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.
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter._______
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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Saturday, 31 May 2025
Can't get 100-106 ie HD channels,1&2 pixelating.Been happening for a few days now,nothing has changed at my end re aerial,cables,connection,no water etc.
When I try a manual scan for c45 there is little to no signal
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Sunday, 1 June 2025
C
Chris.SE2:08 PM
Steve:
As currently noted at the top of the page -
"Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 26/05/2025 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels"
As you haven't given a full postcode, we can't check your predicted reception under normal circumstances, you may be in a marginal area for some multiplexes.
There's also the possibility that you may be suffering interference from a new/upgraded phone mast now using the 700MHz band but again we can't check without a full postcode.
Added to which current weather conditions could be causing brief disruption -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/work-warning/weather-warning/waw-high-pressure-26-may-2025
One thing, do NOT retune when you have No signal or badly pixelated pictures, you cannot tune to signals that aren't there or can't be decoded, the usual result is to clear the correct tuning.
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Wednesday, 4 June 2025
We're in post code NE22 5ER.
Since getting a new LG TV in April 2024, we've had many instances of pixelation on the HD channels on M'ux 45. It's possible we're noticing them because we rarely watched HD with our previous smaller screen TV.
I've tried an attenuator, replaced aerial cables and connectors, separated aerial and HDMI/power cables (as best as is practical) and changed aerials from Yagi to Log-periodic - which evened out signal strengths, none of which seems to have had any effect.
Restore TV initially sent us 4/5G filters (no effect) and so visited us to check with a spectrum analyser - no issues found!
I sent LG detailed reports of the problem and what's been tried so they arranged to have the TV's "main board" replaced which made no difference.
Some weeks ago I discovered this 'site and its notifications of "planned work" and "pixelation" warnings but it seems that not two weeks go by without a warning!
This could be the root of the problem, BUT - because we don't watch HD all the time, and because the pixelation is so intermitent (maximum noticed 3 times in one evening but sometimes several days without any), it's not definitive. If there was a prolonged period of no "planned work" which coincided with no pixelation that would help settle the matter.
So, why does so much work need to be carried out and is there any possiblity that the transmisions will be reliable for a decent period?
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Debbie : I've just posted a comment/message using this interface and got no acknowledgment that its been sent or received, instead this blank box reapeared with the name "Debbie :" .
Is this normal?
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S
StevensOnln110:46 AM
Debbie: Unfortunately, Arqiva (the company who operate the transmitters) don't give details of what type of work they are carrying out or when it is due to be completed (much of it is dependent on the weather as the engineers can't work up the tower in heavy rain or high winds). The tower structure at Pontop Pike is over 70 years old and may well require extensive maintenance to ensure that it remains in a safe condition and is not at risk of fire or collapse.
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S
StevensOnln12:55 PM
Dave C: This site has some bugs with the comment system, causing some posts not to appear immediately. I'm assuming Debbie was a previous poster who appeared on a different page. The comment box is supposed to show the name of the most recent poster, presumably to indicate that the comment being written is in reply to theirs.
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Thursday, 5 June 2025
C
Chris.SE1:08 AM
Dave C:
Due to those current bugs that StevensOnln1 has mentioned, you need to refresh the page here on this transmitter page to see the posts, once it's loaded - even before posting, it's infuriating. The site owner has been made aware but obviously hasn't had time or yet unable to track the bug causing this which started after one of those automatic OS updates!!
Even with Planned Engineering, you really shouldn't have any problem with reception of any of the multiplexes, you are only 31km from the transmitter with clear line of sight.
Just one quick point regarding "bigger" aerials. It's always better to use a higher gain aerial and an attenuatore than a low gain aerial and an amplifier, as any interference that one might get will always get amplified. Ideally signal strength levels in the low to mid 90's in a TV set's tuning section should be more than adequate. Quality of 100% should be the case at all times, any drop suggests some sort of interference is present.
Considering the checks that have been made on your installation, I'm thinking this could be some sort of intermittent interference which didn't happen to be present when Restore TV used a spectrum analyser. So, a few questions to see if we might be able to narrow down potential causes.
Does the problem occur everyday? When did it most recently occur?
How long does it last when it happens? Does the duration vary with the time of day?
Does it tend to occur at the same time(s) of day? If there any consistency with occurrence and things like sunset?
Are any near neighbours using any electrical equipment eg. lawn movers, hedge trimmers etc when this happens?
Do you have central heating? Any consistency with the boiler starting up?
Any consistency with the use of any other electrical equipment that you can identify? Maybe a fluorescent light being turned on?
Do you have any radio amateurs nearby?
Any other patterns that you might be able to identify?
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C
Chris.SE1:11 AM
Dave C:
Regarding "refreshing" the page, you often have to select the last page number showing.
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