Saorview Noob

fatlog

Hi,

This has probably been answered already but I can't find it.
What do I need to get Saorview? I've been on their site and have a general idea but...

Do I need a large antenna on the roof or can I use an indoor digital antenna?

Do i need a specific TV?

ANything else i should know?

Randyleprechaun

Hi,

You'll need:

An aerial of some sort(depends on your location etc). You may also need other ancillary bits and pieces depending on your house, wiring set up etc etc.

A TV with an MPEG4 digital tuner or an MPEG 4 set top box in conjubction with your existing TV.

fatlog

would an indoor (amplified?) digital aerial work or do you need one of those big yokes you put ont roof?

i'm in dublin 8

stephendevlin

fatlog wrote: »

would an indoor (amplified?) digital aerial work or do you need one of those big yokes you put ont roof?

i'm in dublin 8

Might do depends on how good your signal is from the mast. You may need a better aerial.

watty

A very small aerial on roof is easily 100x better than ANY indoor aerial.

swoofer

A good guide is if you presently get a good signal on TV3 and TG4 via the aerial you will get saorview no problem.

Then get a set top box and use existing tv.


gb--

Vince Cable

GBCULLEN wrote: »

A good guide is if you presently get a good signal on TV3 and TG4 via the aerial you will get saorview no problem.

That's not so relevant now that most if not all smaller txs seem to be on, including some that never broadcast analogue.

lucernarian

Vince Cable wrote: »

That's not so relevant now that most if not all smaller txs seem to be on, including some that never broadcast analogue.

That's true enough. For Dublin 8 it remains a good guide. For DTT in Dublin I've seen snowy colour reception being more than adequate for Saorview on the same aerial.

My own observations near Griffith College were that an indoor aerial often works but having it near a window (especially to the south or east) helps signal reliability significantly. Also, powered aerials seem to give no advantage but with higher cost and that an indoors loop aerial was the best value for money among indoor aerials that could easily be found. There are other types of indoor aerial that can be seen on techtir.ie etc but I've found it hard to get them in Dublin.

If a rabbits ears isn't good enough then no harm done. One thing to watch out for is movement around the aerial affecting reception but if this doesn't bother you much or else it's not an issue then you should be sorted.

Sam Russell

The guide for Dublin (3Rock) should be the performance of TG4 because it is on a channel very close to DTT (54). Many aerials installed around Dublin are group A but should be W. However, the signal is very strong so you might get away with a wet string.

Agonist

They shouldn't call it Saorview when we have to buy new equipment to get it.
I have an aerial and a disk. I have a Technomate free to air box not listed on the Saorview website. I'll have to buy something else, won't I?

Gerry Wicklow

Agonist wrote: »

They shouldn't call it Saorview when we have to buy new equipment to get it.
I have an aerial and a disk. I have a Technomate free to air box not listed on the Saorview website. I'll have to buy something else, won't I?

I have an older Technomate 6900 box which works fine with both Saorview and HD satellite except no mheg5.

The Cush

Agonist wrote: »

They shouldn't call it Saorview when we have to buy new equipment to get it.

The UK, NZ and Australia also call their DTT services Freeview. The UK calls its free satellite service Freesat. Viewers in these also have to pay for their equipment.

Agonist

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

I have an older Technomate 6900 box which works fine with both Saorview and HD satellite except no mheg5.

I'll try fiddling with it later. I find it hard to add channels without rescanning the whole lot.
Time to get out the instruction manual and get to grips with it.
:-)

Gerry Wicklow

Agonist wrote: »

I'll try fiddling with it later. I find it hard to add channels without rescanning the whole lot.
Time to get out the instruction manual and get to grips with it.
:-)

MENU>INSTALLATION>TERRESTRIAL SCAN

You can also backup your existing channel lineup to USB first if you're nervous.

Vince Cable

Vince Cable wrote: »

That's not so relevant now that most if not all smaller txs seem to be on, including some that never broadcast analogue.

GBCULLEN wrote: »

A good guide is if you presently get a good signal on TV3 and TG4 via the aerial you will get saorview no problem.

I suppose 'good signal on TV3 or TG4' would at least point to a UHF aerial being fitted but there must be quite a few smaller TG4 analogue txs that won't have Saorview.

lucernarian

Sam Russell wrote: »

The guide for Dublin (3Rock) should be the performance of TG4 because it is on a channel very close to DTT (54). Many aerials installed around Dublin are group A but should be W. However, the signal is very strong so you might get away with a wet string.

I used to say that but when a TG4 signal not even strong enough for colour has worked for Saorview then I thought people would assume they couldn't get DTT if they had poor TG4 reception when it often works fine. I.e. DTT coverage in Dublin is more approximate to the Group A channels because such high ERPs are used.

Sam Russell

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I used to say that but when a TG4 signal not even strong enough for colour has worked for Saorview then I thought people would assume they couldn't get DTT if they had poor TG4 reception when it often works fine. I.e. DTT coverage in Dublin is more approximate to the Group A channels because such high ERPs are used.

I had originally thought of telling people to use a WS aerial in Dublin. [WS = wet string].:)

japp

i live in clifden and can recieve a digital signal from mahera and clifden mast,i have been offered a televes dat 75 ariel would any of the experts know if this ariel is anygood for getting signel from those 2 booster masts

lucernarian

It's probably too good unless your reception for TG4 is already poor from either Clifden or Maghera. If you're working off Clifden (all sites will have the same channels digitally unlike with analogue TV3) then a smaller Group A aerial will work just as well as the DAT75 and be less of an eyesore or need the same heavy duty metalwork to keep it up!

Did you check http://coverage.rtenl.ie/index.php ? Put in your address and then move the pointer to where your house exactly is. If you're in coverage a much cheaper/smaller aerial should work well if it's outside. The only thing that could be an issue is some very large metal shed in the way of the aerial and the RTÉ mast or else some thick wood or forestry in the way beside the house.

japp

thanks very much for your quick reply,i was offered this type of ariel free and i just wanted to know would it work for me on either mast as clifden is vertical and maghera is horizontal.i get about 50-55percent signal from clifden mast and 75% from maghera on old tv3 ariel

lucernarian

japp wrote: »

thanks very much for your quick reply,i was offered this type of ariel free and i just wanted to know would it work for me on either mast as clifden is vertical and maghera is horizontal.i get about 50-55percent signal from clifden mast and 75% from maghera on old tv3 ariel

The DAT75 needs a special adaptor for it to work with vertical polarisation. Even if the DAT75 is free, I would stick with the old TV3 aerial unless you're experiencing picture breakups or other such unreliability. Such a big and heavy aerial needs more significant ironmongery to make sure it doesn't fall down! All of which only makes it look like more of an eyesore.

To answer your question, yes it should work if your existing aerial works but I wouldn't recommend using it unless you've got picture breakup. If you took your old TV3 aerial and pointed it vertically polarised at Clifden then you may get a very good signal indeed. Do you not have an aerial dedicated to Clifden already?? You should get good Saorview through that.

robwen

hey guys whats the story if u have a few tv`s in the house (sitting room bedrooms kitchen etc.) do u need a saorview compatible box for each tv or will one box cover all & be able to watch different channels on each tv?

mcwhirter

robwen wrote: »

hey guys whats the story if u have a few tv`s in the house (sitting room bedrooms kitchen etc.) do u need a saorview compatible box for each tv or will one box cover all & be able to watch different channels on each tv?

One for each tv unless there has been a box designed with 2 or more seperate outputs.

Mint Sauce

Another noob question.

Is Saorview being set up as a rival/addition to the exsisting irish digital service, or as a replacement.

The folks TV I assume picks up both UK, and Irish digital. They get all the English channels (no red button service), BBC1-4 and News, ITV1-4, C4, E4, More4, C5, Sky News, Dave, etc etc, and all the UK radio stations. Then they get the Irish stations, RTE, TV3 and E3, TG4, RTE News, and all the Irish radio stations.

Does this mean that they are likely to get the Saorview channels/service as well?

Vince Cable

irish-stew wrote: »

Then they get the Irish stations, RTE, TV3 and E3, TG4, RTE News, and all the Irish radio stations.

Does this mean that they are likely to get the Saorview channels/service as well?

That is Saorview.

swoofer

robwen, you can buy Labgear MOD111 R.F.Modulator and if you already have the tvs hooked up with coax you can then tune in one channel to watch DTT but only same channel.

irish stew, they already get saorview, its a replacement for analogue which will be switched off 2012.

gb--

alfagirl

Just checked the spec on a TV that I got for Christmas. It says 'MPEG-2 MP@ML'. Does this sound compatible with Saorview to anyone? Thanks.

Vince Cable

No

seanin4711

anyone know where I can get one either here,NI or UK?
thanks
j

Sam Russell

seanin4711 wrote: »

anyone know where I can get one either here,NI or UK?
thanks
j

http://www.adverts.ie/540407 might be what you want. I sell them.

alfagirl

Quoting the link: Gives full HD if the HDMI cable is used.

Don't suppose that it will give you HD if you don't have it already?

Sam Russell

alfagirl wrote: »

Quoting the link: Gives full HD if the HDMI cable is used.

Don't suppose that it will give you HD if you don't have it already?

No of course not, but it will down convert to suit the TV to give as good as the TV can display. It will still give a very good picture.

alfagirl

This adaptor vs getting a Saorview box? Pros / Cons?

Sam Russell

alfagirl wrote: »

This adaptor vs getting a Saorview box? Pros / Cons?

The pro is that it costs €50 plus the postage stamp (€6), if you cannot collect. It comes with everything you need. It just plugs in, connect it up and power up. Assuming you have a correct aerial, it will tune in automatically. It gets the full service. It will also, with the addition of a USB hard disk drive or a memory stick, be able to record programmes directly or from the EPG. It can also record one programme while you watch another from the same mux. At the moment there is only one mux, but there will be more muxes added later. It also acts as a media player.

The con is that it does not have MHEG 5, so it will not get the new teletext, but it does do subtitles and legacy teletext, audio description, etc. etc.

The reaction from anyone who has bought one is extremely positive, with no negative reaction at all. Read the feedback, and check out the threads on here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056216337

Start at post #7

Edit: I forgot to mention - it hides out of sight behind the TV, so it does not clutter your livingroom or wherever you watch TV.

robwen

GBCULLEN wrote: »

robwen, you can buy Labgear MOD111 R.F.Modulator and if you already have the tvs hooked up with coax you can then tune in one channel to watch DTT but only same channel.

irish stew, they already get saorview, its a replacement for analogue which will be switched off 2012.

gb--

cheers gb. anyone know if a walker wp4208lcd tv is compatible?