DVB Freeview and Saorview in Drogheda

starfry

Hello,

I am looking for any information that I can find about setting up a combined Terrestrial system to receive UK Freeview and Saorview in Drogheda.

I would be interested to hear about the experience of anybody who has tried to do this in Drogheda, especially about the ability to pick up the UK Freeview signal (I presume this would be from Divis in the North?).

I'd also be interested to hear of any local competent installers who have experience of setting up a combined Saorview and Freeview aerial (I believe you need a pair of diplexed aerials).

I've found a place selling the parts but I need a local installer.
http://www.tvtrade.ie/freeview-ireland.html

I've got a couple of UK Freeview things: 2 tvs and a DVD recorder. They can only pick up 10 Irish radio stations at the moment - numbered 800 to 809. We have excellent Irish analogue and passable UK analogue.

To avoid confusion, I am asking about terrerstral systems and not the satellite systems.

Many thanks.

Vince Cable

Does your 'excellent' Irish analogue include all 4 channels? If so, you should have no problem receiving Saorview with your current setup. The Freeview signal will get a substantial increase in about a year from now, so I'd wait & see on that one.

The aerial in that tvtrade kit certainly won't offer any improvement as it's only for strong signal areas.

Dony

I'm more or less in the same situation as yourself.
Even though I'm a bit closer to the border than yourself I've more or less decided on waiting untill they turn up the power on Divis after they switch off analogue. This is supposed to be completed by the end of next year.
If you don't want to wait then a competant installer could recommend you a high gain aerial so you could have a go. You would need the correct aerial group ,not a wideband grid type which is all you see around Drogheda.
Alot of the guys on here are having some success with welsh transmitters.
I heard they're putting up/upgrading a relay in Kilkeel too.
Can anyone confirm this?

Vince Cable

Dony wrote: »

I heard they're putting up/upgrading a relay in Kilkeel too.
Can anyone confirm this?

Yes, Kilkeel will transmit the 3 PSB muxes, which includes all current HD services. The transmissions will remain in aerial group B.

starfry

Vince Cable wrote: »

Does your 'excellent' Irish analogue include all 4 channels?

Yes: RTE1/RTE2/TV3/TG4 all crystal clear on analogue. I've done the page 284 test and see all the white blocks so I think our Irish signal is OK.

Vince Cable wrote: »

The Freeview signal will get a substantial increase in about a year from now, so I'd wait & see on that one.

This is what I was thinking. When Divis is boosted I hope that my TV will suddely tune UK freeview. Is this what you're saying ?

Vince Cable wrote: »

The aerial in that tvtrade kit certainly won't offer any improvement as it's only for strong signal areas.

Do you think that, after the boost, our current aerial would be sufficient? Currently the UK pictures are passable but not perfect.

Vince Cable

starfry wrote: »

This is what I was thinking. When Divis is boosted I hope that my TV will suddely tune UK freeview. Is this what you're saying ?

Your current aerial may not be for Divis, can you list the UHF channel nos. of the UK analogue services and/or post a photo of the aerial?

starfry

Channel frequencies checked tonight:

BBC1 C39
BBC2 C45
UTV C49
CH4 C42

RTE1 C52
RTE2 C52
TV3 C66
TG4 C68

I've done a bit of digging and I think this means Kilkeel and Clermont Carn.

I'll get a pic of the aerial tomorrow but it's a grid type.

SPAWKER

starfry wrote: »

Channel frequencies checked tonight:

BBC1 C39
BBC2 C45
UTV C49
CH4 C42

RTE1 C52
RTE2 C52
TV3 C66
TG4 C68

I've done a bit of digging and I think this means Kilkeel and Clermont Carn.

I'll get a pic of the aerial tomorrow but it's a grid type.

starfly,
Yes it is indeed Kilkeel and Clermont Cairn that you are receiving and you will be using a wideband grid aerial which is vertically polarised.In order for you to receive a signal from Divis you would need a group A aerial which would be horizontally polarised.So if it was me I would hang on till all the transmitters are switched to digital next year.

Vince Cable

That's Kilkeel alright & Clermont Carn for the Irish channels. No real need for a pic. now, as you've mentioned that it's a grid aerial & provided these channel nos.
Kilkeel won't transmit Freeview until analogue switchoff & it won't be the full service. I wouldn't bother trying Divis until after switchover.

Satellite is another option of course.

starfry

Ok, great, thanks Vince. That explains why we don't get Freeview at the moment.

I guess if our aerial points to Clermont Carn then it's also roughly in the right direction for Kilkeel so our current wideband grid aerial will give us both SaorView and FreeView (once available) without modification. Would you agree?

If all that follows and our teletext test is more or less ok at the moment then I guess we just wait and buy a FreeView HD box next year sometime. By then there should be some decent FreeView HD/SaorView certified dual tuner PVR boxes available (hoping...).

FYI, we do have FreeSat (From Sky) at the moment but we would really like a one box fits all solution without a subscription. Single-box Terrestrial would seem the only way to do that which will give us an integrated EPG for all received channels.

Thanks for all this, it's really useful

Vince Cable

starfry wrote: »

. . . so our current wideband grid aerial will give us both SaorView and FreeView (once available) without modification. Would you agree?

Can't guarantee it & the channel list from Kilkeel will be a bit bare compared to satellite; only muxes BBCA, D3 & 4, BBCB, listed here in 'After Switchover Configuration'. There will more than likely be a 5th HD channel by the time NI switches over.

Digifriendly

starfry wrote: »

FYI, we do have FreeSat (From Sky) at the moment but we would really like a one box fits all solution without a subscription. Single-box Terrestrial would seem the only way to do that which will give us an integrated EPG for all received channels.

Thanks for all this, it's really useful

Out of interest how do you have Freesatfromsky as this is only officially avaiable in UK and not ROI? Do you have just FTA channels without a FSFS FTV card or do you have a FTV card?

starfry

Vince Cable wrote: »

Can't guarantee it & the channel list from Kilkeel will be a bit bare compared to satellite; only muxes BBCA, D3 & 4, BBCB, listed here in 'After Switchover Configuration'. There will more than likely be a 5th HD channel by the time NI switches over.

That fine, as long as we get the main channels the others aren't that much of an issue to be honest.

Digifriendly wrote: »

Out of interest how do you have Freesatfromsky as this is only officially avaiable in UK and not ROI? Do you have just FTA channels without a FSFS FTV card or do you have a FTV card?

It's just a very old box with a "Freesat From Sky" £20 card that I brought over from London where it was gathering dust. Before that I had one of the Lidl FTA sat receivers.

STB

The Triax Combo Box has a satellite and DVB-T2 tuner in it. It combines terrestrial and satellite inn one channel list. So whilst you are waiting for Kikeel this will do both at least - it will also have the required dvb-t2 tuner for HD broadcasts should you be able to pick them up.

They are €145. Dont pay anymore. They need patience to setup.

starfry

Yeah, that's the one I've been looking at. I popped into power city the other day and I think that's the price they had there but I can't remember. The only problem with this box is there is no EPG on the satellite side - I think this will make scheduling recordings to an external HDD difficult.

I'm going to wait a bit and see if any dual tuner PVRs pop up....

STB

starfry wrote: »

Yeah, that's the one I've been looking at. I popped into power city the other day and I think that's the price they had there but I can't remember. The only problem with this box is there is no EPG on the satellite side - I think this will make scheduling recordings to an external HDD difficult.

I'm going to wait a bit and see if any dual tuner PVRs pop up....

Yes thats the problem with EPG on sat side. Now next. Also outside EPG listing there is no extended programme info on these boxes on the DVB-T side which is a simple firmware fix.

You can schedule a recording without EPG however. They also allow for recording DVB-T and watching other DVB-t on same mux frequency or any Sat channel.

I have seen them listed for €170. Do not pay that. They all price match each other. The menu setup is clunky but it does have the DVB-T2 tuner which you would require for Freeview HD services. http://www.triax.co.uk/ServiceSupport/Saorview.aspx

Freeview HD+ boxes are already available but they do restrict you from moving the recorded content off the box.

starfry

It's interesting once you start delving into this stuff what you find out and start learning

Just wondering, if one wanted to get the full set of Freeview multiplexes after the switch over and power boost in November 2012, would it be practical to add another aerial to point to the main Divis transmitter (instead of Kilkeel which lacks the 3 "commercial" muxes) ?

Given the power is due to increase 35 times to 75,000W will this increase its reach and make it visible from Drogheda or would the land topography prevent this?

Or is Kilkeel going to get those additional muxes? I've read about some upgrade work there but it isn't clear whether that means it will get the full set of muxes.

Good talking to you guys

Peter Rhea

The commercial muxes from Divis will have an ERP of 50kW. There's no chance of Kilkeel carrying the com. muxes due to its small population coverage in NI & the probable lack of available frequencies.

The Cush

Peter Rhea wrote: »

The commercial muxes from Divis will have an ERP of 50kW. There's no chance of Kilkeel carrying the com. muxes due to its small population coverage in NI & the probable lack of available frequencies.

The commercial multiplex operators decided some years ago not to take up the option of providing the commercial multiplexes from the smaller relay sites beyond the 80/81 main sites probably due to cost. According to Ofcom at the time frequencies woud have been found if required.