digital TV but I want RTE

lazer

If you receive analogue RTE, then come October 2012 you should be (hopefully) in an area where you can receive RTE Digital (aka Saorvoew)

Both North and South are switching off the analogue signal next year in October.

You will need a TV or set top box capable of receiver M-PEG2 (NI) and M-PEG4 (RoI)

If you are buying a TV, make sure it is capable of receiveing both saorview and freeview.

steveymp

Any Samsung or Sharp freeview TV will pick up Saorview HD in the North West beautifully :T and it's broadcasting now, I can even get it without an outside aerial:eek: but I am pretty close and line of sight to the transmitter.

dumbo

Any one know of a freeview + box (similar to Sky +) that will let me record rte on digital as I want to get rid of my sky subscription.

jim._2

To answer some of my own questions ....

Channels prior to analogue switch off
Divis
21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 33, 34, 48

Black Mountain
37, 39, 41, 45, 49

Clermont Carn
52, 56, 66, 68


Channels after analogue switch off - digital only
Divis
21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 29, 30, 33, 34, 36

Black Mountain
42, 45, 49

Clermont Carn
53, 57, 60 ?


So post ASO, the channels I'm looking to receive (don't need Black Mountain) are Divis 21-36 and Clermont Carn 53-60+



From above image, that suggests that a A band aerial with a C/D band aerial would give me the best performance used with a dilplexer with a split somewhere between 38 to 52.

Looks like I could go for that now with the only concern being the current mux on C48 which moves after ASO.

http://www.ukfree.tv/txdetail.php?a=IJ287750

http://www.ukfree.tv/shutdowndetail.php?tx=IJ278727

Willyk

From the Saorview site:

Is Northern Ireland covered by SAORVIEW?After Analogue Switch-Off, on both sides of the border, in late 2012 or early 2013, SAORVIEW will cover in excess of 98% of the population of the Republic and we estimate it will, through over-spill, cover of the order of 65% of the population of Northern Ireland. This is an increase over traditional analogue terrestrial television over-spill coverage.
Use the online coverage checker to see if your area is covered. Read all of the information and instructions. Remember to check which direction your aerial should be pointing.
NB. The address search tool is not designed for Northern Ireland and it will not identify many locations. Try putting UK after the location name (i.e. Belfast, UK).
If it does not recognise your area use the name of a large population centre such as Belfast, Newry, Derry or Portrush (all followed with the, UK) to get the red pin or balloon to a location near you. Then click on the red pin or balloon and drag it to your exact location.
At present there are no other free-to-air options for Northern Ireland. The RTÉ and other existing Irish free-to-air television services are available in Northern Ireland from a number of pay or subscription platforms. Some content may be blocked on these services as the Irish free-to-air services may not have the appropriate broadcast rights for Northern Ireland.
There are however two projects that may lead to improved access to Irish channels an services in Northern Ireland:
SAORSAT
SAORVIEW is currently in the process of developing a free-to-air satellite solution which would make it possible for all Irish broadcasters to reach every home in Ireland via satellite. The extent that the coverage may or may not extend over Northern Ireland will be confirmed during testing in the coming months. SAORVIEW hope to be in a position to make more information publicly available about this possible new service in mid to late 2011.
Irish channels on FREEVIEW in Northern Ireland
A joint UK and Irish Government project is currently examining the possibility of allowing the existing RTÉ and TG4 television services to be carried on part of the UK’s FREEVIEW (Digital Terrestrial Television) platform after analogue switch-off. The objective is to see if it will be possible to complement SAORVIEW overspill into Northern Ireland with some Northern Ireland-based transmitters and thereby expand the availability of these services to more than 90% of the population in Northern Ireland on a Free-To-Air basis.

highrisklowreturn

Is it possible to get uk gold on digital?

jtk174

dumbo wrote: »

Any one know of a freeview + box (similar to Sky +) that will let me record rte on digital as I want to get rid of my sky subscription.

The Humax HDR Fox T2 ( The R indicates it's a recorder ) can be tuned in to the RTE digital mux, assuming you are within range and have a suitable aerial. As such you could make a recording but I assume it would have to be a manual one as the box is primarily a Freeview box, receiving the Freeview EPG. I intend to try out an aerial in the next week or two depending on the weather and will report back.

If it's just a case of watching the digital channels the cheaper Humax Fox HD T2 would do the job at half the price. However it only has one tuner, but can be used to record by the addition on an external hard drive.

jtk174

highrisklowreturn wrote: »

Is it possible to get uk gold on digital?

UK gold is shown in the EPG of my Humax HD box, but the channel itself is encrypted. This means that there is a subscription to pay and requires a card. It looks like its a part of Topup TV see this link ;
http://www.topuptv.com/help+centre/product+help/GOLD

Be aware that if you have an existing Freeview box it needs to have a slot to insert the card. Not all Freeview boxes do. The Humax HDR Fox-T2 has.

Pretani

You're best bet for now is sky (although you won't get TG4). Although there has been an agreement signed between the UK and the South for BBC and RTE channels to be available both sides of the border, there are still some issues which are yet unsolved. The Irish government has now said the if you want BBC in the South you have to pay extra for it (probably because of the BBC TV licence thingy).......not exactly sure how this will end up come the switch over in 2012.

INHO, sky is the best bet for now, then you can decide what to do after your 12 month contract runs out....HTH