Almost receiving Saorview...help needed for next step

Wolfhound14

Hi,

I just moved to a new house in Cork and I am trying to setup Saorview
(My TV is definitely compatible, as I had it working at my last house)

2 weeks ago I checked the saorview website and my area was described - Saorview not currently available. Since then it has been added to the Saorview coverage map with Mullaghinish as the transmitter, NW 310 degrees.

I went out and bought a UHF aerial (Group A RED). It was only 10 euro, so I figured I would try it out.
I wired it up yesterday and put it in the attic facing NW. I have a velux window in the attic, so i actually pointed it out the window

I hooked it directly to the TV i.e. no amp. I did the autoinstall and the TV picked up 18 digital channels and 2 analog. Analogue (TV3 and TG4 were very snowy, but watchable. Just about.) The digital tv channels displayed for about 1 second and then froze. The digital audio channels were ok.

I assume that my problem is that the signal is not strong enough.
Is this a correct assumption?

Where should I start;
Is there a signal amplifier that would help? (Long term I will need to distribute this signal to 2 or 3 rooms, so I don't mind buying the gear for that now)
Should I move the aerial outside, on a pole. (I would have to buy the pole and mountings etc, so this is not my 1st choice right now)
If I do mount it outside, should I get a masthead amplifier?

Is there anything else I am missing.

Thanks in advance.

The Cush

The transmitter indicated by the coverage checker may not alway be the best choice for a particular area as RTÉNL indicate on their website, coverage shown is indicative only.

If you post your approx. location in Cork someone in the area might post information helpful to your aerial installation.

In which direction do your neighbours' aerials point?

Installing the aerial externally is always best in a weak signal area. A masthead amp may work. A higher gain aerial might work without the masthead amp. Difficult to give a specific answer without knowing the area.

Wolfhound14

Thanks Cush.
I am located in a rural location between Bandon and Kinsale, so I went back to the saorview coverage map.
I moved my location up and down the road and depending on location I was pointed at 2 other transmitters: Spur Hill and Kinsale
Spur Hill is on Channel 45, so I don't think my aerial will work. Its Group A (21-37) but Kinsale might be worth try.
Kinsale in Ch 30, so a Group A should be fine. It is pointing E, and I have a Sat Dish holder on the East Gable, so I can mount it outside more easily.

I'll give it a go this evening.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Edit: Polarization in Kinsale is V versus H in Mullaghinish. How does this impact the way you put up an aerial?

The Cush

Wolfhound14 wrote: »

Edit: Polarization in Kinsale is V versus H in Mullaghinish. How does this impact the way you put up an aerial?

See page 4 of the RTÉNL brochure

Wolfhound14

Thanks Cush,
I changed my polarity to V and pointed towards Kinsale and it worked like a charm. Didn't even have to go outside:)

Are the signal meters on the TV's reliable? Reson I ask is that I was receiving 70% from Mullaghinish but I couldn't get the picture.
When I moved the aerial towards Kinsale I got up to 88% and everything was great. Just to make the attic a bit tidier I moved the aerial more out of the way.
The picture is still perfect, but signal meter is now 56%!!!

Right now I just have a cable dropping down the attic hatch and running through the house. As it is working now I will join it up to the chased cables, if I can work out which one it is.

Thanks for the help.

The Cush

For DTT I believe the signal quality reading is a better indicator than signal strength (discussed on the forums previously).

lucernarian

Though I wouldn't forget about signal strength either. Different receivers I've seen have a varying approach to signal quality measurements. One TV may show 100% quality and will show occasional breakup if it drops below 80% while another STB connected to the same antenna would show 85% quality with breakup only taking place when quality drops below 50%. Quite annoying if you only have a TV or STB to help install an antenna for Saorview.

So when signal margin is stuck at 100%, I would place any aerial where signal strength is also highest. It's still not a certain way to align an aerial without a signal meter/analyser but usually the placement with the highest signal strength also results in the most reliable signal.

I really wish more TVs and STBs would display C/N (carrier to noise) values instead of some arbitrary signal quality value. You can't go wrong with C/N measurements or Signal-to-noise measurements which I suppose is more relevant to DTT.