Full Freeview on the Darvel (East Ayrshire, Scotland) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 55.579,-4.291 or 55°34'45"N 4°17'26"W |  | KA16 9LS |
The symbol shows the location of the Darvel (East Ayrshire, Scotland) transmitter which serves 150,000 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 Darvel (East Ayrshire, Scotland) mast?
Darvel transmitter - Darvel transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 04/11/2024 Screen may go black on some or all channels 
_______
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)
Which Freeview channels does the Darvel 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)
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Darvel transmitter?
BBC Reporting Scotland 2.4m homes 9.2%
from Glasgow G51 1DA, 31km north (1°)
to BBC Scotland region - 230 masts.
STV News 1.3m homes 4.8%
from Glasgow G51 1PQ, 31km north (2°)
to STV Central (Glasgow) region - 94 masts.
Are there any self-help relays?
| Craigie Gardens | Transposer | 1 homes 90 caravans | |
| Inversnaid | Active deflector | 35 km N Dumbarton | 8 homes Hotel caravan park |
How will the Darvel (East Ayrshire, Scotland) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 5 Sep 2018 | |||||
| A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | W T | |||||
| C22 | -BBCA | BBCA | |||||||
| C23 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | SDN | |||||
| C25 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||||||
| C26 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | ArqA | |||||
| C28 | BBCB | BBCB | |||||||
| C29 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ArqB | |||||
| C30 | _local | ||||||||
| C31 | com7 | ||||||||
| C32 | SDN | ||||||||
| C33 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ||||||
| C34 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C35 | C5waves | C5waves | ArqB | ||||||
| C37 | com8 | ||||||||
| 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 11 May 11 and 25 May 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-5 | 100kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 20kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-10dB) 10kW | |
| com8 | (-10.9dB) 8.19kW | |
| com7 | (-11.2dB) 7.5kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B* | (-14dB) 4kW | |
| Mux C*, Mux D* | (-17dB) 2kW |
Local transmitter maps
Darvel Freeview Darvel DAB Darvel AM/FM Darvel TV region BBC Scotland STV Central (Glasgow micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Darvel transmitter area
|
|
Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?
Radiation patterns withheldThursday, 26 May 2011
J
jb387:41 AM
CharlieB: What you have mentioned could suggest that you are receiving too strong a signal which is overloading the input of your set and causing blocking, as the two channels you do get are on lower power than the rest of the multiplexes, Ch26 in particular only being on 12.5Kw.
If you have an aerial amplifier try by passing it, if however you do not then if the aforementioned does apply you will possibly require to purchase an attenuator to place in line with the aerial input to your set.
It would have been helpful to know what the signal strength indicates as being on your TV, 100% strength but with no quality being usual if the signal is too powerful.
| link to this comment |
C
CharlieB8:52 AM
Thanks jb38. Unfortunately I do have a masthead amp which I cannot access to bypass, switching it off results in no signal at all. Just had another go at retuning with my Philips digibox, picked up some more channels on C25, results below:
C = S/Q
22 = 0-50/0-70 (No channels found)
23 = 0/0
25 = 50/40 (10 TV)
26 = 80/100 (16 TV 1 Radio)
28 = 0/0
29 = 65/45 (18 TV 9 Radio)
While 24, 26 & 28 are fairly stable, 22 fluctuates up and down between 0 and 50 for strength and 0 and 70 for quality.
Any thoughts? Many thanks.
| link to this comment |
C
CharlieB10:47 AM
To clarify our location, we are at Corlae near the head of a glen SSE from Cumnock, where the 2 horizontal yellow pixels of coverage are shown on the map above.
| link to this comment |
J
jb381:44 PM
CharlieB: Thanks for the clarification regarding location etc, however this now being done on checking reception expected for DG7 area post codes it would appear as though the latter part of your original posting might well very much apply, that of you having a problem! this because no reception being possible is predicted for that area by two separate sites.
That said though, I realise that you reported getting nearly all the channels before switchover, this amazing as the pre-switchover TX power was so low, but the signal strengths you have given are liable to indicate terrain obstructions whereby any signals you do receive are purely by being partially reflected, this not being very satisfactory for digital reception as weather / seasonal conditions can cause large variations in signal strength / quality, this right down to zero in some cases.
I would try fresh (initial from new) scan in a couple of days and see what comes up, but Ch's 22, 25 and 28 are the most powerful out of the six multiplexes, Ch 28 being HD and not indicating on standard box, with Ch's 23,26 &29 operating on nearly half the power of the main ones, albeit you report Ch26 at a very acceptable level!
It would be of interest to know what reception others in your location are getting, not of course that this could be used as a positive indication of what you could expect as a few yards can make large differences in reception when in an iffy area, but I don't really think you can do much that is going to improve things if after rescanning in a day or so the situation is much the same, with Freesat possibly being the only option for reliable reception as the last resort.
| link to this comment |
C
CharlieB2:17 PM
Thanks for your help jb38... it does seem odd to be getting such strong signal/quality on just one channel. There is certainly plenty of terrain between us and the transmitter, looks like we might have to move to freesat.
| link to this comment |
david b
2:48 PM
Glasgow
2:48 PM
Glasgow
i was getting HD channels through the night not a problem! now there is NO signal at all? can receive all standard channels on high signal strength,23,26,29 report 90-95 signal. as said was lookin forward to HD, even set timer for later ;-( restate that on 28 have 0 signal, even when left on scan of 28 for ages? in this case would an attenuator fix? cos can't understand "all working well, am"...and nothing now.
thank you
| link to this comment |
david's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
I have checked out the masthead amplifier and have found it is a Triax 13A Grouped MA.
The specs say it works from ch 21-34, so I am assuming this is not the problem? Presumably it will need to be swapped out if I ever try to rotate the aerial to pick up Black Hill after DSO though!
There is barely enough signal when the masthead amp is disconnected, although the same channels are scanned by the TV (they pixelate when watching though).
I usually find 46 DTV programmes and 16 radio on a full scan (chs 22,23 & 25). On the odd occasion an additional 17 channels are found on ch 26.
I have noticed that the picture quality is equally good by simply feeding the cable through an internal distn amp, without the masthead attached.
I am back to the main question, how come ch 28 is blank when chs 22 and 23 are so strong??
Thanks a lot for any help!
| link to this comment |
David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
David: Your predicted reception from Darvel is OK at the moment, but it will become slightly worse next year.
You might want to consider moving the aerial to receive from Black Hill.
| link to this comment |
david b: I would try "first time installation" again, but you should now have excellent Freeview HD reception.
| link to this comment |
david b
3:34 PM
Glasgow
3:34 PM
Glasgow
did factory reset, DTV-80, RADIO-26, NOW still nothing on 28? my query is, why all singin and dancing a.m, and no HD now?
22-strength 100 qual 98-100
23 94 100
25 100 100
26 100 75 +
28 0 0
29 100 87+
these are my stats if they help?
| link to this comment |
david's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Select more comments
Your comment please