Combine DTT and UPC digital

ianwalsh2

Hi all,
I'm hoping to combine the UPC digital and DTT signal into a single cable in my parents house. I realise this question has been asked before about UPC analogue, but I couldn't find it in relation to UPC digital.

Details of the setup are as follows:

For years we had the 4 Irish analogue channels combined with 4 UK analogue channels (BBC1, 2, UTV and CH4). We have a large outdoor aerial with a Masthead amplifier pointing at Brougher Mt I assume (based in Longford). A couple of years ago we decided to get UPC digital to get a few extra channels.

Recently I started messing around and I ran a cable directly between the aerial and our new TV to check if I could pick up the freeview stations from Brougher and it turned out I could pick up a few, along with Saorview.

So what I would like to do now is to combine the aerial output with the UPC digital into the cable which runs from the attic to the living room and then split it again behind the TV to go into the UPC STB and the back of TV. The main reason I am looking to do this is to pick up the few matches that are in HD on RTE. Eventually when the freeview power is increased at Brougher we should be able to pick up all stations and might look at cancelling UPC altogether.

Would I be able to do this with a simple splitter/combiner? And what would the story be with the power from the Masthead amplifier and the UPC LNB?

Any advice would be appreciated!

maxg

Do you have mmds from upc (exchorus)?
If yes its a little bit problematic to combine the signals. As far as I know the mmds downconverter need 18 volt and your masthead amp 12 volt dc.

ianwalsh2

maxg wrote: »

Do you have mmds from upc (exchorus)?
If yes its a little bit problematic to combine the signals. As far as I know the mmds downconverter need 18 volt and your masthead amp 12 volt dc.

Ye I think it is chorus' old service we're on so it must be MMDS (I'm not fully up with all the lingo yet!). Its a square mesh aerial with a large 'dimple' in the centre. Like the one in this pic

.

If it's not possible I wont get too worried about it, it's just the quality of the saorview picture is so much better than UPC, particularly for the bit of sport. I suppose I could look at using the existing cable to pull two cables down from the attic, although maybe that's more hassle than it's worth!!

lucernarian

I can't believe you stuck with Chorus/UPC MMDS for so long, their service, picture quality, channel lineup and variety of features are so poor in comparison to Sky or Freesat.

Here's a question, what TVs/rooms are currently connected to the aerial? And where is the power supply for the aerial's masthead amp? Most often, the power unit for the Brougher Mtn. aerial would be behind the main TV in the living room but you might be able to plug the aerial lead in another room into the PSU, thereby powering up the masthead amp while still allowing the use of a diplexer for the TV in the living room.

The MMDS aerial has a power supply unit also, where is it located?

One other thing, you should get many new channels over the aerial when switchover happens as Brougher Mountain will enjoy a significant power increase but the likes of Dave or ITV4 may break up every so often. The power output of those channels will be a fair bit lower than the main BBC/UTV/Ch4 channels, though will still be higher than the current power.

ianwalsh2

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

I can't believe you stuck with Chorus/UPC MMDS for so long, their service, picture quality, channel lineup and variety of features are so poor in comparison to Sky or Freesat.

Ah yea I know what you mean, I installed Freesat and saorview in my own house, which now has my Dad tempted alright! But there are a few channels they don't want to lose like Comedy and Discovery.

Here's a question, what TVs/rooms are currently connected to the aerial? And where is the power supply for the aerial's masthead amp? Most often, the power unit for the Brougher Mtn. aerial would be behind the main TV in the living room but you might be able to plug the aerial lead in another room into the PSU, thereby powering up the masthead amp while still allowing the use of a diplexer for the TV in the living room.

The MMDS aerial has a power supply unit also, where is it located?

All power supplies are in the attic (masthead + MMDS). There's an 8-way splitter in the attic which runs a cable from the aerial to pretty much every room in the house. This was all installed about 15 years ago when the house was built. Then when we got Chorus a couple of years ago they took the cable for the living room out of this splitter and used it for their signal.

One other thing, you should get many new channels over the aerial when switchover happens as Brougher Mountain will enjoy a significant power increase but the likes of Dave or ITV4 may break up every so often. The power output of those channels will be a fair bit lower than the main BBC/UTV/Ch4 channels, though will still be higher than the current power.

Ye I had looked into that alright, I think switchover should be at some stage during 2012. That's another reason why I haven't bothered installing freesat, it'll be handier just to use the existing aerial setup and easily split the signal throughout the house.