Loft aerial installation

FUNKYDADDIO

Got my RTE aerial fitted today. Can hear RTE HD fine but no picture. Engineer said its because TV is only hd ready. . He said if I get a freeview HD box it should fix it, anyone did this before? Cheers..

desm52

A freeview hd tv should work. To guarantee that it will work check if the tv is saorview approved here: https://www.saorview.ie/en/get/products. Saorview is the Irish freeview equivalent.

Most tvs from Samsung/LG and the other large manufacturers will be Saorview approved. I would also recommend getting a tv where you can reorder the channels, otherwise the Irish channels will probably be placed in the 800s in your tv guide .

FUNKYDADDIO

Thanks, don't really want to buy a new TV. Do you think a full HD set top freeview box would work? Thanks

Old_Git

you need a saorview box .Not the UK freeview box .Not expensive

almillar

Can hear RTE HD fine but no picture. Engineer said its because TV is only hd ready.

Specifically, it's because your TV has a Freeview SD tuner, not a Freeview HD one.

If you get a Freeview HD box (maybe a PVR if you need one?) that will get you picture and sound. RTE transmits its SD and HD content with newer technology than the DVD level tech that our Freeview SD tuners have.

I disagree with OldGit in this specific circumstance - you say you've got an RTE aerial, so I believe that any Freeview HD box plugged into this will work. Check the Argos website, as they list TVs, at least, as being Saorview compatible, so it might be the same for boxes.

ballyblack

Do you think a full HD set top freeview box would work? Thanks

yes it will

Got my RTE aerial fitted today

no such thing as a 'RTe aerial' , its an aerial picking up freeview so need a HD tuner to get RTE on freeview


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almillar

Sorry ballyblack, I need to disagree, but it's only because you have to be very precise describing these things in NI.
I would say, in NI, there IS such a thing as an RTE aerial. It would be one that points to a transmitter 'down south' and I think that they are vertically aligned, whereas NI transmitters need horizontally aligned aerials.
This goes back years, beyond HD, and beyond digital even, and remains the same.
Digital and HD have come along, and the same aerials have been needed. The big change that happened in NI, part of the Good Friday Agreement, is that RTE was to be available to all in NI. So it's now transmitted from NI transmitters, and if you have an HD tuner, you can get them.
The only problem is that due to licensing arrangements, some of the big stuff like sport is sometimes blocked on the NI transmitters. If you're tuned into a southern transmitter with your 'RTE aerial' this problem doesn't exist.

ballyblack

to quote

Engineer said its because TV is only hd ready. . He said if I get a freeview HD box it should fix it,

looks like poster has a aerial pointing towards freeview reception so NOT one pointing for Rte reception.

I was trying to simplify this for the poster

anyways I take your point

PS> It would have been helpful if poster FUNKYDADDIO had stated their general location

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FUNKYDADDIO

Thanks folks, I'm in belfast south. I've tried a newer and smaller TV I have and it works fine for RTE HD. Going to borrow an HD freeview box from a relative to try before I buy one, thanks again..

almillar

looks like poster has a aerial pointing towards freeview reception so NOT one pointing for Rte reception

Thanks folks, I'm in belfast south

Agreed Ballyblack - there's so much confusion locally about RTE in NI, and also about what 'hd ready' means (HD means your screen has at least 720 pixels vertically, 'ready' means you have to plug something HD in to get HD). So he doesn't even have an 'RTE aerial' at all, if it's pointed at Black Mountain, it's just Freeview HD. If you want to test it, try watching some sports and see if any get blocked. Blocked = you're watching an NI transmission, not blocked = you're watching a southern transmission (if you know NI is blocked).