RTE reception in Belfast

A question about : RTE reception in Belfast

I have an elderly aunt who lives in the Botanic area of Belfast . Santa may be bringing her an RTE aerial.
Does anyone know what the reception is like in Belfast .

Best answers:

• It really will depend were in botanic she is due to the likes of the ashby building ect which can block the signal the best thing to do is have a look at the surrounding houses and see if they have a Rte antenna if you have a clear view to the south then the signal will be good you should still use an amplifer though.
• u may need a booster pack if no obstructions are in the way
• whats the difference between an rte aerial and a normal one?
• great - last updated aug 2002!! -
• the information is still current as there has been no changes to rte transmitters since then!
• I have an RTE aerial and I can't get a decent signal, just hazy rte1 and hazier rte2.
  Someone mentioned a masthead amp, does that need power sent to it? Not sure what I have really, but know there is no power going up the cable.
  I am in Lisburn if that makes a difference.
  Any help appreciated.
  Cheers, Des.
• If you are only getting RTE 1 and 2 i would say yes also do you have a cable splitter to allow you to watch bbc etc and Rte without having to swap the cables if so you need to make sure that a) it the right type i.e a group A and C/D combiner and b) if it is that the BBC is connected to the group A input and RTE to C/D.
  Most mast head amps come with a power unit that plugs into the aerial lead but check when buying Edwards and edwards on the holywood road have a good selection but beware they are a wholesalers and won't give advice you need to know what you want.
  if you need more advice on what you need Pm and i'll do what i can to help
• I'll have to try and work out what I have first
  But I do know there is no psu anywhere on the lead.
  Unfortunately, the aerials are on the chimney stack and there is very little chance of me going up there to look
  The aerials were in the house when I bought it, and I can't contact the previous owner to get any useful info :/
  Ah well, maybe I'll get it sorted after Xmas.
  Cheers, Des.
• des have a look on the mast and see if there is a square or round plastic box or two it might be that the previous onwer took the power unit with them or was misplaced in the move if you have an amp and the supply is missing it will make the signal worse and would also mean you would only need a power unit.
• i agree with HOW MUCH , check what he says sounds like u only need to buy a power unit it will sit beside ur tv etc so no need to get ladders to get onto the roof check to c the boxes he was talking about usally attached to the pole of the antenna... if they r there no need to get onto the roof...
  aidsy
• I have a distribution amplifier which has the ability to power a masthead amp, but it is located after the sky box.
  I'll try connecting it directly to the aerial and see if power to the amp helps.
  Cheers for the help guys.
• Des try rte without the sky box connected i've come across a few were the output is on or very near the same channel as Rte 1 just a thought .
• Damn, the auto-power for the mast head amp is only on the uhf input on the dist. amp.
  I'll try bypassing the sky box, and see if that helps, although I think I moved the sky rf channel out of the way.
  Failing that, I'll connect the aerial lead into the uhf input and see what happens
  Cheers, Des.
• ok, I took the Sky box out of the loop, and no change to the reception.
  Connected the downlead to the uhf input on the amp (as this should power the masthead amp) and no change to the reception.
  I think I need to get a standalone masthead amp psu, and try that (just in case the one in the dist. amp isn't compatible with the model of masthead amp installed.)
  Are the psu's dear or would it be worth trying to borrow one for testing?
  If that fails then I'm stuffed :/
  Cheers, Des.
• des have you one or two boxes up on your mast?
  if you have only one it likely you don,t have an amp just a combiner.
  Btw does the signal change if you take the dist amp out and run the cable straight to the TV?
• Well I had a look up at the aerial today (it was too dark to see yesterday) and it looks like there are 2 boxes a gray one, and a red one attached to the mast.
  So I suppose that means I need to source a PSU for the mast head amp to test it out, aany idea how much they are (or if I could bodge summat together for testing)
  Cheers, Des.