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Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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
_______

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
Wednesday, 28 February 2018
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:28 PM

To those having oproblems with receiving certain programmes from Mendip, I can assure you that it is not a fault at the transmitter as I have all the usual channels still. As I'm in Trowbridge, I have a Log36 aerial with a powered amplifier adjacent to it. I did the retune yesterday after the overnoght work and all is as expected. No channe;s are missing.

So some may have the wrong aerial to cover all the channels, which is why we recommend a log-periodic aerial as that covers all the frequencies used for Freeview TV and hence will not need replacing if/when there are further changes in the future.

Bruce: It is a well known that a poor connection in an aerial feed can cause loss of just one group of channels in a multiplex. So please do as suggested and check all the leads and connections (by unplugging and then refitting) behind the TV and as far as you can safely reach to the aerial.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
B
BrizzleRocker
9:53 PM

MikeP: word of advice before faffing with the aerial that was working perfectly fine previously, I recommend trying a re-tune!

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BrizzleRocker's 2 posts GB flag
Thursday, 1 March 2018
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:30 AM

MENDIP transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:14 on 27 Feb to 04:27 on 27 Feb, HD Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:14 on 27 Feb to 04:28 on 27 Feb. [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:22 AM

BrizzlweRocker:

It is always good advice to check all the aerial connections BEFORE attempting a retune. All a retune will do is wipe all the current tuning stettings and that is not something you want to do if the problem is with one multiplex.

Checking aerial connections is something that we television service engineers have been doing for more than 70 years, as even in the days of VHF TV there were problems of corrosion affecting coaxial plugs/sockets causing loss, or poor reception, of some signals whilst others were perfect.

I did not suggest any work on the aerial other than recommending use of a log-periodic aerial for all reception of all channel now and in the future.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Saturday, 3 March 2018
S
SimonP
2:48 AM

This info is unhelpfully out of date. Ch56 is now defunct and Dave can now be found on Ch33.

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SimonP's 1 post GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:36 PM

SimonP: The frequency change only took place a few days ago. Have some patience, it takes time for websites to be updated by their owners.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
Sunday, 4 March 2018
V
VW Mike
10:17 AM

Just to help people out until the site is updated:

Since 28-02-18 :

ARQA is now on channel 33 (was 56)

COM7 is now on channel 36 (was 33)

I do not know if LBS is still on Channel 51 - all other channels were not changed.

The listed 31st March 2018 change above is completely fictitious - there is no change due before April 2019 and even then those channel numbers are completely wrong.

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VW Mike's 1 post GB flag
Tuesday, 6 March 2018
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:55 PM

Firstly, at time of posting there are no problems, faults or engineering work at Mendip.
As already mentioned by StevensOnln1, this page needs updating, but not just because of the recent Mux changes, there have also been one or two programmes Close and/or move multiplex in recent times (most of these often require some sort of retune). Now some specifics.

As already mentioned, there were some MUX changes on the 27th -
COM7 moved from UHF33 to UHF36.
ArqA (COM5) moved from UHF56 to UHF33.
LBS mux has not changed in anyway and is still on UHF51.

BrizzleRocker: MikeP has already responded to your remarks, he was not suggesting you climb up and fiddle with your aerial but check all connections (that you can easily reach). I fully endorse his comments, and those for future aerial requirements.

Bruce: Does your TV have an HD tuner and were you getting the COM7 Mux (eg. BBC News HD etc) before the MUX change? If you don't have an HD tuner you would not know, or if you have an HD tuner and couldn't get COM7 previously, then it's possible your aerial cannot receive UHF33 satisfactorily and you may need a new aerial. If all your aerial connections are fine, then it may be worth following a full Freeview Reset as sometimes with several changes some sets can get "confused" and not sort the channels correctly.

Comments to Bruce could also apply to anyone who can no longer get Pick, Dave & Sky News etc (ArqA - COM5) which is now on UHF33.

Fedup: Your problem could be due to a similar issue with your aerial BUT the reason you can get UHF33 on your older STB is because most STBs had greater signal sensitivity than a lot of more modern TV sets. This was because in the days before the full DSO, the digital signals were much weaker than now, most STBs were made to cope with this.

For those having problems with Welsh channels, then a Manual Retune may be the best option (you might have to do a full Reset with the aerial unplugged first to clear all memory). Look at your user manual to find out how to do these things (or look at the links on this site for a guide).

For those wanting to do a manual retune, the UHF channels are as follows -
UHF33 (ArqA-COM5), UHF48 (SDN-COM4), UHF49 (BBCA-PSB1), UHF51 (LBS) reception depends on location, UHF52 (ArqB-COM6), UHF54 (D3&4-PSB2). For those with HD tuners - include the following - UHF35 (COM8), UHF36 (COM7) and UHF58 (BBCB-PSB3).

For those wanting a list of Digital changes at Mendip, consult Freeview UK at Coverage Checker - Detailed View
To check reception at your own location, click on Change Address just below the big pink menu bar and then enter your postcode, make sure you have Detailed View ticked.

A list of current Freeview channels can be seen here - Digital UK | Channel listings
Planned Engineering work can be seen here - Digital UK | Planned engineering works

Hope you all find the above helpful.





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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 7 March 2018
G
Gary Colby
9:39 PM
Bristol

North bristol. Bs34. UHF33 is now a very poor signal. Any idea why ?

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Gary Colby's 5 posts GB flag
Gary's: ...
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:31 PM

Gary Colby: COM5 on UHF C33 is broadcasting at 100kW the same as COM4 & COM6 so the most likely explanation would be that you're using a Group C/D aerial which gives a poor response as C33 is outside of the frequency range it was designed to receive. If you contact the Freeview Advice Line (see link below) they'll arrange for someone to fit a new wideband aerial (free of charge if you don't have satellite or cable).

Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
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Your comment please
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.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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