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Full Freeview on the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps55.861,-3.874 or 55°51'40"N 3°52'27"Wsa_postcodeML7 4NZ

 

The symbol shows the location of the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmitter which serves 940,000 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 Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) mast?

Black Hill transmitter - Black Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 11/11/2024 Screen may go black 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 Black 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
C46 (674.0MHz)576mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Scotland, 2 BBC Two Scotland, 7 BBC Alba HD, 23 BBC Three, 24 BBC Four (Scotland SD), 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 13 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C43 (650.0MHz)576mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
3 STV (SD) (STV Central (Glasgow micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) Scotland ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 Scotland ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (STV Edinburgh), 35 STV+1 (STV Edinburgh), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C40 (626.0MHz)576mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Scotland, 102 BBC Two HD Scotland, 103 ITV 1 HD (STV West), 103 STV HD (STV West), 104 Channel 4 HD Scotland ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 108 BBC Scotland HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 H max
C41+ (634.2MHz)576mDTG-8100,000W
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 max
C44 (658.0MHz)576mDTG-8100,000W
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 max
C47 (682.0MHz)576mDTG-8100,000W
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

LG
 H -13dB
C30 (546.0MHz)576mDTG-125,000W
Channel icons
from 2nd June 2014: 8 STV Glasgow,

DTG-8 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 Black Hill transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Reporting Scotland 2.4m homes 9.2%
from Glasgow G51 1DA, 26km west (271°)
to BBC Scotland region - 230 masts.
regional news image
STV News 1.3m homes 4.8%
from Glasgow G51 1PQ, 26km west (271°)
to STV Central (Glasgow) region - 94 masts.

Are there any self-help relays?

Ardtornish ATransposer22 km NW Oban15 homes
BalquhidderTransposer12 km NW Callander42 homes
Benmore BActive deflector50 m WNW Glasgow7 homes
Blair DrummondTransposer5 homes caravan park
Blyth BridgeActive deflector30 km SW Edinburgh50 homes
GlendaruelActive deflector40 hotel40 homes hotel
Glendaruel BActive deflector12 homes (second level)

How will the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmission frequencies change over time?

1957-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-133 Oct 2018
VHFB E TB E TB E TE TW T
C10ITVwaves
C30_local
C32com7
C35com8
C37C5wavesC5waves
C40BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCB
C41+SDNSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C44ArqAArqA
C46BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C47ArqBArqB
C50tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4waves
C51tv_offLG
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_off_localCOM8tv_off

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 Jun 11 and 22 Jun 11.

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

Analogue 1-5 500kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 100kW
com7(-10.7dB) 42.9kW
com8(-11.1dB) 39.2kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-14dB) 20kW
LG(-20dB) 5kW

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

Aug 1957-Jun 1997Scottish Television
Jun 1997-Dec 2014STV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only.

Comments
Saturday, 7 May 2011
J
Jim
3:13 PM
Motherwell

I've been getting reliable HD reception on Ch59 from Blackhill at ML1 5NJ but since the day of the royal wedding the reception has degraded until today when there is no HD reception at all.

I have a wideband antenna pointed at Blackhill, and when I originally sited it the angle from which I got a signal was extremely acute. A nudge in either direction meant 0% signal for my Humax HD 2 box. So I am certain the antenna is sited and operating well.

Changing flyleads makes no difference either.

I've switched everything else off too to remove any potential interference sources.

SD channels are 75% strength and 100% quality BTW.

What should I do next? I want my HDTV!!!

Jim



link to this comment
Jim's 1 post GB flag
Jim's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 9 May 2011
S
Scott
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

7:52 PM

I would be patient guys. By June the temporary transmission will have ended and HD will be transmitted at ten times the power (I know this is not the correct way to look at it - should be in decibels).

For what it's worth, I have never had a single problem with HD since I bought the TV and I live a long way from the transmitter.

I still hold to the theory that the propagation is directional and those at certain angles form the transmitter are having problems. No-one agrees with this though.

link to this comment
Scott's 110 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

6:58 PM

Scott: From what I have been told, all of the "preview" Freeview HD services have been "piggybacked" onto the analogue Channel 5 transmitter at the various sites, so they should have the same radiation patterns as the Channel 5 services.

These old analogue Channel 5 transmitters are all (I think) omnidirectional and not the "panel" type transmitters used for digital services which allow considerable flexibility for radiation patterns.

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
S
Scott
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

9:00 PM

According to:
Black Hill Transmitter

Black Hill is planned to transmit a pre switchover low power HDTV MUX (on CH59 at 10kW) from Feb 2010. Its radiation pattern is the same as that for analogue C5, which is concentrated in a cross shape, due N, S, E and W, i.e. it is nominally omnidirectional.

My interpretation is that the signal is stronger on the east-west and the north-south axis, which would account for me getting perfect reception living due west and others having problems.

I accept I could have got this completely wrong but I thought this was worth pointing out.

link to this comment
Scott's 110 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

9:19 PM

Scott: I'm going from what I was told by those "in the know".

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Friday, 13 May 2011
J
jenny wilkie
5:42 PM

we are currently viewing freeview in Glasgow by btvision...reception has been great up unitl wednesday when bbc1 and 2 have started digitising..rest of channels ok
as i found my bt recording box had recorded 1 programme 5 times and their new iplayer channel crahsed after 3 minutes wondering if fault is there. checcked aerial ..its been there for 5 years outside and seems to be ok. checlked cables ok
rebooted box and channel scan....still same problem....bt hasnt even good manners to reply to my emails.
anyone out there got any ideas of fault???? jw

link to this comment
jenny wilkie's 4 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:02 PM

jenny wilkie: It might be a good idea to do a "first time installation" on the BT Vision box.

But, also can you see Single frequency interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice ?

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Monday, 16 May 2011
J
jenny wilkie
1:34 PM
Glasgow

re 13th may email// did as you suggest to no avail...note in prefs that the bbc signal percentage has dropped to below 30%...all other channels are sitting between 57% and 60%....low freq is only on BBC1,2 & 3

link to this comment
jenny wilkie's 4 posts GB flag
jenny's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:40 AM

jenny wilkie: There are several more things you can try on the Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice page.

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
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