Full Freeview on the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmitter
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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 25/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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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 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.
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?
BBC Reporting Scotland 2.4m homes 9.2%
from Glasgow G51 1DA, 26km west (271°)
to BBC Scotland region - 230 masts.
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 A | Transposer | 22 km NW Oban | 15 homes |
| Balquhidder | Transposer | 12 km NW Callander | 42 homes |
| Benmore B | Active deflector | 50 m WNW Glasgow | 7 homes |
| Blair Drummond | Transposer | 5 homes caravan park | |
| Blyth Bridge | Active deflector | 30 km SW Edinburgh | 50 homes |
| Glendaruel | Active deflector | 40 hotel | 40 homes hotel |
| Glendaruel B | Active deflector | 12 homes (second level) |
How will the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1957-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 3 Oct 2018 | ||||
| VHF | B E T | B E T | B E T | E T | W T | ||||
| C10 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C30 | _local | ||||||||
| C32 | com7 | ||||||||
| C35 | com8 | ||||||||
| C37 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C40 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C41 | +SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C43 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C44 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C46 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C47 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C50tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ||||||
| C51tv_off | LG | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | _local | COM8tv_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 |
Local transmitter maps
Black Hill Freeview Black Hill DAB Black Hill TV region BBC Scotland STV Central (Glasgow micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Black Hill transmitter area
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Saturday, 30 November 2019
J
John6:50 PM
Glasgow
He turned the aerial, log, a little further east, where he got the better signal on com7 and 8, without reducing the other muxes. I believe these channels, 55&56 will be stopping in my locale, G61 3PD, at the end of February. Hope this is helpful.
John
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John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 1 December 2019
C
Chris.SE12:10 AM
John:
Thanks for that, he obviously approached that in the right way, I hope your trouble free reception continues.
At this time AFAIK there has been no decisions made about when the COMs 7&8 transmissions will cease either at Black Hill or any other transmitter that currently carries them. We are certainly not expecting any closures before mid-2020 and it's anticipated many may continue until 2022, but it will all depend on OFCOM and the Mobile operators. The frequencies currently used (C55&56) are allocated for SDL usage. This hasn't been auctioned yet. It's also uncertain when there will be handsets available that can use 700MHz SDL, never mind the operators bring such services into use.
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Thursday, 2 January 2020
R
Rob Ferguson2:21 PM
I don't get Freeview Radio stations now on one of my TVs. Can you tell me where II can find a table showing which stations are found by each channel search (21 to 60) so I can fine tune a manual search.
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C
Chris.SE8:31 PM
Rob Ferguson:
Try Channel listings | Freeview
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Sunday, 10 May 2020
S
Sarah-Jane Morris12:33 PM
My mum has problems with her reception, sometimes the TV just says weak signal and last night it went off completely when it showed an outage on the Freeview checker. Apparently a neighbour has a number to call when this happens but I don't know who that is. I have spoken to Freeview this morning and they can't find anything wrong. I was told there is a booster in our area G21 that has to be reset but I don't know how I can get that done. Please help. My mum is 82 and it's the only company she has.
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S
Sarah-Jane Morris12:34 PM
Sorry, it's G12 1XH and the aerial is on the roof
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C
Chris.SE3:21 PM
Glasgow
Sarah-Jane Morris:
Did you mean G21 1XH for the postcode? (There's no G12 1XH in the database!).
Using the G21 postcode in the checker (use the boxes on this page Platform management | Freeview as it goes straight to the Detailed view then scroll down to see figures) it shows Black Hill as the most likely transmitter (a main transmitter) with excellent reception of all multiplexes. It also shows Darvel with Good reception. Depending on the house number (DON'T post that here) it may show some relay transmitters in the list but show no predicted reception or poor/variable reception). The relays listed (you referred to "booster" - not a correct term - if Freeview used that term they are badly trained) may be Cathcart, Glasgow West Central and Netherton Brae - none of which are going to give good reliable signals at your mum's location.
Using street view, there's some slight variation in terrain which will account for which Relays may show in this list, but this doesn't affect predicted reception from Black Hill. All the roof aerials I could see point at Black Hill (bearing 101 degrees - that's fractionally S of due E) and rods horizontal.
If your mum's TV is regularly showing "weak signal" then it's possible there's a problem with the aerial installation OR for some reason the set has become incorrectly tuned to the wrong transmitter. Let's hope it's not the former, the latter is relatively easy to fix.
None of the transmitters including Black Hill have any currently reported problems though the BBC reported a fault 4 days ago on Cathcart From 9:24pm to 10:20pm on 6th May 2020 BBC A (PSB1) Off the air due to a fault (also BBCB HD - PSB3). If Freeview are aware of any faults they will get reported, you don't have to do anything.
It would be worth your mum checking the aerial coax connections first by unplugging them from the set and wall connection (if there is one) or any PVRs etc and plugging them back in. This should help clean any poor connections that could be the cause of problems.
Depending on how technically with it your mum is, we'll take the simple route first.
She needs to unplug the aerial from the back of the set, and then do an automatic retune (might be called first time installation depending on the set) which should clear all the previous (possibly incorrect) tuning as no signals will be found. Then plug the aerial back in and repeat the automatic retune and hopefully all channels will be correctly restored.
I'll now list the correct UHF multiplex channels for Black Hill in the order PSB1-3, COMs4-8, Local.
They are C46, C43, C40, C41, C44, C47, C55, C56, C30 (C meaning UHF channel).
If your mum knows how, she could go to the TV's tuning section and look for something that might be called Signal Test or possibly Manual Tuning and look to see if those are the channels the set has tuned to. It may also show the strength and quality of the signals for each multiplex.
If your mum is not sure/able to do a retune, then get her to phone Freeview on 0808-100-0288 tell them the exact model and make of set and they should be able to take her through a step by step guide on what to do. If they aren't much help, post back here with the make and model.
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Chris.SE's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 12 May 2020
S
Sarah-Jane Morris12:23 AM
Chris.SE: Yes G21 , sorry. There was an outage on the Blackhill transmitter detailed on the website at the weekend and I have found out today that there is a local communal aerial/booster/don't know what? situated in the Council compound on Ashgill Road/Colston Road. The other local freeview residents have also had their signal disappear so it's not my Mum's TV that is the problem. Apparently when this happens (on a regular basis) someone has to go over and ask a member of the team there to reset whatever it is and then everything comes back again. I did retune the TV on a general autotune several times, I also took the aerial out and did everything that Freeview indicated to me (I was on chat for an hour on Sunday morning) but also on a specific channel tune and both show no channels and weak/no signal. I am quite technically minded so this kind of thing is easy for me but it wouldn't be possible for my Mum or the significant number of older residents here who rely on TV to keep them company. Luckily I am here and can do it for her but I don't know what will happen when I go home in however many weeks.
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C
Chris.SE6:50 AM
Sarah-Jane Morris:
OK, the situation requires some clarification. If this is a regular occurrence, we need to get to the bottom of this. Which website was indicating an outage at the Black Hill main transmitter?
The BBC have still not reported any fault at the Black Hill main transmitter that's affecting their channels.
Next, I initially had the impression that your mum was in a house that had its own aerial, if so, does that aerial point virtually East with the aerial rods horizontal as indicated in my previous post?
It's a totally different kettle of fish if you mum is in a property where the signal is provided by a communal aerial, which is possibly what you may be saying. If this is the case then it's the council or maybe building management if it's not a council managed property that are responsible if it's say the power supply for the distribution system that has tripped out either due to a fault or power failure.
Back to the situation of your mum being in a house with it's own aerial. If it's pointing as I said, then did you manual tune using the channel numbers I indicated i my previous post?
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S
Sarah-Jane Morris8:28 AM
Hi Chris
I think it was this website that showed the outage but it could have been another one, I can't remember if I am honest. I thought Mum had her own aerial but there is nothing in the loft or on the roof and I have been told by her neighbour that the box or whatever it is in the Council compound has to be reset on a regular basis as this happens quite often. The other neighbour said that his Freeview stopped working on Friday. They are all individual houses and are now mostly privately owned, having been council. When I was a teenager we had a Mast in the green space on the quadrant behind our house but it was moved to the council compound a number of years ago for safety. We were never allowed to use that space as children but I do remember it being there. We are in a dip and so signal has never been good here hence them always having to boost it. Manual tuning on any of the channels showed nothing and the TV shows 0 on the signal strength. I can walk down to the compound today and I was just about to find our MSP's number so I can ask them to get involved too. Mum and her elderly neighbours rely on the TV and if they don't have it , especially at this strange time when they aren't allowed to go out, it can cause severe distress as they are cut off from the world.
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