Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.237,-2.626 or 51°14'12"N 2°37'33"W |  | BA5 3LB |
The symbol shows the location of the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter which serves 720,000 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 Mendip (Somerset, England) mast?
Mendip transmitter - Mendip transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 05/06/2023 Pixelation or flickering 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
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Mendip 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 Mendip transmitter?
ITV West Country News (East) 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS4 3HG, 23km north (11°)
to ITV West region - 61 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (West)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Cheddar | Transposer | 15 km E Weston-super-Mare | 1674 homes |
| Luccombe | Active deflector | 6 km w Minehead | 38 homes |
How will the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2010 | 2010-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-17 | 27 Feb 2018 | |||
| C/D E | E | E | C/D E | C/D E T | W T | W T | |||
| C30 | _local | ||||||||
| C32 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C33 | com7 | com7 | |||||||
| C34 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C35 | com8 | com8 | |||||||
| C36 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C37 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C48 | SDN | SDN | SDN | SDN | |||||
| C49tv_off | BBCA | BBCA | |||||||
| C51tv_off | LBS | LBS | |||||||
| C52tv_off | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | ||||||
| C54tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | ArqA | ArqA | ArqA | COM8tv_off | |||||
| C58tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | |||
| C61 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | |||||
| C64 | 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 24 Mar 10 and 7 Apr 10.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 500kW | |
| Analogue 5 | (-6dB) 126kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 100kW | |
| com7 | (-8.4dB) 72.4kW | |
| com8 | (-8.6dB) 69.1kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*, LBS | (-17dB) 10kW |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Mendip transmitter area
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Saturday, 6 April 2013
Michael Perry
12:24 PM
12:24 PM
To jb38: I never said it was the 'bee's knees' and at that price it was bound to be limited (decent ones are around £4000!). You need sufficient signal strength first and then decent quality (freedom from reflected signals, co-channel noise, etc) to allow in-built error correction to get a usable signal (strength and quality) for each Mux. Even an £8 device can show if your signal is too weak and can help correct alignment. It's not the final answer though,just a starting point.
To Chloe and Rob, et al: There cannot be a fault at the transmitter as more than 1,000,000 viewers are receiving all BBC programmes, but some (it seems they are largely to the south and south west of the transmitter site, but not always) are having problems resolving the new Muxs. Hotels, flats, some urban low-lying areas, etc may have communal aerial systems and these filter what channels are distributed and may well need adjusting (the large firm I worked for before retiring had many contracts with hotels and they all had that type of distribution equipment). Some Freeview equipment is not as well designed as we might hope and some cope poorly with the adjustments made to get 4G space. Some group C/D aerials may not be as good in the Ch 48 and 49 region as they ought to be. Some receivers need to be completely reset and all memory of what channels they used to have removed before doing a full retune as if starting from initial installation again.
So Rob: If your fellow flat dwellers are having the same problem get your housing agents to have the aerial distribution system corrected (the filters probably need resetting) and then do the full retune. (BTW, I live near Lyneham)
On a general point, can anyone shed light on why so many of the people reporting here are in the areas to the south or south west of the Mendip service area? Huntshaw Cross, in North Devon just south of Barnstaple, shares three channels, 48 52 and 56, but not 49 so I doubt that is a cause. Any ideas?
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B
Bizman3:04 PM
@Geoff, your licence fee doesn't entitle you to good reception any more than a marriage licence entitles you to a good wife. I expect over the years the wording has changed, but at one time it was simply for ownership of the receiving apparatus (whether it works or not).
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Michael Perry
6:10 PM
6:10 PM
I have written to BBC Radio and Television Reception, www.bbc.co.uk/reception, in the hope that they might come up with some help for people still having problems - I'm not holding my breath though.
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J
jb387:58 PM
Michael Perry: Well on having twice read over my reply I cant honestly say that I noticed anything said by me that could even remotely be interpreted as inferring that you had made that claim for the device, nor if it comes to it criticising anything said by you, but just simply pointing out to anyone "other than yourself" who may also have been viewing the posting and likewise thinking about purchasing the device to beware of its limitations as well as the reason for, as its an important aspect and which I am quite sure is not brought into the equation by many, and who although in past years may have been perfectly proficient at setting up aerials used for analogue reception but though not being fully aware of the pitfalls that's liable to be experienced with digital reception, and especially so when its being received under difficult conditions, this being the main point of my reply.
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K
KMJ,Derby9:25 PM
Michael Perry: The odd thing about the reception problems which are mainly in the Taunton direction is the number of cases that report poor reception currently on C48 which did not give problems prior to C49 being adopted for BBCA. Makes one wonder if just maybe there is a problem with the radiation towards the southwest. Among the countless thousands of viewers who have no problems there could still be a significant difference between the strengths of the signals being received. I agree with the other points you make, additionally viewers who have interference on C49 might have always had it but of course not noticed it. Equipment that has the RF modulator set to C49/50 and radiation from poor quality HDMI cables could be factors for some viewers.
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Sunday, 7 April 2013
C
chloe10:11 AM
As Taunton seems to be having such issues and no one is taking it seriously I'm going to have to get used to watching BBC channels on the iplayer!
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Michael Perry
11:55 AM
Winchester
11:55 AM
Winchester
To KMJ, Derby (and Chloe). That's what I suspect as well and hence contacting BBC Reception for them to be aware of it and hopefully investigate. Arqiva only give a postal facility (Arqiva, Crawley Court, Winchester, SO21 2QA, or phone their main switchboard +44 (0)1962 823434) and no means for a viewer to contact them by email, webmail, etc!
To jb38. Aerial alignment used to be easier in analogue days as you could see the effects of reflected signals, as 'ghost' images, and align for enough signal with minimum 'ghosting' (by minimising back/side lobe reception). But that is not possible with a digital system even though the reflections may be a significant cause of poor signal quality. Hence the need first to ensure sufficient signal strength before looking at the quality of that signal, either on a professional test instrument (expensive) or the receiver's own software systems. Most TV viewers only want to watch the programmes and not be troubled by the technicalities, so one should start by following the KISS principle. Check the simplest/most obvious first then if that doesn't reveal the cause investigate further. Remember that many who post here are/were not in the business but concerned viewers who have lost the ability to watch favourite programmes due to the changes made at Mendip (and the potential for problems glossed over by the regulators) and are seeking help and guidance.
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Update: Here in Shepton Mallet still waiting for communal aerial to be configured while using internal aerial - otherwise still nothing on C48 or C49.
Alison
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C
Chloe2:30 PM
To Michael Perry, I have taken your advice and contacted the BBC reception, lets hope someone can at long last help us in the Taunton area.
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E
EL4:28 PM
Bristol
Not sure whether this may help anyone, but I thought someone asked about reception in Bristol.
For once I've not had trouble with the latest changes, at BS4 4DN. I'm receiving the BBC channels (and CH48) with no trouble, on both LG LED HD TV (signal & quality both showing 100% for CH48 and CH49) and Panasonic DMR-EX75 (signal c. 8/10, quality 10/10 for both CH48 and CH49). This is on a wide gain roof aerial with mast-top amplifier left over from the days when Mendip was transmitting at reduced power.
Interestingly, I think the Panasonic managed to pick up PSB2 from the Barton House relay (somewhere behind the aerial!), although the LG hasn't.
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