Full Freeview on the Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.818,-4.067 or 51°49'5"N 4°4'3"W |  | SA14 7NA |
The symbol shows the location of the Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) transmitter which serves 72,000 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 Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) mast is not one of the extended Freeview HD (COM7 and COM8) transmitters, it does not provide these high definition (HD) channels: .
If you want to watch these HD channels, either use Freesat HD, or move your TV aerial must point to one of the 30 Full Freeview HD transmitters. For more information see the want to know which transmitters will carry extra Freeview HD? page.
Which Freeview channels does the Carmel 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Are you trying to watch these 0 Freeview HD channels?
The Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) mast is not one of the extended Freeview HD (COM7 and COM8) transmitters, it does not provide these high definition (HD) channels: .
If you want to watch these HD channels, either use Freesat HD, or move your TV aerial must point to one of the 30 Full Freeview HD transmitters. For more information see the want to know which transmitters will carry extra Freeview HD? page.
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Carmel transmitter?
BBC Wales Today 1.2m homes 4.7%
from Cardiff CF5 2YQ, 68km east-southeast (122°)
to BBC Wales region - 206 masts.
ITV Cymru Wales 1.2m homes 4.7%
from Cardiff CF5 6XJ, 68km southeast (127°)
to ITV Wales region - 206 masts.
Are there any self-help relays?
| Abergorlech | Active deflector | Dyfed | 5 homes |
| Cwmere | Active deflector | 11 km NE Aberystwyth | 10 homes |
How will the Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2009 | 2009-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-17 | 17 Jul 2019 | |||
| C/D E | C/D E | C/D E | C/D E | C/D E T | C/D E T | W T | |||
| C23 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C26 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C29 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C33 | SDN | ||||||||
| C36 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C48 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C49tv_off | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C53tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
| C54tv_off | SDN | SDN | SDN | ||||||
| C55tv_off | _local | _local | _local | _local | |||||
| C57tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | |||
| C58tv_off | ArqA | ArqA | ArqA | ||||||
| C60tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | -BBCA | -BBCA | ||||
| C61 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C63 | 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 26 Aug 09 and 23 Sep 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 | |
| Mux A* | (-13dB) 5kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux B* | (-16dB) 2.5kW | |
| Mux C*, Mux D* | (-20dB) 1000W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Carmel transmitter area
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Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?
Radiation patterns withheldWednesday, 17 February 2021
Transmitter engineering
3:17 PM
3:17 PM
CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to essential engineering from 17 Feb 11:46. . FM: Slightly reduced power due to essential engineering from 17 Feb 12:29 until 17 Feb 13:27. . [BBC]
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Transmitter engineering
4:56 PM
4:56 PM
CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to essential engineering from 17 Feb 11:46 until 17 Feb 13:23. . FM: Slightly reduced power due to essential engineering from 17 Feb 12:29 until 17 Feb 13:27. . [BBC]
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Monday, 22 February 2021
Transmitter engineering
4:27 PM
4:27 PM
CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to essential engineering from 17 Feb 11:46 until 17 Feb 13:23. . [BBC]
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Saturday, 26 June 2021
B
Bernard John11:45 AM
Llanelli
I get my signal from Carmel transmitter but I get intermittent poor/weak signal on channel 33(always this channel).
Sometimes the signal is good for weeks and then I lose the signal for a number of days and then the signal improves. The signal quality is never better than about 6 to 7 whilst the other channels are constantly strength 10.My aerial is outside and is over 20 years old.Can you give me some pointers as to what the problem might be.
SA14 6BG
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C
Chris.SE3:11 PM
Bernard John:
What is obviously important with an aerial that old is its condition and that of the downlead and it's still pointing the correct way. You are so close to the transmitter - I guess you can see it! That said, before the 700MHz clearance programme Carmel was an aerial Group C/D and if that is what you have, it's performance at the lower channels now used by Carmel will not be as good. Although the PSB multiplexes are on lower UHF channels again they are also transmitted at higher power than the COM4-6 multiplexes. You might be able to see a Green plug in the end of the aerial if it's a Group C/D but not all manufacturers fitted correct coloured plugs and it might be black (possibly making you think it's wideband).
Unless you are certain the aerial is wideband I would assume the problem could be related to performance as well as possibly condition, weather can play havoc with connection boxes and cable insulation. Aerial misalignments, problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just AN individual or several multiplexes.
It should be pointing at bearing 28 degrees, fractionally E of NNE, but if you can see the mast, pointing it shouldn't be an issue.
Even so, you location is predicted to get variable/poor reception of the COM multiplexes (predictions are often based on external aerials at about 10m height).
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are on which multiplex.
I guess you may be on fairly high ground, so that interference from other transmitters using those channels (possibly Mendip) might be an issue in certain weather conditions. I do know that in such conditions, signals from Mendip can get to the Preseli's. Even though the aerial isn't pointing that way it will have what are called sidelobes, especially with smaller standard aerials which I assume this probably is being so close to Carmel, where it will be able to receive signals in those directions.
The trick to deal with this sort of interference problem (as that is quite likely) is to have the aerial positioned maybe not as high if there is a clear unobstructed view of Carmel, and somewhere which screens it (by eg. buildings) from the directions most likely to have the interfering sources. Also use an aerial likely to have better directivity and minimal sidelobes - a log-periodic could be the best option, if for some reason it's not the best, a Group K aerial will be better than wideband. Even consider loft mounting, but that can have issues with partition walls, water tanks, metal chimneys, lead flashing and so on requiring careful positioning.
Being on-site and maybe a little bit of experimenting to get the best arrangement and using an experienced (and recommended) aerial installer if it's not a job you are able to tackle yourself.
As for weather conditions, there has been quite a bit of "Tropospheric Ducting" around lately which has been quite variable. It can come and go in seconds or minutes or last for longer and doesn't always affect all multiplexes - it tends to be frequency dependent.
See Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | Help receiving TV and radio for a simplistic explanation.
Some predictors are showing that there could be more over the next few days, but they aren't specific for the frequencies used by TV, and like weather forecasts they can change!
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Saturday, 20 November 2021
Transmitter engineering
9:09 AM
9:09 AM
CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 20 Nov 06:29. . [BBC]
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Transmitter engineering
12:10 PM
12:10 PM
CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 20 Nov 06:02 until 20 Nov 09:26. . [BBC]
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