Saorview Aerial add-on for Sky Dish

BonnieSituation

Mercury 130020

https://www.powercity.ie/index.php?par=30-72-130020&action=moreinfo



Came across this yoke earlier.

Mother is getting rid of Sky but the dish is staying put.

Will this be a worthy addition?

Seems pretty painless re install based on the instructions here:
http://avslgroup.com/assets/manuals/1/3/130020UK.pdf

Or is there anything anyone else will recommend instead?

winston_1

Despite what they say that aerial has no gain. The gain is in the amplifier which is no replacement for a decent aerial.
Does your satellite dish also face your TV transmitter? If not how will you align that aerial. Is your local TV transmitter horizontally polarised? If not that aerial will be useless.
Much better to put a proper UHF aerial up aligned on your local transmitter.

BonnieSituation

winston_1 wrote: »

Despite what they say that aerial has no gain. The gain is in the amplifier which is no replacement for a decent aerial.
Does your satellite dish also face your TV transmitter? If not how will you align that aerial. Is your local TV transmitter horizontally polarised? If not that aerial will be useless.
Much better to put a proper UHF aerial up aligned on your local transmitter.

It faces in the general direction of the transmitter I suppose. Again it's mostly a case for ease of installation as the priority for the time being. That's the big attraction of the aerial above.

Is there a particular aerial you would recommend so? Or a particular way to go about this?

Reusing the sky coaxial currently routed into three rooms is a bonus.

winston_1

Impossible to recommend an aerial. So much depends on local conditions.

BonnieSituation

Impossible?

All things being equal surely there's something to recommend out there.

Semi-detached house in Lucan. Not over looked. Clear transmitter view.

If you can't recommend an aerial then what would you recommend to do instead?

dxhound2005

You could check with neighbours to see what they are using and if they get good reception on Saorview. Or at least have a look around the area for outdoor aerials. According to this other thread Lucan is served by the Kippure transmitter, and there are details for the sort of aerial required. There are other threads about Saorview reception in West Dublin as well.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057559743

Also on this map.

http://www.freetv.ie/digital-tv-aerial-selection-guide/

The Cush

Group T wideband aerial in Lucan for reception of Kippure. My sister has one at the rear of her house in Lucan. You might even get away with an attic install.

Booms

I'll start with a caveat -I haven't used one myself, (yet!)

If you can afford it, try it.
(It'll cause minimal disruption to your wiring, and is totally reversible!)



While Winston does have some valid points - ideally everyone would have a properly mounted external aerial, correctly aligned by a professional -many people get by with an internal aerial, either set-top or in the attic.

From what you've said, in your location you'll have no problems picking up a good signal. And obviously an external aerial will be better.


You do have a Saorview TV/set top box for the terrestrial channels, of course?

if you do try it, I'd be interested to know how you get on.

Former Former

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Impossible?

All things being equal surely there's something to recommend out there.

Semi-detached house in Lucan. Not over looked. Clear transmitter view.

If you can't recommend an aerial then what would you recommend to do instead?

That thing to attach to your dish will give you a 100% clear and reliable reception in Lucan. No question. I'm in Blanch so working off the same transmitter but even further away and I get crystal clear reception off something a lot smaller.

Seems like a very neat solution to use the existing wiring too.

po0k

Just saw this on powercity for €40 too.
While your mother's getting rid of sky, she might be interested in Freesat, pretty sure she could replace the box later cheaply.
I would be interested to know if the clamps would affect the dish/lnb gain much.

Internal diplexer 3db insertion loss. The amp is apparently powered off the sat receiver too, though from reading, amping a dvb-t signal from a small antenna can be worse as it can boost noise compared to just having a bigger/better antenna.

I'm looking at buying sat and terrestrial gear, antenna on the chimney would be ideal, but is also moderately expensive (+€40 + installer) by the time it's mounted securely. Not sure if it needs earthing or not.

My dish (from previous owner) is pointing roughly south towards 3-rock (horizontal)/kippure(vertical).

winston_1

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Impossible?

All things being equal surely there's something to recommend out there.

Semi-detached house in Lucan. Not over looked. Clear transmitter view.

If you can't recommend an aerial then what would you recommend to do instead?

Well now you've given more information and with that information others have given you advice.

winston_1

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Impossible?

All things being equal surely there's something to recommend out there.

Semi-detached house in Lucan. Not over looked. Clear transmitter view.

If you can't recommend an aerial then what would you recommend to do instead?

Well now you've given more information and with that information others have given you advice.

winston_1

BonnieSituation wrote: »

Impossible?

All things being equal surely there's something to recommend out there.

Semi-detached house in Lucan. Not over looked. Clear transmitter view.

If you can't recommend an aerial then what would you recommend to do instead?

Well now you've given more information and with that information others have given you advice.

Sam Russell

I have used an LNB that has an input for an aerial. This gives four cables that carry Saorview signal diplexed on the existing cable. This gives very good signal. It allows a standard low cost antenna to be located local to the dish without an amp. Each cable needs a splitter at the TV.

An alternative I have used was a bent wire aerial (made from coat-hanger wire) located in the bedroom next to the TV. This also worked well, giving 100% Q and 100% signal. However, the above LNB is much the preferred solution.

There is plenty of signal around at roof level.