For me I think it's an absolute joke that the Irish diaspora in Great Britain can't get RTE, unless they pay through the nose for it; i.e. grey Sky cards. The fact is I'd gladly pay a license fee to receive RTE, on top of my current BBC license fee. I'm sure I'm not alone in this view. There's a market for RTE to tap in to but it seems that even in the 21st Century they can't or won't do it. I'm speculating here, but I'd assume that they don't see it as cost effective and probably a logistical nightmare to administer too.
ZG you threw me there by putting quotation marks around accidental overspill. Are you actually saying that RTE's coverage in the North, up until this impending DSO, is really accidental??
It's surprising that they don't just use the free to view format which requires just a viewing card but not a subscription. I assume that RTE receive some revenue from being part of a paid-for Sky pack and are therefore reluctant to change to using the free to view format.
It's surprising that they don't just use the free to view format which requires just a viewing card but not a subscription. I assume that RTE receive some revenue from being part of a paid-for Sky pack and are therefore reluctant to change to using the free to view format.
Hardly surprising - there is no equivalent of FreesatFromSky in the ROI and the UK version is not available to ROI addresses. Who is going to pay to set up such a system? The UK version was set up after persuasion from the UK government with probably a few sweeteners to Sky after both the BBC and Channel 4 decided they couldn't afford to continue issuing the FTV cards and dropped their schemes leaving viewers with no means of obtaining FTV viewing cards.
Had a new 1.2m channel master dish put up yesterday,fixed on 9 east for Saorsat the signal is very good around 75%.
did you receive Soarsat before,if so what dish size,I was under the illusion dish size was not so important, I live on a mountain & 80CM is my max even at ground level due to wind exposure.
These Ka signals are so robust that quality levels don't need to be high to get a usable service. I normally have 58% with an 80 cm dish, and it can go down to 13% before breaking up. If you can get a signal then you don't need an overly large dish. (Of course a larger dish won't hurt.) If you can't get a signal then no increase in dish size will help.
Damien, are you being serious? I'm in Manchester and was told that I was too far east to pick up Saorsat, no matter what size of dish. How long have you been getting Saorsat?
I currently have soarsat with a dual ku/ka band lnb with on a 1.1m and skybox f5 working in stoke no break up signal at 30 %
You do mean Stoke on Trent don't you? That would be very unusual. However I have wondered if the 'interfering' beams might not be weaker around Shropshire. Stoke on Trent would seem a little too far north for that though.
Are the interfering beams still operating?
The KVH is one of those marine satellite units you see on cruise ships. They must be very expensive.
We have had so few reports of people trying that it is difficult to give anything other than a theoretical limit. We know that the signal becomes unusable east of Penmaenmawr in north Wales because zg3409 tested along the A55. So it does go a little way beyond Holyhead. There is a 'grey area' where the 3 beams meet, where technically it might be possible to get a signal. This is around Shropshire. No one has yet reported from that area. The size of that area will depend on the power of the interfering beams.
We have had so few reports of people trying that it is difficult to give anything other than a theoretical limit. We know that the signal becomes unusable east of Penmaenmawr in north Wales because zg3409 tested along the A55. So it does go a little way beyond Holyhead. There is a 'grey area' where the 3 beams meet, where technically it might be possible to get a signal. This is around Shropshire. No one has yet reported from that area. The size of that area will depend on the power of the interfering beams.
We have had so few reports of people trying that it is difficult to give anything other than a theoretical limit. We know that the signal becomes unusable east of Penmaenmawr in north Wales because zg3409 tested along the A55. So it does go a little way beyond Holyhead. There is a 'grey area' where the 3 beams meet, where technically it might be possible to get a signal. This is around Shropshire. No one has yet reported from that area. The size of that area will depend on the power of the interfering beams.
I suppose the biggest stumbling block in finding out exactly where it could be received is the lack of knowledge of Saorsat's existence in the UK. I have found that people even in N.Ireland (where they are out of range of Saorview) have no idea about Saorsat and the ability to receive RTÉ in the clear. Did you ever hear of anyone receiving it in Brest region of France? ... the maps seem to suggest It would be possible.
I have found that people even in N.Ireland (where they are out of range of Saorview) have no idea about Saorsat and the ability to receive RTÉ in the clear. Did you ever hear of anyone receiving it in Brest region of France? ... the maps seem to suggest It would be possible.
From what I gather RTE NL doesn't want people to know about it generally. It is supposed to be a last resort if people phone up to say they can't get the terrestrial. Only then will it be mentioned. Things would be different if the satellite contained the full range of channels, but it seems that no one has thought it important to do that.
Yes - The beam goes way down past the English channel, and the Northern France beam misses out the Brest peninsula. So technically any Irish ex-pats living there would be in for a treat.:cool: I haven't heard from any though.:)
A usual satellite signal (as long as it is above the horizon) can be received beyond its normal area simply by using a sufficiently bigger dish.
In the case of Saorsat, the problem to overcome isn't a low power 'fringe'. With the Saorsat signal there comes a point when the interfering beams blot out the signal you want. A short distance nearer and you will get a perfect picture. A short distance further away and you won't get anything. Dish size or adjustment will make no difference. If you can't get anything with an 80cm at a particular location, then even the 7600cm dish at Jodrell Bank wouldn't be any more successful! A bigger dish would increase the Saorsat signal to your receiver all right, but it would also increase the signal of the interfering beams. The result would still be 'no picture'.:(
The 2 interfering beams are those using the same frequency as Saorsat, and are designed to serve Scotland and Northern France respectively.
A usual satellite signal (as long as it is above the horizon) can be received beyond its normal area simply by using a sufficiently bigger dish.
In the case of Saorsat, the problem isn't a low power 'fringe'. With the Saorsat signal there comes a point when the interfering beams blot out the signal you want. A short distance nearer and you will get a perfect picture. A short distance further away and you won't get anything. Dish size or adjustment will make no difference. If you can't get anything with a 80cm at a particular location, then even the 7600cm dish at Jodrell Bank wouldn't be any more successful! A bigger dish would increase the Saorsat signal to your receiver all right, but it would equally increase the signal of the interfering beams. The result would still be 'no picture'.:(
Yes, it's a neat trick to overcome the problem of overspill by having adjacent spot beams at the same frequency.
I find it quite amusing that RTE are discouraging Irish residents from using Saorsat.
RTÉNL recommends that each home should exhaust all options for receiving SAORVIEW before reverting to SAORSAT. Even if you were previously unable to receive analogue television through an aerial it is recommended that you investigate getting SAORVIEW first, as its coverage exceeds analogue terrestrial television coverage in many areas.
Just a stab in the dark but the beams for france are ku these are ka band so would a ku band signal afect ka!
No, that isn't correct. The beams I am referring to are all Ka. The Ka band frequencies from this satellite are shared across 82 beams throughout Europe. The Irish, Scottish and Northern France beams are all using the same Ka band frequency. (20.185 Ghz)
Comments
It's surprising that they don't just use the free to view format which requires just a viewing card but not a subscription. I assume that RTE receive some revenue from being part of a paid-for Sky pack and are therefore reluctant to change to using the free to view format.
RTE do not get paid by Sky, but Sky carries the RTE TV channels at no cost to RTE.
did you receive Soarsat before,if so what dish size,I was under the illusion dish size was not so important, I live on a mountain & 80CM is my max even at ground level due to wind exposure.
What LNB would that be.
You do mean Stoke on Trent don't you? That would be very unusual. However I have wondered if the 'interfering' beams might not be weaker around Shropshire. Stoke on Trent would seem a little too far north for that though.
Are the interfering beams still operating?
The KVH is one of those marine satellite units you see on cruise ships. They must be very expensive.
I will post some screen grabs.
From what I gather RTE NL doesn't want people to know about it generally. It is supposed to be a last resort if people phone up to say they can't get the terrestrial. Only then will it be mentioned. Things would be different if the satellite contained the full range of channels, but it seems that no one has thought it important to do that.
Yes - The beam goes way down past the English channel, and the Northern France beam misses out the Brest peninsula. So technically any Irish ex-pats living there would be in for a treat.:cool: I haven't heard from any though.:)
In the case of Saorsat, the problem to overcome isn't a low power 'fringe'. With the Saorsat signal there comes a point when the interfering beams blot out the signal you want. A short distance nearer and you will get a perfect picture. A short distance further away and you won't get anything. Dish size or adjustment will make no difference. If you can't get anything with an 80cm at a particular location, then even the 7600cm dish at Jodrell Bank wouldn't be any more successful!
The 2 interfering beams are those using the same frequency as Saorsat, and are designed to serve Scotland and Northern France respectively.
I find it quite amusing that RTE are discouraging Irish residents from using Saorsat.
No, that isn't correct. The beams I am referring to are all Ka. The Ka band frequencies from this satellite are shared across 82 beams throughout Europe. The Irish, Scottish and Northern France beams are all using the same Ka band frequency. (20.185 Ghz)