Escape from Cable TV

I mentioned in a previous post that I decided to escape from the waste of money that is cable TV in Ireland (where I was paying over €30 per month for a "basic" package of about 13 channels - none of which were digital, none of which were HD, and only a few of which were even in stereo!!)

As I mentioned, a large part of the rationale for the escape was that we now turn to Netflix instead of TV.

The second key was the availability of Saorview (or Freeview if you happen to live in or close to Northern Ireland).

At the front of my house (which faces south towards the Three Rock transmitter) you can pick up a perfectly good Saorview signal by connection a metal clothes hanger to any of my TVs (including the small Samsung TV which I use as my computer monitor). The same is not true of the back of the house unfortunately where a proper aerial would be needed.

So I did the following:

• Bought an aerial from TV Trade (€15 plus VAT plus postage)
• Bought a signal splitter in my local hardware shop
• Cancelled UPC
• Put up the aerial in the attic facing south
• Connected the aerial to the signal splitter
• Connected the outputs of the signal splitter into the existing cables running to the sitting room and the playroom

Result: I have the following TV stations free-of-charge on our 2 TVs:

• RTE ONE (HD)
• RTE TWO (HD)
• TV3
• TG4
• RTE NEWS NOW
• 3E
• RTE JR

Plus 8 digital radio channels.

All free. Forever.

And when I got it working first, only RTE TWO was in HD. Then a few weeks ago, RTE ONE went HD too. And no extra charge!

In summary:

• No monthly charges
• No external aerial/dish
• No "box"
• Just free TV forever
• Perfect complement to Netflix