Saorview frequencies reshuffle (700 MHz clearence)

Elvis Hammond

On the subject of SFNs, mentioned already as regards Kilkeel/Camlough & Truskmore/Clermont: in the case of the latter, there's a reference in a cost report from a couple of years ago to an MIP Inserter/SFN Adapter for the network headend 'in order that two sites (Clermont Carn
and Truskmore) on the north east and northwest coast can be synchronised so
as to avoid interference'.

Wonder if they bothered, given that the signal only travels (IIRC) about 8.5km in the guard interval used?

castle2012

Guys would be great if anyone could let me know are they getting anything from Killkeel .Before I look at options.It seems to have just disappeared after the re-tune . nothing on 40 ,43 and 46 .Just rte driving me mad

Digifriendly

Iderown wrote: »

The post Digifriendly refers to is 205.


Com 7 (on E51) is OK but Com8 (on E60) is very unreliable. Local1 (on E36) and NI Mux (on E33) are fine. I guess that poor response (at the higher frequencies) of the group A aerial is the problem here. I don't have a RF signal strength measuring facility.



Happens that the main televiewer in the house is herself and she has no interest in the programmes carried by either Com7 or Com8. If she expresses interest in the future, I will take graded steps to solve it.

I am not going to bother trying to improve Com 7 reception here in Moira (now intermittent since Wednesday) or Com 8 (gone completely) as these are muxes that are temporary and not permanent. BTW I have a wideband aerial for Divis/Black Mountain (get NIMM) diplexed with wideband aerial for Clermont Carn. My guess is that since both these muxes are now much higher up the RF frequency band that I'm struggling to pull them in. AFAIK Wideband aerials perform much better with the lower numbered RF channel frequencies but this is my take anyway. Also I have satellite so get BBC News HD and Freesports HD via Sky.

Elvis Hammond

Digifriendly wrote: »

... I have a wideband aerial for Divis/Black Mountain (get NIMM) diplexed with wideband aerial for Clermont Carn. My guess is that since both these muxes are now much higher up the RF frequency band that I'm struggling to pull them in.

It's the diplexer that's blocking the higher channels from the Divis aerial.

Elvis Hammond

castle2012 wrote: »

Guys would be great if anyone could let me know are they getting anything from Killkeel .Before I look at options.It seems to have just disappeared after the re-tune . nothing on 40 ,43 and 46 .Just rte driving me mad

Kilkeel definitely looking a non-starter now, with co-channel Camlough, & the previously overlooked (& hugely more powerful) Clermont Carn in adjacent channels for 2 muxes.

Rick_

I had arranged for someone to come out today to sort the aerials but he appears to have forgot about me. Apparently he will be coming out tomorrow instead. Will mention to him about getting two diplexers set up so I can get all 8 Divis MUXs and Clermont.

Mrs cockett

Thanks for the info Elvis and The Cush.

Looks like its a dish for me, I will talk to local installer

castle2012

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

castle2012 wrote: »

Guys would be great if anyone could let me know are they getting anything from Killkeel .Before I look at options.It seems to have just disappeared after the re-tune . nothing on 40 ,43 and 46 .Just rte driving me mad

Kilkeel definitely looking a non-starter now, with co-channel Camlough, & the previously overlooked (& hugely more powerful) Clermont Carn in adjacent channels for 2 muxes.

Ok so I now am back up and running with killkeel.i relocated my Ariel .The only thing not coming in for some strange reason is the HD mix

lgs 4

Hi guys why not use Scottish DTT .I live in Dublin 24 and can get Freeview HD from Scotland ,when its sunny or a frostly night .That's with a old analogue aerial in the attic with no amp.Don't know what band the aerial is . The reception was good back in day on the roof .

castle2012

lgs 4 wrote: »

Hi guys why not use Scottish DTT .I live in Dublin 24 and can get Freeview HD from Scotland ,when its sunny or a frostly night .That's with a old analogue aerial in the attic with no amp.Don't know what band the aerial is . The reception was good back in day on the roof .

Thanks couple of questions.what channel number s are they on ? And what type of Ariel are you using?

Elvis Hammond

You'd be wasting your time looking at Scotland, unless you're just messing around for the sake of it.

What did moving your own aerial involve? Is it an outdoor install?

lgs 4

Hi ! don't the group of the aerial here is photo of the aerial .The aerial was used for BBC 1 and 2 ,UTV and Channel 4 Northern Ireland till the 90,s .When my father got a free years cablelink as cablelink needed to run the main cable throught our front garden . The aerial is 40 years old . I will need to get back to about Scottish Freeview channel numbers . One more thing aerial reflector at the end was bigger ,than the one in photo .

lgs 4

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

You'd be wasting your time looking at Scotland, unless you're just messing around for the sake of it.

What did moving your own aerial involve? Is it an outdoor install?[/Q

Just anyone in the north of country with the aerial on the roof and amp .They may get more stable signal from Scotland .My reception is depening on the weather. The reception stays if the weather is suited

castle2012

lgs 4 wrote: »

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

You'd be wasting your time looking at Scotland, unless you're just messing around for the sake of it.

What did moving your own aerial involve? Is it an outdoor install?[/Q

Just anyone in the north of country with the aerial on the roof and amp .They may get more stable signal from Scotland .My reception is depening on the weather. The reception stays if the weather is suited

My Ariel is in the attic .so I just relocated it and it worked .I'm in East meath

Elvis Hammond

lgs 4 wrote: »

... Just anyone in the north of country with the aerial on the roof and amp .They may get more stable signal from Scotland.

Seriously doubt it, unfortunately. Anything you're getting would just be due to 'lift' conditions.

castle2012 wrote: »

My Ariel is in the attic .so I just relocated it and it worked .I'm in East meath

I wonder did you manage to strengthen Kilkeel, or maybe weaken one of the others. Will be interesting to see if it's reliable.

Mortelaro

castle2012 wrote: »

Ok so I now am back up and running with killkeel.i relocated my Ariel .The only thing not coming in for some strange reason is the HD mix

The HD muxes are very sensitive to co channel and adjacent channel interference

Digifriendly

Elvis Hammond wrote: »

It's the diplexer that's blocking the higher channels from the Divis aerial.

Then this must literally affect thousands of homes in N. Ireland as many rooftops seem to have a similar set up to mine. What then is the answer - 2 separate aerial leads or is there an alternative?

Mortelaro

lgs 4 wrote: »

Hi ! don't the group of the aerial here is photo of the aerial .The aerial was used for BBC 1 and 2 ,UTV and Channel 4 Northern Ireland till the 90,s .When my father got a free years cablelink as cablelink needed to run the main cable throught our front garden . The aerial is 40 years old . I will need to get back to about Scottish Freeview channel numbers . One more thing aerial reflector at the end was bigger ,than the one in photo .

That's in good nick,its a lovely wideband and like we had here years ago
Theres a lot of them about still especially in my area
If you have the masthead amp and power supply,with vertical polarity, it might work for arfon in Wales

Forget Scotland, as the poster above,only in lift (tropospheric ducting) conditions would those come in ie in high pressure weather

Mrs cockett

Retuned this evening and all stations back. Couldn't believe it, No H D, but will live with that

Fingers crossed now they stay put

Bellbottoms

I have just tried to retune.
Nothing

No UK channels for me.
I am in central Drogheda.

lgs 4

Mortelaro wrote: »

That's in good nick,its a lovely wideband and like we had here years ago
Theres a lot of them about still especially in my area
If you have the masthead amp and power supply,with vertical polarity, it might work for arfon in Wales

Forget Scotland, as the poster above,only in lift (tropospheric ducting) conditions would those come in ie in high pressure weather

My mother had enough,:eek: 15 years of the fear it would blow down .Living in Tallaght. I have Freesat .

Elvis Hammond

Mortelaro wrote: »

The HD muxes are very sensitive to co channel and adjacent channel interference

No they aren't. They might be slightly more vulnerable, which could be enough to make the difference in the kind of marginal conditions along the east coast

kazoo106

Update - We have the COM Mux on CH30 Back in Dundalk.
New antenna literally using the floor of building as a shield - with the antenna mounted just above the ground on the North face of building - no amps -just a log periodic and so far so good - rising or lowering a foot kills it as 3 rock so strong

Rick_

Had an installer out today. He removed the old diplexer and fitted a new one and we got everything back with full signal apart from COMs 7 & 8. I mentioned that I’d like him to split the Divis aerial and run it and Clermont into one diplexer and another feed from Divis into another diplexer and I’d be able to get all 8 Divis MUXs and the two Clermont ones. He said that wasn’t possible. I said that I believed it was and asked him if he would at least try. He point blank refused. I mentioned that I was the customer and it’s what I hired him to do and he got very defensive that he knew more than me. I would have probably thought he did but he left shortly after I decided I didn’t want my time wasted any further when I had to explain to him what the Divis frequencies were. (He didn’t even know there was a retune needed recently and told me “Oh, you’re missing the channels on 29”. I said “Yes, they’ve moved to 30”. He told me they hadn’t and it was just a problem with my set up). As an installer you would have thought he would have known about the retune let alone what channels the TV signals are on, no? Was I wrong for expecting a paid professional to know something that, to me, would have been a basic bit of information?

Johnboy1951

Was I wrong for expecting a paid professional to know something that, to me, would have been a basic bit of information?

Simply, yes.

It happens with a percentage of workers in all professions and is why most people look for personal recommendations.

castle2012

kazoo106 wrote: »

Update - We have the COM Mux on CH30 Back in Dundalk.
New antenna literally using the floor of building as a shield - with the antenna mounted just above the ground on the North face of building - no amps -just a log periodic and so far so good - rising or lowering a foot kills it as 3 rock so strong

Looks like a very neat antenna, Did you buy it locally?

kazoo106

Have had them a few years - only 12 or 13 db gain but better rejection than standard antennas

Rick_

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Simply, yes.

It happens with a percentage of workers in all professions and is why most people look for personal recommendations.

I got his details on a recommendation funnily enough. I just found it surprising he didn’t even know about the 700MHz clearance retune and his attitude was generally “I’m not doing what you called me out to do, I’m doing what I want and if you don’t like it, tough” which I thought was very unprofessional. Ah well, I’ll know next time I need work done not to use him again.

Johnboy1951

PFMC84 wrote: »

I got his details on a recommendation funnily enough. I just found it surprising he didn’t even know about the 700MHz clearance retune and his attitude was generally “I’m not doing what you called me out to do, I’m doing what I want and if you don’t like it, tough” which I thought was very unprofessional. Ah well, I’ll know next time I need work done not to use him again.

Yeah, I have had that attitude from quite a number over the years, in various professions.
When lucky I have succeeded in weeding out the worst of them, during a preliminary chat, before any committment.

I am fully behind the adage

'Qualification is no indication of competence'

joeysoap

My aerial is partially eaten/broken by birds/weather. 2 or 3 of the end ‘spokes - shaped almost like an 8 sideways) are missing. 40 year old single rooftop aerial.
I’m still getting freeview and Saorview but no HD or UTV on one of my tv’s. The other 2 are fine, as is the freeview recorder.

Would I benefit now from a new aerial or wait until March? The full stops are still showing on the newest tv (lg - 2months old UM series) on Irish Saorview channels. Dundalk.