Do I Need A Special HD Digital TV Aerial To Get Saorview

Pat asks;

I saw one of these in a shop the other day, do I really need a special HD Digital TV Aerial to get Saorview in Ireland?

Our answer;

Pat, I'm not glad you asked me that. To be perfectly honest, I was hoping I would never have to answer that question from anyone. It would mean that retailers and installers were playing fair and not trying to dupe the public into buying something that they do not actually need.

This is something that happened in the UK when they moved to their Freeview system and unfortunately it is happening here to as the launch of Saorview approaches. I have seen in several retailers, these 'special' HD Digital Aerials. There is no such thing. The ones I have seen in the shops are usually indoor aerials which have their own problems and we have dealt with that in another question and answer session.

What you need to remember is that a TV Aerial is just more or less a TV Aerial. You DO NOT need some form of special aerial to get Saorview. A bog standard UHF Aerial is all you need along with either an Approved Saorview Set Top Box / TV or an Mpeg4 & HD compatible set top box or Television also (suitable for receiving Digital Terrestrial Audio & Video).

I was really hoping that this scam would not cross the Irish sea but it seems to getting more common. The other thing to be aware of is that the same applies for outdoor TV Aerials also. Do not listen to any installer that tells you that you need to change your Aerial to a Saorview Aerial or Digital TV Aerial etc. As long as you had a UHF Aerial in place, it should work fine.

Another thing that was tried on in the UK was the sale of digital cables, dishes etc. Do not fall for this. Just to clarify, you might need to change your outdoor aerial if it was a VHF Aerial. This is because the Saorview signal is being broadcast over UHF. This is really the only circumstance that you should accept the changing out of your aerial.

Also see our video guide on Suitable Aerials for Saorview for more information on this topic.

I hope this clears this up.