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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
Thursday, 27 June 2019
C
Carole
3:34 PM
Bristol

Carole: I have yet again tuned my system, and I can see all the channels clearly, except for 81, which is breaking up and low signal strength. Could someone explain to me without using a lot of technospeak how I can fix this? It was fine for years until the last few months. Since then I have had poor service, but with occasional good spots. I have not changed my tv, aerial or anything else. BS10 6NS

link to this comment
Carole's 6 posts GB flag
Carole's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:43 PM

Carole:

Because of recent changes to the frequencies being used, you need to have your aerial changed to a wideband type so it can receive the COM7 and COM8 broadcasts better. Channel 81 is on COM7.

If you do not have cable or satellite you may qualify for a free aerial replacement by contacting the Frevview support by looking at Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview or ringing them on 0808 100 0288.



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

9:17 PM

Carole : It's possible that it's picking it up from the wrong transmitter.

If so, you might find a better signal one at the end of your channels list in the 800's

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satman's 47 posts US flag
Friday, 28 June 2019
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:33 PM

Carole:

As satman has already said, it's possible you are picking up the wrong transmitter. I'm afraid MikeP seems to have made an error there, as Talking Pictures on 81 is on ArqB multiplex UHF36 from Mendip, so in your particular location you will be getting strong signals from Wenvoe, and despite the predicted coverage you could even be tuned to Kings Weston. Are you getting similar issues with Ideal World, Yesterday or 4seven for example - all on the same multiplex? Can you get the Bristol Local mux ok, try LCN channel 7. Do you have anything on LCN channel 8?

Did you do a manual tune or an automatic one? Have you tried to look at the tuning settings to see what UHF channels you are actually tuned to? Your TV setup may have asked you to set a region, and even setting it to West, you'll still get Kings Weston.

How old is your aerial? If it's not a Wideband type (or type T) it could be a quirk in the performance that means you aren't getting UHF36 quite as well as the others lower down.

If you are struggling to find information in your Settings about the precise tunings you have, please tell us the exact model of TV that you have and someone may be able to tell you the exact methods to use - do you still have the manual for it?

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:53 PM

Dean:

A similar question about the age of your aerial as I've mentioned to Carole.
Now BS8 has a lot of buildings of varying height in it, so it'll depend exactly where you are. Put your full postcode into Digital UK - Coverage checker to see what it predicts for UHF36, and also try it again with your house number to see if it gives a different result.

MikeDow:

That's good news Mike, considering your location getting such good signals from Mendip! Might be a bit frustrating for local news though (unless you can get a decent signal from Rowridge off the back of your aerial).

Everyone that gets very good signals (in general) from Wenvoe:

You may find that the signal strength you are now getting from Mendip for COMs 7&8 (UHF55&56) is not as good as before even though you get 100% quality. In my particular location it's down a lot, which at present I can only put down to interference from Wenvoe & Oxford (as I also get signals from there). That of course is unless there is a Mendip Transmitter fault and the power is down (it's supposedly the same as before the changes) as I'm not convince the Fault reporting is up-to-date/correct, as the Bristol Local Mux was off-air/low power in the latter hours of last night and that has yet to be reported!


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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Saturday, 29 June 2019
D
DL
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

10:18 AM

Much mention here of a wideband ariel but how can one tell which ariel you have? Visually? Had mine upgraded a couple of years ago. Previous was like most of the ones around my location - many short "uprights" same size on a long beam with a smallish reflector on the rear. New one much more like an old VHF radio ariel. Thanks.

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DL's 25 posts GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:03 AM

DL:

The aerials all carry a colour coded insert at the end of the horizontal pole to which the elements are attached. You can look at Untitled to see a list of the colours and what they mean. A wideband aerial will have either a grey or a black insert, grey being for a type K aerial which covers channels 21 to 48 whilst a Group W has black inserts and covers channel 21 to 68. If the inserts are red, yellow, green or brown then it is not a wideband aerial but a grouped aerial and is now unlikely to help receive all the available channels.

I use a pair of binoculars to focus on the ends of the horizontal main beam to see the inserts.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:23 PM
Badminton

Carole:

Further to my last post to you, a couple more thoughts/queries. Is your aerial on the chimney? Do you have more than one aerial? Have you looked at your aerial recently to make sure it hasn't fallen down or moved? Do you have an aerial amplifier and/or splitter to feed more than one TV or box?

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Chris.SE's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 30 June 2019
D
DL
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

10:04 AM
Bath

Thanks Chris, indeed I WAS looking at my ancient radio ariel!! Duh! New TV one IS on the chimney, is stable and feeds a number of rooms in my house via an amplified distribution device (which is also relatively new). Ariel is similar to the old one but with a larger reflector and points to Mendip and is some way away from th radio one. Can't see the colours - I'll have to dig out some old binoculars. Generally good reception, just puzzled with freeview problems. ie When I set a recording and the transmition times change my PVRs do'nt always adjust their start/stop times accordingly (as they always used to). Anyone else have this problem? (Using latest Humax PVRs - they couldn't explain why! David (BA1 5JL)

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DL's 25 posts GB flag
DL's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 1 July 2019
A
Ann Lloyd
7:06 PM
Warminster

Can you please explain why since the retune on the 19th myself and my neighbours in BA12 6BX have no HD channels, ITV, Channel 4 & 5 and countless other channels are no longer available. Thank you

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Ann Lloyd's 1 post GB flag
Ann's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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