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Full Freeview on the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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The symbol shows the location of the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmitter which serves 940,000 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.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmitter.

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

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C46 (674.0MHz)576mDTG-100,000W
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
C43 (650.0MHz)576mDTG-100,000W
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), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C40 (626.0MHz)576mDTG-100,000W
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 max
C41+ (634.2MHz)576mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
20 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C44 (658.0MHz)576mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C47 (682.0MHz)576mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

LG
 H -13dB
C30 (546.0MHz)576mDTG-125,000W
Channel icons
from 2nd June 2014: 8 STV Glasgow,

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Black Hill transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Reporting Scotland 2.4m homes 9.2%
from Glasgow G51 1DA, 26km west (271°)
to BBC Scotland region - 230 masts.
regional news image
STV News 1.3m homes 4.8%
from Glasgow G51 1PQ, 26km west (271°)
to STV Central (Glasgow) region - 94 masts.

Are there any self-help relays?

Ardtornish ATransposer22 km NW Oban15 homes
BalquhidderTransposer12 km NW Callander42 homes
Benmore BActive deflector50 m WNW Glasgow7 homes
Blair DrummondTransposer5 homes caravan park
Blyth BridgeActive deflector30 km SW Edinburgh50 homes
GlendaruelActive deflector40 hotel40 homes hotel
Glendaruel BActive deflector12 homes (second level)

How will the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmission frequencies change over time?

1957-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-133 Oct 2018
VHFB E TB E TB E TE TW T
C10ITVwaves
C30_local
C32com7
C35com8
C37C5wavesC5waves
C40BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCB
C41+SDNSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C44ArqAArqA
C46BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C47ArqBArqB
C50tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4waves
C51tv_offLG
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_off_localCOM8tv_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 8 Jun 11 and 22 Jun 11.

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

Analogue 1-5 500kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 100kW
com7(-10.7dB) 42.9kW
com8(-11.1dB) 39.2kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-14dB) 20kW
LG(-20dB) 5kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Black Hill 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.

Comments
Friday, 14 October 2011
Adrian Tobin
6:28 PM

Sony Bravia 703EX

I'm experiencing zooming on STVHD(51) as it constantly switches between 1080i and 1080p. Also have this on BBCHD channel(54)
Very annoying!!
Any info??
Adrian Tobin

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Adrian Tobin's 2 posts GB flag
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

11:31 AM

Adrian Tobin: Your set should not "zoom" when switching between 1080i and 1080p.

You might need to do a "software upgrade" on your set, which you can get from here http://support.sony-europ…X703 .

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
S
Stuart
7:27 PM

Adrian, I saw this answered on another site. The broadcasters switch dynamically between 1080i and 1080p to maximise picture quality. Your TV has different picture settings for each of these modes. You need to alter the zoom setting for each mode so they match :)

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Stuart's 17 posts GB flag
Thursday, 27 October 2011
D
David
1:27 PM

Black Hill COM5 & COM6 have now changed to 3/4 FEC and are now 27Mb/s.

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David's 1 post EU flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

1:31 PM

David: I think the resultant bitrate is actually still 28Mb/s due to changes of the guard interval to compensate for the change to FEC. I will get around to making the necessary code changes to show the overridges above at some point later this week.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
T
Tim
4:25 PM
Kilmacolm

Hi. We get intermittent interference on Mux2 channels, but no others. This lasts up to an hour, making the channels unwatchable, and happens at random times during the day. It is not associated with any of our electrical goods being on or off. Aerial is on the roof and we have a booster in the attic. Blackhill is our transmitter. Any thoughts? If your suggestion is that it is interference from external sources, then bring back analogue!

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Tim's 8 posts GB flag
Tim's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

4:45 PM

Briantist: Changing the guard interval would not itself improve reception directly (except in rare cases of strong distant echoes, which are unlikely; 7.5km is plenty of distance to prevent this problem). It would improve only if the intent was to synchronize transmissions with another transmitter, in which case the overlap area would have constructive, rather than destructive, interference. It all hinges on the timing.

The nearest candidate using the same frequencies will be Chatton, when it switches over at the end of next year. For that reason, I doubt that it is to do with improving coverage.

Others are certainly reporting that the guard interval has not changed and therefore capacity has increased. The larger capacity is for the moment just carrying more null packets.

On its own, this change will reduce coverage slightly.

The retrofit is due to complete, at least for ArqB, on 23 November (Selkirk, and Tacolneston DSO 2), so we should know more then.

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:08 PM

Tim: That booster? You probably don't need it.

Check that the box has actually tuned to Black Hill transmissions and not something else. The Kilmacolm relay transmitter is very close to you and uses lower frequencies, so could well be picked up when tuning, as older boxes often just store the first signal found when scanning. See Digital Region Overlap for thoughts on how to deal with reception from more than one transmitter.

Otherwise I'd be inclined to assume it's impulse interference caused by the thermostat or other central heating device (pump motor). Does it happen shortly after the central heating comes on?

If none of that sorts it, you can report the problem to the BBC at BBC - Reception problems . Select 'No' for 'Does this answer your problem?' and continue through.

Digital UK, and that BBC page, suggest that you can get a signal from the Strathyre Link transmitter, but I think that's very unlikely. It's probably what you'd expect to get from Black Hill if your aerial was pointing at Strathyre Link. My guess it's treated as a Single Frequency Network in the DUK predictor, but the sole purpose of Strathyre Link is to get the signal down the valley to the Strathyre transmitter itself, and hence is very, very low power (130 milliwatts).

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:29 PM

Mike Dimmick: looking at the "Blue Book 7", it rather implies the change is just to increase the capacity of the multiplex from 24.13 Mbit/s to 27.14 Mbit/s

DVB-T

Option 1 - 2k (1705) 64QAM 2/3 1/32 24.1283422 Mbit/s
Option 2 - 2k (1705) 16QAM 3/4 1/32 18.0962567 Mbit/s
Option 3 - 8k (6817) 64QAM 2/3 1/32 24.1283422 Mbit/s

Option 7 - 8k (6817) QSPK 1/2 1/32 6.0320856 Mbit/s
Option 8 - 8k (6817) 64QAM 3/4 1/32 27.1443850 Mbit/s

"For the Option 8 mode, transmission trials have started. It is too early to say whether the above modes under consideration will be specified for future use. It is felt prudent that performance parameters for Option 8 should be specified in this version of the D-Book. However at his time, receivers need only be tested ... with a small sub-set of the Option 8 performance parameters. "

For reference

DVB-T2

Option 4 - 8ke (6913) 64QAM 4/5 1/32 PP7 242 34.6880914 Mbit/s
Option 5 - 32ke (27841) 256QAM 3/5 1/128 PP7 59 36.1407594 Mbit/s
Option 6 - 32ke (27841) 256QAM 2/3 1/128 PP7 59 40.2146452 Mbit/s
Option 11 - TBC
Option 9 - 32kn (27265) 256QAM 3/5 1/128 PP7 59 35.2461861 Mbit/s
Option 10 -32kn (27265) 256QAM 2/3 1/128 PP7 59 39.2192332 Mbit/s


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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Friday, 28 October 2011
Strathearn
10:33 AM

Tim: I'm [still] suffering from the same experience on Mux2 Channels only. See my posting on the 2nd Oct. Although, in my case, the channels in question are JUST watchable. I have a Humax PVR and the signal detection shows the strength at around 60% and quality is constantly jumping between 40% and 80%. I know these readings through the PVR are only approximate, but the other Mux's show a higher strength signal and the quality reading is pretty well constant at around 80/90%.

I'm in Clydebank, not far to the north of you. I use Blackhill because Whitelees Wind Farm [currently the largest land wind farm in Europe] created similar, but worse, problems when the Darvel transmitter was used - although Darvel IS the Clydebank area recommended transmitter. In fact Scottish Power provide a free service for retuning to Blackhill - if required!

I'm wondering whether some minor wind farm, or something similar has gone up between us and Blackhill...?

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Strathearn's 13 posts GB flag
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Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

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