Recommend a tv package that doesn't need an aerial?

smeal

Hi all,

Bit of an odd background first..

So basically me and my two housemates moved into our house in September- I noticed there was a cable of some kind attached to the wall behind the tv stand so plugged it into my tv and after some tuning hey presto, we got channels! The channels we got were the usual channels similar to Saorview- RTE, BBC, E4 etc etc. Just before Christmas one day there suddenly were no channels- a message came up on the tv- "No signal from aerial" and we tried fixing it about but to no avail. So we gave the landlord a call and explained that we thought there was something wrong with the aerial- he told us there actually is no aerial on the house! He told us we were likely getting channels from someone else's aerial or else we must have had a box in the house like upc but we don't so how this is possible that we got channels through the cable in the wall, I'm not sure? We are the end property and the house next door has been unoccupied for some time as it is an elderly woman now living in a nursing home.

Our landlord was a bit unsure also so he asked the electrician who had initially done the cable work to come back in and have a look and he also confirmed that there was no aerial on the house so was also bewildered as how to we were receiving channels in the first place!

Anyways, we've been without television now for a while and are getting fairly sick of Netflix etc so we want to be able to watch tv again but we are unwilling to contract to UPC or Sky as (i) Had bad experiences with UPC in the past (ii) Don't want to mess about with contracts and monthly bills when maybe all three of us won't all be living here and (iii) don't want the hassle of having to get an aerial installed [also pretty sure the landlord wouldn't be too fond of this idea either]...

My question is (FINALLY!!) is there any kind of digibox/satbox that we can buy on a once off basis without having to contract to any of the big subscribers or that requires an aerial? We're only looking for the simple channels. ALso can anybody shed some light on how we were receiving channels in the first place?! I'm a tad bit unwilling to accept the reason that we were probably feeding off someone else's aerial or tv package!

Many thanks

Kristopherus

Where are you ???

smeal

Kristopherus wrote: »

Where are you ???

Dublin 3

magicmoves

Do ye have a smart tv or a bog standard tv

smeal

magicmoves wrote: »

Do ye have a smart tv or a bog standard tv

It's not a smart tv- it's a one year old Samsung, saorview compatible?

smeal

Can someone explain one of these? If I bought one would it mean I could receive Saorview channels on my tv? Sorry- bit of a technophobe here if you hadn't already guessed!

http://www.harveynorman.ie/tvs-headphones/set-top-boxes-and-aerials/aerials/one-4-all-amplified-digital-saorview-aerial-36db.html

magicmoves

The TV needs to be saor viewed approved first.

Have a look at this http://www.saorview.ie/help-support/faqs/saorview-equipment/

Riesen_Meal

magicmoves wrote: »

The TV needs to be saor viewed approved first.

Have a look at this http://www.saorview.ie/help-support/faqs/saorview-equipment/

If its a Sammy bought only last year chances are it does....

OP - I got a UHF aerial on adverts delivered for about 20 quid off a shop in Sligo, it is all you need I would say to get up and running again, all you need to to is run some Co-Ax cable from the aerial to the back of the TV

Kristopherus

Did you have a look in the attic? There might be something up there. You might also get away with putting an aerial in the attic. If you have been getting someone else's signal, there must be a strong one in the area. Have a look at what direction any aerials in the neighbourhood is pointing. You can buy an aerial for €25-€50. Thats a one-off payment. If you could get a loan of one to try out in the attic, it would at least confirm if it is feasable.

smeal

Thanks for all the comments:)

Yep the TV is Saorview approved as it used to receive Saorview when it was at home in Monaghan.

Fieldog- Thanks a mil. I will try that. I see they have them on sale in Argos too so I might pop up after work and see what I can get.

Kristopherus- I can see where you are coming from but isn't it odd we were receiving it for a solid 4 months and never had flickering coverage or any issues receiving channels? Unless there is an industrial aerial somewhere nearby hehe! Might mention it to the landlord when he's picking up rent next about the attic Wouldn't have a clue how to get up there!

Riesen_Meal

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/1078471/Trail/searchtext%3EAERIAL.htm

This 20 quid one is all you need, would the landlord have an issue with putting it out of sight somewhere?

I tried one of the powered indoor ones on my Samsung and it didn't work so I had to get the outdoor one, don't think Clontarf would have a decent line of sight to 3 rock but I could be wrong, maybe others in the area can advise?

total former

smeal wrote: »

Kristopherus- I can see where you are coming from but isn't it odd we were receiving it for a solid 4 months and never had flickering coverage or any issues receiving channels? Unless there is an industrial aerial somewhere nearby hehe! Might mention it to the landlord when he's picking up rent next about the attic Wouldn't have a clue how to get up there!

It sounds like you were receiving the analogue signal from UPC which pretty much every house in Dublin is wired for.

Why it suddenly stopped I don't know.

bk

total former wrote: »

It sounds like you were receiving the analogue signal from UPC which pretty much every house in Dublin is wired for.

Why it suddenly stopped I don't know.

Yes, I'd say they were receiving the UPC analogue TV service.

The reason it stopped is because they were clearly not paying for it and UPC finally disconnected it outside the house.

The Cush

total former wrote: »

It sounds like you were receiving the analogue signal from UPC which pretty much every house in Dublin is wired for.

List of UPC analogue channels here - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=93774102&postcount=28

bugfreebob

smeal wrote: »

Hi all,

He told us we were likely getting channels from someone else's aerial or else we must have had a box in the house like upc but we don't so how this is possible that we got channels through the cable in the wall, I'm not sure?

UPC use the old Cablelink/NTL coax network in Dublin. This carries the analogue channels unencrypted, and hence they have no way of disconnecting customers centrally. It also leaves them vulnerable to illegal taps off the coax network, and these are very common in rental-land. The reason you didn't get cut off for 4 months is because they need to send out an installer to climb a ladder and disconnect the coax where it is tacked on to your gutter. They probably didn't rush to do this as you only had the analogue channels and they probably hoped you would sign up for service. It probably costs them around €100 to send out a contractor to climb a ladder and disconnect the copper coax cable, so they likely wait until they have another job in the area. If it was an illegal tap, it might have been degrading the TV & Broadband service for everyone in your area because it is a totally shared cable. If they got enough complaints then might have come out and investigated and disconnected any illegal connections.

In Dublin 3, you should have no problem getting the Saorview channels free with a simple internal aerial. If you want the UK channels (apart from UTV Irl), you will need to put up a satellite dish. These don't need a lot of heavy installation - you can easily install at ground floor level if you have a garden wall facing South East which isn't blocked by trees or houses. €50-€100 would get you all the key UK channels with a DIY install. Even if you have to pay for the install, you can take the box with you when you move on - so all you are losing is about 3 months cost of basic TV service from Sky or UPC. It's a no brainer really! .