No Channels

carolinej

Hi all, I bought a finlux saorview box recently, however it is not tuning in the stations. We can get RTE/TG4/TV3 via terrestial.

According to the saorview coverage map, my house is just on the border of an area with no coverage, so maybe this is the problem?? Any advice? I'm a techno phobe so go easy!

ardmacha

So when you plug in the same aerial you use for analogue you get nothing? No sound, no picture, nada?

carolinej

I switch to HDMI option when I press AV on remote and the initial set up screen appears. I then set it to automatically scan/tune in stations, but it reports back it cannot locate channels. sorry for basic descriptions

Antenna

It might be of help if you mentioned the locality concerned?

is this with a feed from a cable TV system by any chance?

mickeyboymel

Have seen some of the Walker & Nodmende set top boxes do this on auto scan. However if you enter the frequency of your local transmitter and manualy tune it picks up all the channels - not saying this will work but its worth a try.

carolinej

Antenna wrote: »

It might be of help if you mentioned the locality concerned?

is this with a feed from a cable TV system by any chance?

I'm in Co. Waterford. The aerial is run from the attic.

@mickeyboymel. I haven't tried to manually tune in stations yet. From the saorview map, the local transmitter is Dungarvan, channel 55, polarization: H. How do I find out the frequency?

mickeyboymel

Channel 55 is 746000mhz

carolinej

mickeyboymel wrote: »

Channel 55 is 746000mhz

Just did a freq search. Detected ziltch. Freq level & quality is O%.

The Cush

As you receive TV3 my guess is you're picking up Mt Leinster, the only transmitter in the area that carries analogue TV3. You may require a different aerial pointing in a different dIrection for Saorview or a change of aerial for Mt Leinster Saorview DTT and possibly mount it externally.

How many aerials do you currently have for analogue in the attic? Mt Leinster analogue would require 2 aerials, a VHF aerial for RTÉ and a UHF aerial for TV3/TG4 (Group A UHF aerial).

For Saorview DTT
- Mt Leinster requires a Group B UHF aerial [or Group W (wideband) for both analogue and Saorview DTT]
- Dungarvan requires a Group CD UHF aerial
- Waterford City Group A
- Suir Valley Group CD

Can you post a pic of your current aerial(s)? Is there a coloured plastic bung/insert or coloured tape on the aerial which would identify the Group, Red - Group A, Yellow - Group B, Green - Group CD, Black - wideband .

Mayo Exile

Do you know where your current analogue (RTE/TV3/TG4) reception is coming from? It mightn't be from Dungarvan, but from a mast that isn't planned for upgrade to DTT. What are your current analogue frequencies/UHF channel numbers?

carolinej

The Cush wrote: »

As you receive TV3 my guess is you're picking up Mt Leinster (Group A UHF aerial), the only transmitter in the area that carries analogue TV3. You may require a different aerial pointing in a different dIrection for Saorview or a change of aerial for Mt Leinster Saorview DTT and possibly mount it externally.

How many aerials do you currently have for analogue in the attic? Mt Leinster analogue would require 2 aerials, a VHF aerial for RTÉ and a UHF aerial for TV3/TG4.

For Saorview DTT
- Mt Leinster requires a Group B UHF aerial
- Dungarvan requires a Group CD UHF aerial
- Waterford City Group A
- Suir Valley Group CD

Can you post a pic of your current aerial(s)? Is there a coloured plastic bung/insert or coloured tape on the aerial which would indetify the Group, Red - Group A, Yellow - Group B, Green - Group CD, Black - wideband .

I should have been clearer in my earlier post. The aerial is external, what I meant was the aerial is fed from the attic via a splitter from the external aerial.

The Cush

carolinej wrote: »

I should have been clearer in my earlier post. The aerial is external, what I meant was the aerial is fed from the attic via a splitter from the external aerial.

OK, in what direction is the aerial pointing? If pointing at Mt Leinster you may require a different aerial for Saorview, a Group B or a wideband aerial for both Saorview and analogue TV3/TG4.

carolinej

The Cush wrote: »

OK, in what direction is the aerial pointing? If pointing at Mt Leinster you may require a different aerial for Saorview, a Group B or a wideband aerial for both Saorview and analogue TV3/TG4.

There are two aerials on the roof. One is pointing towards, I guess, Mt Leinster. The 2nd aerial is pointing in a different direction, to where, I don't know...

Oh, I checked analogue freq: RTE1 191mhz, RTE2 215mhz, TG4 487mhz, TV3 511mhz. also rte1 is also on 847mhz..

The Cush

carolinej wrote: »

There are two aerials on the roof. One is pointing towards, I guess, Mt Leinster. The 2nd aerial is pointing in a different direction, to where, I don't know...

Oh, I checked analogue freq: RTE1 191mhz, RTE2 215mhz, TG4 487mhz, TV3 511mhz. also rte1 is also on 847mhz..

Mt Leinster VHF and UHF. Not sure where 847MHz (UHF Ch 68?) is coming from - is there a Sky box .

A pic would help identify the aerials.

Is one of the aerials like this LP7 VHF - http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/catalog_v2.cgi?type=product&id=4439?

My guess is your UHF aerial is Group A, if you replace it with a wideband aerial you should be able to receive Saorview and the analogue channels.

Regarding the second aerial is/was there a local deflector in the area for the UK channels?

carolinej

The Cush wrote: »

Mt Leinster VHF and UHF. Not sure where 847MHz (UHF Ch 68?) is coming from - is there a Sky box .

A pic would help identify the aerials.

Is one of the aerials like this LP7 VHF - http://www.peats.com/cgi-bin/catalog_v2.cgi?type=product&id=4439?

My guess is your UHF aerial is Group A, if you replace it with a wideband aerial you should be able to receive Saorview and the analogue channels.

I'll upload picture of aerial's tomorrow. I had hoped I wouldn't have to incur any more cost's by buying new aerials/equipment etc. Thank you RTE :mad:

thanks to all for advise so far, I've come away abit more wiser

Mayo Exile

carolinej wrote: »

I'll upload picture of aerial's tomorrow. I had hoped I wouldn't have to incur any more cost's by buying new aerials/equipment etc. Thank you RTE :mad:

thanks to all for advise so far, I've come away abit more wiser

Does the 2nd aerial which doesn't point at Mt. Leinster look like these? These are examples of UHF aerials.



or this?

carolinej

@Mayo Exile, the 1st picture is one of my aerials, it's pointing in a south east-ish direction. The larger aerial is pointing NE ish. This is a big hum dinger of an ugly aerial.

The Cush

carolinej wrote: »

@Mayo Exile, the 1st picture is one of my aerials, it's pointing in a south east-ish direction. The larger aerial is pointing NE ish. This is a big hum dinger of an ugly aerial.

The large ugly aerial is probably the VHF aerial for Mt Leinster (RTÉ1 & 2). Don't know which transmitter the smaller UHF aerial is pointing to but it could also be picking up Mt Leinster TV3/TG4 side on. Is/was there ever a UK TV deflector site in the area? At the end of Oct next year the VHF aerial will no longer be required.

The two aerials down cables are probably combined in a small box on the aerial mast.

In the daylight check the smaller UHF aerial for a coloured plastic bung like the red one in the first picture above to identify the aerial group.

carolinej

The bung colour is red. It occured to me this morning that neither aerial is pointing in the Dungarvan direction. I checked saorview map & decided to tune in stations for the Gallows Hill transmitter in Waterford as the UHF aerial is pointed in this direction & sure enough it picked them all up . BUT now the signal has been lost. There was interference. What is the problem now :mad:



On another matter, the tv is "wired" to receive sky from the main skybox in living rm. It's not sky multiroom, but works off a connetion. See pic. This is now not working....how do I resolve that issue? Any advice pls:D

The Cush

carolinej wrote: »

The bung colour is red. It occured to me this morning that neither aerial is pointing in the Dungarvan direction. I checked saorview map & decided to tune in stations for the Gallows Hill transmitter in Waterford as the UHF aerial is pointed in this direction & sure enough it picked them all up . BUT now the signal has been lost. There was interference. What is the problem now :mad:

Which aerial has the red colour bung, the top or the bottom one? The middle aerial is the VHF one for RTÉ1 & 2 from Mt Leinster which can be removed at the end of Oct next year.

The large UHF aerial at the top is also for Mt Leinster TV3/TG4 probably.

The smaller UHF aerial pointing SE, not sure of its purpose, local deflector maybe for UK channels? There was one licensed in the Harristown area.

Gallows Hill (Group A) is a new transmitter for Saorview, the lower UHF aerial (if Group A red bung?) or the larger one on top may be picking up a weak signal from there but then losing it because the aerials aren't correctly aligned to that transmitter and/or you're too far away for a decent signal.

Are all 3 aerial combined together into one downlead to the attic?

Upgrading the top UHF to wideband should give you both Saorview and analogue TV3/TG4 from Mt Leinster.

carolinej wrote: »

On another matter, the tv is "wired" to receive sky from the main skybox in living rm. It's not sky multiroom, but works off a connetion. See pic. This is now not working....how do I resolve that issue? Any advice pls:D

The Sky box could explain RTÉ1 on 847MHz you posted about last night.

Difficult to diagnose the problem with the TV Link, could be a faulty unit. Have you changed anything with the wiring recently?

Peter Rhea

Isn't that VHF aerial pointing 'away' from the viewer's POV, aren't those upright elements reflectors (& the top aerial is v. pol.)?

The Cush

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Isn't that VHF aerial pointing 'away' from the /viewer's POV, aren't those upright elements reflectors (& the top aerial is v. pol.)?

Mt Leinster VHF is V polarised, it's the only VHF transmitter in the area and the VHF frequencies are Mt Leinster's 191/215 MHz.

Even though the top aerial is incorrectly pol. for Mt Leinster the OP is receiving the correct frequencies 487/511 MHz. Not the first time we've see an aerial installed in the the wrong pol.

The two aerial are pointing in roughly the same direction for Mt leinster.

I use Mullaghanish for my TV and the two aerials point in slightly different directions eventhough the signal comes from the same transmitter.

sesswhat

On another matter, the tv is "wired" to receive sky from the main skybox in living rm. It's not sky multiroom, but works off a connetion. See pic. This is now not working....how do I resolve that issue? Any advice pls:D

Maybe you removed it for the photo, but there should be another coaxial lead from the Saorview box to the TV.

I presume you are using the following setup:

Aerial downlead to RF input on Sky box.

RF1 output on Sky box to main TV (optional if you only use TV for Sky)

RF2 output on Sky box to second room --> input of Saorview box through Magic Eye Link as in photo. This cable will carry the signal from the aerial(s) as well as whatever channel the Sky box is tuned to.

HDMI lead to second TV will output whichever digital channel the Saorview box is tuned to.

A coaxial lead from the aerial/RF out connection from the Saorview box to the second TV will allow the TV to tune into the analogue RTEs as well as the Sky channel.

carolinej

Which aerial has the red colour bung, the top or the bottom one?

The bottom aerial bung is red & the top aerial bung looks black - does this indicate it's wideband enabled?

Are all 3 aerial combined together into one downlead to the attic?

Hard to say from the ground, it looks like there are several cables running from the aerials.

Difficult to diagnose the problem with the TV Link, could be a faulty unit. Have you changed anything with the wiring recently?

No, I haven't changed any wiring - I wouldn't dare, I might cause a complete cessatioin of services! The link works fine when using analogue tv.

carolinej

A coaxial lead from the aerial/RF out connection from the Saorview box to the second TV will allow the TV to tune into the analogue RTEs as well as the Sky channel

@sesswhat - that may be the problem. I don't have a coax lead from out connection to Tv. Just the HDMI lead, power lead and aerial lead..

The Cush

carolinej wrote: »

The bottom aerial bung is red & the top aerial bung looks black - does this indicate it's wideband enabled?

Unfortunately not, some manufacturers use plastic bungs others plastic tape.

Just to get our bearings which aerial is pointing towards Mt Leinster, upper middle or lower?

Peter Rhea

The Cush wrote: »

The two aerial are pointing in roughly the same direction for Mt leinster.

If that slot aerial is pointing (roughly) the same direction as the v. pol. UHF aerial, then every example I've seen of those (Blake B2?) aerials in that part of the country (you don't see them in Monaghan) has been installed the wrong way round.

The Cush

Peter Rhea wrote: »

If that slot aerial is pointing (roughly) the same direction as the v. pol. UHF aerial, then every example I've seen of those (Blake B2?) aerials in that part of the country (you don't see them in Monaghan) has been installed the wrong way round.

Wouldn't surprise me , a poster here in recent times was installing the UHF grids (bow-tie) back to front.

If it's the wrong way around it doesn't appear to affect reception and will have no effect on Saorview in any case.

I've asked the OP which of the aerials are actually pointing at Mt Leinster for a bearing.

Mayo Exile

The Cush wrote: »

Unfortunately not, some manufacturers use plastic bungs others plastic tape.

Just to get our bearings which aerial is pointing towards Mt Leinster, upper middle or lower?

Cush, I'd guess its the larger UHF aerial at the top is pointing towards Mt Leinster going by the OP's post #17. (Being in W'ford and it pointing NE towards Carlow).

If this is so, he'd need to swing around the smaller UHF aerial (red bung) to the same direction. Polarity already OK on this one. Larger UHF aerial needs to be corrected for horizontal transmissions from Mt L.

EDIT: would moving the smaller UHF aerial lose the DTT coverage from Gallows Hill though, if its picking it up? As you say, would need to know which aerial is getting this.

Ronnie Raygun

Peter Rhea wrote: »

If that slot aerial is pointing (roughly) the same direction as the v. pol. UHF aerial, then every example I've seen of those (Blake B2?) aerials in that part of the country (you don't see them in Monaghan) has been installed the wrong way round.

http://www.wrightsaerials.tv/aerialphotography/aerialingus/008.shtml

http://www.blake-uk.com/vhf.aspx

Ronnie Raygun

Mayo Exile wrote: »

.... I'd guess its the larger UHF aerial at the top is pointing towards Mt Leinster going by the OP's post #17.

You should 1st find out if the OP knows 1 end of an aerial from the other, some people think the aerial points in the direction of the "arrow" (reflector).

Antenna

Undoubtedly the bottom 2 aerials were installed for the Irish national channels from Mt Leinster.
(though one or both is off beam)
The slot/(some people call them 'box' aerials) VHF aerial is aimed in almost the same direction the camera is looking. These aerials have only been popular in the SE of the country BTW.

The top v-polarised aerial is no doubt for a defunct deflector -
probably one in the Comeragh mountains which went off air some years ago.
It may also have since twisted off beam in winds, so may not now be in its original direction.

Peter Rhea

Antenna wrote: »

Undoubtedly the bottom 2 aerials were installed for the Irish national channels from Mt Leinster.
(though one or both is off beam)
The slot/(some people call them 'box' aerials) VHF aerial is aimed in the same direction the camera is looking. These aerials have only been popular in the SE of the country BTW.

The top v-polarised aerial is no doubt for a defunct deflector . . .

Just what I was thinking & that the OP fell for the 'arrow' effect mentioned above.

Mayo Exile

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

You should 1st find out if the OP knows 1 end of an aerial from the other, some people think the aerial points in the direction of the "arrow" (reflector).

Yes. A point to be considered. Picture just in case the OP isn't sure. For a UHF aerial installation.

carolinej

TBH, I wasn't sure which end of the aerial I was supposed to be looking at

I now have figured out that the top aerial is pointing toward's an aerial on a shed in a nearby yard for several cameras, which are tuned into the tv's. I wasn't sure earlier which aerial was for the cameras, but now I know from the diagram posted by Mayo Exile.

Also, I tuned in the stations at 5.00pm. Small bit of inteference but ok with the past 2hrs though I expect the signal will probably go down again.

The Cush

@carolinej
based on the information you've posted it appears that you will require a Group W (wideband) aerial together with the middle (VHF) aerial for Saorview DTT and continued reception of analogue TV for the next 11 months or so from Mt Leinster. Both aerials combined and pointing at Mt Leinster as described above.

The red tip Group A aerial can be removed as it's out of range for Saorview from Mt Leinster.

Pharoe

HI
Does anyone know where I would get the cookery book (What's Cooking by Denise Sweeney) from the 1981 cookery programme presented by Denise Sweeney. She had celebrities on each week and cooked his/her favourite programme. It was published by the National Dairy Council and they could not help me. Thanks

Regards Pharoe

carolinej

Thanks all for the very helpful advise. Much appreciated.

sesswhat

Pharoe wrote: »

HI
Does anyone know where I would get the cookery book (What's Cooking by Denise Sweeney) from the 1981 cookery programme presented by Denise Sweeney. She had celebrities on each week and cooked his/her favourite programme. It was published by the National Dairy Council and they could not help me. Thanks

Regards Pharoe

Someone here may be able to help.

Mayo Exile

carolinej wrote: »

Thanks all for the very helpful advise. Much appreciated.

As well as The Cush's example of a UHF Group W wide band aerial, you also might be offered the following if you want a wideband aerial. Does the same job, just a different design.

The picture (same as one i posted earlier up the thread) shows it set up for reception of horizontally polarised UHF signals such as those from Mt. Leinster. The aerial may appear to be aligned vertically, but it's the "X's" or "bowties" that are key. Here they are in the horizontal position. Also they face the mast, always being the nearest to it.

Antenna

carolinej wrote: »

I now have figured out that the top aerial is pointing toward's an aerial on a shed in a nearby yard for several cameras, which are tuned into the tv's

What frequency does the TV show for your camera system?

carolinej

Antenna wrote: »

What frequency does the TV show for your camera system?

I don't know, cameras are switched off right now.

The Cush

This RTÉNL information booklet might be of interest - Receiving SAORVIEW