Full Freeview on the Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 50.511,-4.437 or 50°30'38"N 4°26'14"W |  | PL14 5LT |
The symbol shows the location of the Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) transmitter which serves 180,000 homes. The bright green areas shown where the signal from this transmitter is strong, dark green areas are poorer signals. Those parts shown in yellow may have interference on the same frequency from other masts.
Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) mast?
Caradon Hill transmitter - Caradon Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 30/09/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Caradon Hill transmitter broadcast?
If you have any kind of Freeview fault, follow this Freeview reset procedure first.Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Caradon Hill transmitter?
BBC Spotlight 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL3 5BD, 26km east-southeast (123°)
to BBC South West region - 107 masts.
ITV West Country News (West) 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL7 5BQ, 32km east-southeast (116°)
to ITV West Country region - 107 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (East)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Barleycombe | Active deflector | 25 km E Plymouth | 3 homes |
| Parracombe | Transposer | 17 km NE Barnstaple | 80 homes |
How will the Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1961-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2009 | 2009-13 | 27 Mar 2019 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | ||||
| C12 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C21 | +SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C22 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C24 | -ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C25 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | +D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C27 | -ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C28 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | +BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C30 | _local | _local | |||||||
| C31 | com7 | ||||||||
| C32 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ||||||
| C37 | com8 |
tv_off Being removed from Freeview (for 5G use) after November 2020 / June 2022 - more
Table shows multiplexes names see this article;
green background for transmission frequencies
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W T
waves denotes analogue; digital switchover was 12 Aug 09 and 9 Sep 09.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 500kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 100kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-10dB) 50kW | |
| com7 | (-16.3dB) 11.6kW | |
| Mux 1* | (-20dB) 5kW | |
| Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-21dB) 4kW | |
| com8 | (-24.2dB) 1.9kW |
Local transmitter maps
Caradon Hill Freeview Caradon Hill DAB Caradon Hill AM/FM Caradon Hill TV region BBC South West West CountryWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Caradon Hill transmitter area
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Thursday, 12 October 2023
C
Chris.SE7:41 AM
Jeanette Phillips :
Hmm, I wonder if your aerial is a wideband but far better a Group K which it might be if replaced recently - Group K is in effect the new wideband as it covers all channels upto C48 and so give some protection from Mobile mast interference that may use/start using the 700MHz band above C48.
If either, then re-orientating it for Redruth might be worth a try, I say might because despite the predicted reception, there are hills in the way. A professional installer with a signal strength meter should be capable of checking how good or not it is, especially those Commercial multiplexes COMs 4/5/6, (SDN/ArqA/ArqB), otherwise the only guidance is what your set tells you.
If it's an older aerial it could be a Group A (might have red plastic bungs in the ends of the main bar) which wouldn't receive the higher UHF channels used by Redruth so would be a waste of time - you need a Group K (as an aside Group A would give some protection from mobile band interference).
Now, the hills in the way (on the line of sight) are obviously the one you are on (wow good views S but not in the direction of Redruth!) then about 1&1/2 to 2km out there is a more significant one. Signals do "bend" over hills but it weakens them, a huge hill would mean zero signal.
Are there any aerials in your road pointing at Redruth, if so, ask them about their reception.
There's also a hill on the line of sight to Caradon Hill, but it's quite small. It may have been in the analogue days you could more easily get ghost free/minimal ghosting from Caradon Hill but not Redruth, I can't find any definitive information on that.
As far as mobile interference is concerned, I note you do have a few masts close by, mainly in the general direction of Caradon Hill. If it became a problem then https://restoretv.uk are the people to deal with it, they can supply free filters (or in worst case instal a new aerial f.o.c). I note the website says they haven't sent postcards to your postcode but I've come across cases where they haven't and there was still a problem!!
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Sunday, 17 March 2024
S
StevensOnln17:12 PM
Andrew Wilden: ITV still haven't rolled out all of their HD regions on Freeview. It's not known when this will happen, it's believed that the technical equipment/infrastructure is ready to go, but they are waiting for existing contracts to expire before the rollout of HD regions can be completed.
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Monday, 18 March 2024
A
Andrew Cottrill9:24 PM
Transmitter engineering: Could you advise if there is an ongoing issue with the Caradon Hill transmitter in Cornwall. Over the last week or so, some channels are quite pixelated, but the most noticeable problem is sound distortion. Channel 35 (ITV+1) is one channel in particular. Sound is muffled and distorted all the time, no drop-outs, just distorted. I am aware there is or has been some engineering works recently and just checking if my problem is likely due to this, or if I need to investigate other causes. Any help or advice would be appreciated. Many thanks...
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C
Chris.SE10:21 PM
Andrew Cottrill:
The post before yours (now at the bottom of p50) states that there is still Planned Engineering work continuing.
A lot of main transmitters (and some others) have been having extended maintenance during the last 12 months or so. It's over 10 years since DSO and it's highly probable that extended maintenance is likely, it's not only transmitters and antennae but the structure as well, eg. to ensure that is remains safe and not likely to come down in severe weather. You may have noticed that there've been some severe storms of late!
We know that on some transmitters the work has involved such things as the greasing of stay cables and so on to inhibit corrosion etc. So it's highly probable this is the sort of work that's taking place.. It'll take considerable time and reduced power or interruptions will be needed when working close to the antennae, hence it states there could be "Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels"
If you give a full postcode we can check your predicted reception which may indicate how vulnerable you might be to these problems.
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Sunday, 12 May 2024
D
David Roseveare7:38 PM
Experiencing picture breakup. Plymstock area of Plymouth. 12/5/2024
This has been going on for the past month.
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S
StevensOnln111:28 PM
David Roseveare: The Caradon Hill transmitter has been listed for engineering work for the last few weeks. Unfortunately no information is given regarding what work is taking place or when it is due to be completed.
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Thursday, 16 May 2024
M
michael 8:16 PM
Is there any information anywhere on the kind of engineering works notified as being undertaken on so many transmitters?
The only clue I have is of antenna units being replaced locally by European-sourced units.
If this were happening on a wider scale, a reliability issue might explain it.
Checkiing local planning applications might be worth a try...
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C
Chris.SE11:16 PM
michael :
As you know from previous posts, Arqiva don't provide the details. Whilst replacing antenna units is one possibility, where did you glean this information, and are you talking about Caradon Hill itself?
Even if it's definitely the case, why do you think it might be a reliability issue? Surely the age of most of the units could have a greater bearing on this?
Perhaps European- sourced units are the only currently available source?
Somehow I doubt it's a widespread thing as I would expect it to cause more disruption than appears to be the case going by posts on this site (and come to that elsewhere).
One thing we do know is the odd bit of information that appears such as -
Engineering work affecting BBC radio services from the Rowridge transmitter from 1 May until 10 June 24 | Help receiving TV and radio
and I recall a similar one for Wenvoe a while back, but it didn't only affect FM at Wenvoe.
It strikes me that this type of work is a much more likely need at many transmitter sites considering the age of many masts, never mind mentioning the more severe weather we get these days!
I wouldn't have expected any of the above mentioned maintenance work to have require planning permission in any event, there's no material change to the structure or the site.
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Saturday, 18 May 2024
M
michael7:59 PM
Some transmitters are "reportedly" replacing far-eastern modules for Europe-manufactured ones...
One wonders why...
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C
Chris.SE8:45 PM
michael:
Hi michael. Can you point us to the "reportedly"?
If it's true, then clearly "quality" must be an issue.
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