Freeview Light on the Turnpike Hill (Kent, England) transmitter
 | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.069,1.072 or 51°4'7"N 1°4'18"E |  | CT21 6JL |
The symbol shows the location of the Turnpike Hill (Kent, England) transmitter which serves 700 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 Turnpike Hill (Kent, England) mast?
Turnpike Hill transmitter - Turnpike Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 16/12/2024 Screen may go black 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.
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Turnpike Hill (Kent, England) 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 Turnpike 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.
| Mux | H/V | Frequency | Height | Mode | Watts |
| PSB1 BBCA | V max | C44 (658.0MHz) | 16m | DTG- | 5W |
 1 BBC One (SD) South East, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 16 others | |||||
| PSB2 D3+4 | V max | C41 (634.0MHz) | 16m | DTG- | 5W |
 3 ITV 1 (SD) (Meridian (East micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Meridian south coast), 71 That’s 60s, | |||||
| PSB3 BBCB | V max | C47 (682.0MHz) | 16m | DTG- | 5W |
 46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South East, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others | |||||
Are you trying to watch these 44 Freeview channels?
The Turnpike Hill (Kent, England) 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 Turnpike Hill transmitter?
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 57km west (275°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
ITV Meridian News 0.7m homes 2.7%
from Maidstone ME14 5NZ, 43km west-northwest (301°)
to ITV Meridian (East) region - 36 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with all of Meridian plus Oxford
How will the Turnpike Hill (Kent, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 31 Mar 2018- | |||||
| E T | E T | E T | B E K T | B E K T | |||||
| C41 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C44 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C47 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C58tv_off | 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 13 Jun 12 and 27 Jun 12.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | 5W | |
| Analogue 1-4 | (-4dB) 2W |
Local transmitter maps
Turnpike Hill Freeview Dover TV region BBC South East Meridian (East micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Dover transmitter area
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Saturday, 19 March 2016
R
Robin St.Clair8:35 PM
I just want to watch BBC4 HD. But my local transmitter - Turnpike Hill - does not broadcast channel 106.
My foreign friends cannot understand why this makes me cross. They point out that I live in Britain, where this sort of situation is normal.
I'd like to watch live television, and I'd be happy to pay for it, but not if what I receive is 1980's technology. In the mean time I just have to watch iPlayer, after the event.
Why should people living 200 metres away be able to receive a channel I cannot receive, yet pay the same licence fee? And if anybody tries to excuse this by saying the fee is a licence to use a TV, I call them something worse than a pedant.
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MikeP
10:23 PM
Trowbridge
10:23 PM
Trowbridge
Robin St.Clair:
If you are receiving any services from the Turnpike transmitter, you are not using 1980s technology but 21st Century technology. Freeview can be broadcast in SD or HD, depending on the transmitter. Every modern TV set can receive SD transmissions and those with Full HD Capable TVs wiol get HD services if their tranmitter has been upgraded to transmit that. It take time to upgrade over 1000 transmitters and some are unlikely to get all the services due to the relatively small number of potential viewers, meaning the commercial broadcasters will not get a 'return on investment'.
You can watch 21st Century technology simpley by watching any of the available Freeview services available in your area. Note though that local geography can affect the ability to receive any TV signals. Some place just can't get any TV, but most gate at least the PSB services.
Because you can get signals, apparently, fromTurnpike you can watch perfectly good programmes up to the current capability of the transmitter.
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MikeP's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 22 March 2016
R
Robin St.Clair2:53 PM
MikeP:
I'm sorry, but DVB-H was first broadcast in the UK in 1998. The technology was developed in the 1980s and during the early 90s the standards were agreed and Blue Books were developed. So it is 1980's tech, no matter what you may think.
My television is capable of 4K @ 60fps. Having to watch BBC4 in SD from a transmitter that is still configured to broadcast BBC3 is more than irritating. The BBC were planning to be broadcasting in 4K by now, but that has been shelved.
If it is worth broadcasting BBC4 HD on satellite, its worth doing it terrestrially.
MikeP, I'm sure your intention was to be helpful, but a load of waffle and erroneous information really doesn't help.
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M
MB4:30 PM
Robin St.Clair: I'm sorry, but DVB-H was first broadcast in the UK in 1998. The technology was developed in the 1980s and during the early 90s the standards were agreed and Blue Books were developed. So it is 1980's tech, no matter what you may think.
The protocol was developed in the 1980s, the equipment now in use is 21st c technology, so you are most certainly wrong there
My television is capable of 4K @ 60fps. Having to watch BBC4 in SD from a transmitter that is still configured to broadcast BBC3 is more than irritating. The BBC were planning to be broadcasting in 4K by now, but that has been shelved.
No transmitter is 'configured' for this - the transmitter puts out what is given to it on the transport stream, which is decided at the multiplexing center. The decisions as to what goes on or not are at corporate level, and decided by viewing and revenue figures
If it is worth broadcasting BBC4 HD on satellite, its worth doing it terrestrially.
A satellite feed has a much larger footprint than a terrestrial transmitter. It is therefore more economic to do so. It is not 'worth doing' at small relays for the very reasons of viewing population figures previously referred to
Why should people living 200 metres away be able to receive a channel I cannot receive, yet pay the same licence fee? And if anybody tries to excuse this by saying the fee is a licence to use a TV, I call them something worse than a pedant.
Oh dear. You seem adament that you know better than others as to TV technologies, but clearly you have no knowledge of RF propagation. Those people '200 meters' away are able to receive a main station. You chose to live where you have, if that means your served by a small 'lite' fill-in relay, well thats pretty much hard luck.
Oh, and yes, I shall be pedantic and you call call me anything you wish, it doesnt change the actual letter of the law - read the back of your license! Your license allows you to own and use equipment to receive off air TV signals - it does not, and never has, implied any guarentee that there is anything to watch.
Rather than ranting on here and then abusing people who reply, why dont you actually get satellite to watch BBC4 HD on? Commercial decisions based on large surveys, along with spectrum planning constraints, decided which transmitters carry full service. Sorry if youve been unlucky, but neither the BBC nor the regulators owe you anything. Theres plenty of ways to watch BBC4 HD available
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R
Robin St.Clair8:36 PM
MB
It is plain to see you are not a technologist. The local station, is, in transmission technology speak provisioned, which means configured by software.
I hope you are not representative of this web site.
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Wednesday, 23 March 2016
M
MB11:10 AM
Robin St.Clair: No I do not represent this site.
I am however, one of the engineers who operate, monitor and control the DTV network. I post on this site occasionally where my knowledge of the system may help a viewer, however I am not representing the company when I do so here.
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Thursday, 24 March 2016
M
MB9:59 AM
Robin St.Clair: The Turnpike Hill relay is what we term an 'RBR' fed site, this means it relays on off-air received signal, in this case originating from the Dover main station. It is a 'lite' station carrying only the three public service multiplexes. As you will be aware the PSB1 multiplex carries BBC4 in SD. All 'lite' transmitters are small area coverage and limited due to spectrum planning constraints, and therefore there are no plans to increase the number of multiplexes transmitted from them. As to changing the lineup of the HD transmitter to include BBC4 HD, this is a decision for the broadcaster, and they have made the decision that currently this is not to be.
The equipment at the transmitter site is not 'provisioned in software' - it can only rebroadcast what content is carried on the multiplexes it receives. As none of the three multiplexes it rebroadcasts carry BBC4 HD, it is not possible for this site to transmit it!
What I can tell you is that all three transmitters at Turnpike Hill are operating normally at present.
If you would refrain from ranting at us, and provision us with your postcode, I will be happy to take a look at the transmitter coverage maps and the terrain profiles and see if it would be possible for you to receive a main station from your location with some adjustment to your antenna system. It would also help if you could tell us what type of antenna system you had and whether it is mounted externally on the roof, as is required to meet the standards for reception.
Some people do find that with adjustment to the antenna, or a new better antenna, they are able to receive a full service from a main station despite being officially outside the coverage area (we are very generous with these coverage areas!), assuming the proviso that such reception outside the intended coverage is not guarenteed and may be intermittent or of a lower quality.
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Tuesday, 30 August 2016
During the Rio Olympics, the Turnpike Hill transmitter somehow managed to broadcast BBC4 HD, yet now, when I check, it no longer is.
What is going on?
I see that this so-called Freeview-Light transmitter has a down-link satellite dish, which it could have used to re-transmit channel 106 (BBC4 HD)?
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S
StevensOnln110:26 AM
Robin: BBC 4 HD was only able to be made available during the Olympics because CBBC HD moved to make way for it. There is no permanent capacity available on Freeview Lite transmitters for any additional HD channels.
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Monday, 18 November 2024
Transmitter engineering
10:48 AM
10:48 AM
Turnpike Hill transmitter - Turnpike Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 18/11/2024 Screen may go black on some or all channels [DUK]
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