Saorview and freeview.

mistermatthew

Hi,
I live in a border county and currently pick up freeview(uk), however the box picks up a signal for the irish saorview channels however there is no picture with them. I believe it is a problem with decoding due to the use of mpeg4 by irish saorview and mpeg 3 by british freeview.
My question is, Is there a box I can buy that will decode both formats? What is this box if it exists which i would assume it does?

beachhead

You'll need a saorview aerial and box.There are combination boxes available that supply freeview and saorview.Whatever you decide on a seperate digital aerial for saorview is a necessity.

Peter Rhea

beachhead wrote: »

You'll need a saorview aerial and box.There are combination boxes available that supply freeview and saorview.Whatever you decide on a seperate digital aerial for saorview is a necessity.

There's no such thing as a Saorview aerial or a digital aerial. I would think the OP's aerial setup is fine the way it is.

There are no Saorview/Freeview combo boxes either. All Saorview receivers will decode the standard definition Freeview programmes & the majority of Freeview HD boxes will work with Saorview (iirc, the one to avoid is a Technisat).

Recording options are another matter, though, & might require a bit of thought.

beachhead

I'll have to tell my local tv engineer that he doesnt know what he's talking about.

Peter Rhea

A lot of people refer to the free-to-air satellite channels as 'Freeview'. It's actually the brandname for the UK terrestrial tv service.

A 'combo' box is one with terrestrial & satellite tuning capability.

mistermatthew

Peter Rhea wrote: »

There are no Saorview/Freeview combo boxes either. All Saorview receivers will decode the standard definition Freeview programmes & the majority of Freeview HD boxes will work with Saorview (iirc, the one to avoid is a Technisat).

Recording options are another matter, though, & might require a bit of thought.

Ok, cool. So if I'm understanding correctly then if I purchase a standard saorview box then I will be able to recieve freeview on it also, or if I purchase a freeview HD box I can recieve freeview on it.

zg3409

Yes. The best box for border areas is Freeview HD. That will get the most channels. It is sure to work 100% with the UK channels. Some of the advanced features of Irish channels (teletext 7/ day guide) may not work on the Irish channels as the two systems have slight differences.

If you get a Saorview box you will get Freeview but not Freeview HD channels. If you get a Freeview HD box you will get every channel. Extra channels are being added to Freeview on the 10th and 24th of October so do a rescan after both dates for extra channels.

reslfj

beachhead wrote: »

beachhead wrote: »

You'll need a saorview aerial and box.There are combination boxes available that supply freeview and saorview.Whatever you decide on a separate digital aerial for Saorview is a necessity.

I'll have to tell my local tv engineer that he doesnt know what he's talking about.

Please do - and fast - as you first statement has very little truth in it - to put it politely.


All Saorview receivers should receive and process the old DVB-T/MPEG-2 Freeview signals too.
The receivers to buy in the ROI/NI border area - where both Saorview and Freeview/FreeviewHD are receivable - should be FreeviewHD approved.

In NI (and indeed in all of the UK) only FreeviewHD approved equipment should be bought.

Lars

mistermatthew

reslfj wrote: »

Please do - and fast - as you first statement has very little truth in it - to put it politely.


All Saorview receivers should receive and process the old DVB-T/MPEG-2 Freeview signals too.
The receivers to buy in the ROI/NI border area - where both Saorview and Freeview/FreeviewHD are receivable - should be FreeviewHD approved.

In NI (and indeed in all of the UK) only FreeviewHD approved equipment should be bought.

Lars

Ok cool, so A freeview HD box is the job. What is the cheapest one available that is decent?

Delboy5

Posted this a few weeks back, i-Can Freeview HD box. £30.

Will get you FreeviewHD, Saorview and Freeview stations.

Does not have a recording cabability.

http://www.maplin.co.uk/i-can-freeview-hd-receiver-591756

reslfj

mistermatthew wrote: »

Ok cool, so A freeview HD box is the job. What is the cheapest one available that is decent?

Try to search this terrestrial sub-forum for info on DVB-T2/FreeviewHD boxes.

Most are very OK, but the ordering of the (logical) channels may (will?) differ depending upon the country selected (Ireland/UK). This is not related to DVB-T or DVB-T2 , but to the computer firmware in the box (or in TV sets) controlling the tuning and the internal channel numbering.

A box of a TV set with an easy way to create and maintain a favorite list - is recommended.

Lars

lafors

Does anyone have any idea how far into the south you'd pick up freeview hd?
The in-laws live just outside Dundalk near knockbridge. Would they pick up the uk channels on a freeview hd approved tv that distance from the border?
Just trying to decide before they go for a saorview/freesat tv. Don't particularly want to have to put up a sat dish and wire through an old house if their current aerial will do for both.

Ronnie Raygun

If they already have good analogue reception from NI, then they should be fine for Freeview (SD & HD). Does there current tv set have a digital tuner of any kind?

reslfj

lafors wrote: »

Does anyone have any idea how far into the south you'd pick up freeview hd?
The in-laws live just outside Dundalk near knockbridge. Would they pick up the uk channels on a freeview hd approved tv that distance from the border?

The Camlough transmitter about ~13 deg and 17 km from Dundalk will broadcast:
BBC ch59 500W, ITV/C4 ch55 500W, FreeviewHD ch50 500W, Vertical.

Maybe this page will indicate the expected coverage?

You can input your exact (decimal) Lat Lon on this page and get a signal path/terrain plot.

Clermont Carn Saorview ch52 160kW is Horisontal, but its very strong signal will not be any problem even with just one almost vertical aerial pointing at Camlough.

Check the UK analogue channels in use now.

Lars

lafors

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

If they already have good analogue reception from NI, then they should be fine for Freeview (SD & HD). Does there current tv set have a digital tuner of any kind?

Current tv's could be put in a museum they're that old

reslfj wrote: »

The Camlough transmitter about ~13 deg and 17 km from Dundalk will broadcast:
BBC ch59 500W, ITV/C4 ch55 500W, FreeviewHD ch50 500W, Vertical.

Maybe this page will indicate the expected coverage?

You can input your exact (decimal) Lat Lon on this page and get a signal path/terrain plot.

Clermont Carn Saorview ch52 160kW is Horisontal, but its very strong signal will not be any problem even with just one almost vertical aerial pointing at Camlough.

Check the UK analogue channels in use now.

Lars

To go vertical i presume i just rotate the aerial 90?
Any specific uk channels i should look at to see how good/bad their signal is?

Thanks for the links I'll throw their lat/lon in now to see what it might be like.

holidaysong

I'm getting perfect Freeview in Knockbridge. I don't have the Ch. 48 Mux (with Dave & Talksport) due to the aerial group but this shifts Mux on October 24th.

l also get the BBC DAB channels on my DAB radio by the way.

lafors

holidaysong wrote: »

I'm getting perfect Freeview in Knockbridge. I don't have the Ch. 48 Mux (with Dave & Talksport) due to the aerial group but this shifts Mux on October 24th.

l also get the BBC DAB channels on my DAB radio by the way.

Brilliant
Do you have your aerial set up for vertical like lars was saying?

reslfj

holidaysong wrote: »

I'm getting perfect Freeview in Knockbridge. I don't have the Ch. 48 Mux (with Dave & Talksport) due to the aerial group but this shifts Mux on October 24th.

lafors wrote: »

Do you have your aerial set up for vertical like lars was saying?

These are the low power pre-DOS muxes from Divis. Divis is Horisontal. The Divis disgnal will be 20-40 times stronger post DSO. But even that will not pass trough the big mountains in the area - so Divis reception will depend much on your exact location.

Again if you check the reception for the current full power UK analogue, you will know if Divis is an option for Freeview post DSO (6 muxes) or you need to receive from the Vertical relay.

Lars

lawhec

reslfj wrote: »

Clermont Carn Saorview ch52 160kW is Horisontal, but its very strong signal will not be any problem even with just one almost vertical aerial pointing at Camlough.

Clermont Carn's television transmissions are vertically polarised, not horizontal.

reslfj

lawhec wrote: »

Clermont Carn's television transmissions are vertically polarised, not horizontal.

Sorry I did not check as I should have done.

I still think checking the current analogue signal and finding the correct NI TX site, will give an estimate of the future digital options for Freeview/FreviewHD.

Lars

Chimichangas

For what its worth here is the list of expected channels for Freeview from Divis Transmitter at DSO 1 and 2(as taken from digitaluk.co.uk):

Divis DSO1 10 October 2012: 27 33- 29 23- 48 34+

Divis DSO 24 October 2012: 27 21+ 23 26 29 24

May come in useful for any manual tuning for freeview digital after DSO.

Peter Rhea

Stage 1 (Oct. 10) will only see 1 full power mux. available, on ch. 27. So no point scanning the other channels if you're not already getting something there.

Chimichangas

Great Point!!

Peter Rhea wrote: »

Stage 1 (Oct. 10) will only see 1 full power mux. available, on ch. 27. So no point scanning the other channels if you're not already getting something there.