RTE 2 bad signal,why?

paulcdub85

I put in a blakes wideband UHF aerial today. rte 1, tv3, tg4 are very good. RTE 2 is a bit fuzzy. tried fine tune but little difference..anyone know why this might be? Thanks in advance.

John mac

where are you ?
are you trying to receive the digital channels?
fuzzy would suggest analogue signal.
what are you connecting to ,?

Joe7

paulcdub85 wrote: »

..anyone know why this might be? Thanks in advance.

Because you're living in the past, messing around with analogue, that's why.

paulcdub85

John mac wrote: »

where are you ?
are you trying to receive the digital channels?
fuzzy would suggest analogue signal.
what are you connecting to ,?

ringsend, dublin..would this signal be crystal clear with an edison combo?

Carawaystick

paulcdub85 wrote: »

I put in a blakes wideband UHF aerial today. rte 1, tv3, tg4 are very good. RTE 2 is a bit fuzzy. tried fine tune but little difference..anyone know why this might be? Thanks in advance.

When I had analog tv in NCD my network/rté 2 was always bad. It turned out i had my aerial turned the wrong way polarity wise. so try turn your aerial so it's tallwise and the X are pointing horizontally first, if this isn't the way already.

paulcdub85

Carawaystick wrote: »

When I had analog tv in NCD my network/rté 2 was always bad. It turned out i had my aerial turned the wrong way polarity wise. so try turn your aerial so it's tallwise and the X are pointing horizontally first, if this isn't the way already.

according to tvtrade.ie uhf aeriels for 3 rock should be horizontil no?

Carawaystick

paulcdub85 wrote: »

according to tvtrade.ie uhf aeriels for 3 rock should be horizontil no?

yeah, that's why I had bad rte2 reception for 6 years.

horizontal means the X bits are horizontal, not the rectangle of the grid.

lucernarian

Most parts of Dublin can pick up Kippure as well as Three Rock. They both use horizontally polarised broadcasts. A grid aerial will still pick up an okay RTE 1 and 2 from Kippure and may work better if the signal has to pass through a building etc.

RTE2 is on Ch 33 from Three Rock and (roughly) Ch 10 from Kippure. The Kippure RTE2 is at 206.25 MHz.

Also, postitioning in an attic is a delicate business and can vary widely over the space of a metre. Try moving the aerial about a bit and make sure it has to pass through the minimum amount of brick wall, wooden beams, pipes, water tanks etc. That should sort out the problem.

paulcdub85

Carawaystick wrote: »

yeah, that's why I had bad rte2 reception for 6 years.

horizontal means the X bits are horizontal, not the rectangle of the grid.

it's this aeriel http://www.tvtrade.ie/black-wide-band-uhf-aerial.html
I have it horizontilly. Would using a saoirview box or an edison combo(i have free-to-air) give me crystal clear pic on the Irish channels including rte2 which is currently a bit fuzzy on analouge?
Thanks.

paulcdub85

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

Most parts of Dublin can pick up Kippure as well as Three Rock. They both use horizontally polarised broadcasts. A grid aerial will still pick up an okay RTE 1 and 2 from Kippure and may work better if the signal has to pass through a building etc.

RTE2 is on Ch 33 from Three Rock and (roughly) Ch 10 from Kippure. The Kippure RTE2 is at 206.25 MHz.

Also, postitioning in an attic is a delicate business and can vary widely over the space of a metre. Try moving the aerial about a bit and make sure it has to pass through the minimum amount of brick wall, wooden beams, pipes, water tanks etc. That should sort out the problem.

I have it outdoors facing south towards 3 rock

lucernarian

No, I'm asking if you've tried to tune in Kippure aswell on Ch 10 (206.25 MHz).

For some reason I thought you had a grid aerial, perhaps when Carawaystick mentioned X elements for his own aerial. Never mind so.


Are there any nearby obstacles to the aerial outside? Have you made sure the cabling is done right with no kinks in it or short-circuits between inner core and outer shield? How long is the cable, and how old is it?

A DTT receiver that has the specs to work with the Irish service (like the Edision combo) would give perfect-quality channels and you'll also get 3e and RTÉ news now as extra channels among other handy features.

darth_maul

Kippure uses VHF for RTE 1&2, uhf for tv3 & TG4, so try and use three rock which has all channels on uhf. you have a uhf aerial. what frequency is rte 2 on on your TV? also make sure that you have no modulaters tuned to frequencies around the frequency of RTe2

paulcdub85

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

No, I'm asking if you've tried to tune in Kippure aswell on Ch 10 (206.25 MHz).

For some reason I thought you had a grid aerial, perhaps when Carawaystick mentioned X elements for his own aerial. Never mind so.


Are there any nearby obstacles to the aerial outside? Have you made sure the cabling is done right with no kinks in it or short-circuits between inner core and outer shield? How long is the cable, and how old is it?

A DTT receiver that has the specs to work with the Irish service (like the Edision combo) would give perfect-quality channels and you'll also get 3e and RTÉ news now as extra channels among other handy features.

cabling is brand new,connections fine, the other 3 channels are perfect. i wonder could the cordless phones or somthing be causing interference? I was thinking of getting the edison combo anyway so that should solve problem.cheers.

lucernarian

Whenever I've seen reception that is slightly weak on one station, I've found it's primarily an issue of aerial location and some obstruction happens to pick on one frequency in particular or else it's a cable fault. A cable fault can selectively hinder one channel and leave the others fine.

An RF modulator like from a sky box etc can indeed cause problems but I can't believe a sky box would be set to Ch 33 or 34 of all the spare frequencies around this part of the world.

Interference from cordless phones is extremely rare, I've never come across a problem in real life or on the net that was definitively caused by a cordless phone (except for Wifi interference). Cordless phones sold in europe have to comply with certain standards.

UHF aerials can work acceptably for picking up VHF signals even if it's not ideal. If my uhf aerial picks up better VHF from Kippure than RTE2 from Three Rock then I'll tune in the VHF equivalent. This is the case for me using a grid aerial in Louth with near LOS to both sites. VHF aerials are almost useless at UHF however.

dowtchaboy

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

Interference from cordless phones is extremely rare, I've never come across a problem in real life or on the net that was definitively caused by a cordless phone (except for Wifi interference). Cordless phones sold in europe have to comply with certain standards.

Have to disagree with you on this. I have a Siemens DECT phone (2 phones, one base station) and the problems I have with one frequency (for True Entertainment, TinyPop et al) are definitely related to it. The signal goes from 80% quality to zero, picture freezes or stutters, etc. If I wrap the basestation in tinfoil I can usually stop the interference. Switching the basestation power off IMMEDIATELY allows my satellite signal to recover, flick it back on and a few seconds later - the satellite freezes again (on that transponder only). In my case I reckon my lead from the LNB into the house to the receiver is a bit long, cable is a bit old and probably not high quality, and may well have multiple joins (it's all buried in walls and under floorboards), and it passes near the basestation.

John mac

dowtchaboy wrote: »

the satellite freezes again (on that transponder only). .

Thats on Satellite , not Terrestrial.

dowtchaboy

John mac wrote: »

Thats on Satellite , not Terrestrial.

That's true, john mac, I guess I am straying a bit from the OP's question - but it was more a response to the statement from 'tobeconfirmed' that

Interference from cordless phones is extremely rare, I've never come across a problem in real life or on the net that was definitively caused by a cordless phone (except for Wifi interference)

Sponge Bob

dowtchaboy wrote: »

I have a Siemens DECT phone (2 phones, one base station) and the problems I have with one frequency (for True Entertainment, TinyPop et al) are definitely related to it. The signal goes from 80% quality to zero, picture freezes or stutters, etc. If I wrap the basestation in tinfoil I can usually stop the interference. Switching the basestation power off IMMEDIATELY allows my satellite signal to recover, flick it back on and a few seconds later - the satellite freezes again (on that transponder only).

That is because satellite is downconverted to around 900-2100mhz by the LNB from the 10-13ghz signal broadcast by the sat and picked up by the LNB. 2 bands are affected.
DECT Frequencies are 1880 to 1900 MHz
Hi band problem areas:-
12480 to 12500 MHz (10600 MHz LO) downconverts to 1880 to 1900 MHz
Lo band problem areas:-
11630 to 11650 MHz (9750 MHz LO) downconverts to 1880 to 1900 MHz

In my case I reckon my lead from the LNB into the house to the receiver is a bit long, cable is a bit old and probably not high quality, and may well have multiple joins (it's all buried in walls and under floorboards), and it passes near the basestation.

Better quality cable= better shielded. You could always try moving the basestation you know or else wallpapering the wall with tinfoil:)

dowtchaboy

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Better quality cable= better shielded. You could always try moving the basestation you know or else wallpapering the wall with tinfoil:)

I am not allowed to buy any more tinfoil - the Matron says she will only give me my weekly allowance if I promise to spend it on celebrity magazines or Cadbury's Roses, like everyone else here.

lucernarian

The issue there isn't DECT, it's the cable. If the DECT phone was knocking out dozens of channels, then I could blame the cordless phone but having poor cable is hardly the definitive fault of that DECT phone;)

So I don't accept that example as a disproof of my other point.