Saorview/Freeview Set Up

DerTierarzt

Afternoon Gentlemen,

Recently moved into our first home, and only getting around to sorting out terrestrial tv now. Netflix and the laptop had been sufficing until the Olympics landed...

Currently have a smart tv with a Freeview tuner, and a Saorview box. From meticulous research on this forum, I am going to concentrate on Saorview for now.

We got broadband only installed, when I go to the wall socket there is co-axial cable, but no connector. Went to Harvey Norman, and bought a connector for the pricely sum of €0.85. Lo and behold, some picture and sound, but this dropped fairly sharpish (minutes) and I haven't addressed it since.

My questions are three:

1. Can I get Saorview just by broadband connection, or will the upcoming Saorview Connect support broadband only connection?
2. We are less than 10km from Three Rock, if it is the case that the co-axial cable goes nowhere, could I get away with small internal aerial or is it just better to install attic/roof aerial?
3. If installing an aerial, would it not make more sense to just instal a satellite, and potentially pick up both Saorview and Freesat, and if so why aren't more people doing this?

Thank you all very much for your patience in advance.

Gerry Wicklow

AFAIK Saorview is not available online as such. Even then you are talking of the likes of the RTÉ player with dodgy quality. Chances are when you first connected to the wall socket what you were getting was just being picked up by the coax itself. In strong signal areas an indoor aerial may work but is not recommended. An Attic or exterior one will give better more reliable results. Saorview is only the Irish channels. A satellite dish will give you the FTA UK channels. Saorview is not easily available by satellite. A limited version called SaorSat is available but is only RTÉ and TG4 and needs a more elaborate dish setup.
Judging by the number of dishes popping up on cabled homes around Dublin, I would say a good few people are discovering the cost effectiveness of FTA satellite and Saorview.
BTW if your TV is "FreeView HD" compatible you shouldn't need a Saorview box.

DamnLeech

If you are In Ireland and your tv has a freeview/freeview HD tuner you can pick up saorview with a aerial.
You should Buy a indoor aerial to see if it pick up a signal If doesn't refund it and get a outdoor one.

You can get satellite channels with a dish pointed at 28.2 e and buy a Freesat box eg Humax you get BBC/ITV/Channel 4/Channel 5/S4C/UKTV Channel etc.

DerTierarzt

Thanks a million for the advice. Is it worth therefore just trying to get an external (roof/chimney) aerial mast and try and pick up both Saorview (no problem as only 10km downhill from Three Rock) and Freeview (may be more problematic, near Marlay Park area but unsure if elevation is high enough to be uninterrupted across Irish sea to Arfon in Wales)?

Gerry Wicklow

From the Marley area people used to aim for the North but reception is not 100% reliable, depending on the weather etc. A satellite dish and small Saorview aerial combined will give best results.

winston_1

DerTierarzt wrote: »

Afternoon Gentlemen,

Recently moved into our first home, and only getting around to sorting out terrestrial tv now. Netflix and the laptop had been sufficing until the Olympics landed...

Currently have a smart tv with a Freeview tuner, and a Saorview box. From meticulous research on this forum, I am going to concentrate on Saorview for now.

We got broadband only installed, when I go to the wall socket there is co-axial cable, but no connector. Went to Harvey Norman, and bought a connector for the pricely sum of €0.85. Lo and behold, some picture and sound, but this dropped fairly sharpish (minutes) and I haven't addressed it since.

My questions are three:

1. Can I get Saorview just by broadband connection, or will the upcoming Saorview Connect support broadband only connection?
2. We are less than 10km from Three Rock, if it is the case that the co-axial cable goes nowhere, could I get away with small internal aerial or is it just better to install attic/roof aerial?
3. If installing an aerial, would it not make more sense to just instal a satellite, and potentially pick up both Saorview and Freesat, and if so why aren't more people doing this?

Thank you all very much for your patience in advance.

The satellites are already installed, 23,000 miles above the equator. If you installed a dish you could only get Irish channels with a subscription to sky which answers your question why more people are not doing this.

For Saorview you need an aerial and RTE recommend an outdoor one which is what you should use. Indoor ones will give problems now or in the future. For Freesat you need a dish and Freesat box or Freesat enabled TV.

DerTierarzt

Okay, going to try and see where that co-axial cable goes. If it does turn out it's connected to nothing in attic/roof, then does anyone have a link/guide as to how you bring the co-ax cable from the attic/roof down between the walls (I presume) to the wall point?

Thanks again

DerTierarzt

Gerry Wicklow wrote: »

From the Marley area people used to aim for the North but reception is not 100% reliable, depending on the weather etc. A satellite dish and small Saorview aerial combined will give best results.

Thanks Gerry.

Do you have any recommendations for an aerial that would suffice for both Saorview (Three Rock) and Freeview (either from the North or from Wales)? From looking at other threads I see this Mini UHF Wideband Directional Log Periodic Aerial was recommended?

Thanks again.

Thurston?

Where you are, if you want reliable UK TV, go with satellite. You're too far from the Freeview transmitters, & too close to interfering Saorview transmitters.

Only bother with Freeview if you're into tinkering with aerials. (And a 'mini log-periodic' ain't gonna hack it.)

DerTierarzt

Thurston? wrote: »

Where you are, if you want reliable UK TV, go with satellite. You're too far from the Freeview transmitters, & too close to interfering Saorview transmitters.

Only bother with Freeview if you're into tinkering with aerials. (And a 'mini log-periodic' ain't gonna hack it.)

Near Marlay Park, 10 km from Three Rock. If you're saying that this close an aerial won't cut it for Freeview, then appreciate your honesty. Guess I'm just trying to figure if I'm up attaching an aerial to the chimney this weekend might as well put up a multi-purpose one, if you get my drift.

If that venture is doomed from a Freeview point of view, then what is the most reasonable Saorview aerial considering the location, and the most pragmatic satellite (dish ;-) for Freesat.

Thanks again lads.

Gerry Wicklow

As Thurston says, Freeview is more trouble than it's worth at your location. Likewise you are near enough to 3Rock that you would get good results with an aerial in the attic rather than climbing the roof. Satellite is definitely the way to go for UK channels.

DerTierarzt

Thanks a million for all the advice lads, if anyone has a link to a good guide for routing the co-ax cable from roof-attic-wall-socket I'd be much obliged.

Thanks again

Thurston?

DerTierarzt wrote: »

Near Marlay Park, 10 km from Three Rock. If you're saying that this close an aerial won't cut it for Freeview, then appreciate your honesty. Guess I'm just trying to figure if I'm up attaching an aerial to the chimney this weekend might as well put up a multi-purpose one, if you get my drift.

It would only be 'multi-purpose' in the sense that pointing north, it would probably still get sufficient Three Rock signal.

You certainly wouldn't be getting BBC4 HD, with 3R on the same frequency, & other powerful, high altitude transmitters like Mullaghanish & Mt. Leinster would cause problems on other channels, I would think.

That said, I don't know your area at all, elevation wise etc., so don't know if you'd need a tall mast for any chance of success, for example. Not even sure if it's still possible to get the kind of '100 element' aerials some people used for this kind of reception, though something smaller would likely bring in some kind of signal, or smaller aerials could be combined to make something with higher gain. (And that's before we get onto amplifiers.)

DerTierarzt wrote: »

If that venture is doomed from a Freeview point of view, then what is the most reasonable Saorview aerial considering the location, and the most pragmatic satellite (dish ;-) for Freesat.

The little log-periodic would be fine for Saorview reception, I would think.

As for dishes, I would say the Triax range (64cm should be big enough) are a step up from the likes of the Sky-type dishes, though I've no experience of the latest types of either.

Ronan Raver77

Im down the road in Churchtown..Better off with a dish for UK FTA and saorview aerial thats what i have.

Thurston?

DerTierarzt wrote: »

... if anyone has a link to a good guide for routing the co-ax cable from roof-attic-wall-socket I'd be much obliged.

Informative site here.

Link dealing with cable choice & routing specifically.

DerTierarzt

Thurston? wrote: »

Informative site here.

Link dealing with cable choice & routing specifically.

Thank you all very much. No aerial in attic, but coaxial cable is coiled up there, presumably by broadband installer in case we ever needed it? On that point, it appears there is a coaxial cable coming from somewhere else to give us the broadband (I assume), can you get tv from this, would I just need a splitter?

The Cush

DerTierarzt wrote: »

We got broadband only installed, when I go to the wall socket there is co-axial cable, but no connector. Went to Harvey Norman, and bought a connector for the pricely sum of €0.85. Lo and behold, some picture and sound, but this dropped fairly sharpish (minutes) and I haven't addressed it since.

My questions are three:

1. We are less than 10km from Three Rock, if it is the case that the co-axial cable goes nowhere, could I get away with small internal aerial or is it just better to install attic/roof aerial?

DerTierarzt wrote: »

No aerial in attic, but coaxial cable is coiled up there, presumably by broadband installer in case we ever needed it? On that point, it appears there is a coaxial cable coming from somewhere else to give us the broadband (I assume), can you get tv from this, would I just need a splitter?

Who is your broadband provider? Only VM/UPC provide broadband via co-ax cable. If so, it may carry a limited number of analogue TV channels.

The co-ax coiled up in the attic was probably installed at build and runs directly to the TV point where you fitted that 85 cent connector. A small set top aerial connected to that cable in the attic should provide Saorview to the TV point considering your close proximity to Three Rock.

DerTierarzt wrote: »

1. Can I get Saorview just by broadband connection, or will the upcoming Saorview Connect support broadband only connection?

Saorview is via aerial only.

Saorview Connect will still require an aerial for the Saorview channels, while we don't know the actual details it won't provide the Saorview channels via broadband. To date they have said the broadband connection will allow users to watch on demand and catch-up content, remote recording via app and possibly future IPTV channels.

DerTierarzt

Connected a splitter to the Virgin co-axial which was supplying broadband only. As suggested on this forum, now have 17 analogue cable channels. However, the picture quality is poor, and when the internet is used is suffers further. A network speed test showed a dramatic reduction in internet speed.

So although glad I tried the analogue set up, I am now going to try and connect an indoor Saorview aerial to a co-located co-axial cable with its loose end in the attic. Given my proximity to Three Rock, is any (i.e. Dealz cheapest) indoor aerial likely to suffice?

Many thanks in advance.

The Cush

DerTierarzt wrote: »

So although glad I tried the analogue set up, I am now going to try and connect an indoor Saorview aerial to a co-located co-axial cable with its loose end in the attic. Given my proximity to Three Rock, is any (i.e. Dealz cheapest) indoor aerial likely to suffice?

Many years ago I used a very basic set top aerial in an attic, in Tallaght, for then analogue reception without problem. With a descent Saorview signal in the attic a cheap indoor aerial should do the job, give it a go.

DerTierarzt

The Cush wrote: »

Many years ago I used a very basic set top aerial in an attic, in Tallaght, for then analogue reception without problem. With a descent Saorview signal in the attic a cheap indoor aerial should do the job, give it a go.

Thanks for reply, defo going to try this tomorrow with the cheapest aerial I can find! Honestly thought I was on to a winner with splitting, but did not anticipate that the analogue signal and internet speed would be so poor. Not sure if this is something others have had occur to them or is it the quality of the splitter?