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Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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 25/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C32 (562.0MHz)591mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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)591mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C35 (586.0MHz)591mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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

COM4
SDN
 H max
C48 (690.0MHz)591mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
20 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C33 (570.0MHz)591mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C36 (594.0MHz)591mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

LBS
 H -10dB
C30 (546.0MHz)591mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
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?

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

CheddarTransposer15 km E Weston-super-Mare1674 homes
LuccombeActive deflector6 km w Minehead38 homes

How will the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20102010-132013-182013-1727 Feb 2018
C/D EEEC/D EC/D E TW TW T
C30_local
C32BBCA
C33com7com7
C34D3+4
C35com8com8
C36ArqB
C37C5wavesC5waves
C48SDNSDNSDNSDN
C49tv_off BBCABBCA
C51tv_offLBSLBS
C52tv_offArqBArqBArqB
C54tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offArqAArqAArqACOM8tv_off
C58tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCBBBCB
C61ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCA
C64BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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

Jan 1958-Jul 1968Television Wales and the West
Jul 1968-Feb 2004Harlech Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV 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.

Comments
Sunday, 31 March 2013
M
mark
4:35 PM
Winchester

We shouldn't be sitting here and grumbling, you know, or sticking bits of wire in holes. We should be contacting the transmission firm. In droves.

All transmitters, so far as I can see, are owned and operated by Arqiva. 01962 823434, Crawley Court, WINCHESTER SO21 2QA.

Now, here's a thing - go on their website and you find they don't give you an email address. Oh dear, they must have forgotten to put it on. Or perhaps I am really a terrorist. And then you find that all enquiries to them about transmission problems are referred to the BBC. But then, of course, you find you are fobbed off again on to a TV Transmission Enquiry Service. Never mind, you press on and fill in their form. About twice, of course, as naturally it is of course a truly wonderful, exemplary form, that will give you such amusement going through all the pages that you will enjoy it far more than watching the boat race which is on about now and which I would like to be viewing.
I suggest you all fill in this form. A lot.

link to this comment
mark's 3 posts GB flag
mark's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
John Crabb
11:28 PM
Chard

Just a general observation, speaking as a Taunton resident who has lost all BBC channels. It is tempting to believe that there is some fault with the transmitter, but the fact that many people in this area have not lost BBC militates against this theory. So I started to look more carefully for any technical problems closer to home. I found the article on "single channel interference" on this site to be very helpful. Following the advice, I disconnected my HDD recorder and connected the aerial cable directly to the TV. Bingo, BBC came back. I cannot leave it disconnected, so I am buying a new wide band aerial and amplifier in the hope that the improved signal strength will do the trick. There has to be a solution to a technical problem like this and it is more likely to be found within these four walls than on top of the Mendips.

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John Crabb's 10 posts GB flag
John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 1 April 2013
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:25 AM

John Crabb: Well yes, but by removing the HHD recorder all you have possibly done is to slightly increase the level of signal reaching the TV, the positive way of verifying this one way or the other being to carry out a signal check prior to removing the HDD recorder, then one after having done so.

If all of these numerous people who complained of losing the signal simply done so because the level dropped "very" slightly, then their equipment must have been operating at a signal level that was sitting just above the cut off threshold and no more, something I very much doubt.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

12:39 AM

John Crabb: If your HDD recorder is fitted with an RF modulator it will be necessary to change the output frequency to one that does not cause interference. Alternatively an HDMI lead, if one is in use, or even an aerial fly lead might need to be re-routed in relation to the recorder or TV if interaction between them and a tuner is causing the problem. As you rightly say single frequency interference is usually the first thing to check for, along with faulty cables or connectors. If one frequency is abnormally weak compared to the others it is sometimes necessary to reposition the aerial slightly to move it out of a null for the troublesome frequency. It does appear though that an unusually large number of people are experiencing problems over what was expected to be a straight forward change of frequency. This does therefore raise the question over whether there is a problem on C49 (and C48) with the signal being unintentionally weaker than the others.No doubt Arqiva will check that in due course. There is of course the additional problems of communal aerials that have never had to receive C49 before, so lack the necessary channel filter and a larger than usual percentage of viewers who are equipped to receive from two transmitters, who might now find that BBCA on C49 from Mendip is now out of range for the filter on the Mendip aerial, requiring a change of diplexer to restore reception of all services.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
R
Ron
12:47 AM

On my last message I stated I had a digibox ,this should have been a freeview box. I have noted that there is a problem with Philips equipment. My freeview box that will not get BBC channels is a Philips. Should I have bought a cheaper less reliable Currys one?.

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Ron's 3 posts GB flag
J
John Crabb
8:17 AM
Chard

jb38 and KMJ,Derby: Thanks for those interesting points. I do not actually know how many people in Taunton and Wellington have been affected. If it is only a very small percentage of the total then it seems to me that they could well have been the ones operating just on the margin of adequate signal level. In my own case I have an old Yagi aerial of the correct group but the plot for it shows much decreased sensitivity at lower channels within the band.

I already have an HDMI cable. The problem seems to be with the RF cable passing the aerial signal from HDD to TV. Careful rerouting does seem to make a difference.

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John Crabb's 10 posts GB flag
John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
mark
3:21 PM

Yes, John Crabb, I have no doubt that we could all solve our problems by fiddling about with bits of wire, reconnections, etc., and buying ourselves new kit. But it doesn't alter the fact that if the problem was not there before 27th and is now, then it resulted from the transmission change. Local conditions or equipment may have predisposed my set to this but that is not the issue. If I have to go out and buy a new aerial then I shall be sending the bill to Arqiba.

And yes,there are lots of people in this street who have had no problems at all. But there are also people in their eighties who haven't a clue about these things. After a week or so of frustration and grumbling they'll be paying for the local telly shop to come round and sort them out. This costs a hundred or so. Not on. Many of them, of course, will just give up on the TV altogether. Frankly, that seems more than a bit hard.

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mark's 3 posts GB flag
J
John Crabb
4:54 PM
Chard

Mark: I don't really disagree with any of your points. I was just discussing practical ways forward for those who feel able to engage with the issues. I am not taking Arqiba's part in this, but as they were presumably directed to clear channel 61 to make room for 4G, I doubt there is much else that they can do about it now. It would be nice if they could improve things but I actually think that in practice we will have to do all the fiddling, or pay someone else to do it for us. I don't like that any more than you do.

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John Crabb's 10 posts GB flag
John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Mike
5:39 PM
Cinderford

So following John's point, what rights (if any) do we have? We have two receivers that work just fine and one that does not. There must be lots of people in the same position or worse wondering why they cannot get BBC tv (or Radio as I have found). My neighbour has the same issue. Since the Government presumably made some money out of introducing 4G, perhaps they might like to help.

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Mike's 8 posts GB flag
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A
Andy
6:05 PM

Since the retune we have had no BBC coverage. We are near Langport. Anyone else near here having problems too?

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Andy's 7 posts GB flag
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