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Full Freeview on the Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.997,-2.540 or 51°59'49"N 2°32'25"Wsa_postcodeHR8 2PG

 

The symbol shows the location of the Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) transmitter which serves 270,000 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 Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) mast?

Ridge Hill transmitter - Ridge Hill 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 Ridge 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C28 (530.0MHz)363mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) West Midlands, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 19 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C25 (506.0MHz)363mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (West micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) Midlands ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 Midlands ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Central west),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C22+ (482.2MHz)363mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD West Midlands, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Central West), 104 Channel 4 HD Midlands 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 -3dB
C21+ (474.2MHz)361mDTG-810,000W
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 -3dB
C24 (498.0MHz)366mDTG-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
C27 (522.0MHz)361mDTG-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

PSB2
D3+4west
 H max
C29 (538.0MHz)352mDTG-20,000W
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),

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

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

regional news image
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 69km northeast (39°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
regional news image
ITV Central News 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 69km northeast (39°)
to ITV Central (West) region - 65 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (East)

Are there any self-help relays?

WhittonTransposer35 km NW Hereford40 homes

How will the Ridge Hill (County of Herefordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1968-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-131 Mar 2018
VHFA K TA K TA K TW TW T
C6ITVwaves
C21+SDNSDN
C22BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves+BBCBBBCB
C24ArqAArqA
C25ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C27ArqBArqB
C28BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C29D3+4
C30_local
C32C4wavesC4wavesC4wavescom7
C34com8
C35C5wavesC5waves
C51tv_off_local_local
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off

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 Apr 11 and 20 Apr 11.

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

Analogue 1-5 100kW
BBCA, D3+4, PSB2 iw, BBCB(-7dB) 20kW
com7(-9.8dB) 10.5kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-10dB) 10kW
com8(-10.1dB) 9.8kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 2kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Ridge Hill transmitter area

Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision†
Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Associated TeleVision
Jan 1982-Feb 2004Central Independent 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.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

Radiation patterns withheld

Comments
Thursday, 9 June 2011
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:30 PM

Michael: no, it is not possible. ITV chose to carry an additional multiplex for ITV1 West, to match the former analogue service, but the BBC have never done so. The ITV1 service only started in 2008, when the former Central South sub-region was split, with the Oxford service joining Meridian North to form Thames Valley, and Ridge Hill broadcasting Central West Midlands.

Often organizations consolidate production in a small number of locations, not necessarily basing them in the area served by the programme. Since the ITV Thames Valley experiment closed down, Oxford news is now based in Southampton.

link to this comment
Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
M
Michael
3:56 PM
Cheltenham

Dear Mike Dimmick

Thank you for your help on this. It would have been really nice to have a choice of local news i.e. BBC or ITV.

My point was not so much about where the news items were produced, as the fact that broadcasting Cheltenham news on BBC Points West which cannot be received in Cheltenham is pointless when all we can receive is BBC Midlands.

It looks like Cheltenham Freeview viewers will do best to rely on ITV West for local news. It doesn't leave one feeling valued by the BBC.

I accept that this is more of a programming than a transmitter issue. Once again thank you for your help.

link to this comment
Michael's 2 posts GB flag
Michael's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 10 June 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:45 AM

Michael: If you want to have all the BBC regions, you will need to use Freesat. Which BBC regions are on satellite? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice has details.

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Sunday, 12 June 2011
A
andrew mark
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:17 PM

Michael - I suggest you e-mail the BBC regional manager for the West to complain about the fact that you cannot get BBC Points West (which actually provides a superior news coverage of Gloucestershire than ITV West). This is a ridiculous situation and pressure must continued to be applied on the BBC. (Gloucester's MP is also on the case). The e-mail address is: Lucio.Mesquita@bbc.co.uk

link to this comment
andrew mark's 38 posts GB flag
Friday, 17 June 2011
C
Chris J
2:37 PM
Cheltenham

As I said previously the BBC original response was to get Cable or Satellite TV if you want to see your local news. I got a better response from the BBC in Gloucester admitting lots of people had complained but mentioned money was the problem. I have heard nothing from the Cheltenham MP who has not replied to my emails. I have noticed a very high proportion of houses with dishes in around Cheltenham and a lot have VM cable so perhaps most of those who want to watch Points West can already so are not interested in getting it from Ridge Hill. I have given up pestering the BBC about getting BBC West from Ridge Hill and bought a dish! I expect most people in the area are unaware ITV West is available and is probably found at channel 801 on their Freeview box.

link to this comment
Chris J's 18 posts GB flag
Chris's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 7 July 2011
Thursday, 14 July 2011
R
Roland Johnson
8:59 AM

we get our reception via the Oakley Mynd relay transmitter, when will we be able to get more of the freeview channels that we got via freesat and more important when are we likely to be able to get the BT Vision access to Sky sport?

link to this comment
Roland Johnson's 3 posts GB flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:28 PM

Roland Johnson: That all depends on the commercial multiplex operators extending their services to more transmitters. They turned down the option to do so at switchover, saying it would cost too much. These operators are focused on profit rather than public service.

I've heard rumours that they may extend to another 8 or 9 sites, but these are likely to be high-power sites that would add significantly to the overall covered area, particularly if populated with a wealthy demographic.

If you provide a full postcode, we can check the likelihood of getting a reliable service from Ridge Hill, or another main transmitter.

link to this comment
Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Monday, 18 July 2011
R
Roger K
10:52 AM

I live just outside Cheltenham and I am infuriated on a daily basis when I watch the "local" news (either channel although ITV is the worst). Why oh why as we live in the RidgeHill catchment area can we not get news from our own region. I am told that we could get news from the SW region (Bristol) how do I do this ? I have freeview. Surely in this day and age its not rocket science to expect (for the money we pay) to get news from our own region !

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Roger K's 2 posts GB flag
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