I am not sure the solution each house nearby will need will be affordable for our area. I think the mobile firms will want to offload the risk of poor onto antenna firms and households; or push us onto Virgin Media , and .

I have been analysing the predicted Freeview for BN43 5LG and combined that information with information for and Whitehawk transmitters, their polarisations and power levels and signal path lengths given on the terrain diagrams.

To cope with the forthcoming changes I reckon that we will need
(a) 3 antennae, two pointing and one pointing East as now.
(b) possibly a signal or two or three
(c) move the antennae outside onto a guyed mast
(d) a signal mixer / bandpass filter arrangement to mix down the antenna feeds into a single cable for distribution to rooms inside the house.

Signal Strength Calculations
#1 Vertical Long Yagi Antenna for Rowridge PSB1, PSB2, PSB3. These 200kW ERP in Vertical polarisation on UHF to . The signal travels over 78km; mainly sea. Signal strength is likely to vary in calm weather due to multipath effects due to reflections off a smooth water surface as the tide rises and falls. The nearby church is likely to attenuate the signal. The increased likelihood of rain suggest an extra 6dB to 12dB margin might be prudent if it does not overload receivers under normal conditions. I tried pointing a antenna at Rowridge a long while ago without much luck. Admittedly, I did not try very hard because the Whitehawk signal was easier to make work at that time. The Whitehawk signal reflected off the church nicely too.

#2 Horizontal Long Yagi Antenna and band-filtered amplifier: Rowridge COM7 (24kW), COM8(18kW), LSO(10kW) on UHF to CH37. The signal travels over 78km mainly sea. It is likely to need a 15dB masthead signal booster to raise the signal level to that of PSB1, 2 and 3. The nearby church might attenuate the signal. The increased likelihood of rain suggest an extra 6dB to 12dB margin might be prudent if it does not overload receivers.

#3 Vertical Long Yagi Antenna: Whitehawk COM4, COM5, COM6 (4kW) and LBN (0.4kW). This is about 17dB weaker ERP than Rowridge but much nearer at 12km (equivalent to a 16dB boost). They should be about the same signal strength. My calculation ignored obstacles and the increased likelihood of a lot of rain between here and the Isle of Wight. Some multipath deterioration in signal may be experienced in calm weather when the sea is flat as the tide rises or falls. Some reflection off of other buildings such as the power chimney may be involved too. So we need to ensure that there is both a good signal and a strong signal under normal conditions on all multiplexes.

Weather and Outside Antennas
Our house faces the prevailing SW weather directly off the sea. Most of the year the weather is great; the wind always carries some saltiness and causes rusting. However, often around equinoxes, we get some days with very strong, salty, sandy, wet and gusty gale force winds (G8 to G10 Beaufort). Any outside antenna array (3 long yagis at lower end of UHF TV spectrum) and masthead amplifiers and its masting arrangement will be required to handle this weather without causing or suffering damage. Our chimney stack is unlikely to be strong enough on its own.

What do I have now?
Presently, I have a high quality single antennae in the loft pointed at Whitehawk with about 12dB signal boost near the antenna. I get generally good Freeview reception. I had to position the antenna carefully in the loft and adjust the amplifier to get the signal up on all (lots of trial and error with an antenna signal meter device).

Who is doing the work?
Q1: Who will design and build the new antenna system required?
Local antenna firms have failed to design a successful solution for just Whitehawk. I don't think they have the skills. The previous owner's contractor ended up walking away after repeated calls to fix poor reception. Some TV installation firms I went to plainly don't appear to know what they are talking about - expecting me to swallow nonsense.

I fear we will end up losing, having to find our own solution without reimbursement from the mobile network operators.

Q2: Is setting to work a capable installation going to be covered by the mobile phone operators even if I design and build it?

Q3: If not what might they offer as an alternative? FreeSAT, Virgin cable, Sky for life

Q4: Finally, has anyone asked Eon if they can build and a Freeview and repeater on the massive Rampion Wind Farm export sub-station? It is being constructed over the course of this year just 8km away from a huge stretch of the south coast and there is a clear line of sight path to Rowridge. Electrical power shouldn't be a problem. Maintenance out at sea might be rather more expensive than a man or woman in a van. But it might remove the need for Whitehawk and a few Freeview local area transmitters.

I you can

Regards
Emma Atkinson

link to this comment

E's Freeview map E's terrain plot E's frequency data E's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, England) Full Freeview trans
Wednesday 5 July 2023 11:01AM

BBC B HD (UHF Ch 36) sound delayed 0.5 second wrt vision. Fault started yesterday lunchtime ish. Fault manifested on a Sony and a Samsung TV. Problem affects all HD and SD channels on that multiplex. Other multiplexes from same location are not similarly affected.

link to this comment

Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, England) Full Freeview trans
Wednesday 5 July 2023 12:53PM

Emma Atkinson : BBC B HD was fixed at 13:51. Thank you engineers.
Sound and vision are now in synchronisation on all using this multiplex (SD & HD)

link to this comment