Free Digital terrestrial TV in Ireland?

frobisher

This summer I worked on an event in Belfast where a broadcast was shown by the BBC on a big screen. The aerial used was about £70 from the Dixons, subscribtion free and very easy to set up.
I've read a little on this and it is accepted by UK broadcasters that freeview DTT (digital terrestrial television) signal will spill over to Ireland.

Has any body tried this? I'm basically wondering if I can put up an aerial on my house and get the free DTT channels.

Any thoughts or advice?

ffocused

If you can get the analogue channels from the north, you may be able to get them. If you cannot get the analogue channels, no chance. You will need a DTT decoder to get the digital channels, your current aeriel may be good enough.

Slice

I read in the paper a while back that one of the factors hindering development of digital terrestrial TV in the south is that there has been a high take-up of the UKs Freeview in the border regions.

Obviously DTT will happen here at some stage but given it's about to be trialled but it's point of interest to what you're saying...

ffocused

UK DTT spillover is just an excuse that RTE are using for their delay in rolling out DTT here.

They have no content to fill extra channels so do not want to do it at all.
If it were not for the EU directive for analogue switch-off, we would probably never get it.

michaelanthony

It would be good to have DTT if only for a clear reception. Reception thoughout the country is kak compared to the UK if you just have cats ears. Clear reception is the least that you can expect for what you are getting for your tv license fee.

jarmstrong001

So if you can receive uk analogue television on an aerial what exactly do you need to be able to pick up digital televisioin?

Johnny_the_fox

if you can recieve channel 5 on analogue from the north.. then there is a high chance you can recieve DTT from the north..

ref to this forum : ICDG for more info and this thread for the FAQ...

gamer

get a sky box and u can get fta rte,tv3 with a sky fta card.theres already digital tv,,here, its called, sky, and its free,,do we really need rte to spend,millions per year reinventing the wheel,its like tg4..4percent audience and millions spent on it,the figures dont add up.i know people get sky pay for 1 year, after that they have skybox and dish,free installation,what more coild u ask for?

ffocused

you cannot get RTE or TV3 for free on sky. you have to pay for them.

ethernet

ffocused is correct -- you have to pay to get RTÉ, TV3 and TG4 on Sky. Not such thing as an Irish FTA card. Not that you'd even need a card if they were FTA, only for regionalisation.

gamer

You set sky installed,pay 1 years sub ,say 10e ,a month after 1year u cancel sub, u[/I] now have digital box, installed free,cost 120 sub,,after sy 1 ,sky movies gone, u now have,the fta chanells, rte 1 ,2..tv3,reality movies,sky news, rapture,bbc3 bbc2,,bbc4,itv regional stations,etc,itv s,etc,i know some who does this, been watching free last 3 years ,6months.ie many channels are unencrypted cos its cheaper to go clear.ads pay the bills.of course this is not advertised by sky,,cos they want subscribers but thats the situation,he did not buy a card from buynsell, he just used the standard card sent out by sky.i,d pay 120e just to get bbc3 and all the music stations.and a digital reciever.there not taking back the recievers cos they hope u might resubscribe in future,u have to sign 1 years contract for some sky package to get free installation.

gamer

he has paid o, not a cent to sky since 2002,he is recieving all fta channels and rte 1,2, tv3, bbc and itv,itv regional,itv wales etc, he had to tune in bbc 3 thru add channels menu ,i think,he also gets reality movie chanell free using a standard sky card sent out by sky.rte 1,2 etc on epg at top.if u stop ur subs today i think u,ll find ur are still left with ftachannels,rte1.tv3 etc assuming u are using an irish sky card.

Guy:Incognito

gamer wrote:

there not taking back the recievers cos they hope u might resubscribe in future,u have to sign 1 years contract for some sky package to get free installation.

They dont take back the dish and decoder because 1. you own them. and 2. it would be a pain in the arse and a lot of money to get installers out to take down worthless dishes and decoders.

Tom Dunne

gamer wrote:

he has paid o, not a cent to sky since 2002,he is recieving all fta channels and rte 1,2, tv3, bbc and itv,itv regional,itv wales etc, he had to tune in bbc 3 thru add channels menu ,i think,he also gets reality movie chanell free using a standard sky card sent out by sky.rte 1,2 etc on epg at top.if u stop ur subs today i think u,ll find ur are still left with ftachannels,rte1.tv3 etc assuming u are using an irish sky card.

What part of "YOU CAN'T GET RTE/TV3/TG4 ON SKY WITHOUT A SUBSCRIPTION" do you not understand? They are not FTA. Only the BBC's and ITV's are free (and a few bogey channels). Ask people who actually have a clue over on the ICDG forum and you will be shot down in flames in an instant.

If there is anything worse than no advice, it's bad advice.

gamer

I understand they are not fta technically speaking,u have to pay sky subscription 1 years contract,,he has all irish stations and fta bbc 2,3 , itv,etc, he has not paid a cent to sky last 3 years, i dont think u can call bbc2 or bbc 3 a bogey station.he has not paid a cent for these stations last 3 years,plus he has loadsa music stations only avaidable on sky digital.it depends on your defination of free,i think getting a sky digital reciever is a good deal for paying 1 years subscription.he has not bought a card from anyone.i wud not buy a new digital reciever terrestial if avaidable when i can get all irish stations plus acess to whatever sky digital stations i wish to subscribe to,and a free sky reciever,i am making the point,i see no point in rte reinventing the wheel when there is a perfectly good digital satellite platform outthere called sky digital.

Lump

You need to buy a freeview box. I doubt you'll get the channels unless you are right near the border. I live in London and the signal strength isn't the best, when I was in the North of England, it was crappy.

You can pick up freeview boxes in argos for £20-£30 you'll have to go to the north or order from an english site.

John

PixelTrawler

not too much detail in this, just some general info...

refers to a DTT trial in 2006 but no specifics

www.rte.ie/about/rtedigital_english.pdf

frobisher

I think I'll be staying away from DTT for the moment. Might be time for a review of my Sky package. I'm on the full sports and movie channel package. I think it's €65 and it's starting to feel like it's not great value!

Lump

frobisher wrote:

I think I'll be staying away from DTT for the moment. Might be time for a review of my Sky package. I'm on the full sports and movie channel package. I think it's €65 and it's starting to feel like it's not great value!

Because it's not available - You don't have much choice.

John

ecodub

frobisher wrote:

I think I'll be staying away from DTT for the moment. Might be time for a review of my Sky package. I'm on the full sports and movie channel package. I think it's €65 and it's starting to feel like it's not great value!

Get one of the Lidl Satellite systems €99 for everything. You get lots of Free-to-Air programmes like BB1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4 BBCNews24, UTV, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, CNN, Euronews, Skynews, RealityTV, Men&Motors, and lots more.

No subscription charges like NTL or Sky

The systems will be back on sale in Lidl in a couple of months or you can get a similar system in Maplin on offer this week (they have a UK website www.maplin.co.uk but shops in Ireland in Dublin, Galway, Limerick and Cork)

dmeehan

i thought there was a DTT trail somewhere in dublin, or was that only "planned" :rolleyes:

byte

I think there were DTT trials a few years ago from a Dublin transmitter, but info on this is vague.

RTE are currently trialling DAB in Dublin and surrounding areas. We'll have to wait a while for DTT trials to start, though I hope they start soon!

BrianD

gamer wrote:

I understand they are not fta technically speaking,u have to pay sky subscription 1 years contract,,he has all irish stations and fta bbc 2,3 , itv,etc, he has not paid a cent to sky last 3 years, i dont think u can call bbc2 or bbc 3 a bogey station.he has not paid a cent for these stations last 3 years,plus he has loadsa music stations only avaidable on sky digital.it depends on your defination of free,i think getting a sky digital reciever is a good deal for paying 1 years subscription.he has not bought a card from anyone.i wud not buy a new digital reciever terrestial if avaidable when i can get all irish stations plus acess to whatever sky digital stations i wish to subscribe to,and a free sky reciever,i am making the point,i see no point in rte reinventing the wheel when there is a perfectly good digital satellite platform outthere called sky digital.

If he is not paying Sky Digital a subscription then he is not receiving any Irish channel via satellite. He probably has his rabbits ears plugged in to the set. RTE/TV3/TG4 is not available via satellite unless you are subscriber. Not meaning to be rude, you are wrong or misinformed.

You can get Sky Freeview or a FTA kit that will give you many UK channels - ITV and BBC free with no annual suscriptions.

The DTT Freeview system uses lower powered transmitters so it's difficult to get down here (unlike the analogue services). The analogue services are due to phased out in the coming years.

RTE have experimented with DTT but the Government really do need to get the finger out and construct an official policy on how DTT will be developed in theis country.