New TV Repeater for Dublin -Amateur Television

zg3409

Hi,

Last Sunday South Dublin Radio Club launched a new repeater for Television. This system broadcasts a TV signal over Dublin city with a testcard when not in use, and when in use it re-broadcasts whatever the user sends up to it.

Thus it is a "TV system of the people" where anyone with a radio licence can broadcast. Anyone without a radio licence can legally receive the signal.

Unfortuntely the frequency used means an ordinary TV aerial or Satellite dish will not pick up the signal. A special aerial and receiver is needed. However these have been sourced at rock bottom prices, and the signal is quite strong in Dublin so a big set up will not be required.

The techie details:

The repeater transmits on 2390Mhz with stereo sound. The input frequency is 1249Mhz (not yet comissioned). The control frequency (for turning on/off, switching cameras etc) is 144.700

Reception is strongest in South Dublin as the signal is coming from Three Rock Mountain over Sandyford.

The signal has been picked up already on a hilltop in Cavan (60 miles away) and in Blanchardstown, Rathfarnam and Sandyford. 3 People are currently set up to receive the signal, currently a testcard, while others will be added in the coming weeks/months.

This television system is already linked to a similar setup in Cavan, increasing coverage and increasing the amount of activity.

We demostrated the equipment and launched the repeater last Sunday at the Phoenix Rally. For the next few Tuesdays we will be deomstrating the system at our weekly club meetings in Rathfarnam.

The club has enough receivers to setup 7 more people in stock, the complete receive kit including aerial etc is 99 Euro which includes equipment at cost price, plus a 30 euro contribution to the running of the system.

So if you are in Dublin, especially South East Dublin, think you may be able to see "three rock" from your roof-top then you should be able to get the new station.

To save people buying the gear, and then finding out they cannot get a signal, the club will be loaning everything required, including a small LCD TV, to anyone who wants to get involved. This will allow them to check the signal at their house, before buying anything.

There is one set of equipment available on loan on a first come first served basis every Tuesday night at the radio club (199 refundable deposit needed)

I will follow this thread so please ask any qns. Links at the end

http://www.southdublinradioclub.ie --Weekly meeting location
http://www.iatc.ie -Map showing coverage of Dublin and Cavan systems

PauloMN

Thanks for this information. Could I make a suggestion about the coverage maps - it's almost impossible to see the predicted coverage areas as the maps are so tiny. Full size maps on the site would be better.

zg3409

Thanks for the recommendation:

Here you go:
http://www.southdublinradioclub.ie/1276.jpg
http://www.southdublinradioclub.ie/2390dublin.jpg
http://www.southdublinradioclub.ie/2390wide.jpg

You should be able to save these and zoom in etc.

If I get a GPS co-ordinate, or a town name I can add a more detailed map.
Predicted coverage does not equal actual signal at your home, but will give a rough idea if it's worth attempting.

PauloMN

zg3409 wrote: »

Thanks for the recommendation:

Here you go:
http://www.southdublinradioclub.ie/1276.jpg
http://www.southdublinradioclub.ie/2390dublin.jpg
http://www.southdublinradioclub.ie/2390wide.jpg

You should be able to save these and zoom in etc.

If I get a GPS co-ordinate, or a town name I can add a more detailed map.
Predicted coverage does not equal actual signal at your home, but will give a rough idea if it's worth attempting.

Thanks. I'm in Trim, the Cavan repeater would probably be better for me, but Three Rock would not be out of the question either.

zg3409

They coverage in trim from Cavan seems quite good. There seems to be a black spot in the north of the town, due to a hill north of the town (shown by the red dashed cross)

If you are still interested PM me and we can do an on-site check in the future. Normally we go to a nearby hill first, to confirm everything is working etc and then try for a signal anywhere on the grounds.

bassy

just a pity it couldnt be linked to mount leinster where it would be just about available to most in the south east.

zg3409

Mount Leinster would be a definite possibility if there was demand. Cavan has been picked up from Mount Leinster, and there are Amateur Repeaters there. Mount Leinster is already linked to Cavan for voice. The waterford group also have a TV repeater in Dungarvin.

If there was enough demand it would be possible:
http://www.searg.com/repeaters.php

telecinesk

if someone has an unlimited inet connection ie data, it would be nice to see the output from this via UStream if anyones familiar with it. Good luck on the project anyhow..

PauloMN

telecinesk wrote: »

if someone has an unlimited inet connection ie data, it would be nice to see the output from this via UStream if anyones familiar with it. Good luck on the project anyhow..

You sure you want to tune in to a bunch of ugly mug hams?