TV/Radio reception in Co Louth

sluice44

Hi,
I'm hoping someone can help me.

I've just moved from Dublin (cable TV etc) to Collon in Co Louth. It's half-way between Slane and Ardee, and about 10 miles west of Drogheda.

I phoned a company to put in an aerial for me but he said that Collon can't get any signals but, lucky for me, he could do me a good deal on a sky dish.... I phoned Chorus but apparently my house doesn't exist! Most of the village seem to have Chorus but a few have aerials.

Upon 'mature reflection', all I want is the basic TV service (RTE, BBC, UTV/C4), good radio (BBC, Dublin Jazz FM 89.8FM), and a bit of future-proofing, ie, Digital Radio.

I can pick up radio reasonably well (incl Dublin pirate stations) and get a grainy RTE1/2 using an antique 'rabbit ears'. What's so frustrating is that I get better radio reception in my car parked outside my front door!

So, I suppose I'm asking;
1. Do you do an FAQ section or can you suggest any links?
2. Anyone have any experience of Collon?
3. Anyone know a good aerial installer (sympathetic to newbies) in Co Louth?
4. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Sluice

Mike 1972

Most of Louth should have no problem getting BBC and RTE (In some places even Channel 5 or English ITV is possible) but there are a few black spots.

Generally if any of your neighbours have BBC aerials you should be able to get it too. Ask a couple of aerial installers. Some assume if they cant gett a signal from Divis then BBC reception is impossible but the never think of trying Brougher, Kilkeel, Camlough or the Isle of Man instead.

For FM radio Id recomended a vertically mounted outdoor dipole (antiference "radio rod" for example) to give you all round reception of Northern and Dublin Stations but AVOID those circular "halo" FM aerials theyre Horizontally polorised and useless in Ireland (although still better than a piece of wire stuck in the back of the tuner)

You can get UHF and FM signals diplexed into the same downlead cable. Many Irish aerial installers know very little about FM radio though since hardly anyone in Ireland uses outdoor aerials for FM (I could never understand why)

rlogue

The simple answer to that question is that while the UK FM Network was specifically engineered on the basis that listeners would use outdoor aerials, the Irish FM networks are engineered on the basis that listeners are using a portable radio with a simple telescopic antenna.

Generally Irish FM stations are transmitted at a higher power than UK stations, and Irish FM stations are broadcast using vertical polarisation. UK FM stations are transmitted using either horizontal polarisation or "circular" polarisation.

For example, Virgin Radio on FM in London is transmitted with an ERP of 4 kW for London & SE England, FM104 in Dublin is transmitted with an ERP of 10 kW for Dublin City and county.

tvman

Hi Sluice44

Where exactly are you in Collon, I know the area quite well.
Quote from Mike1972 Some assume if they cant gett a signal from Divis then BBC reception is impossible but the never think of trying Brougher, Kilkeel, Camlough or the Isle of Man instead.

I do'nt know where Mike1972 is from, but if he was ever in Collon he would see why UK reception is almost impossible especially in the village itself.
Camlough, Brougher and Divis are almost nil, Kilkeel is available on the Drogheda side of the village. North of the village reception is back to normal from many sources.
I have never heard of any Isle of Man transmitter being available in the area (Douglas tx is most powerful at 2Kw)
RTE/TV3 from Three Rock (Dublin) could be better than Clermont Carn (Louth).
Most people in the village use Chorus or Sky. I think there may be a small cable system in use also.

watty

I usually drive through Collon going Limerick / Dublin/Newry/Belfast/Carrickfergus.

An outdoor UHF aerial should give perfect UHF. Depending which bit of which hill you are on you can try Dublin or Longford directions for Irish TV. Unless you got a big pole and near top of hill I can't see you getting BBC.

A 21 element yagi will only work if correct "group" (coloured cap on end, Red = A is Ch21-Ch36, Yellow = B is Ch37-Ch49 ?) and pointed accurately.
The flat quad array type (looks like a piece of rabbit hutch wall) allows all the groups and is less severe on pointing but gives less signal.

The radio reception ought to be fine even with a 1m wire on end of a coax to the attic.

If you in the valley, then consider Satellite. After a year you can cancel Sky and still get BBC free (and ITv/C4 if you can get a free FTV card from the UK). Satelle also has 60 odd free radio from 28.2 (SKY) and about 6 to12 decent free channels among the 100 or so free TV. If you add a non-Digibox Satellite setup there are about 1000 free TV & Radio