Full Freeview on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 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.
Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) mast?
Pontop Pike transmitter - Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 04/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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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 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.
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 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C32 | SDN | ||||||||
| C33 | com7 | ||||||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C35 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C39 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C42 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C45 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C49tv_off | BBCB | ||||||||
| C50tv_off | SDN | ||||||||
| C54tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | D3+4 | |||||
| C55tv_off | ArqB | com7tv_off | |||||||
| C56tv_off | LNE | ||||||||
| C58tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCA | |||||
| C59tv_off | ArqA | ||||||||
| C61 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ||||||
| 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 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 TeesWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Pontop Pike transmitter area
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Sunday, 30 January 2022
T
Tracey Iceton8:45 AM
Hi, since the retune on 26 Jan I've lost some free view channels (19-22; 24, 25, 27-29, 31-34, 36-49) from one of my digital recorders, the other digi recorder and both TVs have all the channels. I've tried automatic and manual retunes to no affect. When I run the auto tuning the channels appear on the list of found channels with their normal (new) channel numbers for a few seconds than all the numbers go to zero, as if it found them then lost them again. We get our signal from Pontop Pike. If anyone has any advice I'd appreciate it. It's a Sagemcom freeview+Hd box. Thanks.
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C
Chris.SE3:22 PM
Tracey Iceton:
Hi. Whilst reception can vary across your postcode, those channels are spread across several multiplexes and as you other sets have all channels it's unlikely to be a reception issue, but do check your coax plugs and connections to the box, make sure they are clean and no corrosion.
It sounds more like the box has got it's memory in a bit of a slate, the channels may for example have gone in the 800s. Whilst I'm not familiar with this particular Sagem box (if anyone is they could perhaps comment), there's a couple of things you could try.
First, unplug the aerial and carry out a full automatic retune. This will hopefully clear all existing tuning. Plug the aerial back in and do a manual tune if possible on UHF channels C39, C42, C45, C32, C34, C35, C55.
if that hasn't worked, then a box reset may be the only option BUT this may clear any scheduled recordings BUT more importantly it may clear any existing recordings, best to check it's manual as there may be other things that may work.
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Monday, 31 January 2022
T
Tracey Iceton7:34 PM
Thanks, Chris, I'll give that a go!
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Monday, 14 February 2022
G
George8:26 PM
Whitley Bay
Ne25 9hz aerial on roof
TV says no signal and has been like that all day today. What is the problem?
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George's: ...
C
Chris.SE11:14 PM
George:
There don't appear to be any reported faults for Pontop Pike and it's not currently listed for Planned Engineering.
I would check that your aerial is still on the roof, seems intact and pointing in the correct direction (almost due SW for you) and that your downlead looks undamaged (especially if it is old) and is secure and not flapping in the wind.
Have you checked the connections behind your TV?
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 if you have any signal strengths and quality for the multiplexes (groups of channels) shown in your TV's tuning section, that information may indicate issues with your aerial or downlead or possibly any distribution amp/splitter you may have..
Problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just an individual or several multiplexes.
Have you changed anything in your setup at all?
Make sure you don't have any HDMI leads near unscreened/poorly screened flyleads/aerial leads especially if those aren't double screened coax as HDMI has been known to cause interference.
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Sunday, 14 August 2022
A
Anita Carter7:33 PM
Redcar
TS11 8HR. Aerial in loft. No problems until 2 days ago at 7 -8pm when the picture broke up and oi lost the signal for a short while. The same thing last night and tonight the signal has been gone for about 10 minutes with no sign of returning.
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Anita's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE11:36 PM
Anita Carter:
Considering your location, it is most likely to be due to current weather conditions.
Both the BBC and Freeview have issued warnings for short term interference to reception.
It's due to what's called "Tropospheric Ducting" which can occur with high pressure and where Interference from distant transmitters in Europe or the UK can cause loss of signal for periods of time.
Do NOT retune as it can clear your correct tuning and you end up incorrectly tuned to another transmitter and the signals disappear when conditions change.
It's periodically affecting different parts of the country and at present seems to be affecting the whole East of the country, the whole of the South Coast and parts of West Wales.
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Monday, 12 December 2022
A
Anthony Brown6:14 PM
Redcar
I get very poor reception for GB News channel 236
Are tuned to Pontac Pike
Live ! Marske by Sea TS11 6BZ
Can someone advise
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Anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE10:40 PM
Anthony Brown:
Before the 700MHz Clearance, Pontop Pike channels were within a CD Aerial group. Since then a Group K aerial would be required (a Group[ T or Wideband may suffice).. Some Group CD aerials will continue to give satisfactory reception but that is very dependent on the particular aerial and more so on location. If the installation is quite old it may have deteriorated and be suffering water ingress.
Did you have an aerial change/upgrade either just before or since the final clearances on 12 September/13 November 2019?
If not, this could be the primary reason for your poor reception.
GB News is carried on the ArqB/COM6 multiplex UHF C35 at Pontop Pike. TalkTV is carried on the SDN/COM4 multiplex UHF C32 which you may also struggle with, as well as ArqA/COM5 on UHF C34 and also the Local multiplex (Newcastle) on C33. There are of course other TV channels carried on those multiplexes.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which TV channels are carried on which multiplex.
If you need an aerial upgrade, make sure your downlead is replaced with high quality double screened coax such as CT100 or similar.. I'd suggest you consider a high gain Group K Log Periodic aerial.
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C
Chris.SE11:16 PM
Anthony Brown:
In addition to the above, I should have asked/commented on whether you used to get signals from Bilsdale before the fire in August 2021?
Was your aerial re-orientated for Pontop Pike and was it replaced at that time (or previously)?
If your aerial did originally point at Bilsdale, unfortunately you aren't predicted to get reception from the temporary Bilsdale Tower and at present, the new Bilsdale mast is not expected to be up and running until the middle of 2023 (although construction work is well under way).
Your are only 7km from the temporary Eston Nab transmitter, but predicted reception from that is very dependent on where you are in the postcode and a Local Engineer may have a better idea. Which transmitter(s) are your neighbours using/roughly which way/compass bearing are their aerials pointing?
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