Saorview and windy weather

Neworder79

Is anyone experiencing problems with Saorview every time the wind blows?

I'm 15 miles from the closest transmitter with an external aerial and powered booster. Signal level has been good around 90% normally. But today is intermittently dropping below 50% showing occasional bit error peaks on the test screen.

The service is unwatchable on any channel with constant breakup, scrambled picture and sound. The same happened during the two last windy spells. I'd expect some disruption during violent gusts but this continues even when relatively calm outside.

Could the cause be on the transmitter side? I've checked the aerial and can't see any obvious problems and very little movement.

John mac

do you need a booster ?? you should have a strong signal if you are only 15km away.
is it a big aerial or a small one, (wind catching)
you could try it in the attic.

Ronnie Raygun

John mac wrote: »

you should have a strong signal if you are only 15km away.

You can't make statements like that without knowing which transmitter it is or what the terrain is like (and it's 15 miles)

The Cush

Neworder79 wrote: »

Could the cause be on the transmitter side? I've checked the aerial and can't see any obvious problems and very little movement.

Most likely at your aerial setup. Might need to be realigned, it could be moving just enough during windy condition to lose the signal. Was it setup with a meter?

Could also be loose co-ax connection to the aerial or booster, have you checked? Faulty booster?

Was the booster installed for Irish analogue channels or possibly UK channels? With the transmitter that close do you now require the booster for Saorview? What is you nearest transmitter?

Have you tried the installation without the booster?

Tony

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

You can't make statements like that without knowing which transmitter it is or what the terrain is like (and it's 15 miles)

Eh actually he can ,15 miles or Km should not normally need booster, if terrain is an issue a booster will not fix it.

Ronnie Raygun

Tony wrote: »

Eh actually he can ,15 miles or Km should not normally need booster, if terrain is an issue a booster will not fix it.

The OP could be attempting reception from a low-powered transmitter, probably not intended to serve his area but he may not have other options.

And why would an amplifier not help with say, diffraction losses caused by a hill or even tree problems?

Tony

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

The OP could be attempting reception from a low-powered transmitter,

which transmitter for example ?

If trees etc are causing problems an amplifier will not alter the signal to noise ratio , a bigger ant with more gain would be needed . Also bear in mind that digital terrestrial signals are much more robust with regard to ghosting etc . If amplifiers were a cure all it would not be necessary for manufcaturers to make large 100 elem antennas.

watty

It could be a loose cable connection at the aerial.

Aerial moving in wind makes no difference to Terrestrial.

Neworder79

Thanks for the advice, glad to hear it's not service related. It's the Castlebar transmitter which is the main one for the area, though there are some hills between.

Couldn't see any problems on visual inspection but it does sound like a loose connection. I thought it was strange that it needed a booster. It was previously tuned to a deflector and is pointing in the correct direction, though I'll get someone to have a look at the ariel and cable again and check signal direction properly.

selfbuilder1

I live about 12 miles from Castlebar but have to get Saorview from Maghera due to hills. I can tune in from Castlebar but it has a tendency to pixelate. Have you checked the Saorview coverage checker? I have found it quite accurate in selecting what transmitter to point at. Castlebar would not be as powerful as the likes of the main transmitters such as Maghera.

Ronnie Raygun

Tony wrote: »

If trees etc are causing problems an amplifier will not alter the signal to noise ratio

And just how much noise does a tree produce?

Their actual effects can be very selective & can change when moved by wind; relevant here.

Also bear in mind that digital terrestrial signals are much more robust with regard to ghosting etc....

....& so more likely to respond well to a simple raising of the signal level.

If amplifiers were a cure all it would not be necessary for manufcaturers to make large 100 elem antennas.

Nobody said amps were a cure for anything, the fact the OP is having problems is testament to that. There's no evidence this "booster" is part of a dedicated system for reception of Saorview from the transmitter in question.

The original statement I took issue with is "you should have a strong signal if you are only 15km away". Statements like this should always be qualified with references to possible exceptions.

Tony

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

....& so more likely to respond well to a simple raising of the signal level.

Raising the signal level is useless if the signal to noise ratio is not good enough, amps are not noise free so can actaully make recption worse in some cases . I think the statement you took issue with is fair enough given what the OP has said in so far as questioning whether an amp is necessary in this case.

If it aint broke don't fix it

Ronnie Raygun

The amplifier, if a masthead type (nobody confirmed, although the OP posted "external aerial and powered booster", doesn't mean both are external) may only be compensating for a long cable, rather than being an attempt to make up for deficiencies elsewhere in the system.

Machinehead

To maximise my signal I've had to point my aerial at the very edge of some nearby trees. In good conditions my signal figures max out at 100%. During stormy conditions my signal levels can vary quite a lot, leading to some picture freezing & pixelation at times. I can pin it on the trees or else my aerial is on the move when wind speeds pick up or a combination of the two.

Neworder79

selfbuilder1 wrote: »

I live about 12 miles from Castlebar but have to get Saorview from Maghera due to hills. I can tune in from Castlebar but it has a tendency to pixelate. Have you checked the Saorview coverage checker? I have found it quite accurate in selecting what transmitter to point at. Castlebar would not be as powerful as the likes of the main transmitters such as Maghera.

Yes checked the website and I'm supposedly have full coverage from Castlebar, Achill would be next which might actually have better line of site.

seanin4711

very poor signal over the last few days.
anyone similar?

BionicRasher

I also get poor signal during foggy/misty conditions

I have indoor aerial (I know - I will eventually get an aerial set up in attic) and its perfect 90% of the time but during fog/mist we get a lot of interference/pixelation.

Local mast is Crosshaven - Approx 7 miles as the crow flies and I am in direct line of sight of the mast - no real obstructions unless you count the nearest tree thats about 50 yards away and not in sight line

Compton

I had a cheap indoor aerial and it was breaking up a lot then got one of these

http://satworld.ie/product-info.php?High_Gain_UHF_Wideband_TV_Aerial-pid301.html

and the signal has been perfect since.. its a big aerial for the money.

Compton

I had a cheap indoor aerial and it was breaking up a lot then got one of these

http://satworld.ie/product-info.php?High_Gain_UHF_Wideband_TV_Aerial-pid301.html

and the signal has been perfect since.. its a big aerial for the money.

STB

Neworder79 wrote: »

Is anyone experiencing problems with Saorview every time the wind blows?

I'm 15 miles from the closest transmitter with an external aerial and powered booster. Signal level has been good around 90% normally. But today is intermittently dropping below 50% showing occasional bit error peaks on the test screen.

The service is unwatchable on any channel with constant breakup, scrambled picture and sound. The same happened during the two last windy spells. I'd expect some disruption during violent gusts but this continues even when relatively calm outside.

Could the cause be on the transmitter side? I've checked the aerial and can't see any obvious problems and very little movement.

Are you sure the way you have the aerial pointing is actually pointing towards your local transmitter ? Lots of people have the aerial pointing the wrong way but still get a high percentage signal in the back of the aerial ! The use of boosters can add to all this distortion especially during bad weather conditions. Digital cliff. You are on the edge which leads me to believe your aerial is either pointing the wrong way, is a wrong group aerial or most likely dodgy or loose connections - probably at the aerial itself.

chasm

seanin4711 wrote: »

very poor signal over the last few days.
anyone similar?

Having issues here since saturday. Trying to watch tv3 at the moment and it keeps freezing, thought maybe it was a tv3 issue but switched to rte2 and that was the same, froze for about a minute last time. My Aerial is in my loft and normally it's fine, apart from an issue earlier in the year which was put down to the weather i think. jeez analogue was less of a pain in the butt:(

Tony Soprano.

I'm having the same issues. Irish channels are unwatchable now. Picture keeps freezing, sound stops etc.

It's a combo box, and satellite channels are working fine. I have another combo box in another room, and turned this off, as I thought the signal isn't strong enough for two boxes. It made no difference.

I only got this setup installed a few days ago, with a new RTE aerial (nice and high). This is my first night with problems - has been flawless up until now.

It is fairly windy outside now, would this be the reason?

Compton

Try turning of 5v from the aerial, Are TV sat diplexers being used? Which boxes are they?

Tony Soprano.

Compton wrote: »

Try turning of 5v from the aerial, Are TV sat diplexers being used? Which boxes are they?

Thanks Compton, but what is 5v and sat displexers?

They're the Ferguson Ariva 150 combo boxes.

Tony Soprano.

Does turning off one of the boxes disable the aerial splitter, or do I have to remove the splitter altogether?

I'm running out of ideas here, and totally disappointed with this new saorview thing (couldn't watch Irish TV tonight). It's not like I'm living in the back of the beyonds.

lawhec

Tony Soprano. wrote: »

Does turning off one of the boxes disable the aerial splitter, or do I have to remove the splitter altogether?

Turning off a receiver will have no affect on an aerial splitter.

Tony Soprano. wrote: »

I'm running out of ideas here, and totally disappointed with this new saorview thing (couldn't watch Irish TV tonight). It's not like I'm living in the back of the beyonds.

Being in a built-up area doesn't guarantee perfect coverage.

One possible problem is that your Saorview signal is too strong and overloading the terrestrial tuner in the combo, especially as you mention that you have an outdoor aerial at a good height. This can give problems that look similar to a signal being too weak. Fitting an attenuator between the TV cable and the input for the terrestrial tuner at the combo may solve this. If you go to your receiver menu and the signal strength readings look to be very high, this may be the problem. Ironically, lowering the aerial on the mast may help matters.

Another possibility is that some connection at the aerial or the cable coming from it is not either secured correctly (e.g. at the junction box of the aerial) or that it is 'loose' where the inner core has either been crushed, deforming it or even broken giving an intermittent connection - this would explain strong winds giving picture break up.

Finally, as stupid as this sounds, have you ensured that the aerial is pointing in the correct direction of the wanted transmitter, is polarised correctly, is the right group of aerial required (if it isn't wideband) and that your receiver is tuned into receiving Saorview from the wanted transmitter and not from another transmitter which is being picked up from a different direction from where the aerial is pointing?

Tony Soprano.

Thanks a lot lawhec.

I will bring my neighbour's saorview TV into my house and see what the reception is like. That way I can rule in or out my combo box, and take it for there.

Terry Ryaner

I'm having awful trouble now with saorview after over a year of perfect TV. I'm in the top floor apartment a few miles direct to 3 rock which takes an aerial feed from the roof. Rock solid usually. I've since tried to tune in the BBC NI digital and no joy. Since then my signal strengh is about 70% and the quality dips below 50 quite a lot which results in sound drop outs and picture problems.
My analogue stations are rock soild so I know there is a good signal there. The mast is RTE NL1 and it picks it up straight away along with a load of new test stations that have appeared recently. What is going on?

watty

Possibly overloading with too much signal

rurs

When you scanned for the BBCs, did you do a full scan? As you may have now picked up Kippure instead of Three Rock. Try a manual scan on ch. 30. Delete all your Saorview channels first.

Terry Ryaner wrote: »

I'm having awful trouble now with saorview after over a year of perfect TV. I'm in the top floor apartment a few miles direct to 3 rock which takes an aerial feed from the roof. Rock solid usually. I've since tried to tune in the BBC NI digital and no joy. Since then my signal strengh is about 70% and the quality dips below 50 quite a lot which results in sound drop outs and picture problems.
My analogue stations are rock soild so I know there is a good signal there. The mast is RTE NL1 and it picks it up straight away along with a load of new test stations that have appeared recently. What is going on?

Terry Ryaner

watty wrote: »

Possibly overloading with too much signal

Its on chanell 30 so Three Rock. I'm looking out my window at 3 rock about 5Km away with nothing near blocking it.

What could I do if that is the case?

adox

Anyone getting picture breakup from the heavy rain? I'm getting intermittent breakup on Saorview when the rain gets really heavy here in Rush.

lawhec

adox wrote: »

Anyone getting picture breakup from the heavy rain? I'm getting intermittent breakup on Saorview when the rain gets really heavy here in Rush.

Rain fade can affect UHF frequencies, though it normally isn't as noticeable or vulnerable compared to satellite reception. I've seen it happen with analogue TV reception where a weak signal got wiped out to nothing in a sudden rain storm, about a minute after the heaviest of the rain eased and was then just a light shower, the picture started returning.

There might also be lightning at the same time, which will very often cause momentary picture break-up even in strong signal areas.

Weather between you and the transmitter can also have an effect.

adox

lawhec wrote: »

Rain fade can affect UHF frequencies, though it normally isn't as noticeable or vulnerable compared to satellite reception. I've seen it happen with analogue TV reception where a weak signal got wiped out to nothing in a sudden rain storm, about a minute after the heaviest of the rain eased and was then just a light shower, the picture started returning.

There might also be lightning at the same time, which will very often cause momentary picture break-up even in strong signal areas.

Weather between you and the transmitter can also have an effect.

Thanks, I wonder is it worth getting it looked at? I presume its not normal for it to be affected by weather, although it was particularly heavy last night.

My aerial was put up about 12 years ago, still using all the same leads etc.