MUX 2 launch date ?

The second Saorview multiplex tends to be occasionally fired up at different sites if only to check that the relevant transmission systems are in good working order so that when it comes on air full time there should be very little pre-launch testing to do.

Coverage should be effectively equivalent to the first multiplex give or take a tiny amount because of propagation etc. One problem might occur is for users of indoor aerials whose signal is on the margins is that certain aerial positions for reception may suit one multiplex or the other, but both at the same time may prove trickier. In the analogue days, the sign would have been one channel being slightly snowier than the other and that adjusting the aerial for a better picture would need readjusting for other channels.

One thing I noticed looking down the list of the 1st multiplex frequencies is that allocations are in a similar pattern to that allocated for the UK in that all bar two sites are only using transmissions between E21 to E30 and E41 to E58. The exceptions have been Mitchelstown on E40 and Mt. Gabriel on E37 - the latter only a late comer and not in the original site plan. I know Holywell Hill has E32 now allocated for Saorview Mux 2 but it's interesting to see how they've kept a proportion of the band so clear, not to mention that E59 & E60 also aren't used (hedging bets against 4G interference problems?)