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Full Freeview on the Beacon Hill (Torbay, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps50.446,-3.611 or 50°26'45"N 3°36'40"Wsa_postcodeTQ3 1RT

 

The symbol shows the location of the Beacon Hill (Torbay, England) transmitter which serves 84,000 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 Beacon Hill (Torbay, England) transmitter.

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
_______

Which Freeview channels does the Beacon Hill 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
C44- (657.8MHz)284mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) South 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
C41+ (634.2MHz)284mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (West Country), 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 Country), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C47+ (682.2MHz)284mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South 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 -3dB
C42 (642.0MHz)285mDTG-810,000W
Channel icons
20 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others

COM5
ArqA
 H -3dB
C45 (666.0MHz)285mDTG-810,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others

COM6
ArqB
 H -3dB
C40 (626.0MHz)285mDTG-810,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Beacon Hill transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Spotlight 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL3 5BD, 37km west (262°)
to BBC South West region - 107 masts.
regional news image
ITV West Country News (West) 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL7 5BQ, 30km west (260°)
to ITV West Country region - 107 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (East)

Are there any self-help relays?

LannacombeActive deflector25 km SW Torbay4 homes

How will the Beacon Hill (Torbay, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20092009-132013-182013-1727 Mar 2019
C/D EC/D EC/D EE TE TW TK T
C33com7com7
C34com8com8
C40ArqB
C41D3+4
C42SDNSDNSDNSDN
C44BBCA
C45ArqAArqAArqAArqA
C47BBCB
C51tv_offArqBArqBArqB
C53tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4waves+D3+4+D3+4+D3+4
C57tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves+BBCB+BBCB+BBCB
C60tv_offITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves -BBCA-BBCA
C63BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 8 Apr 09 and 22 Apr 09.

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

Analogue 1-4 100kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 20kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-10dB) 10kW
com7(-11.4dB) 7.3kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*(-17dB) 2kW
Mux C*, Mux D*, com8(-20dB) 1000W

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Beacon Hill transmitter area

Apr 1961-Dec 1981Westward Television
Jan 1982-Dec 1992Television South West (TSW)
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Westcountry 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. Beacon Hill 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
Tuesday, 2 December 2014
M
michael scott
10:48 AM

michael scott : Have just found out that the Beacon Hill COM8 mux on transmitter channel C34 will be 'sometime' in 2015 : I assume that this might be due to other delays/links such as the SES Astra 2G satellite launch,hopefully shortly to succeed from Russia all being well. The ongoing saga of the launch rocket having failure / technical problems causing Astra 2G to be delayed on/off since about May of 2014.
SES Astra 2G is so very important to the UK as the 3rd. of 3 satellites to replace and update our 28*East slot.
UH-D for the UK probably very dependent on this late-final important satellite. We live in eternal hope and optimism.

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michael scott's 2 posts GB flag
Monday, 8 December 2014
P
Phil White
9:29 PM
Brixham

It's started again!!! After a Summer with no interference on the BBC channels, it is now back. Picture breakup, impossible to watch or listen too. I have a clear line of sight to Beacon Hill only 5 miles away. My antenna is mounted well away from mains or other types of potential interference. My post code is TQ5 0Dy. I have a 4G filter on my distribution amplifier. I have retuned more times than I have had hot dinners. Why can't the BBC provide a decent and clear interference free service all the year round.
I'm sick and tired of complaining about this and getting no replies that offer an apology or useable advice.

Phil White

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Phil White's 11 posts GB flag
Phil's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 9 December 2014
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:53 AM

Phil White: The clue might be that your just 5 miles away from the transmitter and you've got an amp as well. Your just screaming at your TV with a megaphone. See 'too much of a good thing' on this site.

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Sunday, 8 February 2015
D
Di Masters
7:17 PM

Phil White, I had the same problem as you on and off for a couple of years. It was driving me mad as it only seemed to affect the BBC channels and was intermittent. Finally, last year the cure happened! A building project was taking place down on the main road, involving a large crane. After the crane finally came down, the interference ceased. I can only assume that the signal was reflected back from the crane when it was in certain positions and confusing the original signal. Do you have anything similar going on in your area?

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Di Masters's 9 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
T
Tony
7:11 PM

Beacon Hill loss of transmission

The output of Mux on channel 42 seems to be missing.

my post code is tq123th

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Tony's 1 post GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:40 PM

Tony: The problem referred to could possibly be down to a temporary glitch having occurred on the COM4 / C42 transmitter, as no engineering work is being carried out at this station.

The main point to remember being, "not" to carry out a retune in an attempt to recover the channel, as all this will achieve is to delete all the COM4 programme channels already stored in the tuners memory, this then requiring frequent retunes (manual tune on C42) being made in order to recover them.

However, it would though be prudent to check with a neighbour or someone else nearby purely for confirmation that the signal on Mux C42 is actually down, thereby eliminating any possibility of the fault being associated with your equipment.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Sunday, 31 May 2015
M
Melvyn Clark
12:13 PM

We have had no signal for freeview for the last 2 days and before that the signal was getting weaker.

link to this comment
Melvyn Clark's 1 post GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:07 PM

Melvyn Clark: Almost certain a part of your aerial system has died. It must have been going for the past couple of days (hence the weakening signal), but now thats it. Perhaps a frayed/broekn cable, corrosion, etc.

Call out a professional, I'm afraid.

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Thursday, 11 June 2015
D
david denness
8:45 PM
Exmouth

My freeview reception at postcode EX8 5EX is appalling. Which mast should my aerial be looking at for best reception please.

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david denness's 1 post GB flag
david's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:17 PM

david denness: There's no easy answer, other than to say you might be better off to go with satellite (free-to-air Freesat assuming you don't wish to subscribe to Sky).

The fact that aerials are pointing in all directions in your locality (as seen on Street View) is testament to it being a poor reception area, owing to it being at sea level.

Here are plots showing the terrain between you and the four transmitters:

Beacon Hill:


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location


Stockland Hill:


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location


Exeter St Thomas:


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location


Dawlish:


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location


I would say probably Exeter St Thomas, or even Dawlish, as you would appear to have line-of-sight with them. You don't have line-of-sight with either Beacon Hill or Stockland Hill, which is undoubtedly the difficulty in receiving from them.

The thing is that the St Thomas transmitter doesn't provide all the channels -- it not carrying COM4, COM5 and COM6. Both Beacon Hill and Stockland Hill carry these channels at lower power and less rugged signal mode than the PSB channels (which are those that St Thomas gives you).

This begs the question: which channels are you having difficulty with and which transmitter does your aerial point to?

This is because there are a number of possibilities, such as:

- Your aerial points to one of the full service transmitters (probably Beacon I think) and the PSBs are good but the COMs are variable.

- Your aerial points to St Thomas or Dawlish and you have good reception of PSBs and no or intermittent reception of the COMs (which are being received from another transmitter).

Digital UK publishes a full list of Freeview services, including multiplex (PSB, COM etc):


Digital UK Industry - Channel listings


If you refer to the following you will in fact be viewing on service of each of the six main multiplexes:

PSB1 - BBC One
PSB2 - ITV
PSB3 - BBC One HD
COM4 - ITV3
COM5 - Pick
COM6 - 4Music

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 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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