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

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps54.868,-1.771 or 54°52'5"N 1°46'15"Wsa_postcodeDH9 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 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 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C39 (618.0MHz)447mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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, plus 16 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C42 (642.0MHz)447mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C45 (666.0MHz)447mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 H -3dB
C32 (562.0MHz)447mDTG-850,000W
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 -3dB
C34 (578.0MHz)447mDTG-850,000W
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 -3dB
C35 (586.0MHz)447mDTG-850,000W
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

LNE
 H -13dB
C33 (570.0MHz)447mDTG-125,000W
Channel icons
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?

regional news image
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.
regional news image
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 DamActive deflector6 homes Holiday complex
Low HaberActive deflectorWest Allen Dale, 18 kn SW Hexham caravan site
North HartlepoolTransposer84 homes

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

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20122012-1313 Nov 2019
VHFC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D E TW T
C5BBCtvwaves
C32SDN
C33com7
C34com8
C35ArqB
C39BBCA
C42D3+4
C45BBCB
C49tv_offBBCB
C50tv_offSDN
C54tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesD3+4
C55tv_offArqBcom7tv_off
C56tv_offLNE
C58tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCA
C59tv_offArqA
C61ITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves
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 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

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

Jan 1959-Feb 2004Tyne Tees 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. 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.

Comments
Saturday, 28 September 2013
A
andy
12:23 PM
Morpeth

Lost lots of freeview channels,,,,,,, gone ??? Amble links holiday homes ,,ne65 0sd???

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andy's 1 post GB flag
andy's: ...
Monday, 2 December 2013
I
Iain
8:49 PM
Chester Le Street

Local TV for Newcastle has been delayed apparently but MadeTV work on the policy of silence until they can give a launch date according to an e-mail from David McCormack I received after enquiring when the newcastle station was launching as no update on their website

It also seems to being controlled from Leeds rather than Newcastle

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Iain's 6 posts EU flag
Iain's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 17 December 2013
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:58 AM

Gary Burgham: Pontop Pike's new HD multiplex, which will carry BBC Four HD among others, will come on air some time in 2014. No date is given by Digital UK, and the same applies for Bilsdale.

However, I am somewhat doubtful as to whether you will be able to receive the new multiplex from Pontop Pike. The short answer is that you might require a replacement aerial irrespective of transmitter used and that it might be best directed to Bilsdale.

The longer answer is that the new HD multiplex is on lower power than the other multiplexes.

Also, if you have not had your Group C/D aerial replaced with a wideband one then it might need doing so in order to receive C33 which is on a lower frequency than your aerial works best at. See:

Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial

The new HD mux from Bilsdale is also lower power than its other channels. However, you would appear to have clear line-of-sight to it at 34.6 miles:


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location


But, the high ground under and around Woodland, 4 miles away, are blocking your view of Pontop Pike:


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location


Because the line-of-sight to Pontop Pike is obstructed, doubt is cast on whether you might be able to pick up the new HD multiplex. The apparent clear line-of-sight to Bilsdale Moor transmitter makes me wonder whether that might be the better bet.

I looked at your postcode on Streetview (photos taken August 2009) and one of the houses has an aerial facing Bilsdale. If this property previously used Pontop Pike then the Bilsdale aerial might have been installed in order to pick up pre-switchover digital from Bilsdale.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Monday, 13 January 2014
F
frank
7:45 PM

i have lost some channels on tunning channels 54 and 55.itv ch4 etc
my aerial is on the roof

postcode ne209ey

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frank's 1 post GB flag
Tuesday, 28 January 2014
J
JP
2:29 PM
Newcastle Upon Tyne

Hi there

We are still getting some bad signals on COM5 - like Dave and Really, etc from Pontop Pike.

Anybody else having any issues or is it us?

Thanks

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JP's 1 post ES flag
JP's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:36 PM

JP: COM5 is on C59 which is the closest of all Pontop's channels to any potential 4G signal operating in the 800MHz band (C61 to C69).

It might be worth checking with at800, the organisation set-up by the 4G operators, to see if it could potentially be a cause:

Contact at800 / DMSL | General Enquiries | at800

If you have any kind of amplifier in-circuit then any filter will need to go before it, should it turn out to be a 4G signal.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Thursday, 30 January 2014
I
Iain
7:31 PM
Chester Le Street

Comux Local TV Multiplex now testing from Pontop Pike on Channel 56

It will add Channel 791 and 792 to the lineup and you should see the Comux Local TV Test Screen on each channel



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Iain's 6 posts EU flag
Iain's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 8 February 2014
J
John smithe
10:12 AM
Gateshead

When us com7 going to transmitting

link to this comment
John smithe's 1 post GB flag
John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:02 PM

John smithe: No date isshown by Digital UK yet. Someone else might have some insider knowledge.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
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