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Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.237,-2.626 or 51°14'12"N 2°37'33"Wsa_postcodeBA5 3LB

 

The symbol shows the location of the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter which serves 720,000 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 Mendip (Somerset, England) mast?

Mendip transmitter - Mendip 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
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Which Freeview channels does the Mendip 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
C32 (562.0MHz)591mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) West, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 17 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C34 (578.0MHz)591mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (West), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 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 (West),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C35 (586.0MHz)591mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD West, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 H max
C48 (690.0MHz)591mDTG-8100,000W
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 max
C33 (570.0MHz)591mDTG-8100,000W
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 max
C36 (594.0MHz)591mDTG-8100,000W
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

LBS
 H -10dB
C30 (546.0MHz)591mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
from 22nd September 2014: 7 Made in Bristol,

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 Mendip transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Points West 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS8 2LR, 25km north (3°)
to BBC West region - 60 masts.
regional news image
ITV West Country News (East) 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS4 3HG, 23km north (11°)
to ITV West region - 61 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (West)

Are there any self-help relays?

CheddarTransposer15 km E Weston-super-Mare1674 homes
LuccombeActive deflector6 km w Minehead38 homes

How will the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20102010-132013-182013-1727 Feb 2018
C/D EEEC/D EC/D E TW TW T
C30_local
C32BBCA
C33com7com7
C34D3+4
C35com8com8
C36ArqB
C37C5wavesC5waves
C48SDNSDNSDNSDN
C49tv_off BBCABBCA
C51tv_offLBSLBS
C52tv_offArqBArqBArqB
C54tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offArqAArqAArqACOM8tv_off
C58tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCBBBCB
C61ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCA
C64BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 24 Mar 10 and 7 Apr 10.

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

Analogue 1-4 500kW
Analogue 5(-6dB) 126kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 100kW
com7(-8.4dB) 72.4kW
com8(-8.6dB) 69.1kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*, LBS(-17dB) 10kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Mendip 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. Mendip 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
Friday, 22 April 2016
C
Charles Stuart
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

10:07 PM

@ Dr J Harvey, I would suggest checking that your aerial hasn't been moved out of alignment with the signal during stormy weather. Then check that the cable is OK. If both are fine, I would suggest that maybe you need a higher gain aerial or just possibly attenuation of the signal. The best thing to do is seek the services of an aerial installer. There is no reason why your system shouldn't work on channels 48 and 49. Unlike analogue, digital signals on adjacent channels do not interfere with each other.

link to this comment
Charles Stuart's 159 posts GB flag
Charles's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 28 April 2016
N
nicholas
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

9:28 PM

Hi,i would do a replacement of all the cable and the aerial if it old,try an indoor aerial and scan to see what
the local field strength is like.You could try inverting the aerial,inverted signal was a chronic vhf problem
in areas of swindon.Try aerial at ground level,local buildings can cause chronic moving fading problems
where the signal are bound around like a yo-yo

link to this comment
nicholas's 120 posts GB flag
N
nicholas
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

9:35 PM

JC: Hi,loss of signal can be due to inversion loss,in vhf days,swindon was badly affected due to the
signals being twisted by the terain,try inverting the aerial,try at ground level,but perhaps replace all
coax and plugs first.

link to this comment
nicholas's 120 posts GB flag
N
nicholas
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

9:43 PM

Hi,it seems lot of the problems here are caused by signal twisting,absolutely chronic in vhf days,try in all
cases,renew all coaxial cable and plugs,get indooor aerial and scan to see what the local field strength
is like,relocating the aerials,try ground level but also inverting the aerials,signal twisting may be yr problem,local high buildings can cancel one or more channels,the signals are bounced around like
a yo-yo.

link to this comment
nicholas's 120 posts GB flag
Saturday, 14 May 2016
T
Tim
11:26 PM

To Dr. Harvey of Chippenham,The issue of adjacent channels is no longer relevant because the mechanism used for Freeview to transmit a multiplex uses thousands of low bandwidth carriers tightly packed together. This means that its use of the spectrum is almost rectangular with no leakage so no problem in packing in another one in right next door.I am also of the Chippenham area and get consistent 100% quality and ~45% strength on cha 48 and 49, something else must be wrong.If you still have the aerial from times when analogue TV existed you may want to change it for a wideband "log periodic" one combined with a masthead amp, this will future proof you for when the signals really leave the original band in 2019 and overall will give you better reception characteristics.Tim.

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Tim's 1 post US flag
Sunday, 15 May 2016
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

4:13 PM
Trowbridge

Tim

Having previously lived near Chippenham, I am aware that most parts of the town do not need any amplification at all provided that a good quality aerial is being used, we used to have an 11 element Group C/D Yagi without amplification and had excellent reception. Generally, age does not matter as long as the condition of the terminals is good without any corrosion and the cable is in good condition.

I agree a good log-periodic will make the installation as future-proof as possible, bearing in mind that we do not know for certain what the channel allocation plans are much beyond 2020.

Note also that there is no such thing as a 'digital aerial' as all UHF aerials can receive the Freeview signals - they are standard RF signals carrying a modulation. That used to be in an analogue format but is now in a digital format - but the RF signal has not changed at all. The modulation format makes no difference to the ability of an aerial to receive the carrier signal.



link to this comment
MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
MikeP's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
T
Tim
11:11 PM

To MikeP, re: amplification, log periodics have less gain than banded "contract" yagi aerials and so a masthead amp is generally recommended, some coming with them built in. They have the benefit of wideband reception and also a tighter focus on the transmitter with better rejection of "noises off", but need an amp to produce the same output as a yagi. I agree about "digital" aerials, all signals are transmitted in analogue form ultimately.

link to this comment
Tim's 8 posts GB flag
Monday, 16 May 2016
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:14 PM
Trowbridge

Tim:

Agreed if the log-periodic is not large enough. If, however, one of sufficient elements is used then no amplification is needed. That is the better solution as an amplified will not on;y increase the wanted signal strength but also any unwanted signals as well! So iis, and always has been, better to use an aerial of sufficient inherent gain. Log-periodics are available with many elements, I know of 36 element types (see http://www.trade-works.co…625) and there may well be some available with up to 72 elements. Most seem to be 20, 22 or 28 element which may not give sufficient inherent gain, but rather than adding noise with an amplifier it is always better top swap the aerial for a higher gain design.



link to this comment
MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
MikeP's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
T
Tim
3:14 PM

To MikeP: I have a Vision log periodic V10-040, the predecessor to the one you link to, see a picture here (not mine): http://www.satcure.co.uk/…shed . See here for an explanation of the gain differences between log periodics and more commonplace aerials: http://www.satcure.co.uk/…raph - see how even a "Rolls Royce" log periodic's output is much lower than a Yagi's. The point of the amp is not to amplify the received signal and noise (providing little benefit as you say) but to help overcome losses by boosting the signal for a noisy, lossy and often long downlink cable, which can be very lossy at UHF frequencies, when using an aerial producing less gain. On aggregate this arrangement with a log periodic produces better results than a Yagi. If the downlink cable is short, like the shed installation, then it is unlikely to be of much benefit.

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Tim's 8 posts US flag
Tuesday, 17 May 2016
D
David
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

12:04 PM

I'm in Bath (BA1), high up with a high gain, wide band ariel pointing at Mendip transmitter, which feeds various rooms in my house via an indoor distribution amp. I've always had strong reception but in the last few weeks a number of channels (eg Sky news, Dave, Yesterday, E4, Pick etc) have poor signal, lots of pixellating, sometimes zero signal. There seem to be no reports of transmitter problems, visibly ariel looks OK and I get 100% signal on the 'good' stations. This is common to all TVs and PVRs in the house. Retuning makes no difference. Any ideas anyone? Or anyone else in the area with the same problem? Thanks.

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David's 25 posts GB flag
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