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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 25/03/2024 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
Tuesday, 18 November 2014
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:29 PM

Steve: have you checked your signal strength - it could well be that common problem of too much signal - Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you

There seems to be a lot of it around at the moment

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Monday, 24 November 2014
S
Steve
6:06 PM

MikeB: Hi Mike and thanks for your suggestion. I've not looked at signal strength before so I've taken the following readings from our Sony TV (gives % quality and strength) and TVOnics PVR (displays an analogue 'progress bar' for strength so a visual estimate). ITV/C4 channels remain unstable since your post.
18 Nov 6:15pm weather unsettled %Qual %Strength
TV BBC1 83 38
ITV 21 34
C4 23 34
PVR BBC1 60
ITV 60
C4 60
Didn't record BBC figures after this as it has been fine, and no further figures for any channel on the PVR as it remained about 60%. The rest are just for the TV.
19 Nov 10:40pm weather fine
ITV 46 38
C4 37 38
20 Nov 6:30pm weather unsettled
ITV/C4/More4 etc 0 26
24 Nov 5:15pm
ITV/C4 16 30

I'm not sure what to make of these figures. PVR signal strength seems to be almost double the TV whatever the channel. Signal quality seems more significant; compared with BBC1 (80/90%), ITV/C4 ranges from 0 - 34. NB I did rescan both units when this problem first started. I haven't found any other references to viewers having these problems and this has been the longest duration of reception problems that I can remember. Any further help or suggestions gratefully received!

Cheers,
Steve

link to this comment
Steve's 2 posts GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:19 PM

Steve: It probably would be helpful to put in a postcode when you next post, so we can the signal path etc. However, its seems your right - the PVR is fine (ok, not fantastic, but if your are on the edge of reception, understandable), but not the TV. TVOnics tuners should be not much different from Humax (if I remmber the reviews), and I know Sony turners are really sensitive.

Ok - is the signal coming into the the PVR, and then being looped through the PVR and sent on to the TV? If so, it might as simple as a duff aerial lead! Try replacing the one from the PVR to the TV, and see if it makes any difference. Frankly, if you go to Poundland, you might get some Belkin ones for a quid, so buy two and see if there is any difference when you replace both.

If there is no difference, at least you can cross it off the list, for a couple of quid.

BTW - this new layout isn't really working all that well, or is it just me?

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Sunday, 30 November 2014
B
Bob F
10:50 PM
Stonehouse

Our post code is GL10 3BJ - Eastington and we receive Freeview from Mendip.
Why does the map show that we can't get Freeview TV from Mendip please?


link to this comment
Bob F's 7 posts GB flag
Bob's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 1 December 2014
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:17 AM

Bob F: Basically because coverage maps or reception predictors cannot by their very nature be 100% accurate, nor indeed can any prediction involving terrestrial RF signals as so many variables apply, and with in your particular case indications being that you are on the doorstep of a so called dead spot for reception, the terrain indicator revealing a rather large line-of-sight blockage to the signal path between Mendip and you whereby any signal received is via diffraction (signal bending), this generally resulting in reception being vulnerable to changes in atmospheric conditions at certain times of the year, or even weather related conditions that affect the surface of the terrain, a frequent reason for random picture glitching cropping up now and again for no apparent reason.

Or to put it another way, the only prediction that can ever be 100% accurate is in cases where cable is used to supply the signal to a household.

Obstruction referred to seen by opening the link.


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location



link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

11:09 AM

MENDIP transmitter - MainPossible weak signal [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
B
Bob F
3:37 PM

Many thanks jb38 for your helpful information.

link to this comment
Bob F's 7 posts GB flag
Saturday, 6 December 2014
Simon
4:24 PM

Is there still a possible weak signal on this transmitted? Lost all channels on my TV

link to this comment
Simon's 9 posts GB flag
Sunday, 7 December 2014
R
Rob Page
8:09 PM

I have had no signal for my TV all afternoon and evening ?
Please can you tell me what is going on ?
I live near shepton mallet, Somerset and so I presume my transmitter is the Mendip Transmitter

link to this comment
Rob Page's 1 post GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:25 PM

Rob Page:

I'm on the Mendip transmitter and there has not been any problem at all. Perhaps it is worth checking your aerial system and all the connections?

link to this comment
MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
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