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Freeview Light on the Mynydd Machen (Caerphilly, Wales) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.604,-3.123 or 51°36'13"N 3°7'24"Wsa_postcodeNP11 7PS

 

The symbol shows the location of the Mynydd Machen (Caerphilly, Wales) transmitter which serves 31,000 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 Mynydd Machen (Caerphilly, Wales) mast?

Mynydd Machen transmitter - Mynydd Machen transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 18/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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Which Freeview channels does the Mynydd Machen 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 V max
C23+ (490.2MHz)411mDTG-400W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Wales, 2 BBC Two Wales, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 14 others

PSB2
D3+4
 V max
C26+ (514.2MHz)411mDTG-400W
Channel icons
5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Wales), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 V max
C29+ (538.2MHz)411mDTG-400W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Wales, 102 BBC Two HD Wales, 104 Channel 4 HD South ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 110 Channel 4 HD (Wales), 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Are you trying to watch these 44 Freeview channels?

the effected channels
the effected channels
the effected channels
the effected channels

The Mynydd Machen (Caerphilly, Wales) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: U&Yesterday, 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera Eng, Al Jazeera English, Blaze, Blaze +1, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, DMAX, E4 Extra, YAAAS!, Film4 +1, Food Network, FRANCE 24 (in English), GREAT! action, GREAT! christmas, GREAT! movies, GREAT! romance mix, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, Legend, PBS America, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky Mix, Sky News, Talking Pictures TV, That's 90s, That's TV 2, Together TV, TRUE CRIME, TRUE CRIME XTRA, U&Dave, U&Dave ja vu, U&Drama +1, U&W.

If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Mynydd Machen transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Wales Today 1.2m homes 4.7%
from Cardiff CF5 2YQ, 14km south-southwest (213°)
to BBC Wales region - 206 masts.
regional news image
ITV Cymru Wales 1.2m homes 4.7%
from Cardiff CF5 6XJ, 19km southwest (215°)
to ITV Wales region - 206 masts.

How will the Mynydd Machen (Caerphilly, Wales) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20102010-1315 May 2019
A K TA K TA K TA K TA K T
C23ITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves+BBCABBCA
C26BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves+D3+4D3+4
C29C4wavesC4wavesC4waves+BBCBBBCB
C33BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves

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 3 Mar 10 and 31 Mar 10.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

Analogue 1-4 2kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 400W

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Wenvoe transmitter area

Jan 1958-Jul 1968Television Wales and the West
Jul 1968-Feb 2004Harlech Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Mynydd Machen was not an original Channel 3 VHF 405-line mast: the historical information shown is the details of the company responsible for the transmitter when it began transmitting Channel 3.

Comments
Sunday, 3 April 2011
L
Lee
10:17 AM
Pontypridd

I have been having a poor picture over the last few weeks. It has been fine till then. I haver had the aerial man (Valley aerial) out twice in this time. He states it should be boosted in April so from then on no problems. He has moved the aerial from chimney to barge boards but it is no better. I am in Tonteg but should I ask him to point it elsewhere. It appears to be pointing to Caerphilly, it is not down towards Wenvoe and next stoor is on Mendips. Surely I shouldn't be having these problems from 4 miles away from a transmitter?

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Lee's 1 post GB flag
Lee's: mapL's Freeview map terrainL's terrain plot wavesL's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Mark Aberfan Aerials
sentiment_satisfiedGold

12:50 PM

Hi Lee,

On the 27th of April, two sets of channels(muxes) will be both moved into group B band & increased in power. The changes should make the signal better on those muxes & the reception of the channels on those muxes will improve.
The changes will affect only people who get their reception directly from wenvoe, it will not affect those on relay transmitters such as mynydd machen.

If only some channels are affected the you should wait until 27th april, if the bbc / itv 1 / channel 4 / channel 5 channels are breaking up, then the april changes will not help.

I would add that I dont know Valley Aerials personally but I do know they have a good reputation & are members of the best trade association the CAI.

Mark Aberfan Aerials

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Mark Aberfan Aerials's 1,059 posts GB flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:24 PM
Reading

Lee: The relays are only there to fill in gaps in reception. You ought to get best results from the main station at Wenvoe. There's a hill (western end of Garth Hill) between you and it, but the transmitter is so strong that even the much-reduced signal should still be strong enough.

The Mynydd Machen relay is only designed to serve the valley to its north, and possibly part of Machen itself. The map here is hopelessly wrong because Brian hasn't integrated the actual radiation pattern of the transmitter, and his terrain data is too imprecise.

The Pontypridd relay to your north looks to be blocked by the hill just to your north at Coed y Fardre. At only 400W there likely isn't enough signal getting through.

There is also a relay at Taffs Well to your south-east, only 10W but no obstructions (there's a hill, Maesbach, but you can see over it). That's your best option if Wenvoe and Mendip aren't possible.

For best results from Wenvoe you should have a Group B aerial, horizontally-polarized (rods going side-to-side), pointing slightly east of south. For Mendip, a Group C/D horizontally-polarized pointing slightly north of south-east. For Taffs Well, Group C/D *vertically* polarized (rods going up-and-down) pointing slightly south of east.

A wideband will work reasonably well for group C/D transmitters, less well for group B.

The commercial multiplexes at Wenvoe are boosted on the 27th of April, and you'll need to retune because the frequencies are changing. However, if your problem is with BBC channels, ITV1, S4C, Channel 4 or Channel 5, or with HD services, nothing will improve because nothing is changing - these are in their final channels and modes and at final power levels at all of the transmitters you could use.

link to this comment
Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 15 May 2011
G
glen
8:57 PM

Before you go and spend money on Freesat you should note it does not have 'Dave' or 'Dave ja vu' on it,

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glen's 1 post GB flag
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
D
david marasco
11:51 PM
Newport

I have fitted a high gain wideband digital ariel on roof cannot pick anything up at all,is this the right ariel.
kind regards
d.t.marasco

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david marasco's 2 posts GB flag
david's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

1:36 AM

david marasco: There is no prediction from Digital UK for reception from Mynydd Machen. You are however predicted to have excellent reception from Mendip and Wenvoe is also shown as a likely possibility. For Mendip mount the aerial for horizontal polarisation and point it at 144 degrees (SE), For Wenvoe the polarisation is also horizontal, the direction being 234 degrees or roughly SW. Note that predicted reception does not take into account local obstructions such as trees or tall buildings.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 6 December 2011
C
Chris
7:36 PM
Caerphilly

Will channel 5HD be available from Machen? If so when? Any chance of Channel 4 HD?

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Chris's 6 posts GB flag
Chris's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

6:25 PM

Chris: C5 HD, yes. C4 HD, no.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Sunday, 25 March 2012
K
kris
11:52 AM
Caerphilly

hello, can you please tell me,if you can;when will we be able to get channel 4 and 5 on freeviw hd via the aerial in Llanbradach cf83 3ny ? can you help with info. THANKS.

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kris's 1 post GB flag
kris's: ...
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