Aerial equipment

patkelly

Hi

Does anyone know what type of aerials and accessories I need to get in order to view the UK channels and Irish channels?

I live in Inishowen in Donegal and have a line to the Limavady transmitter, but I'm not sure where the Irish channels are transmitted from.

I have an aerial in the loft which picks up the BBC 1, 2 UTV and Channel 4 OK, channnel 5 has lines through it, RTE 1 & 2 are poor, TV3 worse and TG4 really bad on a good day.

I would also like to get the UK digital freeview channels but have been told it won't be possible in my areas due to a "bin" on the Limavady transmitter, is this true?

Apart from the type of aerials do I also need a mast head amplifier with power supply and a combiner to combine both aerials for the UK and Irish channels? Also any idea of the best place to source this equipment from?

Many thanks, PK

rlogue

Hi Pat,

It is entirely possible to pick up Freeview from Limavady on Inishowen - my parents do it, and provided you get a reasonable signal on the 4 main UK channels then you should get Freeview. Limavady does not transmit Five on analogue so your Five is either coming from Derry (on Channel 31) or from Black Mountain (on Channel 37). The black lines on Five are probably because your attic aerial is not pointing at a Five transmitter.

As to the Irish channels, your best bet on Inishowen is either a dedicated aerial on the roof for Holywell Hill or for Moville. If you choose Moville you won't get TV3.

The TV shop in Moville do aerial installations and will no doubt be happy to advise what's your best option.

patkelly

thanks for the tip rlogue, I'll try the shop in Moville.