Saorview frequencies reshuffle (700 MHz clearence)

aoife1991

bfa1509 wrote: »

We lost all our channels except for RTE1, Virgin media 3 and the +1 channels on our aerial powered saorbox. I've tried rescanning countless times and tried all the different settings but I can't get the channels back. I thought it may have been linked to this frequency change.

I am also having this exact problem in Carrigaline. I have saorview through antenna on a LG tv and after similarly rescanning the tv several times, there's no sign of these channels coming back. Does anyone have a solution to this?

bfa1509

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

At the affected transmitters, the new frequencies have been running alongside the old since September, & the old won't be switched off until March.

What part of the country are you in? Can you get the Amazon box to display channel nos. or frequencies for RTE1 & RTE2?

I'm in the Moycullen area in Galway. I will check the answer to your second question but the Amazon box is quite poor, the channels seem to be all over the place but the picture is clear and all channels are available at least

bfa1509

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

Can you get the Amazon box to display channel nos. or frequencies for RTE1 & RTE2?

The channel nos are in the 800s. RTE2 is 801, RTE1 is something like 807.

Funnily enough the old saorbox has now found all the missing channels but they are very skippy and most have just a black screen with sound.

Seeing as I'm having better luck with Freeview HD equipment, I'm thinking of investing in this box:
BT Ultra HD YouView Box UHD DTR-T4000/500GB with Twin HD Freeview (£120)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01B5XN9GM/ref=dp_cr_wdg_tit_nw_ls

which meets all my criteria (which I can't find in a saorbox):
-Uses aerial
-Has a fast interface
-will allow me to record one channel while viewing another
-Has clear channels
-Is not ridiculously expensive for what you are getting.

The Cush

bfa1509 wrote: »

The channel nos are in the 800s. RTE2 is 801, RTE1 is something like 807.

Funnily enough the old saorbox has now found all the missing channels but they are very skippy and most have just a black screen with sound.

Seeing as I'm having better luck with Freeview HD equipment, I'm thinking of investing in this box:
BT Ultra HD YouView Box UHD DTR-T4000/500GB with Twin HD Freeview (£120)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01B5XN9GM/ref=dp_cr_wdg_tit_nw_ls.

It is possible that BT box will put the Saorview channels in the 800s also, someone in NI may be able to confirm how this receiver handles Saorview channels.

The reason the Saorview channels are stored at random in the 800s on some digital receivers is that the box was setup with UK as the country/region, this is by default in the Freeview standard as the Saorview channels are out-of-region for UK. Factory resetting the box to Ireland if possible may restore the correct Saorview positioning of channels.

Unfortunately some UK Freeview receiver have no other option other than UK at setup and in this case there may be an option to manually move them into the correct starting at 1 etc., but some receivers only give you the option to move them within the 800s, starting at 801.

Elvis Hammond

bfa1509 wrote: »

The channel nos are in the 800s. RTE2 is 801, RTE1 is something like 807...

I meant the UHF channel nos., or frequencies that the transmitter uses, so it can be identified, & try to see if it's the one you're actually set up for.

What kind of aerial do you have anyway?

bfa1509

The Cush wrote: »

It is possible that BT box will put the Saorview channels in the 800s also, someone in NI may be able to confirm how this receiver handles Saorview channels.

The reason the Saorview channels are stored at random in the 800s on some digital receivers is that the box was setup with UK as the country/region, this is by default in the Freeview standard as the Saorview channels are out-of-region for UK. Factory resetting the box to Ireland if possible may restore the correct Saorview positioning of channels.

Unfortunately some UK Freeview receiver have no other option other than UK at setup and in this case there may be an option to manually move them into the correct starting at 1 etc., but some receivers only give you the option to move them within the 800s, starting at 801.

Interesting stuff. I did read in some old forums that some people had issues with Youview boxes not offering a manual scan option and that they truncated the channel numbers so that last available was 850 but RTE1 was falling on 864.

But the box has too many other perks that I just have to take the chance on it. It's fulfilled by Amazon anyway so I can always return it.

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

I meant the UHF channel nos., or frequencies that the transmitter uses, so it can be identified, & try to see if it's the one you're actually set up for.

What kind of aerial do you have anyway?

Sorry Elvis, I'm not too familiar with this equipment, we've had it for years without any problems. Would aerial info be read and displayed by the saorbox?
The UHF channel that the auto scan picks is 22.

Elvis Hammond

bfa1509 wrote: »

... I'm not too familiar with this equipment, we've had it for years without any problems. Would aerial info be read and displayed by the saorbox?
The UHF channel that the auto scan picks is 22.

Ch. 22 is from Castlebar, one of probably 3 or 4 transmitter sites receivable at your location. It would also be the 1st channel the box would find on a scan. RTE1 etc. from this transmitter is on ch. 25.

The box won't know anything about the aerial: if the aerial is outside, it should be easy to get a photo, & see if it's actually pointed at Castlebar, or if the box is ignoring better signals higher up the band.

bfa1509

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

Ch. 22 is from Castlebar, one of probably 3 or 4 transmitter sites receivable at your location. It would also be the 1st channel the box would find on a scan. RTE1 etc. from this transmitter is on ch. 25.

The box won't know anything about the aerial: if the aerial is outside, it should be easy to get a photo, & see if it's actually pointed at Castlebar, or if the box is ignoring better signals higher up the band.

Thanks for the info. I put my eircode into the saorview coverage checker and Castlebar came up as the most suitable even though it is much further away than some others. The others are blocked by a big mountain so the Castlebar transmitter must have a better line of sight for us.

The aerial is in the attic so I'd have to go up to get a photo. But from memory it looks something like this and I'm fairly sure it's pointing north (i.e towards Castlebar):

https://www.freetv.ie/images/detailed/2/saorview-uhf-tv-aerial-kit-4.jpg


It's unusual though how the £20 amazon box has all the channels crystal clear.

Elvis Hammond

bfa1509 wrote: »

... It's unusual though how the £20 amazon box has all the channels crystal clear.

Probably better at handling a poor signal?

Was there any activity in the attic coinciding with the problems? Maybe the aerial being obstructed, someone stood on a cable etc.

bfa1509

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

Probably better at handling a poor signal?

Was there any activity in the attic coinciding with the problems? Maybe the aerial being obstructed, someone stood on a cable etc.

No action in the attic at all. I think it may be the saorbox. I ran auto-scan a few times today and it froze half way through every time.

Must have been an unfortunate coincidence that it happened at the same time as the frequency reshuffle.

Digifriendly

For some reason Com 6 (C51) and NIMM (C33) from Divis and Black Mountain respectively have improved over last few days for my location. I had lost both altogether from one of my TVs since reshuffle but now both are coming through. I have also noticed that in removing a setback amplifier altogether and switching off power to masthead amp (used for Saorview from Clermont Carn) I now receive all multiplexes from Divis including Com 7 (C60) on one of my 2 TVs. This does not cause a great problem as I can still receive both Saorview multiplexes (C42/C45) when power to masthead amp is off albeit in reduced signal quality but watchable nonetheless.

Stuxnet

Guys I was away on holidays and come back to see most of my Saorview channels gone. I did check my Eircode and I am indeed affected. I live in Ennis. I have a Vu Duo 4K boxfor Saorview, Freesat and Hotbird. So I use E-Channilzer to help me manage it all. I did a re-scan of the terrestrial tuners on the box, but its failed to find all the channels. Does any one know the input parameters for this so I can do a manual scan ??

https://imgur.com/a/0bXPvSC

ETA I did find the channels with an automatic scan, I pulled them from the last scanned folder into my Saorview bouquet. Problem sorted, thanks

But if anyone has that manual transponder info for future reference, Id still appreciate it

mackersdublin

According to https://www.saorview.ie/en/get/coverage, Ennis uses the Maghera transmitter which uses Channels 46 & 48

CrowdedHouse

A question about re-tuning:

A friend of mine who gets service from Maghera sent me a photo of the tv guide on their TV saying that it needs to be re-tuned before March.

(I put up an aerial and tuned it in for them a few years ago)

I'll pop around and do it for them, I'm just wondering is there some flag on the system to prevent me having 2 lots of the same channels (old and new) on the TV?

Johnboy1951

Stuxnet wrote: »

Guys I was away on holidays and come back to see most of my Saorview channels gone. I did check my Eircode and I am indeed affected. I live in Ennis. I have a Vu Duo 4K boxfor Saorview, Freesat and Hotbird. So I use E-Channilzer to help me manage it all. I did a re-scan of the terrestrial tuners on the box, but its failed to find all the channels. Does any one know the input parameters for this so I can do a manual scan ??

https://imgur.com/a/0bXPvSC

ETA I did find the channels with an automatic scan, I pulled them from the last scanned folder into my Saorview bouquet. Problem sorted, thanks

But if anyone has that manual transponder info for future reference, Id still appreciate it

I was using the old frequency on one device here and yesterday all the channels on that mux showed "Advisory".
Mux frequency changed from
746000000
to
674000000

All good again now.

The Cush

CrowdedHouse wrote: »

I'll pop around and do it for them, I'm just wondering is there some flag on the system to prevent me having 2 lots of the same channels (old and new) on the TV?

A Saorview compatible tuner will only store one set of channels, the new ones in this case and ignore duplicates.

dereks

Hi,

Freesat channels gone since Saturday on combi box. Saorview channels had gone too but back now.

Based in north county Dublin, is there anyway to get them back or are they gone now?

JamBur

This is a thread about Saorview.

As long as your box, dish and cable are ok, then you probably just need to retune.

dereks

Its linked to the Saorview and Freeview updates so that's why I'm asking.

Its gone anytime there is work done (Sept last year too).

A retune has not worked.

Sam Russell

dereks wrote: »

Hi,

Freesat channels gone since Saturday on combi box. Saorview channels had gone too but back now.

Based in north county Dublin, is there anyway to get them back or are they gone now?

It was windy - your satellite may have moved. Mine did, and I moved it back.

JamBur

what type box is it?

dereks wrote: »

Its linked to the Saorview and Freeview updates so that's why I'm asking.

Its gone anytime there is work done (Sept last year too).

A retune has not worked.

dereks

Sam Russell wrote: »

It was windy - your satellite may have moved. Mine did, and I moved it back.

Thanks, sounds possible.

Is there a way i would know if its moved and how to move it back or would I be better off trying to get a professional to look into it?

Sam Russell

dereks wrote: »

Thanks, sounds possible.

Is there a way i would know if its moved and how to move it back or would I be better off trying to get a professional to look into it?

My dish tends to nod down after high winds. It is only 3 metres off the ground so easy to get at from ground level.

So, I put the TV into signal level and 'adjust' the dish with a broom, pushing he boom up a bit. If signal comes back, then success. Fine adjustment requires a useful friend to say 'better' or 'worse'. Concentrate on quality rather than signal strength.

Try it, the worse is you will need professional help, which you will need if you do not try it.

Once you have it back, take a photo or two that shows its position referenced to fixed items when working that you can reference it next time.

Hope that helps.

decor58

dereks wrote: »

Thanks, sounds possible.

Is there a way i would know if its moved and how to move it back or would I be better off trying to get a professional to look into it?

Powercity sell a satellite signal indicator for about 10€, basic and simple to use.

ka2

I moved into a house in Drogheda a couple of years back. The previous owners had Sky but I just stuck with Freesat, knowing that the terrestrial setup in the area was going to change due to this. Last November I ordered the parts and got it all set up.

I initially pointed the aerial towards the new Drogheda relay and things looked great at first. My TV was reporting 99% strength and 100% quality on mux 2 and 100%/100% on mux 1 but I was getting occasional split-second breakup for some reason. Could the signal have been too strong?

I have a group A aerial so Clermont Carn wouldn't have been ideal, but I decided to give Three Rock or Kippure a try because there's a fair amount of south-facing aerials on my road. Kippure is coming in at 92% strength and 100% quality with no breakups so far. So everything looks good now.

The Cush

ka2 wrote: »

I initially pointed the aerial towards the new Drogheda relay and things looked great at first. My TV was reporting 99% strength and 100% quality on mux 2 and 100%/100% on mux 1 but I was getting occasional split-second breakup for some reason. Could the signal have been too strong?

Possibly, are you using a distribution amp or hi-gain aerial in your installation?

ka2

The Cush wrote: »

Possibly, are you using a distribution amp or hi-gain aerial in your installation?

Yeah I'm using one to feed three rooms and combine an FM dipole as well. The aerial is just a standard contract group A so nothing special there.

The Cush

ka2 wrote: »

Yeah I'm using one to feed three rooms and combine an FM dipole as well. The aerial is just a standard contract group A so nothing special there.

A passive splitter might have done the job there.

Digidol

Hi guys, bit of strange one...I'm having major issues trying to scan in the new frequency for Kippure on my Amiko Mini Combo. The blind scan picks up the old frequency and seemingly a frequency from a further away transmitter. When I do a TP scan with the new Kippure frequency it has 90/100 quality/signal, it scans the channels in, although the channel names appear in blue (normally white), but it doesn't store them and they don't appear anywhere else after. I'm very tech savvy and have them sorted on my Zgemma, but this is completely baffling me!

detective

My local transmitter is affected. I’m going from 55/59 to 32/34. Currently I have a green tip group UHF aerial. I bought a red tip aerial but I decided to try and tune in Ch.32/34 with the green tip aerial and I’m getting 100% reception. How is this possible?