losing their UK analogue channels then anyway, regardless of Irish DTT. However, as has been said, if they're receiving from the main transmitters they have potential to get Freeview and Irish DTT on the one FreeviewHD receiver in the one epg (pretty much most peoples ideal tbh!).

lucernarian

I wanted to mention the aspect of reception in the northeast. In my part of the world, particularly throughout Meath and south Louth, most people's reception of Kilkeel or Divis is quite mediocre. Such that nicam would only work on some channels, and teletext would be a garbled mess even if the picture wasn't very snowy.

Quite a lot of houses now just have a grid aerial to pick up both Kilkeel and Clermont Carn on the one aerial which is going to compromise NI reception to some extent.

There's going to be a lot of houses which will be on the threshold for freeview reception in 2012.