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 - Mendip transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 04/12/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels

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?

G

Greg Harper
8:01 PM

I have a 15 cm lap top ariel that is magnetic so i stick it on my radiator in my room I have found the sweat spot that gives me all for days then suddenly, randomly, i lose channels. Is this due to atmospheric conditions from to kingswood bristol? or a problem with or do you change the strength daily??

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Greg Harper's 1 post GB flag

S

StevensOnln1

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

11:20 PM

Greg Harper: If you need to get your indoor in a certain spot for it to work then you probably only just have enough . Any slight change in conditions can cause the signal level to drop below the point where enough is being received to decode the being broadcast. signal strength is kept at the same level unless there are works taking place, it doesn't vary each day/week.

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StevensOnln1's 3,567 posts GB flag

MikeP

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

4:12 PM

Greg Harper:

Further to that said by StevensOnln1, a laptop is unsuitable for TV . It is designed to operate with WiFi signals in the 2.4 GHz band whereas TV is broadcast in the 450-800 MHz range. That means your WiFi aerial is not of the correct dimensions for the TV signals to get satisfactory reception. The size of the elements is critical for good reception.

In Kingswood, not all homes can get signals from due to the terrain and so there are smaller local transmitters nearby. Giving a full post code would reveal those that may be beneficial to you. You should also invest in a proper log-periodic aerial that is specifically designed for use with Freeview signals that are currently broadcast and also for the planned future changes.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag

M

Mike
5:45 PM

Hi
Firstly we are very pleased to say we have a really super on the in Dorset, via the Mendips . We have an up to date HD/4k ready top box, and a smart TV. The only reason I mention this is, we cannot understand (after seeing this advertised on Freeview) why it is we cannot get the "True Movie channel", advertised as channel 74 on Freeview. I checked my software and rescanned my box to no avail. Si I contacted Freeview.co.uk who has advised me The Mendips transmitter has not subscribed to this channel. Can anyone tell me why this is please?
Thanks Mike

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Mike's 1 post GB flag

S

StevensOnln1

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

7:12 PM

Mike: True Movies is broadcast from on the alongside Made in Bristol, which has most of its focused north towards Bristol and the surrounding areas, with only a limited amount of signal in other directions. You can see the coverage area if you click the LBSH label on the coverage map at the top of this page.

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StevensOnln1's 3,567 posts GB flag

M

MikeB

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

7:43 PM

Mike: We need a postcode, but if your tuned to , even with a HD tuner (btw - what is a 4K ready set top box?), your not going to get it, because, as their website says http://truechannels.tv/TV…vies , its available on only , Virgin or .

So if you do want that , unless you subscribe, you'll need a .

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag

S

StevensOnln1

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

11:12 PM

MikeB: True Movies has been on LCN 74 on local multiplexes since October (initially rebranded as True Christmas). The channel listing on this website for the local muxes is extremely out of date as it still lists QVC Extra which ceased broadcasting on Freeview local muxes in September 2015.

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StevensOnln1's 3,567 posts GB flag

C

Chris.SE

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

5:49 AM

Mike: as mentioned by StevensOnln1, True Movies/Christmas is being broadcast on the Mux (LBS UHF Ch51), so if you can't get 'Made in Bristol' (LCN 7) or 'True Crime' (LCN 60) also Kix (LCN 127) then you won't get True Movies. Not only is the LBS directional but it is also lower power.
MikeB: The listings here by : are out of date I'm afraid.

Others reporting occasional loss of channels/muxes - propagation conditions can affect the received signal strength of some of the muxes if you don't have a strong signal, particularly the LBS (Ch51), COM7 (Ch33) and COM8 (Ch35) so if your received signal is marginal you will experience occasional loss especially if from other transmitters on those UHF channels gets stronger.

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Chris.SE's 3,922 posts GB flag

C

Col
7:04 AM
Stoke-sub-hamdon

We are experiencing problems yet again in our area. We all have to use boosters or else we receive next to nothing, but for the last couple of days we have lost Itv Ch 4 & Ch 5 and various others. The Bbc are picked up on a rescan but pixelated and un watchable. For some reason Dave is ok but not Dave Ja Vu. Can you advise if there is a problem as our signal has dropped to 1 or 2

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Col's 2 posts GB flag

Col's: C's Freeview map C's terrain plot C's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage

C

Col
7:07 AM
Stoke-sub-hamdon

We are experiencing problems yet again in our area. We all have to use boosters or else we receive next to nothing, but for the last couple of days we have lost Itv Ch 4 & Ch 5 and various others. The Bbc are picked up on a rescan but pixelated and un watchable. For some reason Dave is ok but not Dave Ja Vu. Can you advise if there is a problem as our signal has dropped to 1 or 2. The is on the and I have checked all the connections,. Having consulted with my neighbours , they are all experiencing the same issues,and therefore any in reporting this would be appreciated.

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Col's 2 posts GB flag

Col's: C's Freeview map C's terrain plot C's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage

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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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