Full Freeview on the Craigkelly (Fife, Scotland) transmitter
Brian Butterworth first published this on - UK Free TV
Google Streetview | Google map | Bing map | Google Earth | 56.071,-3.234 or 56°4'17"N 3°14'1"W | KY3 9HW |
The symbol shows the location of the Craigkelly (Fife, Scotland) transmitter which serves 430,000 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 Craigkelly (Fife, Scotland) 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
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Craigkelly 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 Craigkelly transmitter?
BBC Reporting Scotland 2.4m homes 9.2%
from Glasgow G51 1DA, 70km west-southwest (252°)
to BBC Scotland region - 230 masts.
STV News 0.5m homes 1.7%
from Edinburgh EH3 9QG, 14km south (174°)
to STV Central (Edinburgh) region - 8 masts.
Are there any self-help relays?
Dullatur | Transposer | 20 km NE Glasgow | 40 homes |
Edinburgh | Transposer | Sighthill area | 167 homes |
How will the Craigkelly (Fife, Scotland) transmission frequencies change over time?
1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 3 Oct 2018 | |||||
A K T | K T | K T | K T | W T | |||||
C21 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
C24 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
C27 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
C29 | SDN | ||||||||
C30 | LEH | ||||||||
C31 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ArqA | |||||
C32 | _local | ||||||||
C33 | com7 | ||||||||
C34 | com8 | ||||||||
C37 | ArqB | ||||||||
C39 | +ArqB | ||||||||
C42 | SDN | ||||||||
C45 | ArqA | ||||||||
C48 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
C56tv_off | 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 1 Jun 11 and 15 Jun 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
Analogue 1-4 | 100kW | |
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 20kW | |
com7, com8 | (-9.7dB) 10.8kW | |
SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-10dB) 10kW | |
LEH | (-13dB) 5kW | |
Analogue 5, Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B* | (-14dB) 4kW | |
Mux C*, Mux D* | (-17dB) 2kW |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Craigkelly transmitter area
|
|
Friday, 17 June 2011
M
Mike Dimmick1:47 PM
Jack: Since 2007 the transmitters have all been owned and operated by Arqiva. Before then, about half were owned by National Grid Wireless and half by Arqiva. The Arqiva half were originally set up by the Independent Broadcasting Authority and the NGW half by the BBC. Both were privatized, the IBA in 1990 and the BBC transmitter network in 1997.
Craigkelly was originally an IBA transmitter.
Permitted power levels and radiation patterns are regulated by Ofcom, but generally the broadcasters have been allowed to set whatever levels they feel are necessary. Most sites have had a reduction of 7 dB (one fifth) from their analogue signal levels, for the PSB muxes, with the COM muxes 3 dB (one half) lower than that. Some sites that previously had directional aerials to avoid interfering with other regions or other countries now have better directional properties on their new aerials, and are allowed relatively higher signal levels. For example, Rowridge only has a 4 dB (60%) cut, while Dover has a 1 dB cut (20%).
Craigkelly *does* transmit the full range of channels. If you can't receive some, that is either down to your location, or to your system setup. Digital UK's postcode checker shows a prediction of 100% probability across the board, which indicates that signal levels are likely to be high. Too much signal can also cause problems if the signals are distorted by any amplifiers in the system, including the amplifier in the TV, set-top box or PVR.
If you have an amplifier or booster, you should remove it. If not, or that doesn't help, add an attenuator to reduce signal levels, to avoid overloading the TV or box's input.
You are also expected to have a very good chance of reliable reception from Black Hill (after next week's final step there) and from Angus, while predicted levels from Durris are also high, so generally the received levels could be very high. It's worth checking that the box has tuned into the frequencies from Craigkelly and not weaker off-beam signals from one of the other transmitters. Some boxes store the first version that they find, even if it's poor, which could have happened with some of the muxes from Durris, as they're on lower channels.
link to this comment |
M
Mike Dimmick2:10 PM
Jack: The reasoning behind the 7 dB difference appears to be:
- For perfect reception, analogue required 43 dB of signal-to-noise ratio
- For error-free reception, digital requires about 17.3 dB of signal-to-noise ratio if line-of-sight is available (20.3 dB if not)
- Planners added 5.7 dB of 'implementation margin'
- Propogation varies over time, but 99% of this variation is within 12.8 dB of the predicted signal
Adding the required signal-to-noise, the fudge factor, and the variation, we get 35.8 dB, call it 36 dB. This is 7 dB less than the 43 dB required for PAL.
The commercial multiplexes don't have to meet the PSB multiplex requirement of 98.5% population coverage, matching predicted analogue coverage, nor do they have to make their signals reach the relay transmitters, which are nearly all fed off-air (they pick up the signal from a main transmitter and re-transmit it, usually on a different frequency). Reducing the power by half (3 dB) reduces the tolerance of variation at the fringe of the coverage area by about 5%.
link to this comment |
J
John6:13 PM
Edinburgh
EH10 6JN - roof aerial, looking at Craigkelly transmitter.
Not quite sure why my post yesterday seems to have been deleted, but here goes again...
After good reception of all channels before DSO, I got broken/frozen picture during switchover. Since 15 June I (occasionally) get a few seconds of excellent picture and sound, but then screen goes black and a message saying "Due to technical difficulties the service you require is currently unavailable. Please try again later" appears. Screen then stays black indefinitely, though if I try another channel the same thing happens again.
I have tried the reset procedure and resetting to factory defaults.
I'm puzzled about getting an initial good picture and then nothing. Can anyone tell me whether this is likely to be an aerial problem?
Thanks!
link to this comment |
John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
R
Richard 6:26 PM
Les Nicol: Thanks for help. We are a couple of miles from West Linton village to the SE in fairly open country. Checked with DigitalTV, they say we should get good reception from Black Hill but it seems unlikely to me. Trying this after 22/6 seems like only option, if Freesat won't give Dave; also we're in a listed building so can't put up a dish anyway. Incidentally we could never get Channel 5 before, at least we can now get that. Doesn't seem fair though that there is a two tier service, we all pay the same licence fee.
link to this comment |
D
DSS6:32 PM
Mike : I think I understand most of what you are saying but I'm still struggling to understand why the number of Freeview channels I'm receiving now is less than what I received before Wednesday.
I know Craigkelly transmits all the channels because pre-switch I got most of them. When I look at uhf channels 39 and 42 on my TV manual tuning facility the signal quality does register but is so low that the tuner rejects them.
I really don't know what I can do to get over this problem which seems to have arisen because of the switchover on Wednesday.
link to this comment |
W
Will7:13 PM
Colin Brown: There are other transmitters nearby which use other channels in Group A.
For example, the Durris transmitter to the north in Aberdeenshire uses channels 22, 23, 25, 26, 28 and 29. Craigkelly therefore cannot use these channels otherwise there would be interference.
link to this comment |
K
KMJ,Derby8:28 PM
John: It is likely that your signal is now too strong. The Digital UK postcode checker gives near perfect reception from Craigkelly, Black Hill and Angus at your location. If you have any amplifiers on the aerial remove them. If not, try inserting an attenuator in the aerial feed.
link to this comment |
J
John9:25 PM
Edinburgh
Thanks KMJ - that will be a first! Signal strength on the on-screen 'meters' looks about 50% - ie a green bar extends about half way across its box. But I'll give an attenuator a try.
link to this comment |
John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Colin Brown9:49 PM
Will: re Craigkelly limitations. Thanks,I am aware of the your point on other transmitters using channels but I repeat only 4 MUXs in range is a bit limiting. Even your own example of Durris shows 6 MUXs in range (all below 30). Dont want to be meow but how come we cannot have one of these for Craigkelly so at least we both have five in range!
And the bottom line for lots of the recent comments here is that the advertising of 'Just retune to get your channels back' is not that easy if they have moved the new MUXes out of range! Aerial installers in Edinburgh must be loving installing dual A and B aerials or wideband aerials.
link to this comment |
S
staff10:28 PM
Falkirk
What a disappointment!!! FK2 0TJ. After eagerly waiting months for the DSO I find that I now only recieve CH24 and CH27 on each set in the house. Wide gain aerial installed. Postcode checker said I could expect very good signal. What is going on?? Is this the best we can expect in this area?? Can anyone help??
link to this comment |
staff's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Select more comments
Your comment please