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 29/04/2024 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 withheldMonday, 22 April 2024
Transmitter engineering
6:09 AM
6:09 AM
Ridge Hill transmitter - Ridge Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 22/04/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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Sunday, 28 April 2024
P
Paul Evans10:46 PM
Yet another week of engineering work! You've said previously that 'Transmitter engineering' never explain, but can anyone suggest what 'they' might be doing?
It has been going on for months - it certainly degrades the signal, as they suggest.
If they're not careful they'll ruin Wimbledon watching as well as 6 Nations Rugby. And then there's the Olympics.
They could have built a whole new transmitter in the time it's taking.
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C
Chris.SE11:45 PM
Paul Evans:
Have you changed postcode since 2018? If not, why are you using Ridge Hill and not Bromsgrove?
Have you checked that you are correctly tuned to Ridge Hill's UHF channels, and not got inadvertently tuned to another transmitter at some point perhaps if you retuned.
They could be replacing Antenna, or its Cabling or just maintaining/replacing guide cable stays and the like to ensure the mast doesn't collapse in some of the more severe weather we seem to be experiencing these days.
A lot of work like that is weather dependent, and you cannot work close to the antenna etc when it's running at full power.
If you've changed postcode, we maybe able to make suggestions or comment about reliability of reception, possibility of interference etc.
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Monday, 29 April 2024
Transmitter engineering
10:23 AM
10:23 AM
Ridge Hill transmitter - Ridge Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 29/04/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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P
Paul Evans6:08 PM
Chris.SE:
Thanks for your comments.
The problem with using Bromsgrove is the Lickey Incline, which is at the bottom of my garden. Without that it would be line of sight, pretty much, to the Worms Ash transmitter, 2.5 miles away. The aerial fitter did start with that setup, but the first train that went past chopped up the signal. And there are plenty of trains.
Although Ridge Hill is a bit distant, there are no real obstructions, so it has been a good service since we moved here 9 years ago. I have absorbed the warnings about retuning and I try to make sure I am using the specific Ridge Hill channels.
I note your comments about engineeering work needing to be done safely, my frustration is that it seems to have become a continuous process since last year at least.
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C
Chris.SE10:18 PM
Paul Evans:
Thanks for the update. Trains! Yes a big disrupter of signals when on the line-of-sight :o
You aren't the only one who's been frustrated, many main transmitter have been in the same situation, I just wish they'd try and provide a bit more detail.
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C
Chris.SE10:31 PM
Paul Evans:
Just a thought. Somewhere in your TV Tuning section, it will give Signal Strength, but does it give Signal Quality?
Can you post the Strength and Quality figures for each UHF Channel?
If you can also indicate what they typically are - how much variability under "normal" conditions.
We might be able to make some useful comment.
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S
Steve Donaldson11:37 PM
Paul Evans: While you may have line-of-sight to the transmitting antenna at the top of the mast, the Malvern Hills are well within the Fresnel zone, meaning they could potentially cause reception difficulty. This isn't to say it will.
The radius of the Fresnel zone varies according to frequency, the lower the frequency the longer the wavelength and the bigger the radius. It is largest half way between the two antennas, getting smaller the closer to the two antennas.
The radius of the Fresnel zone as the signal passes over the Malvern Hills is in the region of 82m to 87m. However, line-of-sight at this point is only around 20m above ground at its closest point, this judging by the following terrain plot:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
If the reserve antenna is in use, then line-of-sight runs even closer to the ground over the peak, as this is lower down the mast.
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