UPC transmitting Saorview on "Free" connection ?

Jay Dee

Hi,

I have a question about UPC and Saorview.
I had UPC - when it was Chorus - connected to the house.
I had five rooms wired for Chorus individually from a "Mains" box on the wall outside.
After I left Cuorus, I could and still do, receive the 4 basic channels.
I just tune each TV through the old cable.
I have/had no need/use for an ariel.
When UPC start putting out Saorview what will I receive?
Will Saorview come through automatically, or is there a problem awaiting me ?

Your comments/ views welcome.

jay

mike65

The two are separate transmission/receiving technologies you shall not be watching soarview on UPC, UPC might be including some of the channels like RTE1+1 and RTE Jr at some point but thats RTE, not Soarview

The Cush

Jay Dee wrote: »

Hi,

I have a question about UPC and Saorview.
I had UPC - when it was Chorus - connected to the house.
I had five rooms wired for Chorus individually from a "Mains" box on the wall outside.
After I left Cuorus, I could and still do, receive the 4 basic channels.
I just tune each TV through the old cable.
I have/had no need/use for an ariel.
When UPC start putting out Saorview what will I receive?
Will Saorview come through automatically, or is there a problem awaiting me ?

Your comments/ views welcome.

jay

To receive Saorview you will require a UHF aerial and compatible DTT receiver - iDTV or STB.

http://www.rtenl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/RTENL%20SAORVIEW%20FAQs%20March%202011%20Rev%202_0.pdf

Minstrel27

Jay Dee wrote: »

When UPC start putting out Saorview what will I receive?
Will Saorview come through automatically, or is there a problem awaiting me ?

UPC will never put out Saorview

You need an aerial and suitable set top box or compatible television.

coylemj

Jay Dee wrote: »

Hi,

I have a question about UPC and Saorview.
I had UPC - when it was Chorus - connected to the house.
I had five rooms wired for Chorus individually from a "Mains" box on the wall outside.
After I left Cuorus, I could and still do, receive the 4 basic channels.
I just tune each TV through the old cable.
I have/had no need/use for an ariel.
When UPC start putting out Saorview what will I receive?
Will Saorview come through automatically, or is there a problem awaiting me ?

Your comments/ views welcome.

jay

I thought all of the channels in Cork were digital so I'm thinking that if you're getting four channels (and no BBC/ITV/CH4) with no subscription it sounds like you are connected to an aerial despite what you say.

Jay Dee

Hi,

Thanks for the info people.
As usual it has helped and confused further.

CoyleMJ :-
This connection goes back to the days when Chorus cabled every house in the streets.
As a result all ariels were disconnected and the rf input came direct from the cable feed.
Then when/if you left Chorus you still had RTE basics via the cable.
This is what I still have.

Problem is, I'm not sure what it actually is ? or what I can get on it ?
All I can say for definate is that there is no ariel, but I get the 4 basic channels.

I would have thought that if UPC are now your "ariel" you should be able to get what an ariel would give you ?

Cheers


Jay

The Cush

Jay Dee wrote: »

I would have thought that if UPC are now your "ariel" you should be able to get what an ariel would give you ?

No, UPC are a commercial cable provider and you get what they provide. To receive the Saorview service you will require an aerial.

UPC may carry all the Saorview channels at some point.

coylemj

The Cush wrote: »

No, UPC are a commercial cable provider and you get what they provide.

+1 If you're not paying them a subscription and you don't have an aerial then I have no idea where those channels are coming from. In Dublin if you could get the four Irish channels off a UPC cable feed you'd also be able to get the main UK channels as well. I always thought that the Cork cable system was digital from the start so if you weren't paying you got nothing. IIRC it was so advanced (relative to the Dublin system) that they were able to charge people extra for the ability to record a program on your VCR.

Irishdudedave

The cork cable system does still carry the four terrestrial channels on analogue. They are the only channels carried though.

coylemj

coylemj wrote: »

+1 If you're not paying them a subscription and you don't have an aerial then I have no idea where those channels are coming from. In Dublin if you could get the four Irish channels off a UPC cable feed you'd also be able to get the main UK channels as well. I always thought that the Cork cable system was digital from the start so if you weren't paying you got nothing. IIRC it was so advanced (relative to the Dublin system) that they were able to charge people extra for the ability to record a program on your VCR.

It was analogue originally but they encrypted the system from an early stage - therefore you needed a decoder for each feed you had. That was why you could be charged extra to record to a VCR, strictly only if you wanted to watch one channel and record another. Same idea as for satellite or MMDS.

All but the Irish terrestrials are gone from analogue now.

icdg

To solve the mystery for the OP...it is analogue cable you are recieving these channels through. Yes the official line is that there is no analogue cable in Cork...

To rewind a bit on the unique situation in Cork, we have to go back beyond Chorus to the Cork Communications era and the massive piracy problem they faced. To combat piracy, they encrypted the entire analogue cable system, something done nowhere else in the Republic. They however left RTÉ1, RTÉ2, TV3, and TG4 in the clear, since you could recieve these with an aerial anyway.

After UPC took over, the decision was taken to discontinue the analogue cable service in Cork and go completely digital. This was possible as all cable viewers in Cork already had decoders, they just needed to swap the analogue decoder for the digital one. After the switch off of the encrypted analogue service in April 2008, the four free to air Irish channels remained on-air.

It should be pointed out that while this is seemingly an exception to the rule that nothing is free on cable, there's no obligation for UPC to continue to provide this (effectively free) service going forward and likely as not they'll discontinue it once analogue switch-off occurs. Also note that UPC are within their rights to cut the cable to your premises at any time at which point you'd lose the channels. I imagine UPC carry out little or no manual disconnects in Cork (no real point), but they could do so if they wished.

Most important thing for the OP to note: this isn't Saorview, its a very limited analogue cable service. UPC won't be "putting out Saorview" on their system, though the three new RTÉ channels will likely make an appearance on the UPC Digital (pay-TV) service in the future. If you want Saorview, you'll need an aerial and a Saorview STB.

Jay Dee

Hi,

Thanks for the comments.
It is getting a bit cleared. Basically UPC are still transmitting an analogue signal, dispite going digital!

Re : icdg comments,

You are correct in that it does go back to the old Cork Communications days.
I now understand where it is coming from.
My understanding of the situation was that when/if people left Chorus they would still receive the Basic 4 free, not only because they were available on ariel, but in "compensation" for allowing the cable to "pass" though your house.

I guess it must be a wait and see what happens when the analogue goes off.
Unless they put out the Basic 4 "Free" on digital?
Not sure even if that is possible?
Anyone have any thoughts ?

Cheers


Jay

Jay Dee

Jay Dee wrote: »

I guess it must be a wait and see what happens when the analogue goes off.
Unless they put out the Basic 4 "Free" on digital?
Not sure even if that is possible?
Anyone have any thoughts ?

They could put them on there in digital but they'd use the DVB-C system rather than DVB-T. So you'd need a TV with DVB-C and not all do. Even so, they've no obligation to carry the Saorview services in the clear.

Jay Dee

Hi,

Thanks to all for the comments, and views.
Even the last one - which lost me completely.

Cheers

jay