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

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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.

Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Beacon Hill (Torbay, England) mast?

Beacon Hill transmitter - Beacon Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 15/04/2024 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
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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),

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 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 -3dB
C45 (666.0MHz)285mDTG-810,000W
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 -3dB
C40 (626.0MHz)285mDTG-810,000W
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

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
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:30 AM

BEACON HILL transmitter - Freeview BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 14:23 on 10 Jan to 14:44 on 10 Jan [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 150,431 posts xx flag
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:30 AM

BEACON HILL transmitter - Freeview BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 14:23 on 10 Jan to 14:44 on 10 Jan [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 150,431 posts xx flag
Saturday, 21 January 2012
F
frank ellis
11:44 AM
Buckfastleigh

i have a brand new humax pvr-9300t recorder box and am experiancing intermittant picture and sound freezing on some freeview channels any advice please

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frank ellis's 1 post GB flag
frank's: mapF's Freeview map terrainF's terrain plot wavesF's frequency data F's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:38 PM

frank ellis: Well the first thing to consider is if when you first tuned the box in it has picked up multiplexes from different stations, as you are indicated as being to receive signals from more than one station, some of being better than others.

Another important factor is, that depending on your aerial set up you could be receiving an excessive level of signal, this more likely from Beacon Hill, so have a look up at your aerial and if its horizontally mounted its Beacon Hill whereas if vertical its your local station at less than one mile away.

A simple way to test for an over powerful signal being to check the result when using a set top aerial, or if not available then with a short piece of wire pushed into the inner of the Humax's aerial socket.

If this gives a reasonable picture then an in-line attenuator is required in your co-ax lead, if though the signal isn't excessive then you will have to factory reset your Humax and use manual tuning for the station required, info given dependant on aerial direction / mounting.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Sunday, 22 January 2012
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
J
john
8:17 PM

hello i receive my tv from the beacon hill mast, i can see the mast out of my window about 1-2 miles away so i have a very good signal but my ITV1+1 channel is wales the signal is very strong and its the same with either my freeview tv or freeview set top box so i am a bit confused

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john's 1 post GB flag
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

9:25 PM

john: ITV1+1 in the Westcountry region is currently ITV1 Wales, as you have observed. This is because there are a limited number of regions fitted with equipment for the ITV1+1 service. A similar situation exists with regard to the ITV1 HD service, regions not yet upgraded for HD take the service from a region that is suitably equipped. Remember that to increase the number of ITV1+1 and ITV1HD feeds would require extra capacity on satellite if the services are to be made available on all platforms, thereby increasing the transmission costs, which ITV are understandably not in a hurry to do.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
Monday, 27 February 2012
A
Andrew Grant
12:52 PM

I was looking on this site to find details of the aerial specification I need for receiving transmissions from the Beacon Hill mast. Due to planning requirements I must use an indoor aerial and have one mounted in my loft area, but I suspect it's a 'cheapy' and thought that a good quality replacement might help with the poor signal quality & strength I experience. However, I see that there is some speculation that transmissions from Beacon Hill are due to change and will require a 'wideband' (whatever that is) aerial, if this is so I'd be a chump to buy a new aerial now only for it to become redundant later this year. Does anyone know if this is true, and what constitutes a good quality aerial anyway?

Maqny thanks

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Andrew Grant's 6 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:39 PM

Andrew Grant: For advice on this stuff and products too, have a look at ATV Sheffield: www.aerialsandtv.com

Specifically, look at aerial groups:

Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial

How does your current aerial fair?

Check out the Digital UK Tradeview predictor for some guidance. If you supply your location (preferably in the form of a post code), we might be able to offer suggestions.

Basically, in the days of four-channel analogue, Beacon Hill was a Group C/D (roughly top third of the band of frequencies used for TV). Whilst the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) multiplexes still are, the lower two of the commercial (COM) ones are in Group B (middle third of the band).

Due to the fact that many aerials fitted to homes will have been Group C/D, the lower COMs may now necessitate replacement aerials.

If your aerial is a DIY one, I think it's fairly certain to be a wideband one. If you can work out which it is might be useful.

ATV has listed its suggestions for Beacon Hill:

Digital TV Transmitters

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
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