Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter

Brian Butterworth first published this on 1st May 2004 at 08:20 - UK Free TV

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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 - DAB: Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 9 Dec 13:35 until 9 Dec 13:46. .

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name

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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.

Mux	H/V	Frequency	Height	Mode	Watts
PSB1 BBCA	H max	C32 (562.0MHz)	591m	DTG-	100,000W
	1 BBC One (SD) West, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 17 others
PSB2 D3+4	H max	C34 (578.0MHz)	591m	DTG-	100,000W
	3 ITV 1 (SD) (West), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (West),
PSB3 BBCB	H max	C35 (586.0MHz)	591m	DTG-	100,000W
	46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD West, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others 66 TBN UK,
COM4 SDN	H max	C48 (690.0MHz)	591m	DTG-8	100,000W
	20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 35 others
COM5 ArqA	H max	C33 (570.0MHz)	591m	DTG-8	100,000W
	Smithsonian Channel, 11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's Christmas, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others
COM6 ArqB	H max	C36 (594.0MHz)	591m	DTG-8	100,000W
	Quest Red +1, Classic Hits, 12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! christmas mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 83 Together TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 20 others
LBS	H -10dB	C30 (546.0MHz)	591m	DTG-12	10,000W
	from 22nd September 2014: 7 Made in Bristol,

DTG-8 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?

BBC Points West 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS8 2LR, 25km north (3°)
to BBC West region - 60 masts.

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		C5_waves	C5_waves
C48				SDN	SDN	SDN	SDN
C49_{tv_off}					BBCA	BBCA
C51_{tv_off}						LBS	LBS
C52_{tv_off}				ArqB	ArqB	ArqB
C54_{tv_off}	C4_waves	C4_waves	C4_waves	D3+4	D3+4	D3+4
C55_{tv_off}							com7_{tv_off}
C56_{tv_off}				ArqA	ArqA	ArqA	COM8_{tv_off}
C58_{tv_off}	BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBCB	BBCB	BBCB
C61	ITV_waves	ITV_waves	ITV_waves	BBCA
C64	BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves

_{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

Local transmitter maps

Mendip Freeview Mendip DAB Mendip AM/FM Mendip TV region BBC West West

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Mendip transmitter area

Jan 1958-Jul 1968	Television Wales and the West
Jul 1968-Feb 2004	Harlech Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014	ITV plc

Feb 1983-Dec 1992	TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010	GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014	ITV Daybreak•

• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Mendip was not an original Channel 3 VHF 405-line mast: the historical information shown is the details of the company responsible for the transmitter when it began transmitting Channel 3.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

M

MikeB

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

1:29 PM

Steve: have you checked your strength - it could well be that common problem of too much signal - Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you

There seems to be a lot of it around at the moment

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag

S

Steve
6:06 PM

MikeB: Hi Mike and thanks for your suggestion. I've not looked at strength before so I've taken the following readings from our Sony TV (gives % and strength) and TVOnics PVR (displays an 'progress bar' for strength so a visual estimate). ITV/C4 remain unstable since your post.
18 Nov 6:15pm weather unsettled %Qual %Strength
TV BBC1 83 38
ITV 21 34
C4 23 34
PVR BBC1 60
ITV 60
C4 60
Didn't record BBC figures after this as it has been fine, and no further figures for any channel on the PVR as it remained about 60%. The rest are just for the TV.
19 Nov 10:40pm weather fine
ITV 46 38
C4 37 38
20 Nov 6:30pm weather unsettled
ITV/C4/More4 etc 0 26
24 Nov 5:15pm
ITV/C4 16 30

I'm not sure what to make of these figures. PVR signal strength seems to be almost double the TV whatever the channel. Signal quality seems more significant; compared with BBC1 (80/90%), ITV/C4 ranges from 0 - 34. NB I did rescan both units when this problem first started. I haven't found any other references to viewers having these problems and this has been the longest duration of problems that I can remember. Any further or suggestions gratefully received!

Cheers,
Steve

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Steve's 2 posts GB flag

M

MikeB

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

7:19 PM

Steve: It probably would be helpful to put in a postcode when you next post, so we can the path etc. However, its seems your right - the PVR is fine (ok, not fantastic, but if your are on the edge of , understandable), but not the TV. TVOnics tuners should be not much different from Humax (if I remmber the reviews), and I know Sony turners are really sensitive.

Ok - is the signal coming into the the PVR, and then being looped through the PVR and sent on to the TV? If so, it might as simple as a duff lead! Try replacing the one from the PVR to the TV, and see if it makes any difference. Frankly, if you go to Poundland, you might get some Belkin ones for a quid, so buy two and see if there is any difference when you replace both.

If there is no difference, at least you can cross it off the list, for a couple of quid.

BTW - this new layout isn't really working all that well, or is it just me?

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag

B

Bob F
10:50 PM
Stonehouse

Our post code is GL10 3BJ - Eastington and we receive from .
Why does the map show that we can't get Freeview TV from Mendip please?

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Bob F's 7 posts GB flag

Bob's: B's Freeview map B's terrain plot B's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

12:17 AM

Bob : Basically because or predictors cannot by their very nature be 100% accurate, nor indeed can any involving RF signals as so many variables apply, and with in your particular case indications being that you are on the doorstep of a so called dead spot for reception, the terrain indicator revealing a rather large line-of-sight blockage to the signal path between and you whereby any signal received is via diffraction (signal bending), this generally resulting in reception being vulnerable to changes in atmospheric conditions at certain times of the year, or even weather related conditions that affect the surface of the terrain, a frequent reason for random glitching cropping up now and again for no apparent reason.

Or to put it another way, the only prediction that can ever be 100% accurate is in cases where is used to supply the signal to a household.

Obstruction referred to seen by opening the link.

Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

11:09 AM

- MainPossible weak [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 146,845 posts xx flag

B

Bob F
3:37 PM

Many thanks jb38 for your helpful information.

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Bob F's 7 posts GB flag

Simon
4:24 PM

Is there still a possible weak on this transmitted? Lost all on my TV

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Simon's 9 posts GB flag

R

Rob Page
8:09 PM

I have had for my TV all afternoon and evening ?
Please can you tell me what is going on ?
I live near shepton mallet, Somerset and so I presume my is the Transmitter

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Rob Page's 1 post GB flag

MikeP

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

9:25 PM

Rob Page:

I'm on the and there has not been any problem at all. Perhaps it is worth checking your system and all the connections?

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag

Page 136

Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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