Full Freeview on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 54.868,-1.771 or 54°52'5"N 1°46'15"W |  | DH9 9AT |
The symbol shows the location of the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter which serves 700,000 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 Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) mast?
Pontop Pike transmitter - Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 04/11/2024 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
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Pontop Pike 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
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 Pontop Pike transmitter?
BBC Look North (Newcastle) 1.6m homes 6.0%
from Newcastle NE99 2NE, 15km northeast (42°)
to BBC North East and Cumbria region - 70 masts.
ITV Tyne Tees News 1.4m homes 5.4%
from Gateshead NE11 9SZ, 12km north-northeast (29°)
to ITV Tyne Tees region - 47 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with Border
Are there any self-help relays?
| Kieldor Dam | Active deflector | 6 homes Holiday complex | |
| Low Haber | Active deflector | West Allen Dale, 18 kn SW Hexham | caravan site |
| North Hartlepool | Transposer | 84 homes |
How will the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 13 Nov 2019 | ||||
| VHF | C/D E | C/D E | C/D E | C/D E T | W T | ||||
| C5 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C32 | SDN | ||||||||
| C33 | com7 | ||||||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C35 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C39 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C42 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C45 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C49tv_off | BBCB | ||||||||
| C50tv_off | SDN | ||||||||
| C54tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | D3+4 | |||||
| C55tv_off | ArqB | com7tv_off | |||||||
| C56tv_off | LNE | ||||||||
| C58tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCA | |||||
| C59tv_off | ArqA | ||||||||
| C61 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ||||||
| C64 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves |
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 Sep 12 and 26 Sep 12.
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 | |
| com8 | (-11.6dB) 34.6kW | |
| com7 | (-11.7dB) 33.8kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-17dB) 10kW | |
| LNE | (-20dB) 5kW |
Local transmitter maps
Pontop Pike Freeview Pontop Pike TV region BBC North East and Cumbria Tyne TeesWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Pontop Pike transmitter area
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Sunday, 16 September 2012
D
ds11:54 PM
except that a full scan (replacing existing channels, or with the list already wiped) may not help. It certainly hasn't here.
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Monday, 17 September 2012
L
Liz Charlton10:31 PM
Consett
Aerial on roof pointing to Pontop Pike. Have retuned tv and Freeview box many times. Sony Bravia tv and sony Freeview box Have no itv channel 4 or other D 3 +4 channels since switchover date
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Liz's: mapL's Freeview map terrainL's terrain plot wavesL's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Liz Charlton: Carry out a manual scan of UHF channel 55 if your Bravia allows manual tuning; this is where ITV1, C4 etc is up until 26th.
Failing that, you will probably have to wait until then in order to get it back.
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Wednesday, 19 September 2012
T
Tim Knight1:38 PM
Bishop Auckland
I have a sharp lc40le821e fed by bt vision box. I used to receive bbc and itv hd if I "switched out" of bt vision box and into freeview mode, but am now unable to receive the hd channels. Is there any reason for this? My location is DL14 6NR. Kind regards, Tim Knight.
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Tim's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
I
ian chambers8:43 PM
since the switch over on the 26th I am not getting film4 and itv4 on the arqb multiplex on c55 but I am getting the new 4seven.
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Friday, 28 September 2012
I
Iain8:42 PM
Chester Le Street
On Digital 3 +4 Multiplex you have ITV1+1 listed as ITV Yorkshire but this changed to ITV Tyne Tees about 6 months ago.
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Iain's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 30 September 2012
J
John9:59 AM
Morpeth
NE65 9QE (roof aerial) near Felton Northumberland
Since the switch over the reception on Channel 50- ITV 3 etc has been very poor - tolerable to non-existence.
It was perfectly OK prior to retuning.The variability suggests it is the signal, and not my set - up. Any suggestion to resolve this would be grateful.
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John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb3811:07 AM
John: Two points about your reception problems, the first being that the reception predictor does indicate your location with a status of "poor" as far as the reception of Pontop Pikes three commercial muxes is concerned and with this being on a permanent basis, so although predictors are not by any means 100% accurate (or anywhere near it!) this fact cannot be discounted.
The second point being that it would appear that the signal path to your location is at a very low angle whereby likely to be affected by trees and such likes, and variables seen on the signal strength / quality is nearly always (not exclusively though) caused by this sort of thing.
Do you use any form of booster? as in cases such as yours a booster can keep the signal running at a higher level whereby when it drops its still above the cut off threshold. That said though it depends on how much of a variable you get? as if its dropping from about 50% to near zero then a booster will not help.
Bilsdale at over twice the distance away as Pontop Pike does indicate superior reception of all muxes bar one ArqB, but I do have my doubts about this irrespective of what is indicated on the predictor.
Maybe you could give an update on the booster & the question on the span of the variables referred to.
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P
Peter7:36 PM
Hexham
Living in Hexham, until the switch over I only received analogue TV since retuning I get a much better picture but am receiving only limited digital channels. Is there anything I can do to increase the number of channels I can access?
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Peter's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Peter: Unfortunately only the main transmitters and some larger relays carry all channels. The Commercial broadcasters don't consider it worth their while to transmit from the smaller sites like Wall.
The only possible transmitter at your location is Pontop Pike, if it were possible. Digital UK Postcode Checker does not think that it is possible, although such predictors should always be taken with a pinch of salt.
It would appear that you live at the bottom of a 70m slope on top of which is Cock Wood:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
I'm not an aerial installer, but the impression I get is that you don't really have any chance. At the bottom of such a steep drop trying to receive from over the brow of the hill is one thing, but add to that the fact that the trees are (from what I can see) on that brow.....
That said, keep your eyes open for new aerials pointing at Pontop Pike. These will be north west (at 321 degrees) and will be horizontal.
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