Freeview Light on the Portishead (North Somerset, England) transmitter
 | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.484,-2.782 or 51°29'2"N 2°46'55"W |  | BS20 6LP |
The symbol shows the location of the Portishead (North Somerset, England) transmitter which serves 2,100 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 Portishead (North Somerset, England) transmitter._______
Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Portishead (North Somerset, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: U&Yesterday, 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera Eng, Al Jazeera English, Blaze, Blaze +1, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, DMAX, E4 Extra, YAAAS!, Film4 +1, Food Network, FRANCE 24 (in English), GREAT! action, GREAT! christmas, GREAT! movies, GREAT! romance mix, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, Legend, PBS America, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky Mix, Sky News, Talking Pictures TV, That's 90s, That's TV 2, Together TV, TRUE CRIME, TRUE CRIME XTRA, U&Dave, U&Dave ja vu, U&Drama +1, U&W.
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 Freeview channels does the Portishead 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 | V max | C21 (474.0MHz) | 110m | DTG- | 7W |
 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 | V max | C24 (498.0MHz) | 110m | DTG- | 7W |
 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 | V max | C37 (602.0MHz) | 110m | DTG- | 7W |
 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 | |||||
Are you trying to watch these 44 Freeview channels?
The Portishead (North Somerset, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: U&Yesterday, 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera Eng, Al Jazeera English, Blaze, Blaze +1, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, DMAX, E4 Extra, YAAAS!, Film4 +1, Food Network, FRANCE 24 (in English), GREAT! action, GREAT! christmas, GREAT! movies, GREAT! romance mix, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, Legend, PBS America, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky Mix, Sky News, Talking Pictures TV, That's 90s, That's TV 2, Together TV, TRUE CRIME, TRUE CRIME XTRA, U&Dave, U&Dave ja vu, U&Drama +1, U&W.
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 Portishead transmitter?
BBC Points West 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS8 2LR, 12km east-southeast (102°)
to BBC West region - 60 masts.
ITV West Country News (East) 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS4 3HG, 16km east-southeast (107°)
to ITV West region - 61 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (West)
How will the Portishead (North Somerset, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2010 | 2010-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-17 | 19 Jun 2019 | |||
| E | E | E | C/D E | C/D E T | C/D E T | A K T | |||
| C21 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C24 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C37 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C39 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | ||||||
| C49tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ||||||
| C50tv_off | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||||||
| C55tv_off | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | ||||||
| C59tv_off | BBCA | BBCA | BBCA | ||||||
| C62 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C66 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ||||||
| C68 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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?
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | 7.4W | |
| Analogue 1-4 | (-0.2dB) 7W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Mendip transmitter area
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Saturday, 1 October 2011
J
jb386:06 PM
C Lewis: Mendip would appear as your best bet for reception, however maybe you could indicate what the nature of your problem actually is?
This being requested as you are only indicating as having made one posting, and so no checking back can be made.
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Wednesday, 25 April 2012
P
Pongo8:02 PM
Bristol
Just moved into BS20 7HU and the house doesn't have an aerial! The chap I bought from said this postcode won't pick up any station. I don't believe him! I think he's lived in the area for 10 years and not tried an aerial since the digital switchover and any upgrades made in the area. Do you think I'm right?
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Pongo's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Pongo: Take a walk around the area and see what transmitters the other houses are using.
Any prediction or suggestion made here would need investigating as only when an installer is on site can confirmation be given that it is possible to receive from a particular station. Local obstructions can affect what can be picked up.
Digital UK Tradeview predictor suggests you might have excellent reception from Portishead relay transmitter. However, it is a Freeview Light transmitter, carrying Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) channels only. These being BBC TV and radio, ITV1, ITV1+1, ITV2, Channel 4, Channel 4+1, E4, More 4, Channel 5 and the four HD channels.
It would appear that reception from Mendip is out of the question.
The predictor says of reception from Bristol Kings Western, "good" on some channels and "variable" on others. I wouldn't be too concerned about the latter; what an installer finds when on site is what matters. Bristol Kings Western is a full Freeview transmitter and therefore carries the Commercial (COM) channels as well as the PSBs. It is a relay of Mendip (as is Portishead) and therefore carries the same regional programming.
You are predicted as being able to get excellent reception from Wenvoe. It too is a full Freeview transmitter but it carries Wales region programmes. The channels used for Wenvoe and Portishead will allow an aerial on each to be combined (diplexed) together into one downlead. You would then be able to watch West programming from Portishead transmitter and receive the COMs from Wenvoe. There are, however, some receivers that don't fair well when picking up some channels from one transmitter and others from another, this being an issue for some recorders that may not record due to this.
If possible, I would say that your first preference must be receiving the full service from Bristol Kings Western.
The Portishead transmitter is on the top of Hanhover House, Friary Road which is at 208 degrees (roughly south south west). Aerials directed at it will be vertical. Bristol Kings Western is at 86 degrees (east) and aerials will also be vertical. Wenvoe is at 265 degrees (west) and aerials will be horizontal.
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Wednesday, 12 September 2012
M
Mat12:59 PM
Hi,
I live at bs206dj. Which tramsmitter should I point the ariel towards to recieve the most channels ? Also do I need a wideband ariel the one that I have at the moment doesnt recieve any freeview channels at all.
Many thanks
Mat
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Mat: Mendip, if possible, aerial horizontal.
The Portishead relay is on the top of Hanover House, although it carries PSB channels only. Aerials should be vertical.
Or Wenvoe which broadcasts PSB and COM channels, although carries the Wales regional variants of BBC One, BBC Two and ITV1. If Mendip is out and Wenvoe is therefore your only full-service transmitter, you could have another aerial pointing at Hanover House, either connected to a separate receiver or diplexed (combined) into one downlead.
For a list of services by multiplex (including which are PSB and which are COM), see:
DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex
See ATV Sheffield's site for lots of information:
Mendip Transmitter
Mendip is all Group C/D so no wideband aerial is necessary. However, you may decide to get a wideband aerial just incase the authorities decide to change it all again so as to sell the spectrum off to the highest bidder...
Plus, if you get a wideband, it will also be suitable for Wenvoe (which is all Group B), should you find that Mendip isn't good enough.
If you are looking at receiving from Hanover House, then I assume that you can see its roof from yours, so a DM Log should do. Logs are wideband but have a flatter response than yagis. See here for examples:
Gain (curves), Again
I am wondering why your current aerial gives you nothing. Is there a fault that needs fixing and once it's fixed will give you the full service (if it points to Mendip)?
Even if it points to Hanover House, it will still be expected to give you PSB channels.
If your existing aerial points to Hanover House and you can get it working, then it's probably best to keep it as a backup. And if you find that Mendip isn't an option, you may decide to diplex it with one on Wenvoe.
It is worth looking to see where other aerials are pointing. Also, see if you can see anything that could be an obstruction that might be to the detriment of reception from your chosen transmitter.
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Tuesday, 16 April 2013
J
JRD3:30 PM
Bristol
I live at postcode BS20 7BW. My Aerial picks up Welsh telly (BBC 1 Wales, ITV Wales, S4C etc).
Any tips on how I can get proper English/Bristolian freeview?
Any help appreciated!
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JRD's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
JRD: You've left out a crucial bit of information - which transmitter your aerial faces!
So your aerial picks up Welsh television. But does it face Wenvoe, which is the transmitter in Wales? If it does then the answer is to look at realigning or replacing with an aerial on a transmitter in England.
If your aerial faces a transmitter in England, but your receiver keeps tuning to Wenvoe then your question relates to how you can prevent your tuner opting for the 'wrong' transmitter.
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Wednesday, 17 April 2013
J
JRD8:44 AM
Bristol
Many thanks Dave, I will check and may come back for some more help if it's facing the right way and still picking up transmission from Wenvoe!
Without meaning to sound too ignorant (this is my first encounter with TV aerials), would realigning it simply be a case of pointing the aerial in the general direction of the English transmitter?!
Thanks again
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JRD's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 9 June 2019
A
andrew cresswell4:25 PM
Since re-tuning on the 5/6/19, I have not been able to receive BBC West,BBC2..For two day's channel 4 +
other channels were pixeling with no audio; having re-tuned over 3 days I am receiving all but BBC West
BBC2. I had no problems before the re-tune. I do not like the local Welsh stations. Its not the TV it is a new Samsung UHDTV, Iv'e tried manual tuning but local West BBC are still not possible. Can I obtain an exemption for a licence.
Regards Hoping
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MikeP
9:56 PM
9:56 PM
andrew cresswell:
There is no possibility for any exemption of your TV licence.
Check all your aerial cables and connections and unplug all coaxial plugs and sockets and then refit them. Are you using a wideband aerial? If not, you need to have one fitted to cope with the changes to channels used.
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