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Full Freeview on the Plympton (Plymouth, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps50.381,-4.068 or 50°22'52"N 4°4'3"Wsa_postcodePL7 1TT

 

The symbol shows the location of the Plympton (Plymouth, England) transmitter which serves 35,000 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 Plympton (Plymouth, England) mast?

Plympton transmitter - Plympton transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 28/10/2024 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
_______

Which Freeview channels does the Plympton 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
 V max
C40 (626.0MHz)163mDTG-400W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) South 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
 V max
C42 (642.0MHz)163mDTG-400W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (West Country), 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 Country), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 V max
C45 (666.0MHz)163mDTG-400W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South 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
 V max
C41 (634.0MHz)163mDTG-8400W
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
 V max
C44 (658.0MHz)163mDTG-8400W
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
 V max
C47 (682.0MHz)163mDTG-8400W
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

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

The Plympton (Plymouth, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .

If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Plympton transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Spotlight 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL3 5BD, 4km west (280°)
to BBC South West region - 107 masts.
regional news image
ITV West Country News (West) 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL7 5BQ, 3km east-northeast (76°)
to ITV West Country region - 107 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (East)

How will the Plympton (Plymouth, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20092009-132013-182013-1710 Apr 2019
C/D EWWWW TW TK T
C30C5wavesC5waves_local_local_local_local
C40BBCA
C41SDN
C42SDNSDNSDND3+4
C44ArqA
C45ArqAArqAArqABBCB
C47ArqB
C49tv_off D3+4D3+4
C54tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesBBCABBCABBCA
C56tv_offArqBArqBArqB
C58tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCBBBCB
C61ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4
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 12 Aug 09 and 9 Sep 09.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

Analogue 1-5 2kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 400W
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-10dB) 200W

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Caradon Hill transmitter area

Apr 1961-Dec 1981Westward Television
Jan 1982-Dec 1992Television South West (TSW)
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Westcountry 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. Plympton 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
Monday, 20 April 2020
M
Marcus Pasmore
9:08 PM

There is a problem with just channel 40. The strength of the signal drops at different points during the day. I
It seems to constantly drop around 21:30 and the signal strength is better by the morning.
This effects all stations transmitted on that channel. BBC1 is one of these channels which is okay offer switch over to HD station 101.
This isn't a problem but we dont get the local news in HD.

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Marcus Pasmore's 2 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 21 April 2020
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:56 AM

Marcus Pasmore:

UHF Ch.40 is the BBCA/PSB1 multiplex carrying all the main BBC SD and Radio channels. Neither Free view or the BBC are currently reporting any problems with the Plympton transmitter and it's not listed for Planned Engineering.

As you have checked the other multiplexes and not seeing any problems with them it's highly unlikely to be a problem with your aerial installation, however it might be worth checking all your coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads are a common problem, try swapping/changing them. Also check that your downlead looks undamaged (especially if it is old) and that your aerial seems intact and pointing in the correct direction.
Problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just an individual or several multiplexes.

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Chris.SE's 4,343 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:13 AM

Marcus Pasmore:

To add to the above, if the problems continue, phone BBC Engineering Reception Advice (office hours) 03700 100123 They won't answer because of the current covid-19 situation but you can leave a message giving details of your issue, remember to explain the problem and checks you've done. Don't bother using their problem assistant it won't help with this issue.

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Chris.SE's 4,343 posts GB flag
M
Marcus Pasmore
10:01 PM

Marcus Pasmore: thanks for your comments, tonight has been the same all okay until 9:30 ish and then the signal drops. Tonight I didn't turn over I just left if on and at 22:50 the signal strength came back for 10 mins and then dropped again 5 mins later.

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Marcus Pasmore's 2 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:30 PM

Marcus Pasmore:

This is beginning to possibly sound like some form of interference. Obvious candidates are central heating and lighting, the latter could be a faulty street light - but maybe 9.30 is a little late for that coming on - however it may need to be on for a while before it starts playing up, then there may be something visibly obvious - flickering etc.
Any form of discharge lighting in the house (or external lighting) fluorescent, compact fluorescent, some LED lighting can do this. Do you have any new electrical equipment, or something you don't always use that you are now? Anything with motors etc.
Check out those possibilities. Timing could point the finger more precisely. If it starts at exactly the same time each evening, it could be on a time switch.

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Chris.SE's 4,343 posts GB flag
Saturday, 6 June 2020
A
Alex Hutchinson
7:21 PM

Transmitter engineering: I have had rubbish Freeview TV reception from the Plympton relay transmitter for several days now, probably from about the time of the latest lot of engineering work, particularly on BBC channels. Is it possible something wasn't "plugged back in" or "switched back up" after this work?

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Alex Hutchinson's 1 post GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:19 PM

Alex Hutchinson:

I'm not sure what's given you the impression that there's engineering work going on at present. There's none listed for Plympton or Caradon Hill. The BBC aren't currently listing any faults, but if a new one has recently developed, there may be a reporting delay because of the current covid-19 situation.
There was some Tropospheric Ducting around several days ago which may have caused reception interference, but that cleared up a couple of days ago.

In the meantime, I would check all your coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads are a common problem, try swapping/changing them. See what signal strengths and quality you are getting for the multiplexes shown in your TV's tuning section. Also check that your downlead looks undamaged (especially if it is old) and that your aerial seems intact and pointing in the correct direction.
Problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just an individual or several multiplexes.

If you've done those checks and the problem remains on Monday morning, I'd give BBC Engineering a call on 03700-100123.

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Chris.SE's 4,343 posts GB flag
Thursday, 18 June 2020
L
Lyn Sandell
9:34 AM
Plymouth

Unable to get a signal from loft Ariel. Signal unavailable in 3 rooms but was ok yesterday. Ariel is tuned to Plymoton transmitter. Postcode PL6 8RR

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Lyn Sandell's 1 post GB flag
Lyn's: mapL's Freeview map terrainL's terrain plot wavesL's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage
D
Dy Taylor
9:51 AM

PL3 - have no 'extra' channels like horror,
Talking Pictures. Was watching Smithsonian
up to 0900 now not available due to weak signal.
All BBC, ITV, Ch4 programmes there, except HD.

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Dy Taylor's 1 post GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:25 PM

Lyn Sandell:
Dy Taylor:

Hopefully you will have all your signals and programmes back now. The BBC have reported several issues at the transmitter throughout the day with a fault and essential engineering causing it to be off-air or on reduced power.
If you retuned at all when you had no signal, and haven't retuned since, you will need to retune again.
Retuning when there is no signal usually just clears all correct tuning resulting in the need for a further retune.

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Chris.SE's 4,343 posts GB flag
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