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Full Freeview on the Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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The symbol shows the location of the Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) transmitter which serves 72,000 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 Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) mast?

Carmel transmitter - Carmel 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
_______

Which Freeview channels does the Carmel 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
C23- (489.8MHz)411mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Wales, 2 BBC Two Wales, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 14 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C26 (514.0MHz)411mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
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 (Wales),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C29 (538.0MHz)411mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Wales, 102 BBC Two HD Wales, 104 Channel 4 HD South ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 110 Channel 4 HD (Wales), 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 H -3dB
C33 (570.0MHz)411mDTG-810,000W
Channel icons
 E4 (Wales), 20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 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 -3dB
C36 (594.0MHz)411mDTG-810,000W
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 -3dB
C48 (690.0MHz)411mDTG-810,000W
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

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

The Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) 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 Carmel transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Wales Today 1.2m homes 4.7%
from Cardiff CF5 2YQ, 68km east-southeast (122°)
to BBC Wales region - 206 masts.
regional news image
ITV Cymru Wales 1.2m homes 4.7%
from Cardiff CF5 6XJ, 68km southeast (127°)
to ITV Wales region - 206 masts.

Are there any self-help relays?

AbergorlechActive deflectorDyfed5 homes
CwmereActive deflector11 km NE Aberystwyth10 homes

How will the Carmel (Carmarthenshire, Wales) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20092009-132013-182013-1717 Jul 2019
C/D EC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D E TC/D E TW T
C23BBCA
C26D3+4
C29BBCB
C33SDN
C36ArqA
C48ArqB
C49tv_off ArqBArqB
C53tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C54tv_offSDNSDNSDN
C55tv_off_local_local_local_local
C57tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCBBBCB
C58tv_offArqAArqAArqA
C60tv_offITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves -BBCA-BBCA
C61ArqB
C63BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 26 Aug 09 and 23 Sep 09.

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

Analogue 1-4 100kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 20kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-10dB) 10kW
Mux A*(-13dB) 5kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux B*(-16dB) 2.5kW
Mux C*, Mux D*(-20dB) 1000W

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Carmel 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. Carmel 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.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

Radiation patterns withheld

Comments
Saturday, 8 February 2020
C
Cliff Phillips
12:15 PM

Since the change of frequencies last year on the Carmel Transmitter, I have been unable to receive channels 33 & 36 whilst the remaining channels are often subject to poor signal strength and atmospherics. Prior to the changes all channels were providing a good quality service. The question is what has happened? I've checked my antennae for direction (no change), and used different TV's, all with a similar outcome. Having retuned the TV several times I've been surprised that I'm now receiving better quality reception for BBC & ITV from transmitters in the South West of England. This has never happened before - and be assured my antennae has not moved. The only conclusion I can come to is that the radiation patters have changed. I would appreciate a response with solutions to restoring the reception back to its previously good standards.
SA334UB

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Cliff Phillips's 1 post GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:32 PM

Cliff Phillips:

Unfortunately you are not in a good spot there for reception of the COM multiplexes from Carmel, but you should be having no trouble with the PSB ones which you should have tuned on C23, C26 & C29 for the BBCB HD mux.
Are you getting COM6 on C48?

The fact that you say that the remaining channels are poor reception and subject to atmospherics makes me wonder how old your aerial is? The original Aerial Group for Carmel was a C/D and the changes now mean the all but COM6 are in Group A, so ideally a Group K aerial is best, although a Group T /Wideband covers the channels depending on the aerial chosen it's not as sensitive. A Group C/D aerial has a Green plug in the end if you can see the end of the aerial.

You mention that you are now getting better quality BBC/ITV from the South West (presumably Huntshaw Cross?). Apart from such signals travelling quite well across the water, if this was the last few days and/or back around the New Year period there have been some quite strong "atmospherics" - "Tropospheric Ducting" that can come with high pressure, but it has been unusually strong for the time of year, as is often not as strong even in summer. You are probably picking these signals up on "side-lobes" of your aerial's reception pattern. If you are not getting C33 & C36, you could try C32 & C34 from Huntshaw Cross but no reception is predicted but specific locations can have unexpected results. I'd not be optimistic because all those just mention channels are used by Mendip, which in all probability may give enough interfering signal at your particular location. You could try C42 & C45 from Wenvoe, but they aren't in your aerial's normal beamwidth and in any event you might get interference from Preseli.

Back to aerials, if you have an old Group C/D this will be the primary issue and it's a shame you didn't say something about it back then because you could get free support (normally a 3 month time limit) from Freeview if you don't have Satellite or Cable. However as you had problems with the PSB multiplexes lately with the Tropospheric Ducting I'd still see if you can get some free help - ring Freeview on 0808-100-0288 tell them it's been bad since July but especially so with the recent weather.

If you don't have an old aerial, post back with some more info and I'll make some other suggestions.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
M
Michael
sentiment_satisfiedGold

11:02 PM

Cliff, excellent advice from Chris., who has investigated your situation in detail. If you are receving good signals from Huntshaw Cross : welcome! The Bristol Channel is not our best friend. The tital rise and fall can enance and deplete the signal received. We had the same in former years with digital reception from Preseli and Carmel .

Warning: the weaker multiplexes (eg Sky News) from Huntshaw Cross frequently suffer interference, probably from France. I am myself considering a second aerial pointing at Carmel, so you might consider Huntshaw for the main channels and a separate aerial for local Welsh news etc. Now that all transmitters (multiplexes) have been reallocated to lower frequencies (Band A), you might have to install a new aerial for Huntshaw and another for Welsh transmitters, such as Kilvey-Hill, Preseli, Carmel, Wenvoe - or a local relay. That said, IF you have line-of-sight to the Sky position at 28E, you might find Freesat the most reliable option. Research on - and be wary of "cowboy installers! :-)

Keep us posted!

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Michael's 869 posts GB flag
Friday, 28 August 2020
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:28 PM

CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to a fault from 27 Aug 17:01 until 27 Aug 17:08. . [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Saturday, 5 September 2020
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:28 PM

CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Reduced quality due to a fault from 13 Aug 23:42 until 13 Aug 23:52. . [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Friday, 9 October 2020
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

7:25 PM

CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to essential engineering from 9 Oct 10:37 until 9 Oct 11:40. . [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Wednesday, 28 October 2020
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

1:27 PM

CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to essential engineering from 27 Oct 11:58 until 27 Oct 12:38. . [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Friday, 8 January 2021
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

7:54 AM

CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to a fault from 8 Jan 03:21 until 8 Jan 03:28. . [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Wednesday, 17 February 2021
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

1:51 PM

CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to essential engineering from 17 Feb 11:46. . FM: Slightly reduced power due to essential engineering from 17 Feb 12:29. . [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

2:10 PM

CARMEL transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to essential engineering from 17 Feb 11:46. . [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
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