Northern Ireland "mini multiplex" (NIMM)
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV A special service for 80%-90% of households in Northern Ireland will see three Freeview additional channels being available. These will be:
- TG4 - Irish language television channel - Teilifis Gaeilge
- RTE Television: RTE One
- RTE Television: RTE Two (in HD on Saorview)
Some homes will be able to receive the services directly from the Saorview transmitters in the RoI (see SAORVIEW - Ireland's free digital television service ), and others will, from the digital switchover date of Wednesday 24th October 2012, have a service provided from three Freeview transmitters in Northern Ireland.
- Brougher Mountain at 2kW on C30 (
speculativlyC30) - Black Mountain at 1kW on C39+
(speculativly C48) - Carnmoney Hill 16w on C48 (
speculativlyC48)
However, you will not be able to view these services using a standard-definition Freeview receiver - a Freeview HD box or set will be required. It is not known at this time if the NIMM will carry RTE2 in HD, as per the Saorview service. TG4 and RTE1 are broadcast in standard definition at the moment.
The requirement for a Freeview HD receiver is because the services are being broadcasting in "D-Book Option 11", which uses the DVB-T2 standard ("a new mode, option 11, is being planned for a multiplex in Northern Ireland. Receivers should be able to switch between these automatically", D-Book 7, DTG164 is defined in appendix G as: FFT size 32k, 16QAM modulation, 1/128 guard interval, PP7, FEC 64800). Digital Television - Technical guidance on the availability of TG4 in Northern Ireland after digital switchover says that Option 11 is: DVB-T2 16QAM FEC 1/2.
Update: DVB-T2 16QAM FEC 1/2 provides a bitrate for the multiplex of 12.77Mb/s.
Update: DVB-T2, QPSK modulation, FEC 2/3, 32K carriers, 9.954 Mbit/s.
Help with Freeview, aerials?
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Friday, 24 February 2012
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Peter Henderson8:08 PM
I very much doubt Saorview from Clermont Cairn will reach Larne Paul, even with the increase in power on October 24th.
If you're getting a patchy signal from Divis at present then things should be much better (if not perfect) after DSO. I'm not sure about the NIMM from Black Mountain. If what Mike is saying is true i.e re. the technical paramaters then you may be OK. I do know that some of the higher parts of Larne enjoy Freeview from Divis even now, so maybe a replacement aerial may help
Failing all that, the situation with Saorsat should become clearer over the next few months so that might be the better option, if you don't want to bother with the subscription service on Sky.
Scottish TV shouldn't be a problem with either the Stranraer or Portpatrick transmitters, although both are Freeview Lite.
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Saturday, 25 February 2012
From BBC News - New venture brings RTE and TG4 to NI homes :
The Irish Republic's competition authority has permitted the creation of a new digital television multiplex in Northern Ireland.
It will carry services from south of the border.
The joint venture by RTE (Raidio Teilifis Eireann) and Teilifis na Gaeilge (TG4) would bring programmes from both to around 90% of NI homes.
The authority consulted with broadcasting regulators in the UK and Ireland.
It found that the creation of Multiplex Broadcasting Services N.I. Limited would not substantially lessen competition in the market for the sale of television advertising.
Both the UK and Ireland are working towards the switch off of analogue signals at the end of 2012.
The new multiplex will broadcast in DVB-T2, the same parameters used by Freeview HD.
Unlike standard definition Freeview receivers, these devices can be used on both sides of the border.
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U11:49 AM
My point Peter Henderson is while Welsh people were looking for ways to receive improved receptiono of Irish TV a mentality existed in our small island which sought to deny Irish people of stronger Irish tv signals.
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The Cush12:46 PM
According to the Competition Authority press release Ofcom has already issued the Broadcast Licence to the RT/TG4 joint venture company -
The Competition Authority: News & Publications » News Releases » Competition Authority clears joint venture between RT and TG4
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The Cush: Ofcom don't seem to have listed it yet - Ofcom | Multiplex licensees is where it should be.
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Peter Henderson1:38 PM
Newtownabbey
From the BBC report:
"The new multiplex will broadcast in DVB-T2, the same parameters used by Freeview HD"
but sadly, not in HD, which is a pity.
Still RTE in SD is better than nothing.
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Peter's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Perhaps HD will come later.
Sometimes there are licensing issues with programmes broadcast on certain platforms. Could it be that RT will not be able to broadcast certain content (e.g. particular films) north of the border due to licensing issues and that this will mean that if it supplied it in HD, it would have to be a different HD feed to that in Ireland so as to allow opt outs?
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Dave Lindsay: Quickly looking at the maths from
Bit Rate Calculation for COFDM Modulation
A=54E6 * (packet length/204) = 54E6 * 1
B=A*Bandwidth= 54E6 * 1 = 54E6
C=B*modulation scheme (16QAM=0.5) = 27
D=C*code rate = 216 * .5 = 13.5E6
E=D*guard interval value = 13.5E6 * (128/129) = 13395349
So the bitrate for the multiplex is 12.77Mbps, which probably explains why the services will be SD and you can't really get more than one HD service in 12.77Mbps.
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the cush11:24 PM
According to a post by reslfj over in DS the bitrate will be 15.04 Mbit/s
RTE1, RTE2 and TG4 confirmed for Freeview NI from 2011 - Page 5 - Freeview - Digital Spy Forums
http://dvb.org/technology….pdf
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Sunday, 26 February 2012
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