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 withheldWednesday, 8 June 2011
Richard: I would suggest you wait for two weeks for Black Hill to move to full power transmissions and see if that clears your problem.
| link to this comment |
R
Richard8:48 AM
Erskine
Hi Brian,
Thanks - I thought you might suggest that and I did think it probably best to wait. But it seems a clear cut instance of two different Freeview boxes giving different results on the same antenna and I can think of no reason why that might be ?? Can you I wonder ?
Regards,
Richard
| link to this comment |
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Richard: Not all equipment has the same level of sensitivity to signals. If your signal level is "just acceptable" (or "very high") on box will work OK, the other won't.
| link to this comment |
R
Richard11:18 AM
Erskine
Thanks Brian,
Just now rescanning for the new BBC2 channel on Blackhill. At 8am this morning - I couldn't find it. I'll try again just now. My Labgear log periodic has a 16dB masthead amp and freq 470-862Mhz. It is external and about 25 feet up pointing directly due East at Blackill which is 23 miles away as the crow flies. I hear what you say about different Freeview boxes having different sensitivity responses - but it is surprising just how different in this case. It is like one gives a 100% picture and sound - the other gives nothing. Even if it was an iffy signal you would think that the one that is giving the good picture and sound would be blocky now and again. But it isn't even that. I'll keep checking it out. Going to rescan now and see if I can find the new BBC2 channel.
Thanks agai,
Richard
| link to this comment |
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Mike Dimmick12:56 PM
Richard: It's likely that you have too much signal. The Philips box's automatic gain control probably can't handle as much signal as the other devices, and is therefore distorting - making the later decoder stages unable to interpret the results.
16 dB is too much gain unless you're splitting the signal more than 8 ways. The estimated strength on that channel at that distance is 75 dBuV from the aerial before amplification, though you should expect less than that if you don't have clear line-of-sight. The CAI recommended 45-65 dBuV before switchover and 60-80 dBuV for analogue. The upper limit is there to avoid distortion - digital signals cannot cope with any distortion, while the artifacts on analogue (herringboning) are not all that noticeable.
If you're not getting that level before amplification, you need to try to find a different location for the aerial where it does.
The signal strength meter on most boxes is poorly calibrated, and there is no standard (as far as I know) in the DTG D-Book specification for what signal level means what. In some cases where distortion is occurring, the box reports an incorrect level.
It's best to set up your system so that there is just enough gain from any amplifier to offset the loss through splitters. Generally you're looking at 4 dB loss for a two-way split, then another 4 dB for each doubling of the number of connections, though check the splitter itself to see what it says, if you're using one - it's not clear that you are.
| link to this comment |
R
Richard4:01 PM
Erskine
Hello Mike,
Thanks for the interesting response. However, I think the problem is resolved. I had two options to select for Central Scotland TV on my Philips Freeview box. One was channel 66 and one was channel 88. Channel 88 gave about 80 odd Freeview stations and the channel 66 only gave about 60 if my memory serves me correct. I had the Philips box on Central Scotland Freeview Channel 66 and the TV on Central Scotland Freeview Channel 88. Now - they are both on Freeview Channel 88 and all is well signal strengths all agree and have watchable pictures on all Freeview channels. Reading on the Blackhill transmitter thread, I see that some Freeview channels are being offered on the new channel at much lower power - when I originally tuned the new Freeview box and was offered two Central Scotland Freeview channels I obviously mistakenly chose the lower powered one. But I think this is the new Freeview channel where the power will be upped on 22nd June and another retune required. Thanks for all your help.
Regards,
Richard
| link to this comment |
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Mike Dimmick7:57 PM
Richard: It was probably telling you that one had 66 channels and the other 88 channels. There is no channel 88 for UHF TV broadcasting and channel 66 is being released.
What's probably happened is that some of the multiplexes have a slightly different transmitter ID tag than the others - usually the presence of one or more dots following the name. This seems to be something that the broadcasters use when they change the configuration of a multiplex, which they think is catered for by the specification (the Digital TV Group's D-Book) but not all receivers comply with it properly.
You should complain to Philips about this, particularly if there is no way to combine the two sets together.
154 services does sound like a lot, so it's possible there is more than one transmitter being picked up as well.
| link to this comment |
R
Richard9:19 PM
Erskine
Hello Mike,
Thanks. In reality - I haven't a clue !! I just know that there were two 'Central Scotland' choices, and the first time I went for the '66' option. It was obviously the wrong one, and the Freeview TV was on the other one hence the larger number of Freeview TV and Radio channels available at 88. Anyway - as soon as I chose that one and allowed the box to retune - it was fine and the Freeview channels I was having problems with, were now all OK. Incidentally, as regards my log periodic antenna and masthead amp, I don't have line of sight to the Blackhill transmitter, and the signal without the amp was slightly noisy on analogue transmissions. My immediate neighbours seem to get away without any masthead amps that I can detect anyway !! Thanks again.
Regards,
Richard
| link to this comment |
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 9 June 2011
J
jb388:54 PM
Richard: Just to reiterate what Mike has already said, there isn't a channel 88, you are obviously misinterpreting the definition of what you see shown.
The best way for anyone to verify exactly what transmitter they are receiving a signal from is to go into the devices tuning menu / signal check area, as once there you will then see the actual multiplex channel number listed that's associated with the signal strength / quality indication that you are observing.
Make a note of the number and then cross check it with the channel number information given at the top of the page for the transmitter in question, if the number you have noted isn't listed then you are receiving your signal from an alternative transmitter, so once again carry out a cross check but this time on the alternative transmitters details.
| link to this comment |
R
Richard9:24 PM
Erskine
Hi jb38,
Thanks - yes I think I was looking at the number of TV and Radio channels available. But what threw me was there two choices presented for Central Scotland to tune to. But it is resolved now and all is OK - everything is on the right one. I originally spotted that something was not right because the Freeview TV was reporting one UHF channel for Freeview channel 22 whilst the Philips Freeview box (on the same TV antenna pointed directly at Blackhill)on the same Freeview channel 22, was reporting a different UHF channel. So I did a reset on the Philips box and retuned it - then I noticed the two Central Scotland choices, one with more Freeview channels, than the other. This time - I chose the right one and then the TV and Freeview box agreed on the UHF channels for Freeview channel 22. Phew. I've learned something about Freeview and Digital TV I never knew before !!
Regards,
Richard
| link to this comment |
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Select more comments
Your comment please