Full Freeview on the Stockland Hill (Devon, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 50.807,-3.106 or 50°48'25"N 3°6'20"W |  | EX14 9EP |
The symbol shows the location of the Stockland Hill (Devon, England) transmitter which serves 120,000 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 Stockland Hill (Devon, England) mast?
Stockland Hill transmitter - Stockland 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)
The Stockland Hill (Devon, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
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 Stockland 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)
The Stockland Hill (Devon, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
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 Stockland Hill transmitter?
BBC Spotlight 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL3 5BD, 86km west-southwest (239°)
to BBC South West region - 107 masts.
ITV West Country News (West) 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL7 5BQ, 80km southwest (236°)
to ITV West Country region - 107 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (East)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Bickleigh | Transposer | 15 km N Exeter | 25 homes |
| Freshwater C/p | Active deflector | 2 km SE Bridport, Dorset | 250 homes (caravans) |
| Ladram Bay | Transposer | 15 km SE Exeter | 400 homes (caravans) |
How will the Stockland Hill (Devon, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1961-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2009 | 2009-13 | 27 Mar 2019 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | ||||
| C9 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C22 | -ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C23 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | +D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C25 | -SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C26 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | +BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C28 | -ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C29 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C33 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves |
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 May 09 and 20 May 09.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 250kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 50kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-10dB) 25kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B* | (-17dB) 5kW | |
| Mux C*, Mux D* | (-20dB) 2.5kW |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Stockland Hill transmitter area
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Monday, 18 June 2012
STOCKLAND HILL transmitter - Over the next week Stockland Hill main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK] Over the next week Stockland Hill main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]
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Sunday, 24 June 2012
B
Ben8:26 PM
Hi. Since several retunes over very few days at the end of May-beginning of June 2012 COM 4,5 and 6 are now very weak. COM6 so weak cannot receive, COM5 comes and goes and COM3 just about holds up most of the time. PSB 1 and 2 are fine. Using Stockland Hill transmitter from North Dorset. Reception was all fine until this happened. Any suggestions. I've done the obvious.
Thanks Ben
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Monday, 25 June 2012
STOCKLAND HILL transmitter - Over the next week Stockland Hill main transmitter: TV (digital) Possible weak signal, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]
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STOCKLAND HILL transmitter - Over the next week Stockland Hill main transmitter: TV (digital) Possible weak signal, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]
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Sunday, 1 July 2012
S
Sticks11:51 AM
Honiton
Hi. We bought a new Panasonic TV this week which has Freeview HD. We are getting fluctuating signal quality on HD transmissions of 30%-100% - all SD channel quality is 100%. Signal strength is 80%. We sometimes get a "no signal" message - other times we get pixellation for a few seconds - most of the time it is fine. Have done all the usual checks. Thinking of getting a freeview HD PVR but not confident it will work. Our aerial is tuned to Stockland but there is a nearby relay mast - can you advise please.
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Sticks's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sticks: It could be that, having completed its automatic tuning scan, it decides to tune to the adjacent Honiton relay which only carries the three PSBs.
See here for the six multiplexes; each is carried on one signal:
DMOL Post-DSO Multiplex Channel Allocations
This page shows the three PSBs and three COMs.
The automatic tuning process scans UHF channels (frequencies) 21 to 69.
Due to the fact that Stockland's six multiplexes are on channel numbers are all in the 20s and Honiton's three PSBs are in the 40s, the aerial lead can be unplugged at about 30% of the scan.
Confirm by viewing the signal strength screen what each is tuned to:
PSB1 | BBC One | Stockland=C26 | Honiton=C42
PSB2 | ITV1 | Stockland=C23 | Honiton=C49
PSB3 | BBC One HD | Stockland=C29 | Honiton=C45
Check to see what each is tuned to and only perform a re-scan if one or more are tuned to Honiton. If they are all tuned to Stockland, then it isn't a tuning problem.
If you do scan and unplug the aerial after 30%, hold the plug away from the socket (not within a few inches) so as to avoid any possibility of the signal being transferred.
There is always the possibility that the signal from Honiton is so strong where your receiver is located that it could pick it up even without the aerial plugged in, so check that they are all tuned to Stockland. If this does happen, then you will have to see if there is somewhere else that you can take the receiver when there might be less Honiton signal, but where you will have access to an aerial connection. That, or if you can wipe it and manually tune to Stockland, although not all receivers allow this; they vary by design.
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S
Sticks4:11 PM
Honiton
Thanks Dave - you were spot on - the set was tuned to the Honiton relay on the HD channels. I re-tuned to Stockland (Ch29) and unplugged the aerial as you suggested but the signal quality and strength is now worse with quality going into the red quite often. Would re-tuning to honiton with a properly oriented aerial (vertical) help?
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Sticks's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sticks: Perhaps the poor HD mux on 29 from Stockland is why it decided to go with Honiton; i.e. the latter is the better of the two.
Whilst receiving from Honiton is a possibility, it will mean that you will then not have any of the COM services (see DMOL link I provided above).
However, as you are just less than four miles from the transmitter, I wonder if your receiver is being overwhelmed by signal and it is distorting, hence the poor quality (HD signals suffering from this before any other).
See here for an explanation and possible remedy:
Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
The COMs are at half power with respect to the PSBs from Stockland, so it is to be expected that if you do have too much signal that it will be one of the PSBs that will be affected.
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S
Sticks5:38 PM
Honiton
Thanks again Dave for your help. The situation is that, when tuned to Stockland, HD channels get 75% strength and quality varies from red to 100% very frequently. On Honiton (with the currently mounted horizontal aerial)they get 90% strength and quality goes from 25%-100% but drops less frequently.I'm not fussed about the COMs channels. If I introduce an RF attenuator should I tune to Stockland or Honiton?
Presumanly if we go Honiton and I re-orientate the aerial vertically (as spec'd for Honiton)then I will strengthen the signal even more and make it worse.
In auto-tune, the TV tunes in to all the channels from both transmitters and then sorts them "geographically" thus using Honiton first. So if I revert to this method of tuning, we should get the channels on the 3 PSBs from Honiton and then those on the COMs from Stockland - or doesn't it work like that??
What strength attenuator should I get?
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Sticks's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sticks: The suggestion of trying an attenuator was to reduce the signal levels from Stockland, with a view to getting its HD watchable.
I suggest a 20dB variable one so it can be adjusted. Here is one such example (other sellers and outlets are available):
VARIABLE ATTENUATOR TV SIGNAL REDUCER 20dB 3 5 6 9 10 12 15 18 DIGITAL FREEVIEW | eBay
If you have a Group A aerial (red tip) for Stockland, then you should be aware that Honiton is Group B. See here for aerial groups:
Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial
However, group aerials don't receive nothing outside of group. You may argue that the Honiton signal is so strong due to the close proximity that it is OK, afterall, you have already picked up a strong signal from it with the aerial in opposite polarity...
See here for some gain curves which show sensitivities on different channels (these are just examples to illustrate a point):
Gain (curves), Again
You may find that even with what may be an out of group aerial for Honiton, it still picks up too much signal and needs attenuating.
As for tuning, I said to unplug the aerial at 30% to get Stockland and miss out Honiton. So if you start the scan with the aerial unplugged and plug in at 30% you should get Honiton and miss out Stockland.
Remember that the TV only stores channels it "sees" during the automatic tuning process. If you prevent it from "seeing" the ones you don't want, then it won't store them!
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