Freeview Light on the Rothesay (Argyll and Bute, Scotland) transmitter
 | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 55.878,-4.999 or 55°52'39"N 4°59'56"W |  | PA23 7UE |
The symbol shows the location of the Rothesay (Argyll and Bute, Scotland) transmitter which serves 5,800 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 Rothesay (Argyll and Bute, Scotland) 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 Rothesay (Argyll and Bute, Scotland) 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 Rothesay 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 | C28 (530.0MHz) | 218m | DTG- | 400W |
 1 BBC One (SD) Scotland, 2 BBC Two Scotland, 7 BBC Alba HD, 23 BBC Three, 24 BBC Four (Scotland SD), 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 13 others | |||||
| PSB2 D3+4 | V max | C25 (506.0MHz) | 218m | DTG- | 400W |
 3 STV (SD) (STV Central (Glasgow micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) Scotland ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 Scotland ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (STV Edinburgh), 35 STV+1 (STV Edinburgh), 71 That’s 60s, | |||||
| PSB3 BBCB | V max | C22 (482.0MHz) | 218m | DTG- | 400W |
 46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Scotland, 102 BBC Two HD Scotland, 103 ITV 1 HD (STV West), 103 STV HD (STV West), 104 Channel 4 HD Scotland ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 108 BBC Scotland HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others | |||||
Are you trying to watch these 44 Freeview channels?
The Rothesay (Argyll and Bute, Scotland) 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 Rothesay transmitter?
BBC Reporting Scotland 2.4m homes 9.2%
from Glasgow G51 1DA, 44km east (95°)
to BBC Scotland region - 230 masts.
STV News 1.3m homes 4.8%
from Glasgow G51 1PQ, 45km east (95°)
to STV Central (Glasgow) region - 94 masts.
How will the Rothesay (Argyll and Bute, Scotland) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1968-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 30 Sep 2018- | ||||
| VHF | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | ||||
| C8 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C22 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C25 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C28 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C32 | 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 8 Jun 11 and 22 Jun 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 2kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 400W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Black Hill transmitter area
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Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?
Radiation patterns withheldWednesday, 29 June 2011
M
Mike Dimmick6:08 PM
David Reid, alan denholm: No problems are currently reported, click the 'BBC Reception test' links next to your messages and follow the wizard to report the problem.
Some viewers have found that they have too much signal after switchover. If you have a booster, try removing it, or try adding an attenuator instead.
Also check that the TV has tuned in the correct transmitter - David, you are also predicted to get good results from the Dunoon relay, and alan, you from the Rothesay Town relay, which Digital UK are showing that you're practically on top of.
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Friday, 1 July 2011
K
Keir Byars6:33 PM
Why do I not get all freeview channels such as filim4
Itv4 ect I purchased a free view+ box if we do not get all channels then I have wasted my money and I would
Feel discriminated agents
Regards
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C
Charlie11:36 PM
Like some others I live in Largs and have lost freeview HD from Rothesay on CH22 since 24th June. Re-tune, factory defaults, arial change and standard checks show same. Good Sig Strength but zero Sig Quality. BBC say everything is fine ref transmitter problems. Any advice?
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Saturday, 2 July 2011
J
jb387:53 AM
Charlie: What you report could indicate that the TV's tuner is being swamped by a strong signal, possibly caused by the Largs transmitter as it must be relatively close to you, differing brands of sets coping differently with this problem.
You haven't mentioned anything about your aerial system but if at all possible try a set top aerial in your set, or (crudely!) even a short piece of wire, and whilst doing so try a manual scan on Ch39 as that's the Largs HD MUX.
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C
Charlie3:04 PM
Thanks JB. Tried your suggestions but same result. I have a standard roof top arial pointing at Rothesay and the Largs channels show very low sig stregth on my TV.
The local paper has a letter of complaint in it from someone so I know I am not alone and again, it was fine after switchover for the first few days. Very frustrating as do not know who to contact..BBC automated site and emails not helpful so not sure what to do next. Thanks for the help and advice much appreciated..
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D
David Reid5:35 PM
Greenock
The mystery of the missing Ch22 from Rothesay continues....
At 20.20hrs on Thurs.June 30,I received an on-screen message to say I had a "new" Channel - I OK'd it, and there it was, Ch22 with the 4 HD channels.
Alas, the following day it was gone!
Still showing strenghth 10/10,but quality zero.
I have a 36 element wide band aerial on the roof.
This may be a long shot,but there is a wide expanse of the River Clyde between the transmitter (which I can clearly see)and my house.
Can the water be causing some kind of deflection to the HD signal,making in effect,2 signals coming into the TV tuner?
I have since moved the aerial from pointing SW to Rothesay,to West,catching Rosneath's HD Ch54 - about 75% quality.
I do hope CH22 returns to join 25 and 28 soon.
David.
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David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb386:03 PM
Charlie: Bit of a mystery that! although I suppose its of some dubious comfort knowing that you are not alone with this problem.
The problem with the Largs transmitter is that not only does it use horizontal polarisation when Rothesay is on vertical, but you will be receiving it partially side on to your aerial, this being the least sensitive area for reception, that said though it would be interesting to know what the levels were across the three MUX's, these being 39 - 42 & 45, as irrespective of their strength, "if" they were reasonably constant and it wasn't a major job, then your aerial might be better set for your local Largs transmitter.
Its unfortunate that there is an expanse of water between Rothesay and Largs, as it would have been interesting to know what the received signal strength was if tested along the same line from the transmitter as yourself.
If you feel inclined, as its a lengthy process, but you could submit a report via the "Transmitter has no problems - click to re-check" link at the top of the page, as it would be interesting to know what type of reply you would get.
PS: I also realise that Rothesay reception uses a group A aerial and Largs B, and although being just outside of the correct group, in practical terms it wouldn't really make that much difference with such a local signal, that is "if" you are actually in Largs and not just near it.
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J
jb386:48 PM
David Reid: Reception across water can be fraught with problems, and there isn't really much that can be done about it as the signal can suffer from deflection and other sorts of warping that doesn't really happen across land.
This has always been a commonly experienced problem with analogue reception, but its effects weren't really noticed quite so much by the viewer etc as analogue can be considered much more of a robust system compared to digital, a system that has brought a whole new range of problems into the equation, with some of them not really being rectifiable at the viewers end except by them changing to Freesat.
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C
Charlie7:52 PM
Gents,
Thanks again for the feedback. I certainly would like to get to the bottom of this so I think my next steps( please feel fee to comment.
1. Buy sig level meter (are they cheap?) and measure true levels from Rothesay
2 Contacted BBC and CH4( Random selection)today and reported issue with several people experiencing the same i.e please check the Tx again. Waiting for a response
3. Try Panasonic Tech Support just in case there is a known problem with the TV.
4. Get the arial turned to Largs Tx and give it a go
Might take a while as I'm on Hols soon but I'll keep you posted. Aagain chaps, thanks for the support, appreciated.
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J
jb388:59 PM
Charlie: Yes, it will be interesting to learn what the BBC will come up with, as there is still the possibility that a fault exists at the transmitter, fault reporting only happening if someone connected to the technical operations cares to publish the fact.
However, and as mentioned to David Reid, reception over water is always open to problems, and so your idea of giving the Largs TX a try is something that I would do myself, as the shorter the distance to the transmitter the less the likelihood of the signal being interfered with.
By the way Panasonic TV's did have a problem with HD but only with BBC transmissions, this caused because of their switch to using a symbol rate of 23000, however most sets that I know of (including my own) corrected the problem with a first time re-tune.
Have a nice holiday!!
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