Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter
Brian Butterworth first published this on - UK Free TV
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.
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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, 7 July 2012
J
jb388:11 PM
Ben Ward: If auto-setup is selected on a TV the channels always start scanning from Ch21 upwards, but though once channels are stored on the and you wish to carry out a signal check on the channel you are viewing, if you go into the DVB tuning menu / signal condition its only then that the mux channel number associated with the programme number your are viewing will instantly be seen.
But though, even if you do not have any channels stored you can still check the signal strength of a particular channel and its maybe best if you try things this way, so press: menu - set up - DVB tuning - manual tuning - and you will see a screen bar indicating a channel number on the right hand side, using the up / down facility via the large round button on the remote control inch the channels up or down "one at a time" until you get to either 54 or 61 when if your TV / aerial is OK the signal strength / quality indication of that particular mux channel should immediately appear and which are ITV1 & BBC1 from Mendip, and giving an update on what's seen.
Matter of fact, it would not do any harm if you went though all five multiplexes (HD n/a on that model) from Mendip one at a time using this procedure, (61 - 54 - 48 - 56 - 52) and likewise making a note of the "pseudo" percentages seen, pseudo as they aren't actually marked as percentages as such but just positions along the bar and so an element of judgment will be necessary, but much more importantly note what colour is seen on the quality bar as it should really be green, although touching on yellow now and again is permissible.
I would like to emphasise that everything I am asking you to check is based on you having reported a high level of signal on the Humax, and as aforementioned in a previous posting that if you use the same aerial lead in the Panasonic it should also produce a picture, but if you do not see anything indicated on either 54 or 61 using the manual test then leave the TV sitting on the manual test screen on either channel and pull out the aerial connection, then replace this with a short length of wire of about 18" minimum pushed into the aerial socket and note if this results in anything being indicated, because if not then that points to a fault on the TV.
By the way I haven't forgotten about your Sony box but this test has to be carried out first, as the only other way you can verify if the TV is OK or not is by trying it out on someone else's aerial system.
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J
jb388:40 PM
Bristol
Chris.SE: Well I didnt actually see / read your posting as I access the site via the twitter link which has been down since the 5th and likewise do not instantly see the lists of latest postings, and have asked Brian(tist) if he could check this out as the same thing had happened about a month ago.
With regards to Charles Stuarts HD signal strength I wasn't actually suggesting that it was too strong, but only acknowledging his report of a strong signal being indicated on his DVD device and informing him of the easy way for anyone to know if their HD problem was being caused by an excessive level of signal.
I do realise that you managed to work out the approximate post code via the coordinates obtained from the terrain predictor, but its a somewhat long winded process and so its much to explain the correct procedure to use when entering a post code into the site settings.
By the way, I likewise have entered Charles's post code into my details for a check.
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jb38's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 13 July 2012
B
Ben Ward2:21 PM
jb38, the process of switching off the mains power supply to my 4 way splitter has been proving a bit of a task as its all in the attic, and I'm not as young as I was so scrambling around up there is difficult! So I am asking a friends son to help out with tracing exactly what cable system/splitter and so on I have in the attic and will report from that point. Perhaps some issue with the splitter is the cause of my problems? We'll see...
As far as the other things you've suggested, using the same aerial cable that gives me normal 90-100% strength/quality on the Humax, but plugged into the Panasonic, only gives me signal strength of between roughly 10% and 30% at best (though with signal quality of 100% each time) when manually checking channels 61 - 54 - 48 - 56 - 52. So rather than green occasionally flickering into yellow, its red occasionally flickering into yellow. I've not yet had time to try the 18inch length of wire you mentioned; could I not get the same effect by using a different aerial cable from the one I know works? (btw I tried a second cable, and no signal appeared at all.)
Thanks.
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J
jb389:26 PM
Ben Ward: I fully appreciate the difficulty that you mention if as you say the power supply is only accessible from the loft, but the reason that I suggested this test is because that any device of a signal booster variety (no matter how small) automatically becomes an attenuator if un-powered, and in areas of genuinely high signal strength this can be put to good use as far as this being a useful way of verifying (or not) if an excessive level of signal is applying in an installation, because if reception suddenly improves (signal indications rise) by switching off the booster / splitter then it is. (qualifications always applying)
Everything really hinges on what you have reported regarding the signal strength seen on the Humax as it takes quite a signal to indicate that level on this type of box, and although a Humax is a sensitive device its still capable holding out longer than most other equipment before suffering from overload blocking by an excessively high levels of signal.
The Panasonic on the other hand although being equally as sensitive as the Humax "will" start to suffer from excessively high levels of signal over what the Humax can cope with, and the massive difference in levels seen on the Panasonic's signal check screen when using the ex Humax's aerial can suggest this is indeed applying, and likewise could be causing partial instability in the Panasonic's tuner resulting in totally inaccurate readings, with these (and without exception) always being low
This is about the only thing that can be causing the Panasonic's problems, although if not then the actual TV is defective, this being why the issue of a possible excessive signal has to be verified one way or the other.
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Sunday, 15 July 2012
T
Tracy Gill6:30 PM
Shepton Mallet
Well still unable to get any of the BBC channels. Husband really annoyed as the Olympics are coming up. People keep on suggesting changing the aerial but he's not keen on paying out for something especially if it ends up not solving the problem. Any suggestions?
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Tracy's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb388:59 PM
Tracy Gill: I was reading the somewhat lengthy saga concerning your reception problems including "some" of the replies as they likewise can be time consuming to wade through, however what I wondered about was if at any time you had checked with anyone close by to find out if they experience similar reception problems to yourself?
The reason I ask, is because on a Google earth check I see that most aerials seem to be perched on top of high mounting poles, and with the property next to the mini roundabout sign having an aerial that's quite inappropriate for the situation that its in whereby its facing into trees, "inappropriate" by the fact of it being a high gain and likewise sharper pick up device whereas aerials of a much lower gain and likewise having a broader pick up pattern are usually far more effective in these type of situations, and with them not necessary being mounted high up unless by doing so clears the top of the trees, as if it doesn't then the aerial is effectively facing into a higher density parts of the tree vegetation.
Have you at any time purely for test purposes tried a set top aerial to verify or not if anything could be received at lower levels, although the impediment (as I see it) with trying this sort of thing in your type of situation is that the signal would be travelling through the gable end of the property, and so its not exactly a fair test.
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Thursday, 19 July 2012
T
Tracy Gill6:01 PM
Shepton Mallet
My aerial is mounted on my chimney stack, and my house is the middle one in a terrace. Unfortunately most of my neighbours use Sky. Also I don't know if this could be affecting the signal but a few years ago a load of trees were planted on the side of the hill between us and the mast.
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Tracy's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
KMJ,Derby6:37 PM
Tracy Gill: Have you ever tried to receive a signal from Stockland Hill? S/H is SW of your location, would that avoid the trees? You would get the wrong regional news, of course, but that would be better than no BBC channels at all.
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Sunday, 22 July 2012
T
Tracy Gill8:10 PM
Shepton Mallet
Have finally decided enough is enough and have given in to my husband and kids and signed up to sky.
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Tracy's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb388:44 PM
Tracy Gill: Well satellite reception virtually guarantees glitch free reception for 99.9% of the time 24/7 all the year round as nothing can really affect it, except that is sometimes during a really heavy thundery downpour when the signal might drop out for a minute or so, but though in cases like yours where reception is being spoiled by something out with your control i.e: trees, a satellite system is the only answer whether it be Sky or Freesat.
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