Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter
Brian Butterworth first published this on - UK Free TV
Google Streetview | Google map | Bing map | Google Earth | 51.237,-2.626 or 51°14'12"N 2°37'33"W | BA5 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.
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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 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.
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?
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?
Cheddar | Transposer | 15 km E Weston-super-Mare | 1674 homes |
Luccombe | Active deflector | 6 km w Minehead | 38 homes |
How will the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2010 | 2010-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-17 | 27 Feb 2018 | |||
C/D E | E | E | C/D E | C/D E T | W T | W T | |||
C30 | _local | ||||||||
C32 | BBCA | ||||||||
C33 | com7 | com7 | |||||||
C34 | D3+4 | ||||||||
C35 | com8 | com8 | |||||||
C36 | ArqB | ||||||||
C37 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
C48 | SDN | SDN | SDN | SDN | |||||
C49tv_off | BBCA | BBCA | |||||||
C51tv_off | LBS | LBS | |||||||
C52tv_off | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | ||||||
C54tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
C56tv_off | ArqA | ArqA | ArqA | COM8tv_off | |||||
C58tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | |||
C61 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | |||||
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 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
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Thursday, 27 June 2019
MikeP
7:43 PM
7:43 PM
Carole:
Because of recent changes to the frequencies being used, you need to have your aerial changed to a wideband type so it can receive the COM7 and COM8 broadcasts better. Channel 81 is on COM7.
If you do not have cable or satellite you may qualify for a free aerial replacement by contacting the Frevview support by looking at Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview or ringing them on 0808 100 0288.
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S
satman9:17 PM
Carole : It's possible that it's picking it up from the wrong transmitter.
If so, you might find a better signal one at the end of your channels list in the 800's
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Friday, 28 June 2019
C
Chris.SE1:33 PM
Carole:
As satman has already said, it's possible you are picking up the wrong transmitter. I'm afraid MikeP seems to have made an error there, as Talking Pictures on 81 is on ArqB multiplex UHF36 from Mendip, so in your particular location you will be getting strong signals from Wenvoe, and despite the predicted coverage you could even be tuned to Kings Weston. Are you getting similar issues with Ideal World, Yesterday or 4seven for example - all on the same multiplex? Can you get the Bristol Local mux ok, try LCN channel 7. Do you have anything on LCN channel 8?
Did you do a manual tune or an automatic one? Have you tried to look at the tuning settings to see what UHF channels you are actually tuned to? Your TV setup may have asked you to set a region, and even setting it to West, you'll still get Kings Weston.
How old is your aerial? If it's not a Wideband type (or type T) it could be a quirk in the performance that means you aren't getting UHF36 quite as well as the others lower down.
If you are struggling to find information in your Settings about the precise tunings you have, please tell us the exact model of TV that you have and someone may be able to tell you the exact methods to use - do you still have the manual for it?
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Chris.SE1:53 PM
Dean:
A similar question about the age of your aerial as I've mentioned to Carole.
Now BS8 has a lot of buildings of varying height in it, so it'll depend exactly where you are. Put your full postcode into Digital UK - Coverage checker to see what it predicts for UHF36, and also try it again with your house number to see if it gives a different result.
MikeDow:
That's good news Mike, considering your location getting such good signals from Mendip! Might be a bit frustrating for local news though (unless you can get a decent signal from Rowridge off the back of your aerial).
Everyone that gets very good signals (in general) from Wenvoe:
You may find that the signal strength you are now getting from Mendip for COMs 7&8 (UHF55&56) is not as good as before even though you get 100% quality. In my particular location it's down a lot, which at present I can only put down to interference from Wenvoe & Oxford (as I also get signals from there). That of course is unless there is a Mendip Transmitter fault and the power is down (it's supposedly the same as before the changes) as I'm not convince the Fault reporting is up-to-date/correct, as the Bristol Local Mux was off-air/low power in the latter hours of last night and that has yet to be reported!
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Saturday, 29 June 2019
D
DL10:18 AM
Much mention here of a wideband ariel but how can one tell which ariel you have? Visually? Had mine upgraded a couple of years ago. Previous was like most of the ones around my location - many short "uprights" same size on a long beam with a smallish reflector on the rear. New one much more like an old VHF radio ariel. Thanks.
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MikeP
11:03 AM
11:03 AM
DL:
The aerials all carry a colour coded insert at the end of the horizontal pole to which the elements are attached. You can look at Untitled to see a list of the colours and what they mean. A wideband aerial will have either a grey or a black insert, grey being for a type K aerial which covers channels 21 to 48 whilst a Group W has black inserts and covers channel 21 to 68. If the inserts are red, yellow, green or brown then it is not a wideband aerial but a grouped aerial and is now unlikely to help receive all the available channels.
I use a pair of binoculars to focus on the ends of the horizontal main beam to see the inserts.
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Chris.SE9:23 PM
Badminton
Carole:
Further to my last post to you, a couple more thoughts/queries. Is your aerial on the chimney? Do you have more than one aerial? Have you looked at your aerial recently to make sure it hasn't fallen down or moved? Do you have an aerial amplifier and/or splitter to feed more than one TV or box?
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Chris.SE's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 30 June 2019
D
DL10:04 AM
Bath
Thanks Chris, indeed I WAS looking at my ancient radio ariel!! Duh! New TV one IS on the chimney, is stable and feeds a number of rooms in my house via an amplified distribution device (which is also relatively new). Ariel is similar to the old one but with a larger reflector and points to Mendip and is some way away from th radio one. Can't see the colours - I'll have to dig out some old binoculars. Generally good reception, just puzzled with freeview problems. ie When I set a recording and the transmition times change my PVRs do'nt always adjust their start/stop times accordingly (as they always used to). Anyone else have this problem? (Using latest Humax PVRs - they couldn't explain why! David (BA1 5JL)
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DL's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 1 July 2019
A
Ann Lloyd7:06 PM
Warminster
Can you please explain why since the retune on the 19th myself and my neighbours in BA12 6BX have no HD channels, ITV, Channel 4 & 5 and countless other channels are no longer available. Thank you
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Ann's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
MikeP
9:15 PM
9:15 PM
Ann Lloyd:
Do you have a wideband aerial? One is now needed to receive all the channels used by the Mendip Transmitter. If you do not have satellite or cable, then you may qualify for a free replacement aerial, contact Freeview Support via Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview
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