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Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.237,-2.626 or 51°14'12"N 2°37'33"Wsa_postcodeBA5 3LB

 

The symbol shows the location of the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter which serves 720,000 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 Mendip (Somerset, England) mast?

Mendip transmitter - Mendip transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 15/04/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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Which Freeview channels does the Mendip 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C32 (562.0MHz)591mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) West, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 17 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C34 (578.0MHz)591mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (West), 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 (West),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C35 (586.0MHz)591mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD West, 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

COM4
SDN
 H max
C48 (690.0MHz)591mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C33 (570.0MHz)591mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C36 (594.0MHz)591mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

LBS
 H -10dB
C30 (546.0MHz)591mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
from 22nd September 2014: 7 Made in Bristol,

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Mendip transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Points West 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS8 2LR, 25km north (3°)
to BBC West region - 60 masts.
regional news image
ITV West Country News (East) 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS4 3HG, 23km north (11°)
to ITV West region - 61 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (West)

Are there any self-help relays?

CheddarTransposer15 km E Weston-super-Mare1674 homes
LuccombeActive deflector6 km w Minehead38 homes

How will the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20102010-132013-182013-1727 Feb 2018
C/D EEEC/D EC/D E TW TW T
C30_local
C32BBCA
C33com7com7
C34D3+4
C35com8com8
C36ArqB
C37C5wavesC5waves
C48SDNSDNSDNSDN
C49tv_off BBCABBCA
C51tv_offLBSLBS
C52tv_offArqBArqBArqB
C54tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offArqAArqAArqACOM8tv_off
C58tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCBBBCB
C61ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCA
C64BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 24 Mar 10 and 7 Apr 10.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

Analogue 1-4 500kW
Analogue 5(-6dB) 126kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 100kW
com7(-8.4dB) 72.4kW
com8(-8.6dB) 69.1kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*, LBS(-17dB) 10kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Mendip transmitter area

Jan 1958-Jul 1968Television Wales and the West
Jul 1968-Feb 2004Harlech Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Mendip was not an original Channel 3 VHF 405-line mast: the historical information shown is the details of the company responsible for the transmitter when it began transmitting Channel 3.

Comments
Friday, 20 January 2012
V
Velia Glasby
5:30 PM
Shaftesbury

I am in post code SP7 8BG and would like to know dates and times of updates for the Mendip transmitter please

link to this comment
Velia Glasby's 1 post GB flag
Velia's: mapV's Freeview map terrainV's terrain plot wavesV's frequency data V's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:33 PM

Velia Glasby: You will need to retune on 28th March when two of the multiplexes change frequencies and their power is increased.

Arqiva A (Pick TV etc) is currently on Ch67 at 26kW and will move to Ch56 at 100kW on 28th March.

Arqiva B (Yesterday etc) is currently on Ch52 at 25.7kW and will stay on Ch52 but will be increased to a power of 100kW.

The other four multiplexes are currently at their full final power of 100kW.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Monday, 23 January 2012
M
marie
11:48 AM
Bristol

What has happened to PSB2 or D3+4 from Mendip ( or therafter from Backwell) this morning, the signal is 24% and quality around 10%?

link to this comment
marie's 3 posts GB flag
marie's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 24 January 2012
F
F Canfield
9:41 PM
Weston-super-mare

BS22 7FN
I have a small wide screen DIGITAL/FREEVIEW TV. It is in the Kitchen(Which I am now refurbishing)The only major thing I have done is to take down a wooden breakfast bar from the centre of the kitchen the TV was on this. I had a cupboard under the breakfast bar and have moved this up against an inside wall. I have put the TV back on top of this more or less in the same position as previous. The indoor multi flat aerial is in the same position as it always was. So little has changed in the positioning of the TV/Aerial. However when I re-connected the TV I get "no signal" whearas before I did get quite a few channels. Done a first time intallation but still saying no signal(no channels list/pick up as re-tuning. However took the TV and connected to my loft aerial and it picks up channels o.k. so TV or Aerial socket is o.k. Tried another indoor aerial and new cables still no signal.
BUT why cant I get the same in my kitchen as I did before has the signal weakened or has a skyscaper been built between me and my TV?

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F Canfield's 5 posts GB flag
F's: mapF's Freeview map terrainF's terrain plot wavesF's frequency data F's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:48 PM

F Canfield: As you moved the breakfast bar to the side of the room did you also have to move the aerial position? even if only about 6 or 7 feet or so.

If you did and you are using an indoor type with a small stand try temporarily moving it back to approximately the previous position and carrying out another re-scan, as unless you were previously receiving the local Kewstoke transmitter @ 1 mile away the other main stations are Mendip and Wenvoe at 16 & 17mls away, and an indoor aerial used at these distances can show large differences in reception even if only moved by about 3 feet or so, and it might be this that's causing the problem.

If none of whats said applies, then how is the TV connected into the aerial, in other words what route does the cable take?

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 25 January 2012
F
F Canfield
9:54 PM

jb38: Yes moved aerial BUT put TV and aerial back in same positions within a Knat's whisker. Tried moving about 3-6ft either way and up and down. The existing aerial is a "One For All" with an amplifier. The aerial plugs into the amplifier block this then plugs into back of TV. Tried putting aerial in direct without amplifier still no go. Thought aerial might be at fault so purchased a TCE 2001 aerial-still no go.
Did a double re-tune without aerial in and again with-still no go. Tried TV in rooms near kitchen to see a signal could be picked up and even in a conservatory-still no go. Checked settings is set to DTV and scans for UHF channels. A weird problems this, seems indoor aerial no longer picking up signals, only the loft aerial. The only thing I can see that might have changed looking around is that two nieghbours between me an Mendip direction have installed Solar Panels but these are installed on the opposing sides of the roofs (Not facing reflecting directly towards my house) Cannot say that this problem started then but just an observation.

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F Canfield's 5 posts GB flag
Thursday, 26 January 2012
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

7:30 AM

marie: No problems were reported, can you please see Single frequency interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice ?

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:45 AM

F Canfield: Its a pity in a way that you re-tuned the TV as by doing so you will have scrubbed its memory of the channels stored, as although your reception might appear to have been lost in 99.9% of the time on any TV / set top box its still there, but is just sitting at a level underneath the reception threshold of the equipment being used for reception.

I think though that by you effectively back tracking on what you have done has somewhat proven the point that the situation is potentially out with your control, because if the panels you refer to on the other property were already there you can really discount them as a possible cause of the problem, albeit that they can have an effect on a signal in exactly the same way as a sheet of metal would, as with any indoor aerials of the same room variety unless a reasonably clear line of site exists towards the transmitter then reflective elements have to come into the equation to be able to receive workable signal in the first place at that distance.

I suggest that to give you a better idea of what's happening you should connect the TV onto the loft aerial again purely for tune up purposes, then once completed and having tested the reception as being OK over a few channels (use BBC / ITV1/ ITV3) go into the TV's tuning menu / signal check screen and observe the level being seen for both strength / quality "if" it has this type of indication, as some only have one indication bar but whatever type note the level its at.

Once that's done take the set back to the kitchen and re-connect the aerial again then select any one of the channels previously checked, and even although the screen might be blank go into the tuning menu signal check area and have a look at the strength indication, leave it on that whilst you move the aerial about observing any changes whilst carrying out this action, as you are really using the TV as a form of electronic signal meter which will at least give you instant feedback on where the best signal is in the room. (if that is anywhere!)

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
F
F Canfield
10:11 PM

Mmmm Well I'll give that a go and see what I find. What I will also do (which I have not yet tried) is to try the TV upstairs with the indoor aerial just to see if height gives me a better signal. After that I think I've had it. I'll have to get an exetrnal aerial and drill a few holes!
Thanks anyway. I'll advise re your testing advice and at least advise the result.

Regards
FC

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F Canfield's 5 posts GB flag
Friday, 27 January 2012
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:43 AM

F Canfield: Yes please do! as I would be interested in what you find.

The point is though, that when I suggested carrying out a test using the procedure mentioned it was basically because that anyone trying to get a picture by moving an indoor aerial about whilst "not" using the signal strength bar as a guide, hasn't really any clues as to whether a movement one way or the other is causing a signal to increase or the reverse, with this even applying if the picture does suddenly come on, as unlike analogue where speckles start appearing as a signal drops, with digital reception the picture quality doesn't change from a signal that's reached just above the reception threshold and no more, right up to one that full strength to the point of near overload.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
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