Getting RTE TV here in Wales

gedbet

Has anyone any idea how we might watch the Irish channels over here in North Wales ?
I do not subscribe to Sky and have no intension of doing so.
I do use the free BBC card.
Recently I discovered how to watch UTV.
I would love to see the Irish Channels though.
Hope someone can help.
Ged

Charles Slane

When RTE1, Network 2 and TG4 finally arrive on Sky, they will be encrypted and only viewable to people on the island of Ireland with a Sky subscription. So unfortunately it doesn't look like you'll get to see them on digital satellite.

You might have a better chance of receiving them on terrestrial analogue (ie. with an aerial), depending on where you live.

There are quite a few posters on this forum who have buckets of knowledge in this area (Madman etc.) and will hopefully point you in the right direction (or at least help you point your aerial in the right direction).

ONireland

Point it West!

Wait. I'll go get a map to be more precise!

Hi Gedbet,
Where exactly in North Wales are you?
You should get Kippure with a Vhf aerial with lots of elements-its in North Wicklow,just South of Dublin.
Three Rock is a good bet aswell, it's in dublin.
Arfon, a welsh relay is received excellently all along the East Coast of Ireland South of dublin , you probably know it.
It is a welsh transmitter with an ERP of less than a third that of Three Rock so all things being equal you should receive it with a good wideband uhf aerial and mast head amp.
Here are some details powers/frequencies grid ref's etc:

http://www.wolfbane.com/articles/eitv.htm

You may run into problems as some of the UHF channels there will not be receivable as your own local ones will be so strong that they will block them.
Ask a local aerial installer for help.
mm

Saruman

May seem like a stupid question but why would you want RTE and Network 2? All that "QUALITY" stuff they show? Or do you just fancy that Anne Doyle on Rte news ::Shudder::....

Anne Doyle is lovely-oh if only I was thirty years older:D
mm

DMC

Originally posted by Saruman
May seem like a stupid question but why would you want RTE and Network 2? All that "QUALITY" stuff they show? Or do you just fancy that Anne Doyle on Rte news ::Shudder::....

Don't knock the man, all he wants is more telly.......

More telly is good.

If its quality your're after, thats different, but more telly is gooooood.

Saruman

More telly is good, thats why i got Sky Digital and pretty much never watch cable any more... maybe C4 as its the only one i cant get on Digital... apart from the Irish ones which i have no reason to want to watch.. TV3 is ok sometimes but rare and the weather man is a pain! News presenters are nice though!

gedbet

Thanks all for your posts.
You are all very keen.
Me and the wife are from Ireland and like to hear whats happening in the old country.
We live in Llanfairfechan on the promenade looking out directly across the sea to the North
We face Puffin Island or Ynys Seriol as it is known here in Wales.
I have a large aeriel pointed towards Belfast which picks up UTV BBC 2 Northern Ireland sometimes when we have a high pressure over us.
I think the aeriel picks up signals from the divis booster ?
On a direct line between my home and the Divis transmiter is a transmitter on Angelsey near Beaumaris.
This might affect the signal.
I am also possibly effected as I am at sea level.
They say TV pictures are affected by the tide here.
I do use a booster to bring in the signal.
I have family in Ireland and have considered taking the digital sky box over to Ireland when I go on holiday and boot it up over there but wonder if it (the box) will remain fooled when it comes back home to Wales picking up the Irish channels ?
Do those in Ireland have to sign up to sky ?
or can they get the Irish stations for free ?
I am pleased now to get UTV crystal clear
Will this just be a short lived arrangement ?
Thanks for your posts
I thought I was in a minority of one over being interested getting Irish TV.
Gedbet

ONireland

www.wolfbane.com is an excellent site. The UK TV predictor is class. I have a link to it here www.David.Laverty.com/coverage .

I wonder if we could make an Irish version of the same thing (with Nothern Irish transmitters).


Interesting conservation I overheard once in Donegal:

Donegal Guy: You're not paying a license fee up here are you?
Derry Guy: Aye, but you're not paying a license fee for the BBC channels you get.
Donegal Guy: But the BBC illegally placed their transmitter on Irish soil! That BBC transmitter belongs to Ireland!!

chernobyl

If i remember correctly the girl from "News 2" was gorgeous but she must be way over 30 now.

Mossy Monk

when she started with RTÉ she was something. now i think she is plain. standards too high???

byte

Originally posted by ONireland
www.wolfbane.com is an excellent site. The UK TV predictor is class. I have a link to it here www.David.Laverty.com/coverage .

I wonder if we could make an Irish version of the same thing (with Nothern Irish transmitters).


Interesting conservation I overheard once in Donegal:

Donegal Guy: You're not paying a license fee up here are you?
Derry Guy: Aye, but you're not paying a license fee for the BBC channels you get.
Donegal Guy: But the BBC illegally placed their transmitter on Irish soil! That BBC transmitter belongs to Ireland!!

I think that is reference to Holywell Hill which has both a BBC transmitter and an RTÉ transmitter on it just some yards apart.

icdg

Originally posted by gedbet

I have family in Ireland and have considered taking the digital sky box over to Ireland when I go on holiday and boot it up over there but wonder if it (the box) will remain fooled when it comes back home to Wales picking up the Irish channels ?

Unfortunately, this will do no good, as you will still have a Welsh viewing card. If you brought the box to Ireland with its card, and had a satellite dish to plug it into, you would still get BBC Wales /HTV /S4C etc. You would have to have an Irish subscription to get RTE.

Do those in Ireland have to sign up to sky ?
or can they get the Irish stations for free ?
I am pleased now to get UTV crystal clear
Will this just be a short lived arrangement ?
Gedbet

Unfortunately, when the Irish stations become available, they will only be available to all subscribers in ROI and Family Pack viewers in NI. This is for copyright reasons.

The good news however, is that ITV seem intent on broadcasting Free To View for as long as their advertisers and rights holders will let them get away with it. That could be a while...

chernobyl

Originally posted by icdg


ITV seem intent on broadcasting Free To View

Actually both ITV channels [and 20000 regions] are FTA, its just with $kigibox that its CA.

hi Gedbet,
Am too busy at the moment to get out a map.
But I think in theory it should be possible to pick up RTE and tv3 where you are.
As long as you have an unobstructed sea path.
You will need the right group of aerial for the UHF transmitter and masthead amp,if you are pointing to 3 Rock this will be wideband.
the fact that your sea view is to the North(?) is a problem , but then you could try Clermont Carn in Louth.
Ask locally,and let us know how you get on.
By the way Kippures VHF RTE ONE and Network Two signal is vey Strong and would be a good bet.
mm

byte

If you're gonna try getting VHF signals in Wales, you'd better make sure your telly has a VHF tuner in it. Quite a lot of TV's in UK don't have VHF tuners, just UHF. Though some newer ones do have both.