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Northern Ireland "mini multiplex" (NIMM)

I have added information to the UK Free TV database to cover the so-called mini-multiplex that will carry three Irish channels, TG4, RTE1 and RTE2 in a very special multiplex from three transmitters in Northern Ireland.

I have added information to the UK Free TV database to cover th
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:



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.



Northern Ireland RTE1 RTE2 TG4 minimux transmitters

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.

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Comments
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

11:39 AM

ronan o dwyer: Or you can look at the same data graphically on TV regions overview map | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:11 PM

Briantist: Ofcom don't have the 'Channel M' multiplex licence anywhere either, and that was issued more than two years ago!

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

3:34 PM

Mike Dimmick: Yes, that's true, the mentions of Channel M on the Ofcom site are somewhat tangential...

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
R
ronan o dwyer
8:30 PM

briantist i.d like to recieve manx radio on fm and made numerous enquiries to various satellite dealers looking for a 8 element directional fm aerial as i.ve a clear view to isle of man from my location..do you know anywhere i could get an 8 element fm aerial..thanks for all your help

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ronan o dwyer's 17 posts IE flag
Wednesday, 29 February 2012
G
Graham.F.Lewendon
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:48 PM

RE ronan o dwyer
Tuesday 28 February 2012 8:30PM
Manx radio via FM
Have you tried a google search?
I found many dealers online with a simple search.
I'm located in the NW corner of Essex and could get Capital FM from Crystal Palace on a 6 element antiferance yargi all through the 80's & 90's up till I upgraded two years back to an 8 element yargi pointing the 6 element sort of towards BBC oxford, Good luck
Don,t forget hight is important as is a low loss down lead with no joints in the run Re hight signal quadrouples each time hight doubles , but beware signal loss in feeder

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Graham.F.Lewendon's 29 posts GB flag
R
ronan o dwyer
10:00 PM

I found one finally from uk..its an 8 element directional aerial and have 10 ft pole on chimney clear view out to sea..isle of man is roughly 50 miles away approx and can get manx radio on car radio up near dublin mountains.. i.m about 60 ft above sea level...by the way how far does digital tv signals travel as divis is roughly 90 miles away and will transmit 100 kw of radiating power..i can recieve it in poor analogue at moment using amp . will digital make much difference...thank you for help..

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ronan o dwyer's 17 posts IE flag
Thursday, 1 March 2012
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

7:01 AM

ronan o dwyer: See Douglas DAB transmitter | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice for details of the only DAB transmitter on the Isle of Man.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
R
ronan o dwyer
8:37 PM

ronan o dwyer: i just checked that and beam is aimed northwards...Divis i guess it is...would 100kw power from divis make much difference signal wise comparing to 500 kw of Analogue...

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ronan o dwyer's 17 posts IE flag
Sunday, 4 March 2012
P
PaulN
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

11:50 PM
Larne

So a quick update from partially successful testing at the weekend.

I bought a Labgear 450W aerial last week (triple decker wideband yagi with 16.5dB gain) and hooked it up to a SaorView TV (powered off an AC inverter in the car) via a DVB-T signal strength meter on some high ground (on an adjustable 6ft pole) near whitehead lighthouse and aimed it vaguely south to see if I could pickup SaorView.

Setup with Vertical polarisation I positioned it halfway between the points where signal strength fell to 50dBuV so I had a solid reading of 60dBuV on the meter (two lights)... Then performed a channel scan and was a bit surprised to see the TV pickup a lot of UK Freeview channels - which I wasn't expecting on VERTICAL - it must have been working off a Freeview repeater in range (but I thought they were very limited range).

The TV couldn't find anything at channels 52 (RTE1) or 53 (SaorView) as I expected from Clermont Cairn, but it did find RTE1, TV3 and TG4 on analog elsewhere in the spectrum. I was too busy holding the aerial in the stiff breeze to see where it found them.

So... is it worth me trying a mast-head amplifier along with a filter that blocks channels 21-48 to give me a better chance of latching onto the Clermont Cairn feed so far North or am I way too optimistic ?


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PaulN's 39 posts IE flag
PaulN's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 9 March 2012
P
Peter Henderson
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

12:51 AM
Newtownabbey

Interesting Paul.

The UK Freeview channels are possibly from the Isle of Mann (or maybe Portpatrick or Stranraer) as there are no vertically polarised Freeview transmissions in the province at the moment (try checking the BBC region).

After the increase in power from Saorview from Clermont Cairn post DSO, It's quite possible you may get a signal from Saorview, despite the Whitehead transmitter being on the same frequency (channel 52). It's very low power and could probably be nulled out.

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Peter Henderson's 240 posts GB flag
Peter's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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