Freeview in Moville, Co. Donegal

mcg1987

First time posting on here so bear with me!

We recently changed our ariels in the house to a new wideband one that should easily pick up limavady freeview signal as there is absolutely nothin blocking us from limavady except the foyle! Literally looking out the window now at Limavady!
But when we hooked the ariel up we could only pick up a small number of freeview channels like BBC1, BBC2, BBC news, Dave and not many more:(. no utv, any itvs, any of the channel 4 or E4 ones etc. Nothing! :mad:

And to make matters worse when we went to reset the old ariels to get back normal tv like we had we couldn't get them again either!:mad::mad:

Now this was no fault of the man fitting them as he was showing us every movement and the best signal straength we could get was like 38 and quality was 96 so couldn't blame him in any way!

Just to note the ariel is inside the attic but this did not affect the best quality or signal we could get compared with outside the house because i stood watching the fitter trying to get signal and had no real luck! The signal strength was less outside if anything which didn't make any sense to any of us!

Just wondering if anyone could give me any information about why this might be happening and what can be done/tried to fix it?? All help would be appreciated because as you can imagine this is getting more and more frustrating as the days go on!:(!

The Cush

How many aerials do you have now?

Do you get the Saorview channels and irish analogue channels?

What is your nearest RTÉNL transmitter?

Why did you change your aerials to a wideband one? A Group C/D arial would be most suitable for Limavady combined with one for your nearest RTÉNL transmitter.

rlogue

I can tell you exactly what your problem is - and it's nothing to do with your aerial.

To answer Cush's question - the nearest RTE NL transmitter on the Foyle side of Inishowen would be Moville. This is now transmitting Saorview on channel 45 so a Group B aerial horizontally polarised pointing at Crockaulen above Greencastle is required. An alternative in some places is Holywell Hill but this is not available in Quigley's Point.

A wideband aerial by its very nature will have less gain than a dedicated aerial of the correct group. A Group C/D aerial will be more likely to pull in the UTV/Channel 4 mux than a wideband aerial - but it must be noted that Freeview from Limavady on the Donegal side of the Foyle is almost impossible because the Freeview transmitting aerials on the Limavady mast are not radiating much signal towards Inishowen. Coupled with that the strength of the Freeview signal is less than 1kW and you will not get a workable signal on Freeview on our side of the Foyle.

Analogue from Limavady is 100 times stronger and will reach easily to Donegal but because of the weakness of the Freeview signal and the directional transmitting aerials you will be lucky to get anything. Up to last month the only way we could get a Freeview signal at all in Quigley's Point was by using a small set top aerial pointing directly at Lough Foyle - not at the Limavady mast - because we could get a usable signal at high tide and nothing at low tide - what signal we were getting was literally being bounced to our house (beside Lough Foyle) by the sea.

We have now switched to using satellite and Saorview to get reliable reception.

You may get an improvement at analogue switchoff later next year from Limavady but at that point Limavady will switch to Freeview Lite and you will lose some of the existing Freeview channels. Satellite would be a better bet for you in general.

Peter Rhea

rlogue wrote: »

. . . at that point Limavady will switch to Freeview Lite

No it won't.

mcg1987

The Cush wrote: »

How many aerials do you have now?

Do you get the Saorview channels and irish analogue channels?

What is your nearest RTÉNL transmitter?

Why did you change your aerials to a wideband one? A Group C/D arial would be most suitable for Limavady combined with one for your nearest RTÉNL transmitter.

We have 1 ariel now and its picking up all RTE 1 , RTE 2, TG4 and channel 5 perfect on analogue from cooks hill transmitter because they are transmitting digital through analogue for them i'm told. we also get a poor reception for tv 3 but no bbcs, utv or channel 4 through analogue.

No dont get the saorview as the tv is a 2 year old UK digital TV so been told it will not pick it up and from what i've read on here that is the case.

We changed our ariels to a wideband one on the reccommendation of the man installing it and also because he had just fitted 2 of them in my girlfriends house in greencastle and quite other houses that i know of and they all now receive every freeview channel available. he put 2 wideband ariels on her house and she is also receiving all the analogue channels. i THINK hers is a combination of holywell hill and limavady!

So you think group C/D ariel?? Where would be best place to get one and who could fit it or would it be DIY job??

The Cush

rlogue wrote: »

You may get an improvement at analogue switchoff later next year from Limavady but at that point Limavady will switch to Freeview Lite and you will lose some of the existing Freeview channels.

The current DSO 2012 plan for Limavady

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

A wideband aerial by its very nature will have less gain than a dedicated aerial of the correct group. A Group C/D aerial will be more likely to pull in the UTV/Channel 4 mux than a wideband aerial - but it must be noted that Freeview from Limavady on the Donegal side of the Foyle is almost impossible because the Freeview transmitting aerials on the Limavady mast are not radiating much signal towards Inishowen. Coupled with that the strength of the Freeview signal is less than 1kW and you will not get a workable signal on Freeview on our side of the Foyle.

Analogue from Limavady is 100 times stronger and will reach easily to Donegal but because of the weakness of the Freeview signal and the directional transmitting aerials you will be lucky to get anything. Up to last month the only way we could get a Freeview signal at all in Quigley's Point was by using a small set top aerial pointing directly at Lough Foyle - not at the Limavady mast - because we could get a usable signal at high tide and nothing at low tide - what signal we were getting was literally being bounced to our house (beside Lough Foyle) by the sea.

I'm sorry but i can't see how this makes sense. I'll refer to my answer to cushs questions were i said how my girlfriend in greencastle amongst many many others have had these very same wideband ariels fitted and are receiving freeview directly from limavady. Same person fitting it and everything. She is not far from the water but is blocked from any view of limavady by numerous buildings etc and is further away than we are. I live in Cooley, Moville and we are literally looking directly across the foyle at Limavady with no obstructions whatsoever and are a good bit higher up than her house too.

It really really doesn't make any sense to me why we can't get it when so many others can!

rlogue

ALL your analogue channels will be gone by the end of 2012.

What position is your aerial in - Horizontal, Vertical or Slanted polarisation?

If Slanted, I suspect you're using a combination of Holywell Hill for RTE etc and Sheriff's Mountain for BBC UTV etc.

There is no Freeview yet from Derry on Sherriff's Mountain. There won't be any Freeview from there until digital switchover in NI at the end of 2012, and this will be Freeview Lite (i.e. the Basic BBC, UTV, ITV 2 etc) and I stand corrected on Limavady which will be full Freeview.

You will need a Saorview compatible set top box to continue to watch the Irish channels in 2012 if your TV cannot currently get Saorview.

rlogue

mcg1987 wrote: »

I'm sorry but i can't see how this makes sense. I'll refer to my answer to cushs questions were i said how my girlfriend in greencastle amongst many many others have had these very same wideband ariels fitted and are receiving freeview directly from limavady. Same person fitting it and everything. She is not far from the water but is blocked from any view of limavady by numerous buildings etc and is further away than we are. I live in Cooley, Moville and we are literally looking directly across the foyle at Limavady with no obstructions whatsoever and are a good bit higher up than her house too.

It really really doesn't make any sense to me why we can't get it when so many others can!

The Freeview antenna at Limavady is extremely directional and the sea may have an effect. In times past down in Quigley's Point we used to get severe ghosting on analogue from the UK channels from Limavady and this turned to unreliable Freeview reception, made worse when the tide went out.

Your girlfriend may well be lucky with her location. The Freeview signal is very unreliable in my experience and paradoxically your location may make the signal worse, despite being high up.

You mention Channel 5 analogue - Limavady doesn't transmit this - the nearest Channel 5 analogue transmitter is in Derry on the Sheriff's Mountain relay.

Have you used Anthony Thompson in Moville for your aerial? He really knows his stuff.

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

ALL your analogue channels will be gone by the end of 2012.

What position is your aerial in - Horizontal, Vertical or Slanted polarisation?

If Slanted, I suspect you're using a combination of Holywell Hill for RTE etc and Sheriff's Mountain for BBC UTV etc.

There is no Freeview yet from Derry on Sherriff's Mountain. There won't be any Freeview from there until digital switchover in NI at the end of 2012, and this will be Freeview Lite (i.e. the Basic BBC, UTV, ITV 2 etc) and I stand corrected on Limavady which will be full Freeview.

You will need a Saorview compatible set top box to continue to watch the Irish channels in 2012 if your TV cannot currently get Saorview.

The aerial is ever so slightly slanted, i'm talking 15 degrees maybe and its pointed directly towards Limavady.

It picks up minimal freeview and just the analogue Irish channels of which 3 are perfect and TV3 isnt. We were told this is because Cooks Hill isn't broadcasting TV3 on analogue.

Yeah it was anthony who wired the ariels originally and he left a maze of wires which i'm sure only he would understand but i'm not sure if he would be as easy to get anymore or if he is indeed still doing the ariels since his shop closed down not so long ago. Like when we put the wideband ariel up and couldn't get a great picture on much we tried then to wire up the old ariels we had been using but we just couldn get them back to were they were or wire them up the same. not actually sure to be honest why!

The Cush

mcg1987 wrote: »

So you think group C/D ariel?? Where would be best place to get one and who could fit it or would it be DIY job??

Limavady - Group C/D aerial (green tip), Horizontal polarised
Moville- Group B (yellow tip), Horizontal polarised
Holywell Hill - Group A (red tip), Horizontal polarised

http://www.tvtrade.ie/tv-and-radio-aerials/uhf-aerials.html

In the attic I'd consider it a DIY job - http://www.rtenl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Saorview-DTT-October2010.pdf

mcg1987

The Cush wrote: »

Limavady - Group C/D aerial (green tip), Horizontal polarised
Moville- Group B (yellow tip), Horizontal polarised
Holywell Hill - Group A (red tip), Horizontal polarised

http://www.tvtrade.ie/tv-and-radio-aerials/uhf-aerials.html

In the attic I'd consider it a DIY job - http://www.rtenl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Saorview-DTT-October2010.pdf

Cheers i must look tomorrow and see what the old ones actually are but there 10 years old so i doubt whether they'd be much use. Green tipped one to go for digital from limavady and yellow tipped one to get digital from moville/cooks hill yeah??

Grid ariels no good??

The Cush

mcg1987 wrote: »

Grid ariels no good??

Wideband.

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/aerials.html#AerialGainCurves

rlogue

To be honest Moville should come in on a piece of wet string where you are. The aerial for Limavady should be Group C/D (Green) Horizontally polarised. A seperate Group B (Yellow) Horizontally polarised aerial is needed for Moville but your TV is not Saorview compatable so you will need a Set Top Box or a new TV.

Moville does not transmit TV3 in analogue - only on Saorview - and Limavady does not transmit Channel 5 analogue - Sheriff's Hill (officially called the Londonderry transmitter) does and because this is vertically polarised and Holywell Hill (next to it) is horizontally polarised many installers put up a single slant polarised aerial to get the two on one aerial. Derry is Group B (Yellow) and Holywell Hill are Group A (Red) aerials.

Marty_Orr

Im up here in Redcastle and I installed the satellite dish 3 years ago and i'm watching free to air with no complaints. installed it myself with the aid of my brother. just took two hours to get it up and running. Dish was bout 40 euro from Thompsons and some coax cable. the brother had an old sky box and free to air card that he hooked me up with and its going grand.

rlogue

I would agree and Thompsons will tell you this as well that Satellite and Saorview are the way to go - hassle free to be honest.

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

To be honest Moville should come in on a piece of wet string where you are. The aerial for Limavady should be Group C/D (Green) Horizontally polarised. A seperate Group B (Yellow) Horizontally polarised aerial is needed for Moville but your TV is not Saorview compatable so you will need a Set Top Box or a new TV.

Moville does not transmit TV3 in analogue - only on Saorview - and Limavady does not transmit Channel 5 analogue - Sheriff's Hill (officially called the Londonderry transmitter) does and because this is vertically polarised and Holywell Hill (next to it) is horizontally polarised many installers put up a single slant polarised aerial to get the two on one aerial. Derry is Group B (Yellow) and Holywell Hill are Group A (Red) aerials.

so a saorview set top box for for irish digital and then limavady aerial. will look into it.

You say Limavady aren't transmitting it but there is no way our ariel is pointed anywhere near derry's transmitter so how come we can pick up channel 5 so wel?? basically a perfect signal on it??

mcg1987

Marty_Orr wrote: »

Im up here in Redcastle and I installed the satellite dish 3 years ago and i'm watching free to air with no complaints. installed it myself with the aid of my brother. just took two hours to get it up and running. Dish was bout 40 euro from Thompsons and some coax cable. the brother had an old sky box and free to air card that he hooked me up with and its going grand.

rlogue wrote: »

I would agree and Thompsons will tell you this as well that Satellite and Saorview are the way to go - hassle free to be honest.

Yeah trust me i've said before that installing a satellite is best option but installing the Satellite involves running wires along the outside of the house and my father is dead against doing this just as he is dead against installing the ariels on the outside of the house for some reason unbeknown to me!

rlogue

Limavady are transmitting 5 on digital but not analogue. Likewise Moville are transmitting TV3 on digital but not analogue.

Your father sounds like mine - it took me 10 years to persuade him about the dish but he is very happy now and Thompsons did a very clean and neat job in installing the dish discreetly at the back of the house so no objections now, especially now that our reception issues are solved.

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

Limavady are transmitting 5 on digital but not analogue. Likewise Moville are transmitting TV3 on digital but not analogue.

Your father sounds like mine - it took me 10 years to persuade him about the dish but he is very happy now and Thompsons did a very clean and neat job in installing the dish discreetly at the back of the house so no objections now, especially now that our reception issues are solved.

Haha he's had one of them lidl satellite dishes lying in the house here for about 8 years so maybe only 2 more years to go ! :P

cheers for all the information by the way.

Just to clarify though....we have bad reception on tv3 and good reception on channel 5 both through analogue tv and this is 100% fact.

mcg1987

Just checked the equipment we have in the attic at the moment.

1 wideband aerial angled very slightly pointed towards limavady.
1 grid aerial vertically polarised pointed towards derry.
1 red tip aerial not currently in use.
1 green splitter type box. - A/E 2 way thru leg a
1 mast head amplifier.
1 little white box - triax 2 way power splitter box.

the previous set up we had before we put up the new wideband aerial was:

Grid aerial in basically same position pointed towards derry and the red tipped aerial vertically polarised pointed towards derry also. One of these was plugged into mast head amplifier and then the two were plugged into a green splitter type box and then a further little white box before being plugged into the main aerial splitter to give signal to each room of the house.

this gave us BBC1 + 2, UTV, CHANNEL 4, RTE1 + 2, TG4, TV3 and a poor reception channel 5. Over the last 6-8 months the reception on BBC 2 and channel 4 has become very very poor, unwatchable at times in fact. This was the main reason we tried to get digital and also because of the fact that as i stated before, the girlfriend had just got it fitted and its a great job!

rlogue

The Derry aerial is giving you Channel 5. The Limavady aerial must be horizontal not slanted. If you turn the Derry aerial horizontal as well this will give you Irish analogue from Holywell Hill and will give you TV3 as well as the other Irish channels.

A signal filter for the aerials might help. Freeview unlike analogue is unforgiving on it's signal and the second aerial might be reducing what Freeview signal you have.

Try and disconnect the Derry aerial from the splitter and then scan for Freeview. Ideally a Group C/D aerial will maximise what weak Freeview signal you have.

Ultimately you will need a set top box for Saorview but this could be used for Freeview as well post 2012.

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

The Derry aerial is giving you Channel 5. The Limavady aerial must be horizontal not slanted. If you turn the Derry aerial horizontal as well this will give you Irish analogue from Holywell Hill and will give you TV3 as well as the other Irish channels.

A signal filter for the aerials might help. Freeview unlike analogue is unforgiving on it's signal and the second aerial might be reducing what Freeview signal you have.

Try and disconnect the Derry aerial from the splitter and then scan for Freeview. Ideally a Group C/D aerial will maximise what weak Freeview signal you have.

Ultimately you will need a set top box for Saorview but this could be used for Freeview as well post 2012.

But when we had the aerial sitting perfectly horizontal we could only get a signal quality reading of 34 maximum which wasnt good enough to get picture apparently and none of the channels freeview were showing up. The derry aerial is literally just sitting on the floor in the attic against the roof as we couldn get any better picture no matter what way we moved it and it was very late at night by this stage!

going to try to disconnect the derry aerial now and will see what happens but nearly sure we done that on the night too.

rlogue

The fact that the aerial is in the attic is against you, as well as the fact that the Freeview signal is 800 watts and from a directional antenna pointing away from you as well.

Seriously consider satellite because you could spend weeks in that attic trying to get a signal.

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

The fact that the aerial is in the attic is against you, as well as the fact that the Freeview signal is 800 watts and from a directional antenna pointing away from you as well.

Seriously consider satellite because you could spend weeks in that attic trying to get a signal.

trust me you're preaching to the converted about the satellite but unfortunately its not me that has to be converted :P!

Anyways the situation as it is now is this:

i went up to the attic and unplugged the derry ariel and scanned for channels but it made absolutely no difference to quality or number of channels received.

so i set up the grid ariel to give it a go in a different place to where it originally was. Its now hanging from the rafters pointing up in derry/holywell hill direction and ive got every analogue channel back!!:) perfect on all irish channels and pretty damn good on british ones too, pretty much perfect on them all actually just a bit "fuzzy" should i say on channel 4 but not so much as to complain.

Anyways i tried to then plug this back into the splitter box to see if i could use this new found analogue signal along with the digital from limavady and hardly surprising i immediately lost quality - all the uk ones altogether in fact apart from channel 5 and reduced quality on the irish ones.:(

I'm sure the people on here who know more about this will be able to tell me whats wrong and how i might try to fix it. But for the timebeing its back to analogue for the whole house which will please some but not everyone!

If i got a C/D ariel would it be easier to combine with the grid one to keep the quality?? And would this significantly boot the chances of receiving freeview??

Thanks again for the help!:D

Peter Rhea

The Cush wrote: »

Wideband.

http://www.aerialsandtv.com/aerials.html#AerialGainCurves

There are no gain curves for grid aerials on that site, usually they're not anywhere near as steep as that of a wideband Yagi.

Also, the phase relationship between the dipoles on a horizontally polarised grid is reckoned to give it an advantage when receiving over tidal stretches of water, as reflected signals from below (& above for that matter) are cancelled out.

Peter Rhea

mcg1987 wrote: »

Anyways i tried to then plug this back into the splitter box to see if i could use this new found analogue signal along with the digital from limavady and hardly surprising i immediately lost quality - all the uk ones altogether in fact apart from channel 5 and reduced quality on the irish ones.

Is your 'splitter box' for combining 2 aerial feeds? Didn't you mention already that it's a group A/E diplexer; you must be connecting the grid aerial to the group A leg & so losing the UK channels apart from channel 5 which is in group A.

mcg1987

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Is your 'splitter box' for combining 2 aerial feeds? Didn't you mention already that it's a group A/E diplexer; you must be connecting the grid aerial to the group A leg & so losing the UK channels apart from channel 5 which is in group A.

ye see you're a man in the know! And yeah it's a group A/E diplexer and i plugged the ariel into the one on the left which tells me now that using common sense that should be A?? should i try and connect them the other way around??

Peter Rhea

Group A is UHF channels 21-37 & is used by Hollywell Hill & ch.5 from Derry.

The other Derry channels (group & Limavady's output (group C/D) collectively form group E (a 'semi-wideband' grouping), so they will only pass on the group E leg of the diplexer.

rlogue

Peters right - Channel 5 is 31 from Derry - which is group A so your diplexer is blocking off all the other four UK channels as they are Group B channels.

Group E is channels 40-68.
I'm guessing the diplexer was used to originally combine Holywell Hill (Group A) with Derry (Group

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

Peters right - Channel 5 is 31 from Derry - which is group A so your diplexer is blocking off all the other four UK channels as they are Group B channels.

Group E is channels 40-68.
I'm guessing the diplexer was used to originally combine Holywell Hill (Group A) with Derry (Group

Yeah thats exactly what it was used for but now im only using one ariel and getting everything better than we were before when we were using two which baffles me but i guess things have just got better since it was originally installed.

So whats my best option now for trying to get freeview digital from limavady while still keepin these anaogue stations? is there some different form of splitter box?

Peter Rhea

Can you list the UHF channel nos. (21-69) of all the good quality analogue services you are receiving so we can be 100% sure of where they're coming from?

mcg1987

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Can you list the UHF channel nos. (21-69) of all the good quality analogue services you are receiving so we can be 100% sure of where they're coming from?

BBC 1 - 51
BBC 2 - 44
UTV - 41
CHANNEL 4 - 47
RTE1 - 40
RTE 2 - 43
TG4 - 50
TV3 - 29
CHANNEL 5 - 31


There were a few other choices for most channels but these are the ones that are getting the best reception!

rlogue

RTE 1, RTE 2 & TG4 are Moville. TV3 is Holywell Hill.

The UK channels are from Derry.

Maybe hold off until Derry switches over to Freeview Lite in late 2012?

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

RTE 1, RTE 2 & TG4 are Moville. TV3 is Holywell Hill.

The UK channels are from Derry.

Maybe hold off until Derry switches over to Freeview Lite in late 2012?

i'm sorry but that can't be right because i just went up and unplugged the ariel and i lost all uk channels and only had very bad quality irish channels left. there is no ariel pointing anywhere near moville at all. There is only one ariel connected now and thats pointing up the road towards derry direction/holywell hill. like i said i'm not sure exactly which its pointing at.

rlogue

You're next door to the Moville transmitter. I can get it on a bent coat hanger in Quigleys Point.

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

You're next door to the Moville transmitter. I can get it on a bent coat hanger in Quigleys Point.

haha yeah i can understand that but why do i have no quality?? when i plug the ariel in pointing up the road does that automatically make it better?? i apologise because some of these could be very stupid questions!

rlogue

No quality on Moville? Maybe it's because the TV can't handle the Saorview MPEG4 signals?

mcg1987

rlogue wrote: »

No quality on Moville? Maybe it's because the TV can't handle the Saorview MPEG4 signals?

well according to what i've read on here then aye that would be right that it cant handle the signal because its a uk digital tv but why does it give perfect picture when i connect it back into the aerial pointing up the road?

mcg1987

like there must be some kind of splitter box that both ariels can go into without affecting each other because i'm near sure that 1 of the ariels put up at the girlfriends house is pointing at holywell hill/derry direction and the other is definitely pointing at limavady so they must feed into some kind of box to combine them?? i'll get onto the man who fitted them tonight to see if i can make any more sense of it!

Peter Rhea

mcg1987 wrote: »

like there must be some kind of splitter box that both ariels can go into without affecting each other

What are the analogue channels from Limavady like with the Limavady aerial connected direct to the tv (BBC1; UHF 55, BBC2; 62, UTV; 59, C4; 65)?

mcg1987

Peter Rhea wrote: »

What are the analogue channels from Limavady like with the Limavady aerial connected direct to the tv (BBC1; UHF 55, BBC2; 62, UTV; 59, C4; 65)?

with that ariel alone plugged in the reception was perfect on RTE 1, 2, TG4 but was bad on tv3 and bbc 2 was the only uk one that was in any way even visible but it was very bad.

we watched bbc1 & 2 through freeview in the tv but had absolutely no utv or channel 4 at all.

Peter Rhea

There are combiners available that will combine the Derry analogue signals with most of the Freeview from Limavady, see here, Derry BBC1 being on ch.51 makes things a bit awkward.

Of course you have to have the Freeview signal in the 1st place . . .

PS; You retuned to the channel nos. given above to check Limavady analogue?

mcg1987

Peter Rhea wrote: »

There are combiners available that will combine the Derry analogue signals with most of the Freeview from Limavady, see here, Derry BBC1 being on ch.51 makes things a bit awkward.

Of course you have to have the Freeview signal in the 1st place . . .

PS; You retuned to the channel nos. given above to check Limavady analogue?

there are other options for bbc1 that was just the best one there..wasn't much difference to be honest.

ah at least theres somethin out there that will let me combine them but i wouldn't know were to start with that list so i'll need to get someone in the know to look at it for me.

yeah went back to the same numbers and only got irish ones again. no uk ones.

before we put in the limavady aerial we were gettin rte1 on channel 23 and rte 2 on 26!

Peter Rhea

mcg1987 wrote: »

before we put in the limavady aerial we were gettin rte1 on channel 23 and rte 2 on 26!

That's Hollywell Hill. I think it's been mentioned already that the group A (red bung) aerial you have would have been pointed there, horizontally polarised. This would also have given you the dodgy channel 5 you mentioned from Derry.

The other UK channels were being received by the vertically polarised grid, which would also have been receiving ch5, but the high leg of the diplexer would not pass it. The Moville channels would have been there too if you'd looked.

mcg1987

Peter Rhea wrote: »

That's Hollywell Hill. I think it's been mentioned already that the group A (red bung) aerial you have would have been pointed there, horizontally polarised. This would also have given you the dodgy channel 5 you mentioned from Derry.

The other UK channels were being received by the vertically polarised grid, which would also have been receiving ch5, but the high leg of the diplexer would not pass it. The Moville channels would have been there too if you'd looked.

Yeah it was red tipped one that was horizontal and grid aerial was vertical polarisation and the grid aerial is the only one i have left connect now in a vertical polarisation which is picking up all of these.

might go and buy a c/d aerial and see if it can be combined to work properly for digital freeview alongside the grid aerial for analogue!

i know a lot of this thread has been very repetitive but i've learned an awful lot of things i wouldn't have known so thanks to everyone!

STB

mcg1987 wrote: »

Yeah it was red tipped one that was horizontal and grid aerial was vertical polarisation and the grid aerial is the only one i have left connect now in a vertical polarisation which is picking up all of these.

might go and buy a c/d aerial and see if it can be combined to work properly for digital freeview alongside the grid aerial for analogue!

i know a lot of this thread has been very repetitive but i've learned an awful lot of things i wouldn't have known so thanks to everyone!

You do know that you can buy a receiver that combines satellite and digital terrestrial in One box for €81.... look below thread is labelled Bargain Ferguson.

That is what you want, you will then get the British Channels (incl the NI versions) and the Irish off the Digital Terrestrial.

Get rid of analogue gear, it will be gone in a year. A satellite dish does not have to be off the side of the house. YOu can easily install it off a back wall for example.

mcg1987

STB wrote: »

You do know that you can buy a receiver that combines satellite and digital terrestrial in One box for €81.... look below thread is labelled Bargain Ferguson.

That is what you want, you will then get the British Channels (incl the NI versions) and the Irish off the Digital Terrestrial.

Get rid of analogue gear, it will be gone in a year.

yeah but u need to put up satellite dish for that and run wires along the outside of the house and all that don't you?? i'd do it in a flash it's my dad who won't go for it! I saw that thread below and looks class but as i say he's the stumbling blobl....a rather large stumbling block! :P

What all is involved in setting that system up out of interest so i can attack him with all the facts about how it'd be wayyyy better idea !

Peter Rhea

mcg1987 wrote: »

might go and buy a c/d aerial and see if it can be combined to work properly for digital freeview alongside the grid aerial for analogue!

Given the almost complete lack of signal you have from Limavady, I think you'd be wasting your time. A grouped aerial won't offer that much of an improvement over a wideband in group C/D.

mcg1987

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Given the almost complete lack of signal you have from Limavady, I think you'd be wasting your time. A grouped aerial won't offer that much of an improvement over a wideband in group C/D.

God loves a tryer though :P! What do you think about the idea suggested above about the combo box??

lawhec

STB wrote: »

You do know that you can buy a receiver that combines satellite and digital terrestrial in One box for €81.... look below thread is labelled Bargain Ferguson.

That is what you want, you will then get the British Channels (incl the NI versions) and the Irish off the Digital Terrestrial.

Get rid of analogue gear, it will be gone in a year. A satellite dish does not have to be off the side of the house. YOu can easily install it off a back wall for example.

Normally I wouldn't disagree with this, but given the location of the OP I would have a good lash at a combined Saorview/Freeview set up before giving up on it, as both services can very easily be combined into one receiver, can be fed directly into appropriate IDTV's in bedrooms and the like without needing a separate receiver and the EPG for both services can be combined into one for PVR use etc.

At this stage it should be definitely be planned for digital, with analogue as a by-product until switch over. There's just one tricky problem - Limavady plans to use channels 49-59 after DSO. Indeed the BBC Multiplex is planned to be on E50, which of course is currently used by Moville for TG4. With Saorview being on E45 currently from Moville, I'm not certain what frequency is planned for the second multiplex, it might prove difficult to find a correct diplexer/combiner to bring both Moville and Limavady together as a K/C-D combiner would likely have heavy attenuation on E49 for Limavady. In this case if Holywell Hill was available, it would be better to have a go with that.

P.S. I always thought that the current DTT transmissions from Limavady used the same aerial as the one used for current analogue services, as is the case for Brougher Mtn and four of the six multiplexes at Divis? I certainly don't recall any directional restrictions being put in place until I read this thread.