BBC digital switchover

Deepwell

The BBC digital switchover occurred last night. BBC2 analogue is not tranmitting anymore but the BBC digital channels are now transmitting at higher power. If you are not receiving them then retune your digital channels on your TV. I'm now picking up great BBC reception in Drogheda with a 20 year old aerial

gipi

Deepwell,

What other equipment do you have to pick up the UK digital channels - TV or set-top box?

I bought a Freeview box a while back to try it with my own aerial, and it didn't pick up anything, but I will try it again now that the switchover has happened.

Lord TSC

I noticed BBC 2 isn't airing anymore, and the others anologues went down earlier but are back up now. Does that mean we're keeping them long term if we're still getting them now?

Mr Cumulonimbus

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

I noticed BBC 2 isn't airing anymore, and the others anologues went down earlier but are back up now. Does that mean we're keeping them long term if we're still getting them now?

Nope, all gone on October 24th both North and South. Digital only after that. If you have a Freeview (NI digital service via a TV aerial) or Saorview capable set top box or TV retune it now. The BBC's channels are coming in very well here in Dundalk if you have an aerial that was getting the old analogue service from NI.

Stage 1 of the digital switchover occurred today in NI. Stage 2 occurs on October 24th. The rest of the analogue channels in NI are closed down and further digital versions of channels (UTV, CH4 etc) should become available if you don't have them already.

peejay1986

Retuned the Freeview channels on our TVs (Ardee). Prior to today they were very inconsistent signals. Now they're perfect! Even picking up the Red Button channel (301) which is wasn't before. Can watch my NFL in bed now on Mondays!

So UTV/Channel 4/5 analogue signals getting switched off on 24th? Would love if they came through on Freeview. Would solve a lot of headaches here.

markc1184

All perfect on 2 saorview tvs and another saorview box. Major difference compared to what was there before.

Mr Cumulonimbus

peejay1986 wrote: »

So UTV/Channel 4/5 analogue signals getting switched off on 24th? Would love if they came through on Freeview. Would solve a lot of headaches here.

Yes. All analogue gone on the 24th. Going by todays excellent results, they should come in too.

gipi

Retuned my saorview TV and got the BBC digital channels no problem.

I plugged in the Freeview box I bought for £18 in Belfast a few months ago to another (non-saorview) TV and got the channels there, quality of picture isn't 100% but it's better than analogue was!

CMpunked

I now have 20 (well, maybe 19. What is a red button channel?) channels where i had barely 8 before. Happy days and not a saorview box in sight!

Happyman42

Got them here too.
Does anyone know if UTV and Channel 4 will be available this way?

CMpunked

Happyman42 wrote: »

Got them here too.
Does anyone know if UTV and Channel 4 will be available this way?

Yeah it will. They just have to turn on the signals. I'll be retuning every day and will post when i get them.

Mr Cumulonimbus

CMpunked wrote: »

Yeah it will. They just have to turn on the signals. I'll be retuning every day and will post when i get them.

Nothing will happen now until the 24th October. That will be the next time to do a re-tune. More channels should be available then when the other high power transmissions from NI begin.

Lord TSC

Not looking forward to having to go get the saorview box. Worried they are going to mess up the system I've got in place right now :P

CMpunked

Mr Cumulonimbus wrote: »

Nothing will happen now until the 24th October. That will be the next time to do a re-tune. More channels should be available then when the other high power transmissions from NI begin.

Excellent.

What other channels other than chan.4 and itv should we expect?

Arrow in the Knee

Hey there,
I only have an aerial for the TV. BBC 2 was knocked off today. The TV's are Saorview approved at home.

So could I get a Freeview box to get the UK channels after the switch over?

Mr Cumulonimbus

CMpunked wrote: »

Excellent.

What other channels other than chan.4 and itv should we expect?

Link here shows whats available from a main Freeview transmitter. Divis (Belfast) is one, so carries all services.

Other transmitters (relays) are termed "Freeview Lite" and will carry less channels. Camlough near Newry is one of these.

MarkK

Arrow in the Knee wrote: »

Hey there,
I only have an aerial for the TV. BBC 2 was knocked off today. The TV's are Saorview approved at home.

So could I get a Freeview box to get the UK channels after the switch over?

You should be able to get the Freeview channels on your Saorview box, provided the Saorview box is connected to the same aerial that used to get BBC 2.

Retune the Saorview box today and you should get the BBC channels.

Retune again on 24 October for UTV & C4 etc.

Arrow in the Knee

Just to make sure it doesn't matter where you get the Freeview box either North or South of the border?

Also what Freeview box did one of the previous posters get the Red Button channel from?

CMpunked

Mr Cumulonimbus wrote: »

Link here shows whats available from a main Freeview transmitter. Divis (Belfast) is one, so carries all services.

Other transmitters (relays) are termed "Freeview Lite" and will carry less channels. Camlough near Newry is one of these.

Not being smart, but whats stopping us in louth from picking up the belfast signal over the newry one?

MarkK

Arrow in the Knee wrote: »

Just to make sure it doesn't matter where you get the Freeview box either North or South of the border?

A Freeview box will not work with Saorview.

You need either a Freeview HD box or a Saorview box.

Freeview HD is best as it will pick up the NI HD channels.


Freeview box = works with Freeview Standard Definition only.
Saorview box = works with Freeview Standard Definition & Saorview
Freeview HD box = works with Freeview SD & Freeview HD & Saorview

ahnowbrowncow

CMpunked wrote: »

Not being smart, but whats stopping us in louth from picking up the belfast signal over the newry one?

Signal not strong enough maybe?

I used to get the freeview digital channels, fairly poor signal though, but after I retuned today they are gone. Getting the bbc channels perfectly. I'm guessing from that divis transmitter link I should be able to get the freeview channels again on the 24th of October when the freeview power increases?

Mr Cumulonimbus

CMpunked wrote: »

Not being smart, but whats stopping us in louth from picking up the belfast signal over the newry one?

Cooley Hills and the Mournes might. Parts of Dundalk town (in the east, roughly Red Barns Road area) have aerials pointing to Camlough. Most are pointing to Belfast though.

Move further north (Ravensdale etc) and you're definitely blocked for Belfast.

What frequency is your reception on? If its Belfast, the new high power transmission that started today is on UHF channel 27. The remaining analogue channels are on 21, 24 and 31 (CH4, UTV and BBC1).

If its Camlough, the new digital channels are on 59, with analogue on channels 54, 58 and 61.

CMpunked

Mr Cumulonimbus wrote: »

What frequency is your reception on? If its Belfast, the new high power transmission that started today is on UHF channel 27. The remaining analogue channels are on 21, 24 and 31 (CH4, UTV and BBC1).

If its Camlough, the new digital channels are on 59, with analogue on channels 54, 58 and 61.

Mine are 45 and 30.

Mr Cumulonimbus

CMpunked wrote: »

Mine are 45 and 30.

The transmitter at Kilkeel in Co. Down is on ch 45 for the digital tranmissions that appeared today. Remaining analogue channels from Kilkeel are on 39, 42 and 49 (BBC1, CH4, UTV).

Is your location on the coast?

Is ch 30 also digital? Whats on it?

bryangiggsy

Rescanned yesterday in Drogheda and my digital portable tv picked up all the bbc channels. 42 digital channels now instead of 18. Looking forward to themswitching on the signal for ITV and Channel four and the rest on October 24th

Lord TSC

Are people getting the BBC channels with a box from Argos then? Would one of them be ok?

working fool

I just cheaked out argos.co .uk which covers the Newry shop cheapest box is £17.99
In the republic cheapest saorveiw box is €59.99 ??? Says it all really .
I've no interest in rte or topping up gay Byrnes pension so ill be going to Newry

bridster007

working fool wrote: »

I just cheaked out argos.co .uk which covers the Newry shop cheapest box is £17.99
In the republic cheapest saorveiw box is €59.99 ??? Says it all really .
I've no interest in rte or topping up gay Byrnes pension so ill be going to Newry

That Argos box in Newry won't bring in Saorview channels.
€60 is not much to pay for a proper certified box that is guaranteed to work with all Saorview features. And brings in Freeview as well.

R.O.R

Living in Roschoill (Drogheda) and have had a fairly decent reception for BB1, pretty patchy on BB2, UTV was practically unwatchable and Channel 4 varied from near perfect to very rough. Aerial mounted outside on the chimney stack.

Have a Saorview box in the bedroom (Sky for the other 2 TV's so not bothered about them). Last night BBC 2 Analouge was gone (expected) so I re-scanned the Saorview box hoping to pick up the BBC digital channels, but I've still only got the Irish digital channels.

Any suggestions? I believe Roschoill is a bad area for reception, but I'll go crazy without my BBC stations (being from across the water originally).

bridster007

Teamshadowclan wrote: »

Are people getting the BBC channels with a box from Argos then? Would one of them be ok?

The Alba box in Argos for €60 is fine for Saorview and Freeview.

working fool

bridster007 wrote: »

working fool wrote: »

I just cheaked out argos.co .uk which covers the Newry shop cheapest box is £17.99
In the republic cheapest saorveiw box is €59.99 ??? Says it all really .
I've no interest in rte or topping up gay Byrnes pension so ill be going to Newry

That Argos box in Newry won't bring in Saorview channels.
€60 is not much to pay for a proper certified box that is guaranteed to work with all Saorview features. And brings in Freeview as well.

Well I allready have sky and the box would just be for the kitchen or one of the bedrooms .
So I've no interest in watching RTE and the uk one will do the trick nicely

peejay1986

working fool wrote: »

I just cheaked out argos.co .uk which covers the Newry shop cheapest box is £17.99
In the republic cheapest saorveiw box is €59.99 ??? Says it all really .
I've no interest in rte or topping up gay Byrnes pension so ill be going to Newry

I was living in England at the time of the digital switchover in Cheshire and, to be fair, they took the piss with Freeview box prices then. Cheapest you could get (and there was a lot more choice) was £30. You can get Freeview boxes for a tenner now.

It's not nice but it's obvious that they'll sell them now for as high a price as possible. It's an almost guaranteed market in the sense that they're still the cheapest option for the mandatory digital switchover.

gipi

R.O.R wrote: »

Living in Roschoill (Drogheda) and have had a fairly decent reception for BB1, pretty patchy on BB2, UTV was practically unwatchable and Channel 4 varied from near perfect to very rough. Aerial mounted outside on the chimney stack.

Have a Saorview box in the bedroom (Sky for the other 2 TV's so not bothered about them). Last night BBC 2 Analouge was gone (expected) so I re-scanned the Saorview box hoping to pick up the BBC digital channels, but I've still only got the Irish digital channels.

Any suggestions? I believe Roschoill is a bad area for reception, but I'll go crazy without my BBC stations (being from across the water originally).

Older saorview TVs/STBs apparently don't pick up the UK freeview channels - not sure what exactly is meant by "older" though! My 15 month old saorview TV picked up all of the freeview channels perfectly (I'm only up the road from you).
I have a UK freeview set top box which hasn't picked up the channels very well at all - that could be due to the internal aerial wiring (it was split between 3 rooms, and I'm not sure what if any booster was installed). It does pick up the RTE saorview radio channels loud and clear though!

There's a forum discussing the digital changeover here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=56

R.O.R

gipi wrote: »

Older saorview TVs/STBs apparently don't pick up the UK freeview channels - not sure what exactly is meant by "older" though! My 15 month old saorview TV picked up all of the freeview channels perfectly (I'm only up the road from you).
I have a UK freeview set top box which hasn't picked up the channels very well at all - that could be due to the internal aerial wiring (it was split between 3 rooms, and I'm not sure what if any booster was installed). It does pick up the RTE saorview radio channels loud and clear though!

There's a forum discussing the digital changeover here:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=56

Thanks - Saorview box was bought a couple of months ago. It's a Finlux branded one that's HD capable so I thought I'd get the channels.

In-Laws in Wheaton Hall can pick up all the Freeview channels with an NI Freeview TV (but only getting sound for Saorview channels - must be MPEG2) but I'm getting nothin.

I've been reading the TV forum about the subject and all the talk of MUX etc. is going right over my head. Was hoping for a non techy answer like "try turning your aerial round to point at Belfast"

mornington man

Was looking to get the UK channels post 24th October and all "suppliers/Experts" advised Freeview boxes< Combiboxes etc. all at €180 a go, plus would need a satellite dish. Had bought a TV recently (Sony) with, which was saorview approved. Had tuned the Irish stations on Digital and the UK/Irish on Analogue and was expecting to lose them come the 24th. Lost BBC2 last night and saw this thread on Boards. Following the advice, I have just retuned on Digital and got 42 stations (UK/Irish, TV and radio) Pictures are perfect as is sound. The Red button works on the BBC stations. I cannot believe this, all those extra channels for "free", and more to come on the 24th. My aerial is 30 yrs old. Thanks to all who have contributed!!!::):):)

event

thos who have picked up the Uk channels, can you let us know what make/model saorview box you're using?

mornington man

event wrote: »

thos who have picked up the Uk channels, can you let us know what make/model saorview box you're using?

No Box being used, the TV (as I believe all new TV's are) was Saorview approved, it is inbuilt. You just connect your TV aerial as normal. Could get the Saorview channels (Irish) from about 6 months ago and since today some UK ones will more to follow on 24th

HuntingDrog

bridster007 wrote: »

The Alba box in Argos for €60 is fine for Saorview and Freeview.

Sorry if this is a dumb question but is it because we are close to the North that Drogheda is picking up Freeview?

My situation is:
Have aerial and Sat Free-to-air here in Drogheda home
No cable or sky nor no saorview TV's in the home.
No HD TV's in the home either
I want to buy a set-top box to get Irish channels.

Will the Alba box pick up Freeview channels for me too?

gipi

R.O.R wrote: »

I've been reading the TV forum about the subject and all the talk of MUX etc. is going right over my head. Was hoping for a non techy answer like "try turning your aerial round to point at Belfast"

Know what you mean - it's a whole other language over there!

MarkK

HuntingDrog wrote: »

Sorry if this is a dumb question but is it because we are close to the North that Drogheda is picking up Freeview?

Yes.
Up until yesterday, Freeview was on very low power from only 3 of the over 50 TV transmitters NI.

Since yesterday, BBC 2 analogue shut down as was replaced by the BBC Freeview channels from all 50 transmitters. Nearly all who used to get BBC 2 from the transmitters before will be able to get the BBC channels on Freeview now.

From 24 October, the other NI channels shut down on analogue and you should be able to get UTV/C4 on Freeview from that date.

HuntingDrog wrote: »

Will the Alba box pick up Freeview channels for me too?

Yes it will, but it won't pick up the four "Freeview HD" channels.

HuntingDrog

MarkK wrote: »

Yes it will, but it won't pick up the four "Freeview HD" channels.

ok - but like I said, I don't have a HD tv anyway.

ok tks Mark for that confirmation. For €60, that looks a good deal to me

one more thing - do i need to buy anything else (cables etc) to get this hooked up to my tv?
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5322745.htm

bridster007

HuntingDrog wrote: »

ok - but like I said, I don't have a HD tv anyway.

ok tks Mark for that confirmation. For €60, that looks a good deal to me

one more thing - do i need to buy anything else (cables etc) to get this hooked up to my tv?
http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/5322745.htm

There is a HDMI cable in the box which you won't use as your TV is not HD. Therefore you need to buy a scart cable. ( don't spend more than €4 on one )
Or you may have some lying around the house.

HuntingDrog

bridster007 wrote: »

There is a HDMI cable in the box which you won't use as your TV is not HD. Therefore you need to buy a scart cable. ( don't spend more than €4 on one )
Or you may have some lying around the house.

fair play....tks a mill lads

marno21

Mr Cumulonimbus wrote: »

The transmitter at Kilkeel in Co. Down is on ch 45 for the digital tranmissions that appeared today. Remaining analogue channels from Kilkeel are on 39, 42 and 49 (BBC1, CH4, UTV).

Is your location on the coast?

Is ch 30 also digital? Whats on it?

At a guess, 30 is Saorview from Three Rock.

It's possible the user can receive Saorview from Three Rock/Clermont/Kippure but as Three Rock is furthest down, it stops there first.

Mr Cumulonimbus

marno21 wrote: »

At a guess, 30 is Saorview from Three Rock.

It's possible the user can receive Saorview from Three Rock/Clermont/Kippure but as Three Rock is furthest down, it stops there first.

Yip, eventually was thinking it could be 3R. Was wrecking my head for ages! I PM'd the person earlier mentioning this.

markc1184

For anyone that can't pick up the UK channels, you will probably need to do a 1st time installation which will delete the memory and start over. I have my Finlux saorview box since they became available and it has picked up the UK bbc tv and radio channels by doing this. When I just tried the rescan it only picked up the Irish channels.

Bogman Billy

peejay1986 wrote: »

Retuned the Freeview channels on our TVs (Ardee). Prior to today they were very inconsistent signals. Now they're perfect! Even picking up the Red Button channel (301) which is wasn't before. Can watch my NFL in bed now on Mondays!

So UTV/Channel 4/5 analogue signals getting switched off on 24th? Would love if they came through on Freeview. Would solve a lot of headaches here.

Can I ask what channel do you get the nfl on?! Thanks;)

Son0vagun

BBC channels now available on the play tv on the PS3

stevek93

Any chance of picking this up in Dublin?

gipi

stevek,
It depends on where you live and whether you can pick up the signal - posters over on the TV forum have reported clear signals in Co Kildare so you never know!

If you've got an aerial and a saorview box/TV just retune and give it a go!

peejay1986

Bogman Billy wrote: »

Can I ask what channel do you get the nfl on?! Thanks;)

Channel 301 (aka BBC Red Button). Monday nights, usually about 1-1.30AM. Enjoy!