Ditching VM and getting Saorview/Freeview

justmehere

So here's the update as promised!
The aerial and dish arrived today. Only came with one cable reel though so will have to order another one :-( My next realisation was that I needed a cable crimper to cut the cable to fit into the connectors. Luckily I had one, so I was all set.

The satellite will be more tricky, so decided to put the aerial together first. Instructions were not super great but not overly bad, and it was relatively straight-forward anyway. I crimped the cables and screwed them into the connectors.

For a test, I plugged one end into the TV and the other into the aerial that was lying on the sitting room floor. Clicked 'scan' and hey presto, got 12 programmes! Even though the aerial was not in its optimal position, I was still extremely impressed at the picture quality. There was no interference either.

This is on a 49" screen

I need to get another cable reel before I can start on the dish, which is a bit annoying. I'll spend tomorrow working out the best route through the house for the aerial cable after I attach it outside - will probably attach it to the satellite arm. Given the test today, I think it would work fine just in the attic, but since I'm putting up the satellite, I might as well put the aerial outside too.

Again, thanks for everyones help in getting me this far! Assuming the satellite works, it will have paid for itself in about 3-4 months :-)

mackersdublin

@justmehere Regarding Satellite, your TV has to set to UK as the Country rather than Ireland to get Freesat and you'll need a UK postcode to determine which region of BBC One and ITV you want on 101 and 103 https://www.freesat.co.uk/tv-guide

PM me if need me to talk you through the process

Elvis Hammond

justmehere wrote: »

For a test, I plugged one end into the TV and the other into the aerial that was lying on the sitting room floor. Clicked 'scan' and hey presto, got 12 programmes! Even though the aerial was not in its optimal position, I was still extremely impressed at the picture quality. There was no interference either.

Given signal quality above a certain minimum level, picture quality will always be the same; it's not like analogue where the received signal directly drives the display. You must have been looking at RTE 1 or 2, as the others are pretty awful PQ wise.

justmehere wrote: »

need to get another cable reel before I can start on the dish, which is a bit annoying. I'll spend tomorrow working out the best route through the house for the aerial cable after I attach it outside - will probably attach it to the satellite arm. Given the test today, I think it would work fine just in the attic, but since I'm putting up the satellite, I might as well put the aerial outside too.

Your satellite & terrestrial signals can share a cable, so you don't need separate ones the whole way to the TV. If you want to do it this way, use 2 of the proper sat./terr. combiner/spliters; these are available with outdoor housings or as wallplates. Try not to compromise the installation just to get the aerial onto the dish mounting arm.

Wanderer78

justmehere wrote:

Hi, I'm cutting ties with VM (too expensive) so going with Saorview and Freeview.

Would 'alternatives' interest you, I've found good services from as little as €55 a year, you will need to hang onto broadband though?

athlone573

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Would 'alternatives' interest you, I've found good services from as little as €55 a year, you will need to hang onto broadband though?

If there are cheap and legal alternatives I'm sure we'd all love to know about them but for copyright reasons I don't think they exist.

Wanderer78

athlone573 wrote:

If there are cheap and legal alternatives I'm sure we'd all love to know about them but for copyright reasons I don't think they exist.

Now seem to be doing good deals from time to time, plenty of other streaming services out there, very cheap to, regular providers are under a bit of pressure

athlone573

Wanderer78 wrote: »

Now seem to be doing good deals from time to time, plenty of other streaming services out there, very cheap to, regular providers are under a bit of pressure

If you're going to be staying in the one place for a while I think you can't beat the no-monthly-cost model outlined by the OP. Not financially at least.

justmehere

Latest update: It's working :-)
Have 300+ channels via Astra 28E dish, and the RTE/VM ones via the aerial. Signals are at 100%
I had left the installation for a month or so because I was busy but got them working this evening.

My first tip is to adjust the dish and LNC settings on the ground. Also double-check the polarisation LNC value - some sites say it should be -15.2 but most satellite apps said -22.95. I tried both and I have it working with -22.95. Also ensure the LNC is screwed tight after the angle is set. The entire thing also slides forwards and backwards to/from the dish about 3 or so inches - make sure it's slid away from the dish. Mine didn't have a way of locking it in that position and I knocked it out of position a few times when putting the dish up. Just slide it back, it's no big deal, but just check it.

Another handy tip when figuring out which direction to point the dish, is to pick something in line of sight on the ground beforehand - a tree, lampost, shed, whatever, rather than trying to adjust the dish on the wall with a GPS or something, at least initially. Using this approach I literally only had to make one slight adjustment.

Something I read online, cover the connection/wires with "plumbers grease". This waterproofing prevents corrosion of the copper wires over time. I bought a small tube in B&Q.

It's really important that the wall support of the dish is installed as vertical as possible - use a spirit level. This makes it easier to adjust angles.

My main gripe was now badly the degrees are marked on the dish and LNC. Almost impossible to see. For something so important, the numbers should be made to stand out in a differnt colour or something. They are essentially etched into the metal and covered with the protective paint, making them almost impossible to make out. Another good reason to adjust them on the ground beforehand.

So that's it. I set the HD versions of the channels as favourites and picture qualities are great. I'm not on boards much but if anyone has any questions about my installation, reply to this thread or send me a PM.

Thanks to everyone here for their assistance!!

LostShepherd

Hi there,

Sry to hijack this thread but its the closest one I can find for my query. Does anyone know if there is any issue with using a smart tv bought in the uk to get Saorview in the south via a regular house tv aerial? This is the model of tv I believe ~ TCL-32S5209K-32-Inch-Television and it has the DVB-T2 decoder for that signal inbuilt I believe, not sure if anything else is required?

Or is there a decent 28" tv with Saorview inbuilt you could recommend instead for purchase in Ireland.

Thanks,

LS

doney84

It should work but it will need to be connected to a working aerial