UK channels turned off this week in Mayo - trying to understand options now..?

amroche

Hi I am based rurally outside Claremorris Co Mayo. We were recieving the UK channels (BBC 1 & 2, UTV, Channel 4) via an aerial on the roof, we paid the local group scheme an annual amount of approx €175. We also got the 4 Irish channels which I had assumed up to now were coming via the same aerial . This week the UK channels have been turned off, so now having had the head in the sand for the past few months I actually need to research and understand my options.

1) If I get Saorview boxes will I have to get one for every TV in the house?
2) Will these only give me the 4 Irish channels?
3) What is my cheapest option to get UK chanels (only want the basic 5).

A neighbour said to get a satellite dish in Lidl or Aldi, and once installed that would give me the UK channels and more. So the costs would be the dish and the installation. But would this give me the Irish channels? I'm not interested in SKY, etc, just a few basic IRish and a few basic English channels. Can anyone give me a steer on the best thing to do, (in non technical language) and better still an idea of cost.....

I suspect to I have to invest in:

Saorview boxes x 3
Satellite dish x ? (1 per TV set or can you split to serve more than one TV)?
Installation for all of the above?

Is the aerial on the roof therefore redundant now?

icdg

amroche wrote: »

Hi I am based rurally outside Claremorris Co Mayo. We were recieving the UK channels (BBC 1 & 2, UTV, Channel 4) via an aerial on the roof, we paid the local group scheme an annual amount of approx €175. We also got the 4 Irish channels which I had assumed up to now were coming via the same aerial . This week the UK channels have been turned off, so now having had the head in the sand for the past few months I actually need to research and understand my options.

1) If I get Saorview boxes will I have to get one for every TV in the house?

If you want to watch different channels on each set, then yes. Unless the TVs a relatively new and have built-in DTT tuners that is.

2) Will these only give me the 4 Irish channels?

And 3e. You'll also receive RTÉ1+1, RTÉ News Now, and RTÉjr, but these channels are primarily composed of simulcasts and very recent repeats.

3) What is my cheapest option to get UK chanels (only want the basic 5).

It depends. Free to air satellite costs quite a bit to install, but you'll never pay any more again. However it may actually work out cheaper to get in Sky - you'll get free installation and equipment, and you can cancel after 12 months is up.

In previous times I'd probably have suggested MMDS as an alternative but with that looking ever more likely that it'll be shut down, you won't really have any other alternative to satellite.

Is the aerial on the roof therefore redundant now?

No you'll still need it if you have Saorview.

swoofer

here is a reply but you will no doubt get loads of others either agreeing or disagreeing.

1. First off you need to know if your existing roof aerial will pick up saorview and a quick way is, if you can get a good picture on tv3 or tg4 at present then you can pick up saorview. If no, then you need a new aerial, can be about 50 euro plus install.

2. For your main tv I would suggest you get a combo box, ie it will get saorview from the aerail and all the uk channels from a satellite dish and in HD. Even if your current tv is not HD you get better picture quality on say BBC1 HD than BBC1 SD via the scart. combo box is about 90 euro. dish about 60 plus install about a 100, unless your good at diy. you only need one dish and can fit a quad lnb that will allow 4 boxes to be connected. lnb is 15-25 euro can be more or less. And with the combo you can add an external HDD and make it a Personal Video recorder.(PVR)

3. You can buy an RF modulator for about 40 euro that you could attach to the combo box and then beam channels round the house ie the sat channels and the saorview but you could only watch same channel.

4. For the other tv's you can buy a set top box for each for about 40 euro each.

The big caveat at the moment is the use of digital teletext, it looks nice but a lot of boxes will not pick it up including the combo.

so to summarise to get you up and running.

1 combo box

2 2x soarview boxes

a combo box requires a bit of know how, ie update software, add a new channel list. these days is easy as that good old usb stick does a multitude.

good luck

ps if you buy a bigger dish, say 80cm where you are and add a multi lnb bar you can pick up saorsat and the uk tv on the combo box, as soarsat is the new isrh sat service. So you would have 2 lnbs on the dish, saorsat is a twin lnb = 2 outlets and then the quad for bbc etc but tv3 and 3e is not on soarsat yet.

givecredit

First of all I would not recommend Lidl/Aldi satellite receivers. These will not get you RTE/TV3 etc.

Get 3 of these:
http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/HD_Ariva_120_Combo_Box.html
Get one of these:

http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/Sky_Freesat_60cm_mesh_dish_including_quad_lnb.html

and take option for quad lnb with above dish.

When asked for discount code insert: boards.ie

All above should work out at circa €300 after discount. Then pay a local installer to install above. Probably cost circa €100

So €400, Not cheap but you will never have to pay your €175 per year again.

Above will get you ALL irish free tv channels and All uk free tv channels including the main five you want and about 150 more!

Watch RTE's new digital service, RTE1, RTE2 HD, TV 3, TG4, 3e & RTE News Now via aerial and BBC, UTV, CH4 CH5 and many more via satellite.

Please be aware that the future digital Teletext service system used by RTE is not compatible with this box.

This receiver box will allow you to watch free to air High definition satellite TV via a dish and Irish MPEG 4 terrestrial digital TV via an aerial .

The above solution lets you watch any channel in any room. You do not have to watch same channels on 2 tvs.

Please note I have no connection with the above linked online store. The reason i quote the above links is the well priced equipment and the excellent online support the store owner Tony supplies online here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056403172&page=37

The Cush

amroche wrote: »

1) If I get Saorview boxes will I have to get one for every TV in the house?

If any of your TVs are newish they may have a digital MPEG-4 tuner and you won't require a Saorview STB.

amroche wrote: »

2) Will these only give me the 4 Irish channels?

http://www.saorview.ie/what-is-saorview/

amroche wrote: »

Is the aerial on the roof therefore redundant now

http://www.saorview.ie/make-the-switch/
http://www.rtenl.ie/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Saorview-DTT-October2010.pdf

Suggestion for satellite, another option not mentioned by the lads above is Freesat - Uk channels only, Sky-like programme guide, digital text, channels automatically arranged and updated, recording version available, dish required.
http://www.tvtrade.ie/satellite-receivers/freesat.html
http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/index.html

Digitaltv

Then pay a local installer to install above. Probably cost circa €100/B]

per hour, or are you joking ?

Insurance,equipment,diesel,experience.

Cesium Clock

givecredit wrote: »

First of all I would not recommend Lidl/Aldi satellite receivers. These will not get you RTE/TV3 etc.

Get 3 of these:
http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/HD_Ariva_120_Combo_Box.html
Get one of these:

http://www.satellite.ie/acatalog/Sky_Freesat_60cm_mesh_dish_including_quad_lnb.html

and take option for quad lnb with above dish.

When asked for discount code insert: boards.ie

All above should work out at circa €300 after discount. Then pay a local installer to install above. Probably cost circa €100

or in keeping with your recomendations you could choose the following options from the suppliers website

Would you like an Aeial for RTE digital fitted for €149.00 ?
Would you like us to install a dish for €149?

hardly circa €100 and you expect 3 boxes installed for that, try 'Done Deal' or 'Adverts' for the full package, im sure there is some uninsured, dole sucker on there who will 'locally' supply and install it for a pint.

snaps

Digitaltv wrote: »

Then pay a local installer to install above. Probably cost circa €100/B]

per hour, or are you joking ?

Insurance,equipment,diesel,experience.

also any professional installer would not install equiptment he hasn't supplied. Wouldn't be worth the hassle if something went wrong and the customer was blaming the installer. Also don't forget cabling, that's not cheap, especially for 3 feeds. The average price for a combo box and a dish install seems to be 300e. Some cheaper and some more expensive (250-350). There is 1 local guy doing it for 190, heaven knows how he can do it so cheap and I know also if you have a problem, he won't come back. So shop around and take my advice, word of mouth recommendations is the way to go and cheapest is not always best.

1dave

hi, if people can afford it the solution is bbc/rte is a freesat HD box and a saorview tv. to achieve this in 1 go it is pricy. so do it in steps. saorview tv for main room and a sky box. the sky box works the like a freesat box, it has the same features interactive (for sports on bbc), 7 day tv guide. and the remote can be tuned in work the basic tv functions, volume on/off change channel. note: sky boxes are not perfect, using it as a freesat box but for 30 euro on adverts i think well worth it.
for the saorview i would have 1 official saorview box/tv for teletext. if you dont get it you will never have it.
for the other rooms what ever is cleap and upgrade as the years go by. so more sky boxes and cheap terrestrial tuners.
the dish, if u live where things rust fast get a good rush proof dish. if rust isnt an issue, a sky dish will last about 5-7 years . it has 4 outputs/quad lnb.
1 output from the lnb is needed for tv. a lidl dish will only have a single lnb/ 1 output. a quad lnb is another 15-40 euro.

1dave

if you have the square aerial it will do for saorview . check saorview.ie to see where to aim it . if there is a good signal where u live the aerial might do 3 tvs. split the aerial signal 3 ways . if not you might need a dristrabution amp . the thing with digital tv is, its a good picture or no picture. weather affects signal.

STB

1dave wrote: »

1dave wrote: »

1. if you have the square aerial it will do for saorview
2. the thing with digital tv is, its a good picture or no picture
3. weather affects signal.

Can you please explain these statements and why you think they are true

Kristopherus

STB wrote: »

Can you please explain these statements and why you think they are true

I think he means the wide band grid type aerial - which is/was used to pick up the deflector signal in most areas in the west.

Peter Rhea

Kristopherus wrote: »

I think he means the wide band grid type aerial . . .

:rolleyes: You think so? Let us here it from the man himself.

I'm particularly interested in his comment about the weather, as that seems to be a favourite get-out clause of incompetents.

1dave

amroche said: Can anyone give me a steer on the best thing to do, (in non technical language) and better still an idea of cost. i was trying to point out to amroche if he went about doing it himself his square aerial may do. he may need to point it in a different direction and just because he has a good picture doesnt mean he has good reception. if he has a weak signal to start add a bit of bad weather and he might have nothing. no technical language used.

1dave

just for u STB.
1. if you have the square aerial it will do for saorview
2. the thing with digital tv is, its a good picture or no picture
3. weather affects signal.


Can you please explain these statements and why you think they are true
the man who started the thread said he wanted non technical language help.
i was trying to look at it from his point of view.
he would understand square aerial but he might not no its a grid aerial.

analogue tv (which he has delt with till now) the better the signal the better the picture. ----the thing with digital tv is, its a good picture or no picture---- meaning no snowy picture. if the signal is bad to start with the picture could go when clowds/rain (weather) goes bad
im not a whizz on this stuff and dont explain myself correctly, bad puncuation and spelling BUT ive tried to help. if you tried to help rather than take issue with me i might learn something too.

kuro_man

You need to ask these questions:

1. Do you want to record tv regularly?
If Yes (and I highly recommend it), get a freesat HD+ box for the main living room, plus a saorivew box. No saorview PVR out yet, but you can add an external hard drive to lots of them for recording. Don't get $ky, if you cancel subscription you can no longer record.
If No, use combo box in main living room.

2. Do you want all channels in "other" rooms?
If Yes, put combo box (sat and terrestrial) in "other" room, otherwise use saorview boxes (Irish only).

3. Are you good at DIY?
Mounting a dish is easy enough. Alignment can be tricky but very doable especially if you can connect LNB to receiver & portable tv and see it while you move the dish. Lots of advice in this forum, use dishpointer to start you off.

Pay-back on a free-to-air system is only a year or two if you pay €175p.a. so worth doing it right.

lawhec

1dave wrote: »

if he has a weak signal to start add a bit of bad weather and he might have nothing. no technical language used.

In the main service area, weather should have no real effect on a full-powered signal being transmitted other than possible occasions of tropospheric enhancement, the conditions which allow you to receive television and FM radio from further distances than usual, normally caused by a settled period of high air pressure than in winter normally gives still, foggy conditions and in the summer, warm with cloudless skies and no wind. Transmitter network planning tries to keep this potential interference to a minimum. Some weather effects may fluctuate received signal levels but this is not normally a pronounced problem in Ireland where humidity levels are nearly always high and therefore reasonably constant.

If a signal is lost due to rain, then it's one of three things - water is present in the cable between the aerial and receiver or distribution system and should be replaced as a matter of urgency, or the aerial is loft installed and the roof tiles temporarily "hold" water resulting in a weaker signal reaching the aerial (normal solution - put it outdoors), or the place of reception is a very significant distance from the transmitter (say over 80km) where heavy rain over a significant distance coupled with objects between the transmitter and receiver (likely to be over-the-horizon) can weaken signals through rain fade and conductivity of certain objects - this is really last resort reception where nothing else can be found.

For a proper, professional set up the aerial system to the receiver should have enough signal to have enough elbow room over the minimum signal level required by the receiver to compensate for reduced power at the transmitter (unlike analogue, there won't be snow, just no picture) and rain fade in some extreme cases (rain fade at UHF compared to satellite TV signals has much less of an effect). The easiest way to do this if you have no special equipment is to have a 6db attenuator at hand plugged in between the end of the cable and the TV aerial socket. If there is no effect on the signal then all should be fine, if picture break up happens or no picture is present, then steps should be taken to remedy this where appropriate.

1dave

lawhec ya took the words out of my mouth. lol

Sam Russell

I cannot understand why anyone would recommend an out of contract Sky box for anything. It is full of encrypted channels that the user has to navigate around, and it cannot record. A Freesat HD PVR is the best solution for satellite, and a Soarview approved iDTV is the best solution for Saorview. A Saorview approved STB is a less costly alternative to the iDTV, with a combi coming up close behind. All are way, way ahead of an out of contract Sky box.

Some Sky boxes (i gather) have been kludged by Sky so that they do not work well as FTA boxes (I think this applies to some HD boxes) but all sky boxes disable the recording (and playback) when out of contract. Why would you want one? It is like having a left hand drive car in this country. OK, it drives, but it is not safe for overtaking. Sky boxes are designed as revenue earners for Sky, not as FTA boxes that get free UK TV. They might do it, but not well. The Freesat box IS designed as a FTA box for UK TV and it does it brilliantly. It even records from the EPG. Eventually, the Sky box will be replaced out of frustration.

My advice would be to go Freesat if you can, and a combi if the cost is paramount.

1dave

i agree with freesat is best. but for the folks that dont have 100s of euro to spend on a good freesat box and no very little about digital ( people who would struggle with finding and updating channels). or the 4 uk channels bbc1,2 itv ch4 is all he wants. its a plug and play and upgrade when money allows. a standard sky box i am on about.. id say most of the people who lost the analogue channels bbcs wants something that works, is cheap and no manual updating. the standard sky box as i said is not perfect. but ticks those boxes. as for the channels you set them as favourites and its push tv guide and fav button or the blue button or enter the channel number which they learn in time. im from the west and had these channels.

STB

1dave wrote: »

just for u STB.
1. if you have the square aerial it will do for saorview
2. the thing with digital tv is, its a good picture or no picture
3. weather affects signal.


Can you please explain these statements and why you think they are true
the man who started the thread said he wanted non technical language help.
i was trying to look at it from his point of view.
he would understand square aerial but he might not no its a grid aerial.

analogue tv (which he has delt with till now) the better the signal the better the picture. ----the thing with digital tv is, its a good picture or no picture---- meaning no snowy picture. if the signal is bad to start with the picture could go when clowds/rain (weather) goes bad
im not a whizz on this stuff and dont explain myself correctly, bad puncuation and spelling BUT ive tried to help. if you tried to help rather than take issue with me i might learn something too.

1Dave

I am trying to help. I have been trying to help since I started posting here in 2008. I tried telling you in the other thread that the use of a Sky box for combined Saorview/Freesat does not work.

In other threads you been posting and encouraging people who may not know better to buy out of subscription Sky boxes (including this one) as a solution for Saorview & Freesat reception. That thread was from someone a simple solution requesting a solution for elderly parents. Its not the first time the question has come up. Certainly I remember offering a solution in the past should you wish to have a look.

I was pointing out that your solution failed at the first hurdle, they don't do Saorview. Sky boxes dont tick any boxes. They are also kludged and involve multiple button pressing to access a favourites menu which makes them in no way easy to use. Sky design these boxes to encourage people not to use them for FTA, and more importantly to sign back up to them. More importantly these people you are suggesting should buy a Sky box off adverts.ie would have 2 boxes (having also had to buy a €60+ Saorview box as well) and would be caught up in the world of source switching on the TV, if they even have the required number of inputs on their TV.

Regular poster have been discussing HD Combo boxes and using them for both Saorview and Freesat here in this very forum since 2008. They involve one remote, one channel list, one box and have now become very affordable. They start at €85. I make no apology for pointing out that your advice is flawed. Do not take it personally.

As regards why you think the reception of Saorview is somehow simpler to the reception of analogue TV, you either get it or you don't. Well, thats not true either.

I don't think anyone had a go at your punctuation!

Mr. Rabbit

Sam Russell wrote: »

I cannot understand why anyone would recommend an out of contract Sky box for anything. It is full of encrypted channels that the user has to navigate around, and it cannot record. A Freesat HD PVR is the best solution for satellite, and a Soarview approved iDTV is the best solution for Saorview. A Saorview approved STB is a less costly alternative to the iDTV, with a combi coming up close behind. All are way, way ahead of an out of contract Sky box.

Some Sky boxes (i gather) have been kludged by Sky so that they do not work well as FTA boxes (I think this applies to some HD boxes) but all sky boxes disable the recording (and playback) when out of contract. Why would you want one? It is like having a left hand drive car in this country. OK, it drives, but it is not safe for overtaking. Sky boxes are designed as revenue earners for Sky, not as FTA boxes that get free UK TV. They might do it, but not well. The Freesat box IS designed as a FTA box for UK TV and it does it brilliantly. It even records from the EPG. Eventually, the Sky box will be replaced out of frustration.

My advice would be to go Freesat if you can, and a combi if the cost is paramount.

I agree Sam.

Unless you want to subscribe to pay TV channels Freesat is the best route for viewers in the ROI who want to receive the UK TV channels but don't have access to a Freeview or Freeview Lite transmitter (post DSO) in NI.

£250 (for a PVR) and £50 for installation might seem expensive, but it's far cheaper than paying €175 a year for 4 or 5 channels from a deflector system in the long run.

If you don't want the recording facility then a basic Freesat box is only around the £100 mark.