What shall RTE do with all the old TV gear ?

Rock Solid

With the digital switch on the way next week what shall happen with all the old RTE transmission gear ? We should also be able to get BBC 1, BBC 2, and UTV as there also Irish stations coming from the north, does anybody know if this will happen ?

byte

We won't be getting BBC or UTV on Saorview any time soon, if that's what you're asking (nothing to do with Radio forum though).

Dunno what they did with their old Tx gear.

Kensington

I imagine most of it'd be reaching end-of-life at this stage anyway and would be scrapped.

redtelephone

Rock Solid wrote: »

With the digital switch on the way next week what shall happen with all the old RTE transmission gear?

I don't know what's happening it but I presume it would be illegal to use any of it for transmission in Europe since all analogue transmissions are ending. Maybe it's being sold on or given away to a deserving country?

marno21

I presume most of the stuff (as in transmitters, receive/tx aerials etc) will still be in use at the major sites, and considerin pretty much all of the remaining sites are small affairs I'd imagine most of it will be left to rot. A good share of the remaining sites are self help, and will probably be left there

Lapin

Joe Duffy is going to flog the lot on the next Fiver Friday to raise some loot for 'The Fund'.

europa11

Lapin wrote: »

Joe Duffy is going to flog the lot on the next Fiver Friday to raise some loot for 'The Fund'.

Reading the thread title I thought for a fleeting moment they were finally getting rid of Joe Duffy.......and Marzie, Tubs, Marty Whelan, Mary Wilson and even Greybo.


ah well! :rolleyes:

Rock Solid

The analouge switch off is tomorrow !, theres too be a special programme on Rte 1 analouge in the morning from 9am - 10am with Brian Dobson from one of the transmission sites, should be interesting.

Technocentral

Rock Solid wrote: »

The analouge switch off is tomorrow !, theres too be a special programme on Rte 1 analouge in the morning from 9am - 10am with Brian Dobson from one of the transmission sites, should be interesting.

Interesting if the AGM of the Irish Trainspotters Association is cancelled maybe.

Trick of the Tail

Interesting question about the analogue transmission gear. The transmitters at most main sites are not that old. The antennas are largely unchanged (except for when they've been replaced during tower replacements), but the DTT transmitters are all new. You can't use an analogue TV transmitter for digital.

But there is a lot of analogue equipment at relay and fill-in sites that's going to be 'surplus' now.

A

Technocentral

alinton wrote: »

Interesting question about the analogue transmission gear. The transmitters at most main sites are not that old. The antennas are largely unchanged (except for when they've been replaced during tower replacements), but the DTT transmitters are all new. You can't use an analogue TV transmitter for digital.

But there is a lot of analogue equipment at relay and fill-in sites that's going to be 'surplus' now.

A

If practical (shipping costs etc)it should be donated to a third world country instead of going on a scrap heap.

giftgrub

The old tower in Donnybrook isnt actually used to broadcast anymore.

Its used to beam the signal to the Dublin mountains and its then relayed from there.

There was some talk of getting it listed as a protected structure as well

constitutionus

heard on one of the talk radio shows that the plan is to use the analogue network to carry the new 4g mobile phone signal.

havent a bloody clue if thats viable or not but some bloke was going on about how valuable that bandwith was.

whats the odds theyll lease the network out if thats on the level ?

Hotblack Desiato

giftgrub wrote: »

The old tower in Donnybrook isnt actually used to broadcast anymore.

Its used to beam the signal to the Dublin mountains and its then relayed from there.

There was some talk of getting it listed as a protected structure as well

Think it's listed already.
RTE have an OB van with a microwave dish on a huge telescopic mast which beams back to the Donnybrook mast, it's often seen outside the National Concert Hall in Earlsfort Terrace (presumably sending back news footage recorded in and around Kildare St.)
There are quite a few microwave dishes on the Donnybrook mast and it wouldn't surprise me if some belong to telcos and pay rent to RTENL.

Fuzzy Clam

constitutionus wrote: »

heard on one of the talk radio shows that the plan is to use the analogue network to carry the new 4g mobile phone signal.

havent a bloody clue if thats viable or not but some bloke was going on about how valuable that bandwith was.

whats the odds theyll lease the network out if thats on the level ?

No. It's the spectrum that's for sale. The analogue equipment would be of no use.
The frequencies are now back in the hands of the regulators and may be sold/auctioned off for 4g or internet use.

More Music

The freed up spectrum is going to be auctioned by the government for possible 4G/broadband use. As already pointed out, the equipment is of no use.

The sell off of frequencies is called the Digital Dividend.

The tower in Donnybrook is not related to the analog switch off at all. This is still used to link RTE to their sites around the county for TV & radio. However, no actual TV or FM radio frequencies are transmitted from here.

Loads of other companies are renting space on it also. Mobile phone companies, broadband providers and other telco operators are all paying RTE for space.

Losty Dublin

I read via FB posts from transmission engineer friends that the old analogue TX rigs will be scrapped in as they are of no economic use to any broadcasters anymore and that spare parts will be in short supply for them.

Hotblack Desiato

More Music wrote: »

The tower in Donnybrook is not related to the analog switch off at all. This is still used to link RTE to their sites around the county for TV & radio. However, no actual TV or FM radio frequencies are transmitted from here.

Loads of other companies are renting space on it also. Mobile phone companies, broadband providers and other telco operators are all paying RTE for space.

Didn't realise until today that this question only arose because some idiot jounos thought that the Donnybrook mast would be detonated on 24/10 :rolleyes: it hasn't been used for broadcast since 1978 and it was always only a 405-line fill-in

If the digital switchover has 'learned' us anything, it's how clueless your average journo is when confonted with anything they didn't learn in UCD First Arts.