(Yet another) Saorview Signal Question!

burly

Evening all,

I have just purchased a Saorview approved set top box and internal antenna from Harvey Norman. I think the brand is 4life. Its a 'combi' nox, which they told me out in HN would pick up Irish and English channels.

I am planning on installing this in a relatives house in Co.Meath over the weekend. I am down in Waterford City, and I just tried it in my own house here to test it out.

When the internal antenna is connected to the set-top box via coaxial cable, and the box then connected to the tv via scart, I struggled to pick up anything with the antenna about 0.5m inside a window. I got sound from one or two Irish channels, rte 1 think, but no picture. Most of the time, I get a 'no signal' message on the tv screen

I then tried the antenna connected directly to the TV and selected auto-tune. I picked up all 8 Irish channels, although the signal was shaky.

In both cases, there wasn't a sniff of any of the English channels.

So whats wrong? Is it the antenna? And do I need a satellite dish to pick up the English channels.

I know this has probably been asked a million times, but I have been a Sky customer for years, and haven't a clue about Saorview.
Id really appreciate any advice.
(I should say that the house im planning on installing this in Meath has an old Sky dish which can still pick up some freeview channels.)

FREETV

burly wrote: »

Evening all,

I have just purchased a Saorview approved set top box and internal antenna from Harvey Norman. I think the brand is 4life. Its a 'combi' nox, which they told me out in HN would pick up Irish and English channels.

I am planning on installing this in a relatives house in Co.Meath over the weekend. I am down in Waterford City, and I just tried it in my own house here to test it out.

When the internal antenna is connected to the set-top box via coaxial cable, and the box then connected to the tv via scart, I struggled to pick up anything with the antenna about 0.5m inside a window. I got sound from one or two Irish channels, rte 1 think, but no picture. Most of the time, I get a 'no signal' message on the tv screen

I then tried the antenna connected directly to the TV and selected auto-tune. I picked up all 8 Irish channels, although the signal was shaky.

In both cases, there wasn't a sniff of any of the English channels.

So whats wrong? Is it the antenna? And do I need a satellite dish to pick up the English channels.

I know this has probably been asked a million times, but I have been a Sky customer for years, and haven't a clue about Saorview.
Id really appreciate any advice.
(I should say that the house im planning on installing this in Meath has an old Sky dish which can still pick up some freeview channels.)

Hi, I am originally from County Meath, wherabouts in County Meath will you be doing the installation?
You or your relatives will need to buy a high gain Group A television aerial and a low noise variable gain masthead amplifier in order to receive the N.I. Freeview UK channels from the Divis Transmitter outside of Belfast with an aerial if they haven't already got an old UK analogue setup.
In any case the combi box will receive all of the main UK stations via the satellite tuner through the old Sky dish but it will require constant retuning and deletion of old channels as some satellite stations change transponders every two to three months at certain times so it is a bit of a pain.

An old Sky box out of contract can give you the full EPG but will not allow you to record without using a DVD Recorder or a Video Recorder and will need some retuning for other channels not on the Sky EPG from time to time and only fifty satellite stations can be stored in the favourites section.

About half a dozen extra television stations are receivable if you request a free white Sky card from Setanta Ireland in Scotland and tell them that you are requesting it under The B.A.I scheme and they will post it out to you.

Clermont Carn from Louth may be strong enough in parts of Meath with an indoor aerial pointing towards it vertically polarised but an indoor aerial will never be as reliable as an outdoor rooftop aerial in Group C/D or wideband with a low noise medium variable gained masthead amplifier.
The Saorview system is really only designed to be used with suitable outdoor aerials thirty five feet from the ground properly aligned to the most reliable transmitter with the highest signal available in different areas. Attic aerials would be a huge improvement on a small indoor aerial. The Kippure and Three Rock Transmitters may also be available at horizontal polarity with two different aerials as they are both in different Group Frequencies but that is dependant on the area of Meath in question.

Peter Rhea

burly wrote: »

. . . So whats wrong? Is it the antenna? And do I need a satellite dish to pick up the English channels.

A properly set up dish would be the most reliable option for UK channels in Meath.

Indoor aerials only work in strong signal areas. The Irish & UK transmission networks are designed with outdoor receiving installations in mind: maybe the house in question already has an outdoor aerial of some kind?

Peter Rhea

FREETV wrote: »

In any case the combi box will receive all of the main UK stations via the satellite tuner through the old Sky dish but it will require constant retuning and deletion of old channels as some satellite stations change transponders every two to three months at certain times so it is a bit of a pain.

Constant retuning? Do you not think that's a bit of an exaggeration?

burly

FREETV wrote: »

Hi, I am originally from County Meath, wherabouts in County Meath will you be doing the installation?
You or your relatives will need to buy a high gain Group A television aerial and a low noise variable gain masthead amplifier in order to receive the N.I. Freeview UK channels from the Divis Transmitter outside of Belfast with an aerial if they haven't already got an old UK analogue setup.
In any case the combi box will receive all of the main UK stations via the satellite tuner through the old Sky dish but it will require constant retuning and deletion of old channels as some satellite stations change transponders every two to three months at certain times so it is a bit of a pain.

An old Sky box out of contract can give you the full EPG but will not allow you to record without using a DVD Recorder or a Video Recorder and will need some retuning for other channels not on the Sky EPG from time to time and only fifty satellite stations can be stored in the favourites section.

About half a dozen extra television stations are receivable if you request a free white Sky card from Setanta Ireland in Scotland and tell them that you are requesting it under The B.A.I scheme and they will post it out to you.

Clermont Carn from Louth may be strong enough in parts of Meath with an indoor aerial pointing towards it vertically polarised but an indoor aerial will never be as reliable as an outdoor rooftop aerial in Group C/D or wideband with a low noise medium variable gained masthead amplifier.
The Saorview system is really only designed to be used with suitable outdoor aerials thirty five feet from the ground properly aligned to the most reliable transmitter with the highest signal available in different areas. Attic aerials would be a huge improvement on a small indoor aerial. The Kippure and Three Rock Transmitters may also be available at horizontal polarity with two different aerials as they are both in different Group Frequencies but that is dependant on the area of Meath in question.

Hi, the house is in Duleek, and as I said it has a functioning old Sky dish on the roof, which picks up BBC1, BBC 2, sky news and a few others.

The set top box I have has an antenna input, and a satellite cable input.
So am I right in saying that if I input both cables into the box, I should be able to pick up RTE,TV3 and TG4 through the terrestrial auto-search, and should be able to pick up the UK channels through the satellite auto-search?

burly

Peter Rhea wrote: »

A properly set up dish would be the most reliable option for UK channels in Meath.

Indoor aerials only work in strong signal areas. The Irish & UK transmission networks are designed with outdoor receiving installations in mind: maybe the house in question already has an outdoor aerial of some kind?

Isnt it a shame that retailers dont say this. When I was in HN yesterday, the guy said, 'yeh your sorted now,you will get all the english and irish channels with that box and that indoor aerial'.

Peter Rhea

Even in generally strong signal areas, getting a usable signal with an aerial inside a building, especially on a lower floor, can be a bit hit & miss. Doesn't help that a lot of the aerials seem to favour form over function.

zg3409

burly wrote: »

Hi, the house is in Duleek, and as I said it has a functioning old Sky dish on the roof, which picks up BBC1, BBC 2, sky news and a few others.

The set top box I have has an antenna input, and a satellite cable input.
So am I right in saying that if I input both cables into the box, I should be able to pick up RTE,TV3 and TG4 through the terrestrial auto-search, and should be able to pick up the UK channels through the satellite auto-search?

If the dish is OK the UK channels will come in. However you may need to delete/move regional variations of channels such as half a dozen channel4 bbc etc.

If the house has a rooftop aerial then try to use that, but an indoor might work to some extent. Many houses have an old rooftop aerial that might work.