No Reception in North East

Nibs05

Hi All,

I wonder if anyone has advice on the next step I can take to getting Saorview reception.
I got Play TV for the playstation and set it up, the picture was choppy (like sky on a rainy night) so left it. I then found out my TV was MPEG4 so did a scan and found the signal quality was like Play TV. We then got a new telly for the sitting room which again was MPEG4 did a scan same picture quality.
We get a aerial guy to come out and have a look to see what was up, he coundnt find anything wrong, he put a new aerial up, he also put a box on the aerial to check if interference was causing the problems, he checked the cable inside and the booster box and it was all ok, but still bad reception. He took all the new stuff down and left.
Anything else I could do to get better reception.

Peter Rhea

Where do you live?

You can check for coverage here; http://coverage.rtenl.ie/index.php

Nibs05

Hi,

I'm out in east Meath by the coast, I checked the coverage already and we should be in a excellent coverage area.

John mac

whats the booster box for?
can you bypass it and try direct from aerial to tv.

Peter Rhea

Are there any obstructions near your house in the direction of the transmitter (trees, other buildings, a hill etc.) that might affect the signal?

What's the analogue signal like?

The Cush

Nibs05 wrote: »

Hi,

I'm out in east Meath by the coast, I checked the coverage already and we should be in a excellent coverage area.

This from RTÉNL

Coverage

• Coverage shown is based on a rooftop aerial in good condition (indoor reception may be possible in areas with very good signal strength).
• Coverage shown is indicative only.
• Local environment (hills, forestry, trees, buildings, and other large obstructions) will cause coverage to vary from what is shown.
• RTÉNL recommends consultation with a local competent aerial installer to confirm coverage in your area.

Nibs05

We have the booster box because it does improve the signal, 2 of the tellys bypass the booster and come in straight from the aerial. It was suggested that it could be a mobile phone mast causing our problems (there is one across the road) the analogue is ok picture but if a little fuzzy on the uk stations and the Irish ones have lines flicking through the picture, which I suspect is interference from the mast.

Peter Rhea

Where is this 'booster' located (aerial mast, loft, other)?

How do some of the tvs bypass it? If it's an old unscreened masthead amplifier in particular, it could be making the interference worse.

Nibs05

The booster is located in the sitting room, it's only a couple years old. We have 3 tellys altogether 1 in the sitting room, this one has the booster, and 2 others in the bedroom these have the cable straight down from the aerial on the roof, Im not sure how there bypassed but the aerial guy said he check a distribution box on the aerial itself which was fine.

Peter Rhea

I wonder how the aerial feeds are split . . .

There should be no need for in-room boosters unless it's to send the signal on to another tv via a long cable.

Nibs05

Peter Rhea wrote: »

I wonder how the aerial feeds are split . . .

There should be no need for in-room boosters unless it's to send the signal on to another tv via a long cable.

I can see a small box half way down pole itself it's about 4 inches by 4 inches there is one cable from coming in the top of the box from the aerial then the 3 cables going into each room coming out the bottom.

I am just thinking that if I get reception in the 2 bedrooms direct from the aerial, then I should get the same in the sitting room without the booster, have to Check !

lucernarian

There should be no cables coming in the top of the box firstly... That allows rain water to easily enter the box.

I don't think I trust this aerial fella you were talking to. I have heard a couple of good things about the man who works out of a "sky satellite" shop at the junction of narrow West St and the Bridge of Peace in Drogheda, though I have never met him. Could be worth a try? He has been installing aerials before Sky Digital I think.

Also, most installs in Drogheda/Meath coast use fringe masthead amps and I don't think they're very good for shielding and reduction of interference from GSM and Garda TETRA masts.

Nibs05

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

There should be no cables coming in the top of the box firstly... That allows rain water to easily enter the box.

I don't think I trust this aerial fella you were talking to. I have heard a couple of good things about the man who works out of a "sky satellite" shop at the junction of narrow West St and the Bridge of Peace in Drogheda, though I have never met him. Could be worth a try? He has been installing aerials before Sky Digital I think.

Also, most installs in Drogheda/Meath coast use fringe masthead amps and I don't think they're very good for shielding and reduction of interference from GSM and Garda TETRA masts.

Just double checked the box on the aerial and it seems that the cable from the aerial just looks it's going in the top, it actually runs behind then into the bottom of the box.
I know the shop you are talking about, I'll have a chat with him later in the week to see if he has a solution.
Many Thanks for the advice already.

Sam Russell

I think the 'booster' your talking about is the DC supply to the amp that is up the pole. You need it on one of the legs in order to get amplification.

Sam Russell

Sam Russell wrote: »

I think the 'booster' your talking about is the DC supply to the amp that is up the pole. You need it on one of the legs in order to get amplification.

Thats what it definitely is.


Whats your analogue reception like? and on what uhf channels in mhz are they on?
Pictures of the aerial will help.
A roof aerial in your location should work.
Have you a view to the dublin or wicklow mountains in the distance to the south on your roof at all? or to Carlingford direction to the north?

Your aerial guy sounds like he hadn't a clue.

lucernarian

Anywhere along the Meath coast can see the Cooley Mtns at roof level. Over 90% of the roof installs in Bettystown and Laytown are grid aerials which are used to pick up both Clermont Carn and Kilkeel. So the interference is mainly affecting the higher end of the UHF spectrum from what's been described. The mobile phone mast could be a problem but it shouldn't if the aerial is properly installed.

Nibs05

Deleted User wrote: »

Thats what it definitely is.


Whats your analogue reception like? and on what uhf channels in mhz are they on?
Pictures of the aerial will help.
A roof aerial in your location should work.
Have you a view to the dublin or wicklow mountains in the distance to the south on your roof at all? or to Carlingford direction to the north?

Your aerial guy sounds like he hadn't a clue.

Analogue reception is ok the uk channels are a very tiny bit fuzzy but still very watchable. All analogue channels have white lines going across the picture (see photo).
Try post a photo tommorow some time of the aerial.
Everyones aerial in the area including mine points to Clermont Carn, Dublin is proberly too far.

Here are the MHZ

BBC1 - 615.31
BBC2 - 663.31
UTV - 695.25
CHL4 - 639.25
RTE1 - 719.31
RTE2 - 751.31
TV3 - 831.31
TG4 - 847.31

I took a picture of UTV on analogue and 3e on Saorview

Peter Rhea

Just to confirm that the 'booster' is actually a PSU, unplug it & see if this affects reception at all the tvs.

Like the 'tyretracks' on the analogue picture; must be the phone mast.

watty

The GSM900 is about 30dB more than the DTT here. Too much or too cheap pre-amp/booster would result in TV or distribution amp overloading. My mast amp has a level control. It's set just above noise on analogue.

Try 12dB attenuator.

Nibs05

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Just to confirm that the 'booster' is actually a PSU, unplug it & see if this affects reception at all the tvs.

Like the 'tyretracks' on the analogue picture; must be the phone mast.

Yea I unplugged the PSU and all TVs lost the reception, just white snow.
The phone mast is east of my aerial and the aerial is pointing north east, the phone mast is very close, also the garda station mast is 1km north of the aerial so this could cause problems as well.

Nibs05

watty wrote: »

The GSM900 is about 30dB more than the DTT here. Too much or too cheap pre-amp/booster would result in TV or distribution amp overloading. My mast amp has a level control. It's set just above noise on analogue.

Try 12dB attenuator.

Not very technical but is this connector on the end of coax, if so where would I fit it, e.g. into the back of the TV or somewhere up on the aerial itself.
Anywhere handy I could pick it up. ?

You fit it where the aerial cable first plugs into the distribution amplifier.
It has two female ends.
So plug the aerial feed into it and then it into the tv in part of the distribution amp.

Peter Rhea

An attenuator will reduce all signal, wanted & unwanted.
If you want to try one (they're cheap), just use it on one tv & see what happens. You could also get a variable one or maybe 2 or 3 of different values (3, 6 & 9 db) that can be combined if needed.
Your distribution amp seems to be part of the masthead setup, anyway.

These band-pass filters claim to reject interference from outside the UHF tv band. (also amps are available with this built-in)

Nibs05

Many thanks for the advice,

I will probably take a trip to maplin over the weekend, they have a variable attenuator (see link below) and also they have a tv filter.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/tvi-rf-filter-29605
http://www.maplin.co.uk/variable-aerial-attenuator-223051

Hopefully these will be ok to cut the interference.

lucernarian

Attenuators only help problems with excessive signal strength and overloaded amplifiers. And installing them beside the TV won't help an overloaded amp either.

Looking at the picture of UTV, that suggests something more like straightforward EMI interference (including that GSM mast) or cross-modulation or some other signal quality issue coming from the aerial or amp, rather than simply being a TV that's getting an excessive signal.

No harm getting an attenuator I suppose but I think it's very unlikely to help and you'd be better off getting something done about that amp on the pole. Unless you can get an attenuator fitted between the amp and aerial and that just defeats the point of having an amp in the first place!

Nibs05

I hope that people don't mind posting in my old thread but it maybe of some use.
After all the problems I have posted i did a rescan today and I was amazed to find all the saorview channels correctly working and without buying any additional equipment, just wondering was there a change somewhere to boost the signal .

The Cush

Nibs05 wrote: »

just wondering was there a change somewhere to boost the signal .

Power from transmitters away from the border/NI overspill areas was upped in May prior to the official launch of Saorview (http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71541835#post71541835).