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 
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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
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
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Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?
Radiation patterns withheldFriday, 10 June 2011
J
jb389:41 PM
Mike Dimmick: (2.35pm posting) Yes, and as Richard has since confirmed, you were obviously quite correct regarding the true meaning of Ch22, as all comments made by me were based on taking at face value Richards 9.24pm posting where "UHF"channel 22 was mentioned, that said though I do admit to having wondered how such a strong signal could be received at Erskine, especially considering its just over 20 miles or so away from Darvel with a PSB1 maximum ERP of only 20Kw, this compared to Blackhill's PSB1 on an ERP of 100Kw.
I had just put this doubt I had down to the possibility that Blackhills signal wasn't being received quite so good in the Erskine area, something that actually applies in many parts of Glasgow let alone to the West of it, and of course if that was the case then Darvel could appear as a better bet for reception, and indeed as is used by some friends of mine who reside in the South of the city, them magically managing to escape the effects of the ever present Whitelee's wind farm menace.
However, to finalise, as it transpired the Ch22 being referred to was Ideal Worlds EPG channel number and not the multiplex channel number, not exactly the best of examples to use for determining the cause of a possible problem.
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R
Richard10:40 PM
Erskine
Hi jb38,
I'm sorry if I confused anyone here - I was confused myself as to what was going on to be honest. I only used the Freeview channel 22 as an example because that was the one my wife said she could not watch after the new Philips box was tuned. Scientifically not the best one to pick I guess. She said she could watch it OK when she switched back to the Freeview TV. This is what prompted my initial query as to why this should be with both Freeview TV and Freeview external box on the same antenna (and as I thought, on the same UHF channel). However it seems to have been down to my misinterpretation of what was actually happening. When I subsequently forced the Philips Freeview box into a retune, I then saw the two 'Central Scotland' options and it was asking me to chose one or the other. The first time I had tuned the Philips box I did see this option but just thought nothing of it and chose the first one. This was not the same as the TV was tuned to. Hence the subsequent problems and queries from myself. However, I think I've now taken enough of your time up and will thank you for all the help and direction I have had. It can only therefore be that the Philps box is actually receiving the Darvel transmissions off the side of the antenna and reporting it as a option to the main Blackhill signal itself. I am still puzzled why the Phiilips box did this - and not the TV when it was retuned.
Thank you again.
Regards,
Richard
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Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 11 June 2011
J
jb3811:09 AM
That's OK Richard, a fully understandable error! - Digital television has the unfortunate side effect that although it may well offer a far wider selection of programme choices etc its reception by any means other than satellite can introduce a whole range of difficulties for the average viewer, and who in most cases has hitherto enjoyed years of reasonably stable analogue reception, and I am quite sure that even when all the transmitters in the UK have been switched over to their final powers / frequencies that its almost inevitable that there will still be a constant flow of people with a range of queries over what ever existed with analogue transmissions, DTT just invites it!
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Tuesday, 14 June 2011
D
david c11:00 AM
jb38: I live in the south of the Isle of Arran. I've been running 4TV's using indivial freeview boxes supplied by a good quality digital compatible arial with mast head booster and good qual 4 way signal booster. Up until 2 weeks ago I got very occasional problems with picture break up. Now as soon as it gets to dusk I begin to lose all BBC channels. They all free then break up. As soon as dusk has past the picture returns to normal? I wasn't aware of atmospherics effecting DVT? I know I'm right between 2 transmitters - Darvel & Ulster - any ideas?
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R
Richard2:14 PM
Erskine
Hello David,
That's an interesting one. Temperature inversion sometimes causes strange signal paths especially across water. UTV on Black Mountain is SW of you and almost off the back of your antenna more or less if you are pointed at Darvel so shouldn't be giving you any problems. Dusk (when the sun dips below the horizon and the temperature drops) could be causing some momentary ducting with temperature inversion - but you would need the experts to respond to that one. I'm not so sure if that would be the cause to be honest. Especially as it only started two weeks ago. I'd be interested to see what Mike, Brian or jb38 have to say about that one.
Regards,
Richard
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Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb383:55 PM
david c / Richard: I think that my last comment to you is very much applying with david c's problem, insomuch that any RF signal no matter of what composition can get warped by reflections or obstructions, reflections being the most likely in david c's case, or to be more accurate the lack of! as I feel that they are in evidence when the reception is good.
Analogue TV signals can vary up and down quite a bit without much being noticed on the screen, the only clue being that the picture might turn a little grainy in the evenings or whatever, however in the case of digital as soon as the signal starts to go downward and be hovering anywhere near the cut off threshold, known as the digital cliff", then pixilation and other problems start to show up, after which any further drop in signal strength will cause it to fall under the receiving threshold of the equipment in use, this varying dependant on the sensitivity etc of the TV or PVR in use, Panasonic and Humax being particularly good in this respect.
To be honest about it nothing can really be done, but it would be interesting if you david c could take a note of the signal strength before then after the picture cuts out, as even although it may have cut out the signal strength / quality indications will still be shown in the appropriate section of the tuning menu.
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Wednesday, 15 June 2011
J
jb389:49 AM
david c: Without wishing to go on about it but just to clarify a point I was attempting to make, reception of any signals across an expanse of water can cause them to suffer from considerable levels of multipath reflections, and although in many cases this type of situation can actually be a plus point to the level of signal received, however signals received this way can also be dramatically affected by tide level variations.
RF signals can vary considerably during a 24 hour period, and as previously aforementioned not that noticeable on analogue reception, and although you report having periods of good reception the actual levels involved at the time "might" not be that terribly much above the cut off threshold, albeit what is received being of a reasonably stable nature.
The problem is that non line-of-site installations all rely up to a point on varying elements of reflections, and in your case I feel that its likely the combination of tidal effects coupled to normal minor seasonal atmospheric changes taking place that's the root cause of your problem, needless to say both being totally out of your control.
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M
Mike Dimmick5:23 PM
David C, jb38: Considering that the signal levels from Darvel have increased greatly in the last couple of weeks, I suspect that the nightly variation is causing you to have, overall, too much signal at night.
I realise that sounds like my default answer to everything, but it's not a commonly-understood problem!
If you have a booster or amplifier, remove it or turn it down. If not, or that doesn't help, try adding an attenuator.
Signal levels as reported by your TV or box could be substantially lower than 100%, and yet have too much signal, for two reasons. Firstly, the box's strength meter could be calibrated for test lab conditions rather than real-world conditions. Secondly, some boxes are known to display a low signal level when they actually have a high one. I conjecture that this is because they're reading off the gain setting from the automatic gain control, but the AGC is automatically turned up when it can't decode the signal, so it's assuming lots of gain = low signal.
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J
jb386:12 PM
Isle Of Arran
Mike Dimmick: Yes, and speaking as a long (very) term RF communications service engineer I did consider that factor, although I felt that conditions would have to really be good for that to apply at approximately 34 miles away from a 20Kw transmitter, still one never knows! as signals being received over water can sometimes have the effect as though having been boosted as well as the reverse.
By the way KA27 8AA (Arran post office) used for checking purposes, and so will possibly represent in excess of david c's actual mileage from Darvel.
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jb38's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 29 November 2011
L
Lorraine8:43 PM
my 2 freeview tv's have stopped working since the change over, I was on Darvel, I stay in Springburn Glasgow, and Blackhill did not give a good signal.
What can I do to get my freeview working again, Iv'e set up the digital tune but to no avail.
Please help
thanks
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