Full Freeview on the Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) transmitter
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The symbol shows the location of the Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) transmitter which serves 270,000 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 Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) mast?
Ridge Hill transmitter - Ridge Hill 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Ridge Hill 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Ridge Hill transmitter?
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 69km northeast (39°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
ITV Central News 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 69km northeast (39°)
to ITV Central (West) region - 65 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (East)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Whitton | Transposer | 35 km NW Hereford | 40 homes |
How will the Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1968-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 1 Mar 2018 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | A K T | A K T | W T | W T | ||||
| C6 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C21 | +SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C22 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C24 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C25 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C27 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C28 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C29 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C30 | _local | ||||||||
| C32 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | com7 | |||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C35 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C51tv_off | _local | _local | |||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | COM8tv_off |
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 6 Apr 11 and 20 Apr 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-5 | 100kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, PSB2 iw, BBCB | (-7dB) 20kW | |
| com7 | (-9.8dB) 10.5kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-10dB) 10kW | |
| com8 | (-10.1dB) 9.8kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-17dB) 2kW |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Ridge Hill transmitter area
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Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?
Radiation patterns withheldMonday, 24 April 2023
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Richard Sutton8:39 AM
Scan results between 09.00 and 09.30 Monday 24th April 2023.
This is then the first result with no boosters in place and both boosters unplugged from the mains:
C21: Strength 70%, Quality 100%
C22: Strength 66%, Quality 100%
C24: Strength 10%, Quality 0%
C25: Strength 34%, Quality 85%
C27: Strength 54%, Quality 100%
C28: Strength 90%, Quality 100%
C29: Strength 82%, Quality 60%
The second result with only the lounge booster in place:
C21: Strength 94%, Quality 100%
C22: Strength 95%, Quality 100%
C24: Strength 70%, Quality 0%
C25: Strength 92%, Quality 40%
C27: Strength 92%, Quality 100%
C28: Strength 98%, Quality 100%
C29: Strength 97%, Quality 34%
I couldn't see how unplugging the boosters when they were already completely bypassed by the coax cabling during yesterday's test could make any difference but I did the test anyway with both boosters unplugged and the results are the same as yesterday with the slight differences due to the slightly different atmospheric conditions.
I also did the test with the loft booster still unplugged but the lounge booster now back in circuit. These results are interesting.
The effect of just the lounge booster is essentially the same as the loft booster on the C21, C22, C27 and C28 strong signals as they continue to be very strong in both strength and quality.
However, the effect on the weak channels, C24, C25 and C29 is illuminating in that the signal strength is pretty much unchanged but the quality has reduced by around half. This suggests to me that C24, C25 and C29 are relatively dirty signals which can sometimes be made viewable by the loft booster but, if only the lounge booster is used, then the dirty signal further deteriorates on its way down from the loft such that the lounge booster, in effect, amplifies the dirt such that the boosted signal, whilst much higher in strength that the situation without any booster, is even worse in quality compared to having no booster.
The central issue is why these three signals are so weak/dirty in the first place. I suspect that C29 is not actually beamed in my direction as it is not meant for my area so we can forget about it.
C24 and C25 must be being beamed 360 degrees from the Ridge Hill mast as they are supposed to cover the whole area I believe.
There seem to me to be four rational explanations:
i) C24 and C25 are being beamed at lower power than C21, C22, C27 and C28 for some reason and are struggling to reach my aerial.
ii) C24 and C25 are located in a different physical place on the transmitter and that location is less ideal for my house.
iii) The tall conifer tree which appears to be line of sight from my aerial is filtering out the C24 and C25 frequencies to a greater extent than the others, particularly if there is a strong wind blowing and the tree branches are swaying.
iv) A combination of one or more of the above which all conspire to ensure that I will never receive C24, and only receive C25 intermittently, unless I move my home or my aerial.
Unfortunately, I only have one chimney stack so moving the aerial physically is not really viable. I could ask an installer to spin it around again and try Sutton Coldfield and see if that is better than it was 15 years ago when I last tried it but that costs me every time and might be another waste of money.
Any further ideas are welcome.
Richard
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Graham Seward1:02 PM
Chris.SE: Apologies- I used to watch ch 29 central west from ridge hill from my location as it was more relevant. At that time ch 29 was shown on the channel checker. I lost the signal on one of the channel switches and assumed that as it was no longer listed that it was not transmitting. Ch 29 from Malvern wipes out the Ridge hill tx at my location which is disappointing.
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Chris.SE1:40 PM
Graham Seward:
There is also other information about C29 which is unclear. An OFCOM document which supposedly lists all the transmitters, channels and powers after the 700MHz Clearance programme (which I know to have a number of errors) states C29 is 20kW which is no doubt where this site got its information. Yet the Freeview Checker (DUK sourced) says it's 2kW. Which is correct is difficult to be certain, but I'd guess 2kW is more likely to be correct given the modulation type, as those signals will travel further on lower power as a consequence. Most Local multiplexes on the main transmitters that have them use QSPK modulation as well.
Given that Malvern is Vertical polarisation (Ridge Hill being horizontal) might mean any twiddling with aerial position or even aerial type may change your situation but is not predictable, it'll be a case of suck it and see, and whether it's something you can do yourself, or would otherwise be very costly.
I'm not sure if a radiation pattern for C29 is available. When I have a moment I'll have a hunt to see what I can find, if there is something, then your approximate location or full postcode would help to see if there's any chance of you getting anything.
Richard Sutton will be affected to a degree by Malvern but I'd expect in the main for it to just be a lower quality figure and as long as it's not too low it should be watchable.
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Chris.SE2:24 PM
Richard Sutton:
Hi. Right. The reason for powering off the equipment is to check that those items themselves are not generating interference. They can go faulty, become unstable etc etc. So the latest tests show that if the C24 problem is interference, it's not originating from your boosters.
As for causes, you can forget (i) and (ii). AFAIK based on official documents & other information that I can find, they on the same antenna. C29 however isn't. As mentioned above I'll see if I can locate any radiation pattern. However the PSBs (C28, C25, C22) are 20kW, COMs 4/5/6 (C21, C24, C27) are 10kW but I wouldn't expect that to make any significant difference to you (a few % maybe on strength).
(iii) Well that is a possibility but I'm surprised that we don't see any variation in signal on the other frequencies when it's wet and windy, so can't conclude that this is the primary cause.
(iv) Very unlikely for the reasons given for the above.
If you can't do it yourself, obviously moving/changing aerials would be expensive and may result in no benefit. Not something to seriously consider just yet IMHO.
Interference is still a strong possibility and also one needs to consider the strange possibility of there still being some signal overload issues!
Looking at all the figures, you don not need the Lounge booster, it's certainly a recipe for overload as any strength figures of 100% make that a possibility. Also as the strength figures drop slightly without it, and quality figures seem to generally be better overall, this again shows it's not needed.
The effects of overload can vary from set make/model to set make/model, so just to be certain we don't have any oddities, there something else we can try. Leave tuning as it is, I'd expect C29 Quality to be "variable" because of the probable interference from Malvern.
OK, loft booster only in place and active. As it has a variable gain control, turn it down a bit. To start with turn it down so that the 90%+ figures drop to 80-85% keeping an eye on Quality figures which should remain at 100% apart from most likely C24 (& C29).
Leave it set like that for a while and post the figures.
Then see how stable they remain for a period of time, say post back after the first 24hrs then after a few days unless you see significant variations in the interim.
The other factor to try and investigate is interference - much more tricky. I think you mentioned there were only four of you in your postcode, how close are they?
Which transmitter do they use, do they get a similar issue with C24 if they use Ridge Hill?
Do they have any older devices like VCRs, Game consoles etc that might have an RF output set around C24?
Your own electronic equipment including LED and Discharge (eg. fluorescent, sodium etc) lighting.
Try switching these things off (remove/unplug from the mains, not just standby conditions) to see if there's any change in C24 Quality.
HTH.
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Graham Seward2:42 PM
Chris.SE: Thanks Chris - I'm in the main reception area for Malvern (WR8), the tx being only 5 miles away and visible from my house. I have 2 aerials - the first vertically polarised for Malvern and 2nd horizontally polarised for Ridge hill with a mast amplifier. The 2 signals are then combined but ch29 is coming from both aerials so I've opted for the Malvern mux which gives better reception. Short of physically switching between the aerials there's little else I can do.
Thanks for your help
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Chris.SE8:58 PM
Graham Seward:
Richard Sutton:
Information update on C29. During the 700MHz Clearance, on 1 March 2018 when COMs 7&8 moved to C55&C56, D3&4 West changed modulation from 64QAM to QPSK and reduced power from 20kW to 2kW. As previously mentioned the change in modulation with the lower power results in pretty much the same coverage. No sign of a radiation pattern yet though.
The Malvern transmitter (then serving ~57,000 households) started on the 7th March 2018.
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Tuesday, 25 April 2023
R
Richard Sutton1:04 PM
Testing done 13.00 to 13.30 25th April 2023
First test using loft booster only on full gain:
C21: Strength 97%, Quality 100%
C22: Strength 96%, Quality 100%
C24: Strength 66%, Quality 28% (variable)
C25: Strength 74%, Quality 5% (variable)
C27: Strength 94%, Quality 100%
C28: Strength 100%, Quality 100%
C29: Strength 99%, Quality 25% (stable)
Second test using loft booster only on minimum gain:
C21: Strength 91%, Quality 100%
C22: Strength 90%, Quality 100%
C24: Strength 0%, Quality 0%
C25: Strength 46%, Quality 15% (variable)
C27: Strength 86%, Quality 97%
C28: Strength 94%, Quality 100%
C29: Strength 94%, Quality 19% (stable)
What has happened to C25? Yesterday it was reasonable but today it is unwatchable again. There is a very slight breeze today compared to yesterday's total calm but surely it can't be that?
As I'm so surprised that C24 has died completely and C25 has halved in strength but tripled in quality, I increased the booster back to full gain and took the readings again:
C21: Strength 97%, Quality 100%
C22: Strength 96%, Quality 100%
C24: Strength 66%, Quality 28% (variable)
C25: Strength 74%, Quality 4% (variable)
C27: Strength 94%, Quality 100%
C28: Strength 100%, Quality 100%
C29: Strength 99%, Quality 23% (stable)
Once again, turning the loft booster down to minimum gain:
C21: Strength 91%, Quality 100%
C22: Strength 90%, Quality 100%
C24: Strength 0%, Quality 0%
C25: Strength 46%, Quality 14% (variable)
C27: Strength 82%, Quality 98%
C28: Strength 94%, Quality 100%
C29: Strength 94%, Quality 19% (stable)
I cannot understand how signals from the same transmitter can vary from 0% / 0% to 100% / 100% at the same time.
I also cannot understand how the quality of C25 increases threefold when the booster gain is reduced from max to min, albeit it is still unwatchable, whereas C24 goes from 66% / 28% on max gain to 0% / 0% on min gain when the effect of the same change in gain on C21, C22, C27 and C28 is marginal.
As things stand, ITV4 on C25 is currently unwatchable whereas yesterday it was fine. Just to check, I did a further test with both boosters out of circuit again:
C21: Strength 82%, Quality 100%
C22: Strength 74%, Quality 100%
C24: Strength 14%, Quality 1% (variable)
C25: Strength 30%, Quality 28% (variable)
C27: Strength 62%, Quality 100%
C28: Strength 91%, Quality 100%
C29: Strength 90%, Quality 8% (stable)
Without any boosters and under current atmospheric conditions, C25 is just about watchable without any boosters although it is half the quality it was yesterday. C24 is not watchable without the booster in circuit and set to full gain and neither is C29. However, as I'm not interested in C24 or C29, I will leave things as they are, i.e. no boosters, and do the tests under difference atmospheric conditions.
Richard
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Chris.SE1:36 PM
Richard Sutton:
Hmm, interesting. Yes see how things change over the next 24hrs. Based on what you've seen so far I'm thinking tweaking the gain somewhere in between to get a more consistent quality on C25 & C27 as I don't think we are into overload conditions, unless there's some interference that's saturating things. The cause could be the trees or interference, especially seeing C27 slightly affected.
Try and investigate this potential interference issue now. As mentioned see what neighbours experiences may be. Also consider things like a nearby street light or similar that may even be on 24/7.
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Richard Sutton2:13 PM
One thing that strikes me looking at these figures again is the issue of C25 ITV1 on 3 and C29 ITV1 on 800.
I do not even think that C29 is directed to my area but actually watching ITV on these channels it is immediately obvious that the picture on 800 appears to be fine but when I watch it on 3 I can see that the picture is breaking up a little every few seconds. However, when I check the signal for C29 and C25 I can see that C29 is 90% / 12% whilst C25 is 30% / 28%.
Without any boosters, I am getting a much stronger signal from the channel that I'm not supposed to be receiving and, although the quality is half of the quality from the channel that I am supposed to be using, the poor quality channel is actually giving me a better picture.
I have lived with this mess for 25 years now and have still never got to the bottom of it.
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Richard Sutton2:50 PM
I only have four neighbouring houses but we are all widely separated and surrounded by gardens on all sides.
Three of the four have no TV aerials and use Sky / internet and one has a vertically polarised antenna on a long pole, like mine, but pointed towards Lark Stoke. I have never tried Lark Stoke as it is not the recommended transmitter for my postcode but perhaps that was the first mistake I made 25 years ago?
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