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Full Freeview on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter

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

54.868,-1.771 or 54°52'5"N 1°46'15"W

DH9 9AT

The symbol shows the location of the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter which serves 700,000 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.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter.

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

_______

Which Freeview channels does the Pontop Pike 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	C39 (618.0MHz)	447m	DTG-	100,000W
	1 BBC One (SD) North East and Cumbria, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, 250 BBC Red Button, plus 15 others
PSB2 D3+4	H max	C42 (642.0MHz)	447m	DTG-	100,000W
	3 ITV 1 (SD) (Tyne Tees), 4 Channel 4 (SD) North ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 North ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Tyne Tees),
PSB3 BBCB	H max	C45 (666.0MHz)	447m	DTG-	100,000W
	46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD North East and Cumbria, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Granada), 104 Channel 4 HD North ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 109 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others 66 TBN UK,
COM4 SDN	H -3dB	C32 (562.0MHz)	447m	DTG-8	50,000W
	20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 Great! Movies Action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 CBS Reality, 69 HorrorXtra, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 203 CITV, 208 Pop Player, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, plus 16 others
COM5 ArqA	H -3dB	C34 (578.0MHz)	447m	DTG-8	50,000W
	Smithsonian Channel, 11 Sky Arts, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 pick, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 70 Quest +1, 71 That's 60s, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 70s, 233 Sky News, plus 9 others
COM6 ArqB	H -3dB	C35 (586.0MHz)	447m	DTG-8	50,000W
	Quest Red +1, Classic Hits, 12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 73 HobbyMaker, 76 That's 80s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 83 Together TV, 84 PBS America, 90 Together TV +1, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 19 others
LNE	H -13dB	C33 (570.0MHz)	447m	DTG-12	5,000W
	from 22nd September 2014: 7 Made in Tyne and Wear,

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 Pontop Pike transmitter?

BBC Look North (Newcastle) 1.6m homes 6.0%
from Newcastle NE99 2NE, 15km northeast (42°)
to BBC North East and Cumbria region - 70 masts.

ITV Tyne Tees News 1.4m homes 5.4%
from Gateshead NE11 9SZ, 12km north-northeast (29°)
to ITV Tyne Tees region - 47 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with Border

Are there any self-help relays?

Kieldor Dam	Active deflector		6 homes Holiday complex
Low Haber	Active deflector	West Allen Dale, 18 kn SW Hexham	caravan site
North Hartlepool	Transposer		84 homes

How will the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

	1950s-80s	1984-97	1997-98	1998-2012	2012-13	13 Nov 2019
	VHF	C/D E	C/D E	C/D E	C/D E T	W T
C5	BBCtv_waves
C32						SDN
C33						com7
C34						com8
C35						ArqB
C39						BBCA
C42						D3+4
C45						BBCB
C49_{tv_off}					BBCB
C50_{tv_off}					SDN
C54_{tv_off}		C4_waves	C4_waves	C4_waves	D3+4
C55_{tv_off}					ArqB	com7_{tv_off}
C56_{tv_off}						LNE
C58_{tv_off}		BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBCA
C59_{tv_off}					ArqA
C61		ITV_waves	ITV_waves	ITV_waves
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 12 Sep 12 and 26 Sep 12.

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

Analogue 1-4	500kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB	(-7dB) 100kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB	(-10dB) 50kW
com8	(-11.6dB) 34.6kW
com7	(-11.7dB) 33.8kW
Mux 1, Mux 2, Mux A, Mux B, Mux C, Mux D	(-17dB) 10kW
LNE	(-20dB) 5kW

Local transmitter maps

Pontop Pike Freeview Pontop Pike TV region BBC North East and Cumbria Tyne Tees

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Pontop Pike transmitter area

Jan 1959-Feb 2004	Tyne Tees 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. Pontop Pike 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?

Comments

Monday, 22 November 2021

Chris.SE

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

3:12 AM

George Smith:

I'm afraid Arqiva never say how long the work will take, or give any detail. Some of the work may be weather dependent.
The is again listed for the next week.

link to this comment

Chris.SE's 3,682 posts GB flag

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

6:09 AM

- Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV week commencing 22/11/2021 Possible Pixelation or flickering on some or all [DUK]

link to this comment

Transmitter engineering's 143,924 posts GB flag

Friday, 3 December 2021

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

3:13 PM

- Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV week commencing 29/11/2021 Possible Pixelation or flickering on some or all [DUK]

link to this comment

Transmitter engineering's 143,924 posts GB flag

Monday, 6 December 2021

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

6:09 AM

- Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV week commencing 06/12/2021 Possible Pixelation or flickering on some or all [DUK]

link to this comment

Transmitter engineering's 143,924 posts GB flag

Thursday, 13 January 2022

Brian Richardson
10:58 PM
Newcastle Upon Tyne

Hi, recently moved in to a property in NE20 area and we are having intermittent problems from . This varies with the time of day and consists of sound stuttering with pixelation and sometimes 'no or weak signal'. The main affected are 34 Com5 programs and 35 Multiplex Com6 programs. We have checked our connections and installed a which has made some improvement but on some days we have from these channels at all. Normally Multiplex transmission on PSB1, PSB2 and PSB3 are ok. Would like to know whether anyone else is having this problem. Any onfo most welcome, trying to work out what to do next!

link to this comment

Brian Richardson's 11 posts GB flag

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

Chris.SE

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

11:54 PM

Brian Richardson:

We need a full postcode to look at the predicted in your locale to be able to offer some more constructive advice.

What type of do you have? Please describe if you don't know a make and model, otherwise a link to a similar looking aerial would always be good. Do you know roughly how old it is?
If it's a Yagi type, does it have a coloured plastic plug in either end of the boom?
Do you have any distribution amp/splitter, make & model if known?

When you say you've checked your aerial connections did that include coax condition - no damage to the sheath, any water ingress? Did you check continuity of the core?

Have a look in your TV tuning sections for signal strength and figures.
Post the figures for each mulitplex. Do you get COM7 UHF ?

The correct UHF for In the order PSBs1-3, COMs4-7, Local are -
, , , , , , C55, .
Reception of the Local mux is very much location dependent.

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Chris.SE's 3,682 posts GB flag

Saturday, 15 January 2022

Brian Richardson
12:11 PM

Chris.SE: Hi, post code is NE209PD. The was in place when we bought the house middle of last year so do not know details or how old it is. It is mounted on the chimney stack and from ground level I can see it has 8 elements, a loop and a flat back plate. I found one on google that looks close, the link is:

Google Images

I have fitted an SLX two way signal in the , it feeds two aerial outlets one in the living room the other in the kitchen.

The aerial coax condition appears to be ok, and have checked wire continuity from the loft to the room outlets and there is no problem there.

Com7 UHF : Yes I can get this , today it is fine but sometimes I get '' or pixelation and sound pops and crackles.

What puzzles me is that when I get poor the signal strength can be high, other times the signal strength can be low but reception is good.

TV tuning section signals: The TV has signal strength and bit error level values. Reception today is fine except for Ch35 COM6 which has pixelations and sound distortion. The strength and bit error levels today are as follows:
PSB1 Ch39 using BBC1 (1) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
PSB2 Ch42 using ITV1 (3) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
PSB3 Ch 45 using BBC1HD (101) - signal strength 96, bit error level 300
COM4 Ch 32 using Drama (20) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
COM 5 Ch34 using Sky Arts (11) - signal strength 50, bit error level 0
COM6 Ch35 using Great Movies (33) - signal strength 40, bit error level 2000 (reception poor pixcelation etc)
COM 7 Ch55 using Free Sports (64) - signal strength 96, bit error level 300

Thank you very much for your Chris.

link to this comment

Brian Richardson's 11 posts GB flag

Brian Richardson
12:14 PM

Chris.SE: Hi, post code is NE209PD. The was in place when we bought the house middle of last year so do not know details or how old it is. It is mounted on the chimney stack and from ground level I can see it has 8 elements, a loop and a flat back plate. I found one on google that looks close, the link is:

https://fspltd.org.uk/dig…html

It is the labelled 'TV Aerial Repair'.

I have fitted an SLX two way signal in the , it feeds two aerial outlets one in the living room the other in the kitchen.

The aerial coax condition appears to be ok, and have checked wire continuity from the loft to the room outlets and there is no problem there.

Com7 UHF : Yes I can get this , today it is fine but sometimes I get '' or picture pixelation and sound pops and crackles.

What puzzles me is that when I get poor the signal strength can be high, other times the signal strength can be low but reception is good.

TV tuning section signals: The TV has signal strength and bit error level values. Reception today is fine except for Ch35 COM6 which has pixelations and sound distortion. The strength and bit error levels today are as follows:
PSB1 Ch39 using BBC1 (1) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
PSB2 Ch42 using ITV1 (3) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
PSB3 Ch 45 using BBC1HD (101) - signal strength 96, bit error level 300
COM4 Ch 32 using Drama (20) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
COM 5 Ch34 using Sky Arts (11) - signal strength 50, bit error level 0
COM6 Ch35 using Great Movies (33) - signal strength 40, bit error level 2000 (reception poor pixcelation etc)
COM 7 Ch55 using Free Sports (64) - signal strength 96, bit error level 300

Thank you very much for your Chris.

link to this comment

Brian Richardson's 11 posts GB flag

Brian Richardson
12:15 PM

Chris.SE: Hi, post code is NE209PD. The was in place when we bought the house middle of last year so do not know details or how old it is. It is mounted on the chimney stack and from ground level I can see it has 8 elements, a loop and a flat back plate. I found one on google that looks close, the link is:

https : //fspltd.org.uk/digital_and_satellite_installation.html

It is the labelled 'TV Aerial Repair'.

I have fitted an SLX two way signal in the , it feeds two aerial outlets one in the living room the other in the kitchen.

The aerial coax condition appears to be ok, and have checked wire continuity from the loft to the room outlets and there is no problem there.

Com7 UHF : Yes I can get this , today it is fine but sometimes I get '' or picture pixelation and sound pops and crackles.

What puzzles me is that when I get poor the signal strength can be high, other times the signal strength can be low but reception is good.

TV tuning section signals: The TV has signal strength and bit error level values. Reception today is fine except for Ch35 COM6 which has pixelations and sound distortion. The strength and bit error levels today are as follows:
PSB1 Ch39 using BBC1 (1) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
PSB2 Ch42 using ITV1 (3) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
PSB3 Ch 45 using BBC1HD (101) - signal strength 96, bit error level 300
COM4 Ch 32 using Drama (20) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
COM 5 Ch34 using Sky Arts (11) - signal strength 50, bit error level 0
COM6 Ch35 using Great Movies (33) - signal strength 40, bit error level 2000 (reception poor pixcelation etc)
COM 7 Ch55 using Free Sports (64) - signal strength 96, bit error level 300

Thank you very much for your Chris.

link to this comment

Brian Richardson's 11 posts GB flag

Brian Richardson
12:18 PM

Chris.SE: Hi, post code is NE209PD. The was in place when we bought the house middle of last year so do not know details or how old it is. It is mounted on the chimney stack and from ground level I can see it has 8 elements, a loop and a flat back plate. I found one on google that looks close, the link is:

(link should be here, but tried to submit the post and the site it will not accept it.)

I have fitted an SLX two way signal in the , it feeds two aerial outlets one in the living room the other in the kitchen.

The aerial coax condition appears to be ok, and have checked wire continuity from the loft to the room outlets and there is no problem there.

Com7 UHF : Yes I can get this , today it is fine but sometimes I get '' or pixelation and sound pops and crackles.

What puzzles me is that when I get poor the signal strength can be high, other times the signal strength can be low but reception is good.

TV tuning section signals: The TV has signal strength and bit error level values. Reception today is fine except for Ch35 COM6 which has pixelations and sound distortion. The strength and bit error levels today are as follows:
PSB1 Ch39 using BBC1 (1) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
PSB2 Ch42 using ITV1 (3) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
PSB3 Ch 45 using BBC1HD (101) - signal strength 96, bit error level 300
COM4 Ch 32 using Drama (20) - signal strength 80, bit error level 0
COM 5 Ch34 using Sky Arts (11) - signal strength 50, bit error level 0
COM6 Ch35 using Great Movies (33) - signal strength 40, bit error level 2000 (reception poor pixcelation etc)
COM 7 Ch55 using Free Sports (64) - signal strength 96, bit error level 300

Thank you very much for your Chris.

link to this comment

Brian Richardson's 11 posts GB flag

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