Quite envious

Manc-Red

Just back from a weekend down in Wexford where I had both Saorview & Freeview from the UK...

Tell ya what, they're lucky buggers down the South-East

byte

Aye, and other parts of the country, especially closer to the NI border of course.

I'm in Donegal town but am not so lucky. I can barely get Saorview thanks to hilly terrain.

I did mean to try a UNIX52 on Limavady as Brougher is totally out, as some can get it thru Barnesmore Gap, if you're in the right location. Still haven't bothered though, as I doubt I'd be lucky enough.

galtee boy

Manc-Red wrote: »

Just back from a weekend down in Wexford where I had both Saorview & Freeview from the UK...

Tell ya what, they're lucky buggers down the South-East

I don't begrudge Wexford having access to Freeview, but Saorview and a simple relatively cheap FTA Satellite system ( one off cost ) , will give the same channels and more, practically anywhere in the country. So while for years, we envied our friends near the border and the East coast, thankfully we don't have to anymore.

St Senan

Not all of Co.Wexford can receive Freeview its only certain parts along the East coast from Castletown up north east of the county down to areas like Duncormick on the south coast or high areas with clear line of sight to the sea. During the summer months even freeview is troublesome in them areas with breaking and blocking. A good quality Aerial and dish with a Combi box is an ideal solution for people wanting Irish and UK channels these days.

ardmacha

Away from the immediate border area, Freeview may involve quite elaborate aerial installations, even if these do manage a signal. A dish is no more trouble really for a new setup, except that many people have had analogue aerials for years.

whitebriar

The best bit about combining saorview and freeview in wexford ,wicklow and border areas is having them all with a full 7 day epg on the one epg and of course easy multiroom viewing without the need for a cumbersome box in each.
Anyone who had fair reception from wales in analogue days can get highly reliable UK freeview.
That includes many thousands of homes along the coast and well inland from Greystones south to Wexford.
Arklow and Gorey areas are good examples.
You don't have to be by the coast either or have a sea view,areas like coolgreaney,Tinahely and Rathdrum work.
The simple rule of thumb,had dececent analogue,can have freeview UK.
Nothings changed reception wise,if one could get decent analogue,then you can get decent digital.

What has changed is many people thought when analogue UK switched off,then that was it,and got satellite.
Most people adopted new fta digital as it became available,won over by perfect pictures versus analogue and choice.
Of course having satellite,is no harm as a back up anyway,though I can't remember the last time I lost freeview.
It also gives you the cbs channels,if you're a Dallas addict like me

That said Dave and pick are there for freeview too and having them all on one epg is a lovely system.

Ronnie Raygun

whitebriar wrote: »

... Of course having satellite,is no harm as a back up anyway,though I can't remember the last time I lost freeview.

IIRC, your aerial setup isn't something most people would want on their property? A dish is a tidy & cheap proposition & you'd have money left over for a receiver or 2 (or 3 or 4).

whitebriar

My aerial system is there since analogue days and was designed to minimise grain on the old UK analogue channels,and that it did.
I've been tempted to take it down as its overkill now but see no urgent reason to do so.
Single chimney top aerials are what most people had and if they got reasonable analogue with those,digital is working fine except in fog or strong high pressure ducting.The latter can affect saorview too.

aerial man

whitebriar wrote: »

I can't remember the last time I lost freeview.

It cut out for the first time this year last week on and off for two days, the previous time was around the 25th to the 30 of July 2012 due to high pressure. Blaenplwyf and it seems Redruth were creeping in knocking out the HD channels on Ch40 and 43, however overall much more reliable and easier controlled than analogue ever was.

As a whole its an added bonus to houses that had aerials from analogue times, especially on secondary TV's such as bedrooms and kitchens, with most houses having a satellite tv in their main living rooms. Keeping everything on one remote keeps things nice and simple aswell.

There has been a surprising amount of new installs of Freeview since the switchover as more people realized that the Freeview was still available in the south east.

Ronnie Raygun

aerial man wrote: »

... Blaenplwyf and it seems Redruth were creeping in knocking out the HD channels on Ch40 and 43, however overall much more reliable and easier controlled than analogue ever was..

Preseli HD is on channel 50 40. Redruth & Blaenplwyf don't share any channels with Preseli, though Llanddona coms. are on 43, 46 & 50 40. Redruth PSBs are co-channel with Arfon.

What do you mean by "easier controlled"? The fact that it's all or nothing & you don't see the effect of poor signal until it disappears altogether?

whitebriar

It's Llandonna alright that occasionally clashes with presely.
Redruth sometimes clashes with arfon.
Both in lifts.


UK Freeview is obviously not a set up for sites that would be so low in signal,that they would be constantly falling off the edge of the digital cliff.

It is nice to hear of new freeview UK set ups going up.

aerial man

Ronnie Raygun wrote: »

What do you mean by "easier controlled"? The fact that it's all or nothing & you don't see the effect of poor signal until it disappears altogether?

Yes, I remember often spending a good bit of time trying to reduce interference (coming across rte1 particularly) when using a distribution amp with a high gain masthead amplifier used on Group B. Reducing group A (for tv3/tg4) or the VHF using Attenuators to avoid overloading the distribution amplifier.
The digital is a lot more satisfactory and easier to get a balanced signal with no ghosting or double imaging to worry about.

whitebriar wrote: »

It is nice to hear of new freeview UK set ups going up.

Heres a snap of a new setup that we installed in Ballymoney on Saturday morning, sorry about the poor photo!

ftakeith

freesat has most of the freeview tv channels apart from 5 tv channels

Ronnie Raygun

aerial man wrote: »

Yes, I remember often spending a good bit of time trying to reduce interference (coming across rte1 particularly) when using a distribution amp with a high gain masthead amplifier used on Group B. Reducing group A (for tv3/tg4) or the VHF using Attenuators to avoid overloading the distribution amplifier.

You mean there was enough of the Mt. Leinster signal being picked up by the Welsh aerial, being amplified, getting past any diplexers & causing problems at the distribution amp? With RTE1 in particular appearing as cross-modulation interference on the other channels?

Sounds like a bit of a pain alright.