Receiving uk from an aerial

heffo500

Hi

A neighbour of mine asked to look at there tv as the want to upgrade. So I went and had a look she lives in dublin 15 but not where you can receive upc. The Aerial is on a pole that is about 50ft high and the aerial seems to be pointing in the opposite direction of three rock. So when i turned on the tv she has the irish stations aswell as bbc 1/2 utv and channel 4 but she doesnt have a dish or anythingjust the aerial where is the aerial picking up the uk channels from? She said the reception used to perfect on the uk channel but they are slightly fuzzy now.

if she is receiving a uk/ni signal would it be possible a soarview box would receive uk freeview from the same source?

Any advice appreciated

madalig12

nope, saorview will just get the irish channels, if she were to buy a tv from the north however she may be able to pick up both but may need an aerial upgrade. FYI uk signals have dipped lately as they've started to prepare for the changeover to digital, in NI they are at 8% as of 8th-10th of october the digital will be running full blast. Hope this helps.

coylemj

If she has a single aerial then she is picking up RTE from Clermont Carn in Co. Louth and probably BBC/UTV/Ch4 from Camlough. There's only a two degree angle between the two of them as viewed from Dublin so a single aerial can pickup both of them.

Lots of people in Dublin have this setup, if you look at the houses on elevated spots around Leopardstown and Blackrock you'll see lots of them with a single big yagi (UHF) aerial pointing north. The Burlington and Montrose hotels have four such aerials each.

Ronnie Raygun

madalig12 wrote: »

nope, saorview will just get the irish channels

Not true: a Saorview box will get the standard definition Freeview channels & most Freeview HD boxes will also work with Saorview.

heffo500

Thanks for the replies.

Im going to bring my Triax TSC 114 up and see what it picks up any idea what uk signal she might be receiving I want to know what channel to search on?

Does the ni digital service broadcast along side the analog like we have down here till they turn it off?

If the box picks up both would a saorview samsung tv receive the freeview too?

Ronnie Raygun

Only the 3 main transmitters (Divis, Brougher Mtn., Limavady) in NI broadcast Freeview atm, & at very low power relative to the analogue signals. The Divis (Belfast) transmitter is currently using UHF channels 23, 26, 29, 33, 34 & 48. Analogue from there is on chs. 21, 24, 27 & 31 & the aerial would be horizontally polarised.

coylemj

From the UK (NI) switch-over guide...

I live in Northern Ireland; can I buy a Saorview box to get digital TV?

If you purchase a Saorview TV or box, it will pick up Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland television services where they are available. They may place the Republic’s channels at the top of your programme guide. Functionality – text, subtitles and recorder timer – may vary.

ardmacha

madalig12 wrote:

nope, saorview will just get the irish channels,

Even Mary Curtis didn't actually give wrong information.....

Does the ni digital service broadcast along side the analog like we have down here till they turn it off?

Not really, it is very low power at present. You are unlikely to receive a NI digital service now, the real thing starts in October. If you presently have analogue then you should be OK.

If the box picks up both would a saorview samsung tv receive the freeview too?

Yes. An Saorview set should get regular SD Freeview (the full whack of channels) but may not get the HD channels (only a few).

coylemj wrote:

From the NI switch-over guide...

Page 8, I believe


Generally though, nowadays most people would suggest that a satellite dish would give a more stable signal than an aerial on an enormous pole if there are any problems.

coylemj

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

Only the 3 main transmitters (Divis, Brougher Mtn., Limavady) in NI broadcast Freeview atm, & at very low power relative to the analogue signals. The Divis (Belfast) transmitter is currently using UHF channels 23, 26, 29, 33, 34 & 48. Analogue from there is on chs. 21, 24, 27 & 31 & the aerial would be horizontally polarised.

The aerials I see my neighbours using are all vertically aligned which suggests a NI relay, not Divis. I'd say they're picking up Camlough near Newry which is in line with Clermont Carn in Co. Louth, also vertical. Or could be Kilkeel?

coylemj

OP, the NI switchover happens in two stages, Oct 10th and 24th. This is how it's described in the NI switch-over document...

Oct 10th

The analogue BBC Two signal is switched off permanently
At the same time, BBC digital channels, including BBC Two, extend to reach all areas

Oct 24th

The remaining analogue channels are switched off permanently
The remaining digital channels become available in all areas

So if you want to test your digital equipment in your neighbour's house, I'd wait until Oct 10th and you'll need to retune again on Oct 24th.

http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch/northernireland/divis

lucernarian

People picking up vertically polarised channels tend to pick up Kilkeel. At least in south Louth, Kilkeel comes in much more strongly than Camlough and also Kippure DTT wipes out reception of one of Camlough's analogue channels currently.

With the older aerial setups mounted on poles, they tend to have a large Group A aerial for Divis along with a VHF aerial for Kippure reception. Some others have a Group C/D for Clermont Carn instead of the VHF aerial.

If there's just the one vertically polarised aerial, I suspect it picks up Kilkeel for the NI channels and Clermont Carn for the UK channels.

coylemj

To_be_confirmed wrote: »

People picking up vertically polarised channels tend to pick up Kilkeel. At least in south Louth, Kilkeel comes in much more strongly than Camlough and also Kippure DTT wipes out reception of one of Camlough's analogue channels currently.

With the older aerial setups mounted on poles, they tend to have a large Group A aerial for Divis along with a VHF aerial for Kippure reception. Some others have a Group C/D for Clermont Carn instead of the VHF aerial.

If there's just the one vertically polarised aerial, I suspect it picks up Kilkeel for the NI channels and Clermont Carn for the UK channels.

Thanks, that settles it then, the folk around White's Cross in Leopardstown, the upper end of Newtownpark Ave. and the upper end of York Road in Dun Laoghaire with aerials all have one big yagi vertically polarized pointing north so it's Clermont Carn and Kilkeel. The odd house has a small contract pointing at Three Rock but most have just the one.

There is a wider angle (9 degrees) between the two as viewed from Dublin compared to the pairing of Clermont Carn and Camlough but if you point the aerial at Rostrevor which is the midpoint between CC and Kilkeel, you'd be only 4-5 degrees off for each transmitter.

Peter Rhea

I would think you would maximise the weaker Kilkeel signal & let Clermont look after itself. If it was unsatisfactory, use Three Rock.

coylemj

Peter Rhea wrote: »

I would think you would maximise the weaker Kilkeel signal & let Clermont look after itself. If it was unsatisfactory, use Three Rock.

Doesn't seem to be an issue on the southside of Dublin, the vast majority of people with the big yagis pointing north have only one aerial. I suspect the odd contract pointing to 3R was there before they discovered they could pickup BBC from Kilkeel.

Peter Rhea

I'm fairly sure Kilkeel was there long before Three Rock (& Clermont Carn for that matter).

Ronnie Raygun

Wonder when Kilkeel went UHF though, with the full complement of channels? Seems to have started with 405 line BBC1 only, in March '67.

Digifriendly

Peter Rhea wrote: »

I'm fairly sure Kilkeel was there long before Three Rock (& Clermont Carn for that matter).

IIRC Clermont Carn came into operation in the early 1980's c1981. I remember hearing a unionist politician complain about the signal beaming into the north but very soon forests of aerials for CC began to appear across the eastern part of NI including unionist strongholds as RTE had live Division 1, League Cup Final and FA Cup football which you couldn't get on BBC or ITV at the time!