Full Freeview on the Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.997,-2.540 or 51°59'49"N 2°32'25"W |  | HR8 2PG |
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 22/04/2024 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 withheldFriday, 23 February 2024
P
Paul Evans5:08 PM
Bromsgrove
I am at B60 3DE. I use Ridge Hill. The Aerial guy did try Bromsgrove as it is more or less line of sight, but the Lickey Incline is at the bottom of my garden, fairly high up, and when trains go past it chopped up the signal so he set it up on Ridge Hill. I've had good experience of Ridge Hill, but lately some channels have been unwatchable. Not sure if it is atmospheric (high pressure) or engineering work, or something else. Whatever, it has made watching 6 Nations Rugby very difficult, on both regular and HD channels. If it's engineering, why don't they wait until Wimbledon, I've no interest in tennis. Perhaps when they fix it Wales will start winning again!
p.s. the problems are real, but the comments are a bit tongue in cheek!
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Paul's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE8:09 PM
Paul Evans:
Hi there. (I like the tennis :D ). Unfortunately it is probably the Engineering. It's been listed for Planned Engineering for several weeks now, so there's not a lot you can do.
There has been a bit of weather related "Tropo" but that's been quite transitory and shouldn't be an issue at present.
This page usually gets updated with the Engineering notices on a Monday, so whether there'll be any next week we don't know. Sometimes it over-runs even when not listed!
Keep an eye open for those posts, and post back if you are still having problems in a week or two.
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Sunday, 25 February 2024
C
Charlie S2:13 PM
Hello Chris SE;
apologies for the delay here; I do not get a notification mail of thread updates, and the intermittent drop outs have stopped for now (or the reaction of the PVR to those interruptions has changed, there are other signs of "bizarre" behaviour due to something not right in the PVR, potentially triggered by degraded RF signals).
I did not realize your site adds the links to my post with the coverage map and terrain plot information; that is really impressive.
I am tuned to Ridge Hill; no near-by trees on the line of site, but the roof ridge of the neighbouring property (thatch, with wire gauze along the ridge) looks awful close to the LOS. The Sutton Coldfield terrain plot shows the LOS just missing the ground about 1 mile from here; that is the edge of a hill/ridge that does have a lot of tree cover. Some of the neighbouring properties look like they are lined up on The Wrekin or Malvern.
My work domain means I have some understanding of RF and propagation/interference issues, as well as digital transmission/coding aspects; & your comment re possible interference has got me wondering... is there any chance that Wifi access pointer/router signals (@ 2.4GHz & 5GHz) can interfere with the TV signals in the 500-600MHz range due to some sort of intermodulation in the TV signal booster box ? Or radiated noise from an ethernet cable ?
Because the TV booster + 2 Wifi Access Points are located within about 1 metre of each other in the loft space..most of the time, the Wifi will be just sending the beacon signal (100 msec interval between brief "squawks"). But there are effectively 4 different transmitters sending these beacons, not synchronized to each other..
I used to have a Vodafone 3G signal booster in the loft, but never detected signs of it interfering with the TV..
Re "normal signal levels"; I just checked, and see the following (no rain, no wind, visibility good but not perfect):
PVR TV (via PVR RF loop).
BBC1 90/100 10/10
ITV 90/100 10/10
QVC 70/100 10/10
Dave 66/100 10/10
Quest 66/85 10/10
BBC1 HD 82/100 N/A
If I watch the signal level screen on the PVR long enough, most of the numbers will vary a few points.
The PVR states explicitly that recordings/settings can be "disrupted" whilst checking the signal strength page; the TV (about 10 years older than the PVR) over-lays the signal strength info on the picture...
I will look for an opportunity to borrow a newer TV, to compare figures, and also maybe set up the TV so signal strength can be observed directly at the same time as the PVR signal..
regards,
Charlie
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C
Chris.SE5:07 PM
Charlie S:
Hi there. Well I'm glad your intermittent drop-outs have stopped. When Planned Engineering is going on, especially when we don't know exactly what is involved at any instant, it's so difficult to deduce what might be causing a particular problem.
Whilst coverage maps give an idea, they aren't infallible, but it looks as though your postcode is borderline for the different transmitters and the postcode pin on the map will be generic, so it's highly likely that it'll depend exactly where you are within the area and the very local terrain or obstructions, and the only absolute way of knowing which is best is there on the ground (should I say roof) with a professional signal strength meter!
As I'm sure you realise, interference could affect one or more frequencies but only show up under certain circumstances and there's not necessarily any consistency in how each may be affected!!
Eg. if you have 100% Quality is doesn't mean you'd always be interference free, and likewise having 85% or 93% doesn't mean you'll definitely suffer interference, though it's more likely if there was some interfering signal present.
The Strength/Quality figures you've posted look quite good apart from that ArqB Quality showing up on the TV. Out of curiosity try connecting the aerial direct to the TV and see if it changes the figures.
The differences between the PVR and TV could be due to the ability of the decoders to correct the errors or even down to where any interference is getting into the system. If the quality on ArqB improves when you plug the aerial direct to the TV, if it's a poor quality flylead normally between the PVR and TV that could be a suspect. Also HDMI can sometimes give interference to the RF signals, try and keep any such leads well apart especially if you haven't got double screened coax for the flyleads or aerial cable.
Another thing I nearly forgot, have you got any old kit with an analogue RF output that could be tuned to an RF channel that could result in interference eg. a Games console, a VHS recorder, etc.?
The strength figures as they are, are perhaps to be expected as the COMs from Ridge Hill are 10kW and the PSBs 20kW., and those slight differences with the COMs could be peaky aerial responses or of course due to the Planned Engineering which is supposedly still going on!
Interference due to intermod products etc. Hmm, yes, anything's possible I've always concluded as so much depends on the quality of the design. You'd hope that aerial amp/splitters would be immune but stuff could still get in directly to the circuitry if the signals are strong enough and it's a poor design, it doesn't necessarily have to be getting in via the aerial input!
There a simple check regarding your WiFi - switch it all off :D If the Quality on Quest/ArqB improves then you have a suspect. It won't of course necessarily be direct interference to the 500-600MHz range, if one of the stages in the amp gets saturated then how it behaves wrt 500/600MHz could be quite unpredictable!
It could still be getting in via the aerial input though. One helpful thing if this appears to be the case, is that the "Free" filters from Restore TV would clobber that as well, as they are low pass filters.
Although your postcode isn't supposed to have had postcards, it doesn't mean there isn't a problem with mobile signals. Can you see any new masts nearby? How strong are the mobile signals now, you mentioned a Vodafone 3G booster in the past, so I assume you may now have stronger signals if you don' need it?
We have encountered quite a few cases where people should have had postcards but haven't :(
If you suspect the possibility of mobile interference, then get onto them for a Filter. I wouldn't mention the WiFi, that'll just be an extra benefit of the filter.
I'd simply say that you seem to get regular interference problems as your received signal quality drops, where as the signal strength still remains quite high.
HTH, I'll post again if I think of anything else. Let us know how you're getting on with any checks/tests.
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Monday, 26 February 2024
Transmitter engineering
5:09 AM
5:09 AM
Ridge Hill transmitter - Ridge Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 26/02/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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Thursday, 29 February 2024
N
Neil10:13 AM
Chris.SE:
Currently have no TV reception in Pevensey?
Why can't the transmitter boost their signal
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S
StevensOnln110:32 AM
Neil: There is engineering work listed for Ridge Hill this week, which often requires the transmitter's power output to be reduced so that the engineers can work safely. Increasing the power would lead to interference with other transmitters which use the same frequency. If you provide a full postcode we can see what your predicted signal strength is and whether you might be able to get a better service from another transmitter.
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S
Steve Donaldson12:06 PM
Neil: The only Pevensey I am aware of is the one on the south coast, just outside Eastbourne. If you are there then you definitely aren't using Ridge Hill, which is not far from Hereford.
Which transmitter are you using? The most common one used in Pevensey is Heathfield. Maybe you are using that, or Hastings if you can't receive from Heathfield.
If you are looking for more specific advice, then a full postcode is really required to get an idea of what reception may be like in the area. Also, if this affects some channels and not others, which channels does it affect?
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C
Chris.SE3:10 PM
Steve Donaldson:
Both those transmitter had Planned Engineering last week. Although not listed this week, work might have overrun!
I assume that Neil has checked his aerial looks intact and still pointing the way it was! And which direction (compass bearing) does it point Neil?
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Monday, 4 March 2024
Transmitter engineering
5:09 AM
5:09 AM
Ridge Hill transmitter - Ridge Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 04/03/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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