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

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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
Tuesday, 6 March 2018
P
Paul Evans
2:25 PM
Bromsgrove

I have retuned my Youview box and I no longer get Chs 106 and 107, BBC4 HD and BBC News HD. I don't tend to watch the other offerings on the Com 7 and Com 8 Muxs. I can understand that the recent bad weather may have prevented the changeover going smoothly. Can anyone shed any light on whether there is a problem with channels 32 and 34 on Ridge Hill? I am at B60 3DE and prior to the retune had no problems. I did unplug the aerial, retune, plug in again and retune.

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Paul Evans's 3 posts GB flag
Paul's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:25 PM

Paul Evans: COM7 & COM8 moved to UHF channels 55 and 56 at Ridge Hill on 1st March, although they are predicted to be significantly weaker than the other COM muxes at your postcode.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
P
Paul Evans
4:13 PM
Bromsgrove

Thanks for that. The move is not very clear on the chart above. Changing the channels is not hugely helpful to those that want decent TV reception of a couple of fairly mainstream HD channels!
If it were me I'd kick a few other channels into the wide blue yonder, 45, 105 and 204, perhaps. But then perhaps I'm just a grumpy old git...

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Paul Evans's 3 posts GB flag
Paul's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 7 March 2018
R
Richard Baylis
12:14 PM

Ridge Hill is my only transmitter option and is far enough away that I do suffer from channels being unavailable at time of adverse weather conditions. Yet I too am now suffering from the move of these mainstream HD channels to the weaker muxs and currently cannot get BBC News HD, BBC4 HD, etc. Which is a travesty. What muppet is responsible for this and who do we have to target with a petition to get it put back the way it was? With the prevelence of PVRs, USB connected storage options and catch up service ces, why do we need the ridiculous abundance of +1 hour channels? Kick them off to make the room. No one need lose any of the low quality channels, even though I'd personally like love to see them consigned to the dustbin to make room for more quality offerings. It's frustrating that E4 isn't offered in HD on freeview for a start.

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Richard Baylis's 7 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:50 PM

Richard Baylis: Frequency changes are planned and co-ordinated by Ofcom. You would be wasting your time with a petition as these changes have been planned over the last few years (in conjunction with the rest of Europe although nothing to do with the EU) in order to free up the 700MHz band so that it can be auctioned to the mobile networks for future 4G/5G mobile services when the frequency clearance program is completed in 2020.

BBC News HD & BBC Four HD are broadcast on the temporary COM7 & COM8 multiplexes. Removal of +1 channels isn't going to happen as they are all broadcast by commercial broadcasters who pay for the broadcast capacity used for theses channels and removing the few that broadcast full time on Freeview (several of them are just placeholders that only broadcast for a couple of hours overnight to reserve a channel number) would not create sufficient space for a HD channel anyway. E4 HD is a subscription channel which only exists as a result of receiving subscription income from Sky and Virgin in exchange for the HD version being available to their subscribers.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
Thursday, 8 March 2018
R
Richard Baylis
11:45 AM

@StevensOnin1, So what you are saying then that changes are planned without any consideration for the loss of major broadcast channels for a proportion of populace that live in more remote areas to provide for future mobile capacity that also doesn't cater for people in remote rural areas. Terrific.

It doesn't interest me in the slightest that commercial companies pay to broadcast the largely redundant +1 services. Availability of major channels in HD to everyone should be prioritised over time shift channels and minor interest channels. Surely the plethora of timewarp TV and shopping channels could be moved to the ones that we now fail to receive BBC News HD on? Those nearer the transmitters would be far more numerous and still able to get them if they desired.

But, as you say, the authorities don't give a damn about actual quality of Service and only are looking at s and EUROs Then they wonder why some people resort to illegal means of obtaining a full range of channels using IPTV!

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Richard Baylis's 7 posts GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

4:16 PM

Richard Baylis: 'So what you are saying then that changes are planned without any consideration for the loss of major broadcast channels for a proportion of populace that live in more remote areas to provide for future mobile capacity that also doesn't cater for people in remote rural areas. Terrific. '

Steve's not saying that at all. He's simply pointing out that such changes are long planned, and try their best to cover as many people as possible. Has anyone actually lost 'major broadcast channels' - if they have they were pretty marginal anyway.

And if your in a remote rural area, you do have to put up with fewer services than those in built up areas - you probably dont have too many world class heart centres in your village either. If you want the full range of channels (bar C4 HD), then go for Freesat.

Whatever you might think of plus 1 channels, the reality is that they pay the bills - someone has to pay for the transmitters, and the bulk of those are commercial channels, who are interested in the bottom line - they have to be. You cant supply all channels on all transmitters, and somethings are not going to be possible with the existing capacity.

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Friday, 9 March 2018
R
Richard Baylis
11:20 AM

I accept your point that we rural dwellers are disadvantaged in many ways. We've only just got fibre broadband and still don't have mobile coverage. Of course, we have many advantages of rural living too. In my case, it wasn't a matter of choice so I do feel more annoyed than those who might have made a conscious decision to locate to the country.
But my point is that our regulators are letting people down by putting money considerations over availability of channels that are from a public service broadcaster and paid for by our licence fees. True, those channels that we are now unlikely to receive due to the changes are also available in SD, but on a large screen TV look so much better in HD it isn't unreasonable for us to expect them to be part of the ring fenced service delivery.
You can spout commercial realities to me as much as you like, but I still think it is a very poor decision by the regulators and distinctly anti-consumer.

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Richard Baylis's 7 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:41 PM

Richard Baylis: BBC News HD and BBC Four HD are broadcast on commercial multiplexes because there isn't space for them on the BBC's own capacity. This has nothing to do with any regulator. It's far better that BBC News HD and BBC Four HD are on commercial capacity with limited coverage, whereas if COM7 & COM8 didn't exist they probably wouldn't be on Freeview at all.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
R
Richard Baylis
8:29 PM

I'm not going to respond at all after this post as it's clear that there are apologists on here for the bad decisions being made by the regulators and the attitude is we have to put up with it. Which is a pretty poor attitude. Any way you cut it the principle of prioritising access to quality HD broadcasting to as many people as possible has been thrown out in favour of purely commercial considerations. Prior to these changes I could get channels 107 - 113 and now I can't. Added to the fact that 108 is Al Jazeera HD which is not broadcast in SD so that is a channel now denied to me. As I consider it's world news output vastly superior to the BBC that is a significant loss and you can't fudge that by saying I'm only losing channels that I can watch in SD. Channel 113 is RT HD that is another not broadcast elsewhere on Freeview in SD. It's a bad decision and that's it. I can't see any good reason why these channels couldn't have stayed where they were and other far less important channels could have shifted to the weaker parts of the transmission system. Like most consumers I have been sold on the idea of large screens HD capable screens and bought an expensive Freeview PVR and blu ray player, only now to see a dwindling number of HD channels due to the need to flog more capacity to mobile networks that can't even be arsed to provide proper coverage in rural areas. I was in Turkey last year and got a mobile signal wherever I went, even five miles out at sea. Yet the UK is lagging behind once again and we are told we just have to put up with it. And you wonder why I sound angry?

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Richard Baylis's 7 posts GB flag
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