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Full Freeview on the Darvel (East Ayrshire, Scotland) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps55.579,-4.291 or 55°34'45"N 4°17'26"Wsa_postcodeKA16 9LS

 

The symbol shows the location of the Darvel (East Ayrshire, Scotland) transmitter which serves 150,000 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 Darvel (East Ayrshire, Scotland) mast?

Darvel transmitter - Darvel transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 25/03/2024 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
_______

Which Freeview channels does the Darvel 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
 H max
C22- (481.8MHz)446mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Scotland, 2 BBC Two Scotland, 7 BBC Alba HD, 23 BBC Three, 24 BBC Four (Scotland SD), 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 13 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C25 (506.0MHz)446mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
3 STV (SD) (STV Central (Glasgow micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) Scotland ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 Scotland ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (STV Edinburgh), 35 STV+1 (STV Edinburgh),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C28 (530.0MHz)446mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Scotland, 102 BBC Two HD Scotland, 103 ITV 1 HD (STV West), 103 STV HD (STV West), 104 Channel 4 HD Scotland ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 108 BBC Scotland HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 H -3dB
C32 (562.0MHz)446mDTG-810,000W
Channel icons
20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H -3dB
C34 (578.0MHz)446mDTG-810,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H -3dB
C35 (586.0MHz)446mDTG-810,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

DTG-8 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 Darvel transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Reporting Scotland 2.4m homes 9.2%
from Glasgow G51 1DA, 31km north (1°)
to BBC Scotland region - 230 masts.
regional news image
STV News 1.3m homes 4.8%
from Glasgow G51 1PQ, 31km north (2°)
to STV Central (Glasgow) region - 94 masts.

Are there any self-help relays?

Craigie GardensTransposer1 homes 90 caravans
InversnaidActive deflector35 km N Dumbarton8 homes Hotel caravan park

How will the Darvel (East Ayrshire, Scotland) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20112011-135 Sep 2018
A K TA K TA K TA K TW T
C22-BBCABBCA
C23ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesSDN
C25D3+4D3+4
C26BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesArqA
C28BBCBBBCB
C29C4wavesC4wavesC4wavesArqB
C30_local
C31com7
C32SDN
C33BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves
C34ArqA
C35C5wavesC5wavesArqB
C37com8
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off

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 11 May 11 and 25 May 11.

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

Analogue 1-5 100kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 20kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-10dB) 10kW
com8(-10.9dB) 8.19kW
com7(-11.2dB) 7.5kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*(-14dB) 4kW
Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 2kW

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

Aug 1957-Jun 1997Scottish Television
Jun 1997-Dec 2014STV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Darvel 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.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

Radiation patterns withheld

Comments
Thursday, 26 May 2011
David
2:51 PM
Glasgow

I have checked out the masthead amplifier and have found it is a Triax 13A Grouped MA.

The specs say it works from ch 21-34, so I am assuming this is not the problem? Presumably it will need to be swapped out if I ever try to rotate the aerial to pick up Black Hill after DSO though!

There is barely enough signal when the masthead amp is disconnected, although the same channels are scanned by the TV (they pixelate when watching though).

I usually find 46 DTV programmes and 16 radio on a full scan (chs 22,23 & 25). On the odd occasion an additional 17 channels are found on ch 26.

I have noticed that the picture quality is equally good by simply feeding the cable through an internal distn amp, without the masthead attached.

I am back to the main question, how come ch 28 is blank when chs 22 and 23 are so strong??

Thanks a lot for any help!

link to this comment
David's 4 posts GB flag
David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

2:55 PM

David: Your predicted reception from Darvel is OK at the moment, but it will become slightly worse next year.

You might want to consider moving the aerial to receive from Black Hill.

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

2:56 PM

david b: I would try "first time installation" again, but you should now have excellent Freeview HD reception.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
david b
3:34 PM
Glasgow

did factory reset, DTV-80, RADIO-26, NOW still nothing on 28? my query is, why all singin and dancing a.m, and no HD now?
22-strength 100 qual 98-100
23 94 100
25 100 100
26 100 75 +
28 0 0
29 100 87+
these are my stats if they help?

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david b's 8 posts GB flag
david's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
N
noel
3:49 PM
Ayr

I lost all freeview channels at stage 2 of the Darvel switchover - but only on my computer (Compro Videomate dvb card). Two ordinary TVs on the same aerial work OK. Previously I had no problems receiving any of the freeview channels.

Any idea if something has changed in the signal format? I'm wondering if my TV card isn't compatible in some way.

KA7 4QJ

link to this comment
noel's 4 posts GB flag
noel's: mapN's Freeview map terrainN's terrain plot wavesN's frequency data N's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:05 PM

noel: Yes, the format has changed from "2k" to "8k" mode. I can't say I have known a DVB-T adaptor that does not support 8k mode.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:07 PM

david b: That does seem very strange indeed. Can you check the Single frequency interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice page?

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
david b
4:56 PM

Brian, have looked at single and multiple freq' problems, I have nothing "in line",DVD is on sep't input, no other device in use. my tv has a booster which is off. if the DSO signal has been constant, then i am also confused? i stay in a 4 in a block,(council)don't know ariel set-up, or the set-up of others in the block? i will keep eye on times HD present? bit sad if all i can do is watch it through the night, as was getting 1080p on BBC,far superior pic... unless there is any other advice? thank you brian, david

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david b's 8 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:28 PM

David / Briantist: if I could just add another aspect to be considered in cases where Darvel is being used for reception in the Glasgow area rather than Blackhill, that being, it should always be keep in mind that signals received from Darvel could be suffering from interference from the massive Whitelee wind farm at Eaglesham Moor, this having caused widespread problems for people in parts of Glasgow, Clarkston, East Kilbride, Newton Mearns etc even before it was expanded, with Scottish Power having paid out for satellite receivers etc in a multitude of the homes affected.

Needless to say the interference being of a totally random fashion in intensity, this being dependant on rotational speeds of the turbine blades.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

5:36 PM

David: If the signal from Darvel is weak using a group A receiving aerial rather than a tri-boom would give improved signal pick-up. Use a good quality 18 element group A yagi, or for a class 1 aerial a Blake DMX10A or Triax Unix52A. You are correct when you say that the masthead amp would require removing or replacing if you wanted to receive Black Hill signals.The Digital UK postcode checker predicts good reception from Black Hill at your location both now and after switchover, however whilst based on the general terrain along the signal path it does not take into account tall buildings, trees or other local obstructions.Inserting your house number into the D.UK.postcode checker would give a more accurate prediction.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
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