DAB in Ireland: RTE multiplex closed

Antenna · 30-12-2005 6:03pm

marclt wrote:

... on the top of the Preseli's you can always pick up the Dublin commercial stations...

a bit off topic (reply in a different thread) but I'd be very interested if you could post a bandscan of all Irish FM transmissions receiveable during normal conditions there (mountains in S.W. Wales)

marclt · 30-12-2005 8:14pm

Antenna wrote:

a bit off topic (reply in a different thread) but I'd be very interested if you could post a bandscan of all Irish FM transmissions receiveable during normal conditions there (mountains in S.W. Wales)

OK matey

As soon as I get a chance, I'll post details up!

Marc

DMC · 31-12-2005 8:12pm

Less than 11 hours to go.....

Time to go out, burn some midnight oil, and then, just when its time to go to bed, I'll tune in the DAB radio at 6am.

Lets hope its a Happy New Year!

Charles Slane · 31-12-2005 9:07pm

DMC wrote:

Less than 11 hours to go.....

Time to go out, burn some midnight oil, and then, just when its time to go to bed, I'll tune in the DAB radio at 6am.

Lets hope its a Happy New Year!

We'll expect an early report if there's good news. Unfortunately I still haven't got a DAB receiver so you'll have to be my ears for a while

DMC · 01-01-2006 7:59am

7am Report

Nothing to report.

No signal here in Cabra anyway.... Now for sleep.

DMC · 01-01-2006 9:59am

9am update....

Well no sleep yet....

But good news! Clermont Carn is broadcasting DAB!! Three Rock certainly isnt.

To explain... I thought that if I could get the BBC National DAB mux up in the Dublin mountains... then I should get Clermont Carn....

AND I DID!

Drove up there, got the signal as I was driving up. When I stopped, the signal was loud and clear!
When you do a scan, it appears as "Configuration 1" and stations on the are appear as...

Rad 1 (sometimes as "Rad 1 a" for some reason
2FM
R na G (sometimes as "R na G a" for some reason)
Lyric FM (no sound)
Today FM (no sound)
WRn (no sound)

I'm sure its Clermont, as I had direct line of sight of Three Rock, (as nearly the whole of Dublin has) not a whisper.

Pictures to follow!

EDIT: BTW, programme choice was good.... John Bowman looking back at 80 years to the day, of the country's first radio station, 2RN.

DMC · 01-01-2006 10:17am

White Horse · 01-01-2006 12:25pm

Not so great to have a couple of channels we can already receive in pristine stereo.

Also, RTE's DAB service appears to have screwed up reception of BBC DAB service from Belfast.

Anyone else have problems receiving BBC since RTE started their trial?

lawhec · 01-01-2006 1:42pm

None here from myself

tried at around 7:00 with nothing about. Though it could be a problem of trying to pick out a weak signal with a strong BBC and Score next door to it. And White Horse, that might be your problem.

deaglan169 · 01-01-2006 2:30pm

hi just did a search for the dab stations from clermont but no success here in monaghan although i do have a bad path to clermont, i think its time for an external antenna(happy new year all)

dec

DMC · 01-01-2006 3:25pm

White Horse wrote:

Not so great to have a couple of channels we can already receive in pristine stereo.

Also, RTE's DAB service appears to have screwed up reception of BBC DAB service from Belfast.

Anyone else have problems receiving BBC since RTE started their trial?

Hi, welcome along.

Its a trial, so they wont be starting any new services if a) the trial is deemed a success and b) RTÉ could possibly justify it.

As for reception, I was able to listen for the few minutes to BBC DAB and RTÉ DAB up in the mountains, and I didnt get any interference. Make/model of radio? As NC said, its possible as the muxes are near each other. Are you using an outdoor aerial?

The trial really only started today, so its best to ring 1850 584 584 (RTE Reception Info) when they are open. The trial for these couple of days are only early in the morning, but do contact them. They'll need all the reception reports, good and bad.

Propellerhead · 01-01-2006 5:31pm

I'm in Celbridge, and my bedroom window has direct sight of the Three Rock mast.

I have a Roberts Sports DAB, which could not get any signal at all at 7.25am this morning. If Three Rock was on the air I would expect to get the channel labels at least, even if the sound quality was poor. The only explaination I can think of was that Three Rock did not transmit any DAB at all today (Jan 1st).

I'll try again tomorrow in case the RTÉ engineers overslept today... :mad:

Conor S · 01-01-2006 7:46pm

Im receiving them with 100% signal strength in Ardee Co.Louth.
DMC has covered most of theinfo regarding the tests above but there are however two points ID like to raise:
1.The full titles of the stations all have the word audio after them which looks a bit unprofessional IMHO
2.Some people I know have now completely lost reception of the SCORE NI multiplex on 12D due ot these tests.They are however very close to Claremont Cairn.I however am only suffering from a lower quality signal on SCORE NI multiplex (similarly to what happened my BBC multiplex when they put BBC on from Brougher Mountain) but it is still listenable
3.The tests have been on all day I thought they were only on at selected hours??

Overall it looks like a very thrown together operation but perhaps itll improve in the days to come.
Conor

lawhec · 01-01-2006 7:51pm

I however am only suffering from a lower quality signal on SCORE NI multiplex (similarly to what happened my BBC multiplex when they put BBC on from Brougher Mountain)

That's strange. Brougher Mountain coming online should reinforce reception rather than take away from it.

In the pictures I posted I managed to get a multiplex from Britain on 12C with the BBC and Score on-air a while back. I know that the adjacent channel barrier on my receiver is 35db. Might need to try some outdoor places...

Conor S · 01-01-2006 7:53pm

Theres a difference between a multiplex in Britain and a multiplex a few miles up the road.Much stronger signal has overloaded this persons receiver.

DMC · 01-01-2006 8:01pm

Conor S wrote:

1.The full titles of the stations all have the word audio after them which looks a bit unprofessional IMHO

That explains why I was getting the "a" after some station names. This changed within the hour that I was listening to earlier up the mountains.

Conor S wrote:

2.Some people I know have now completely lost reception of the SCORE NI multiplex on 12D due ot these tests.They are however very close to Claremont Cairn.I however am only suffering from a lower quality signal on SCORE NI multiplex (similarly to what happened my BBC multiplex when they put BBC on from Brougher Mountain) but it is still listenable

I'm starting to think that those with outdoor aerials in North Louth are being affected. Overload on the tuner/too close to the action for an outdoor aerial. As I said earlier, and like you have said Conor, the further away you are, the less of a problem this is. But it is a problem for those in North Louth. I'd like to see if White Horse can try getting Score and RTÉ away from a outdoor aerial, just moving location, using the whip.
We dont know what power these tests are being conducted at.

Conor S wrote:

3.The tests have been on all day I thought they were only on at selected hours??

Surprised by this... reports from highlands in North Kildare (of which there are few), confirm what we've seen and heard.

Conor S wrote:

Overall it looks like a very thrown together operation but perhaps itll improve in the days to come.

We are witnessing a trial, so I dont really care if it looks cobbled together. Its if/when this goes live in a marketing sense that this feedback will make it look good.

byrnefm · 01-01-2006 9:15pm

What bit rates are being used by the stations? I'm presently in SW Donegal, far from the reach of any DAB signals from anywhere

DMC · 01-01-2006 9:28pm

8:30pm update

Remember the tropo a few weeks ago? I got Digital 1 mux from Scotland in my bathroom.... tried again there....

Clermont Carn coming in bubbly as hell, but working...

192kbps.

More in a few mins...

marksi · 01-01-2006 9:32pm

Not that I would particularly expect to receive anything, but just to confirm it, here in North Down I am not getting anything at all.

DMC · 01-01-2006 9:44pm

White Horse · 02-01-2006 2:22am

DMC wrote:

Hi, welcome along.

Its a trial, so they wont be starting any new services if a) the trial is deemed a success and b) RTÉ could possibly justify it.

As for reception, I was able to listen for the few minutes to BBC DAB and RTÉ DAB up in the mountains, and I didnt get any interference. Make/model of radio? As NC said, its possible as the muxes are near each other. Are you using an outdoor aerial?

The trial really only started today, so its best to ring 1850 584 584 (RTE Reception Info) when they are open. The trial for these couple of days are only early in the morning, but do contact them. They'll need all the reception reports, good and bad.

Hi, I listen to DAB on two radios, an Arcam DT81 and a Roberts RD1. Both are connected to a loft aerial as I'm in a low lying coastal area and not in an ideal position for Divis. I normally receive BBC at 80-100% and Score is normally poor at 20-30% (ie. usually unlistenable).

Evening reception on BBC has improved to 60-70% with a little tweaking on the aerial to maximise reception.

I'd hate to lose reception of BBC on DAB. Once you get used to add-free radio, it's hard to go back.

DMC · 02-01-2006 6:43pm

Northern Correspondent wrote:

The main problem in DAB doesn't mainly lie with the use of MP2 (though that's hardly a plus point) but in its specification rigidness and that it was designed for national and regional networks. For local radio outside of cities like Dublin and Belfast, DAB doesn't really work out well without it being a bandwidth hog, moreso than FM.

Agreed NC, lets hope thats addressed with Ofcom in the next year or so. The BBC will be looking for more spectrum space, Digital 1 will be hoping that there isnt another commercial national mux operator

Up in Belfast today, was in Currys in Donegal Place and Sprucefield, not a great selection of DAB kit on display, no Roberts RD25 or RD27 or the Sony quad-band on display. Possibely as this was post-Christmas. I had my RD5 on for most of the way, and there wasnt any co-channel interference along the path where I had both BBC DAB and RTÉ DAB, and even when Score kicked in at the top of the Newry bypass.

DMC · 03-01-2006 11:49am

I'm out of the loop this morning.... any news?

Propellerhead · 03-01-2006 11:56am

Nothing at all from Three Rock again this morning. I tried calling RTÉ Reception on the 1850 number but the line is still closed. :mad:

pbirney · 03-01-2006 4:44pm

Just spoke with a girl on 1850-584584. They are planning to be on the air from Three Rock over the next few days. She said that tests are being carried out today but she says there may not be any audio!

watty · 03-01-2006 6:36pm

Pity it's not from Mt Lienster as well or instead. I can get a 15W 434MHz FM signal here in Patrickswell "fully quietening" from it.

byrnefm · 03-01-2006 7:46pm

Arrived back in Dublin today after some time in Donegal and had my DAB radio with at the time. When on the N3 just on the outskirts of Dublin city (near Blanchardstown), I tried out my radio and it said that no stations were available. I manually tuned to 12C and saw that I was getting full signal strength - but no stations were available on the multiplex! That was at about 12:10pm.

I later tried it again when back in Stillorgan, not expecting to hear anything - but lo and behold, I suddenly was able to get the three broadcasting stations (Radio 1, 2FM and R na G) at full signal strength! That was at 2:55pm.

I decided to then do some proper testing at 3:30 and found that I couldn't receive any signal - but moving my radio about got a poor to medium signal. I'm nearly in view of the Three Rock transmitter (I'm just five minutes from Stillorgan Shopping Centre, which has a clear line-of-sight) so either they turned down the signal or it was turned off. Is it possible to receive a signal from Claremont Carn in Stillorgan? Basically, if I'm sitting in my room (which has a window on the side towards Three Rock), I am presently now just getting ">>>>" of a signal most of the time. If I move too much or in the wrong direction, I lose it.

I've attached some pics of the data collated at 4pm.

Observances (checking it occasionally throughout the day).

Equipment: LaGIO R105 dual-band hand-held receiver, bought at Maplins some time back. Headphones act as antenna for Band-III, built-in antenna for L-band.

"01:24" really meant 14:58, however, it doesn't appear to be accurate - 07:00 was really 18:16.
21-12-2001 really means 03-01-2006
DAB audio delay compared to analog signal: 1.8 seconds (timed by stopwatch)

14:58 - perfect signal (every ">" lit up across the screen), Radio 1, 2FM and RnaG audible. Other three have perfect signal but no audio. All at 192kbits.
15:30 - very poor signal
16:15 - Only Radio 1 now available, rest have no audio
16:26 - RnaG and 2FM back on the air
17:53 - Lyric FM now audible also.
18:15 - No other changes.

DMC · 03-01-2006 8:11pm

byrnefm wrote:

14:58 - perfect signal (every ">" lit up across the screen), Radio 1, 2FM and RnaG audible. Other three have perfect signal but no audio. All at 192kbits.
15:30 - very poor signal
16:15 - Only Radio 1 now available, rest have no audio
16:26 - RnaG and 2FM back on the air
17:53 - Lyric FM now audible also.
18:15 - No other changes.

Superb detail.. excellent stuff.

As pbirney got from the reception line, Three Rock was testing today.

Conor S · 03-01-2006 8:40pm

Lyric is now audible from Claremont Cairn also.But still no sign of audio on WRN or Today fm (the two stations which interest me most...)
I will record some samples of Lyric (192kbps) and BBC Radio 3 (192kbps) tomorrow if I get a chance and you can compare the quality.I suspect the BBC is better for some reason.
Is 3 Rock still on this evening??Is it mirroring the present activity from Claremont Cairn?
Conor

03-01-2006 9:02pm

Guys,I'll be in Heathrow next week and might pop into Dixons there for a duty free Dab (I'll be going outside the EU)

Any recommendations.
Obviously I want a strong tuner and I want an ability to connect to an aerial and importantlyto an amp
I dont want it as a hifi separate though,I want a portable.

Price ?

DAB in Ireland: RTE multiplex closed

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