Full Freeview on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter

Brian Butterworth first published this on 1st May 2004 at 08:20 - UK Free TV

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54.868,-1.771 or 54°52'5"N 1°46'15"W

DH9 9AT

The symbol shows the location of the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter which serves 700,000 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 Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) mast?

Pontop Pike transmitter - Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 22/04/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name

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Which Freeview channels does the Pontop Pike 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.

Mux	H/V	Frequency	Height	Mode	Watts
PSB1 BBCA	H max	C39 (618.0MHz)	447m	DTG-	100,000W
	1 BBC One (SD) North East and Cumbria, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 16 others
PSB2 D3+4	H max	C42 (642.0MHz)	447m	DTG-	100,000W
	3 ITV 1 (SD) (Tyne Tees), 4 Channel 4 (SD) North ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 North ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Tyne Tees),
PSB3 BBCB	H max	C45 (666.0MHz)	447m	DTG-	100,000W
	46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD North East and Cumbria, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Granada), 104 Channel 4 HD North ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others 66 TBN UK,
COM4 SDN	H -3dB	C32 (562.0MHz)	447m	DTG-8	50,000W
	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	C34 (578.0MHz)	447m	DTG-8	50,000W
	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	C35 (586.0MHz)	447m	DTG-8	50,000W
	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
LNE	H -13dB	C33 (570.0MHz)	447m	DTG-12	5,000W
	from 22nd September 2014: 7 Made in Tyne and Wear,

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 Pontop Pike transmitter?

BBC Look North (Newcastle) 1.6m homes 6.0%
from Newcastle NE99 2NE, 15km northeast (42°)
to BBC North East and Cumbria region - 70 masts.

ITV Tyne Tees News 1.4m homes 5.4%
from Gateshead NE11 9SZ, 12km north-northeast (29°)
to ITV Tyne Tees region - 47 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with Border

Are there any self-help relays?

Kieldor Dam	Active deflector		6 homes Holiday complex
Low Haber	Active deflector	West Allen Dale, 18 kn SW Hexham	caravan site
North Hartlepool	Transposer		84 homes

How will the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

	1950s-80s	1984-97	1997-98	1998-2012	2012-13	13 Nov 2019
	VHF	C/D E	C/D E	C/D E	C/D E T	W T
C5	BBCtv_waves
C32						SDN
C33						com7
C34						com8
C35						ArqB
C39						BBCA
C42						D3+4
C45						BBCB
C49_{tv_off}					BBCB
C50_{tv_off}					SDN
C54_{tv_off}		C4_waves	C4_waves	C4_waves	D3+4
C55_{tv_off}					ArqB	com7_{tv_off}
C56_{tv_off}						LNE
C58_{tv_off}		BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBCA
C59_{tv_off}					ArqA
C61		ITV_waves	ITV_waves	ITV_waves
C64		BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves

_{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 12 Sep 12 and 26 Sep 12.

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

Analogue 1-4	500kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB	(-7dB) 100kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB	(-10dB) 50kW
com8	(-11.6dB) 34.6kW
com7	(-11.7dB) 33.8kW
Mux 1, Mux 2, Mux A, Mux B, Mux C, Mux D	(-17dB) 10kW
LNE	(-20dB) 5kW

Local transmitter maps

Pontop Pike Freeview Pontop Pike TV region BBC North East and Cumbria Tyne Tees

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Pontop Pike transmitter area

Jan 1959-Feb 2004	Tyne Tees Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014	ITV plc

Feb 1983-Dec 1992	TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010	GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014	ITV Daybreak•

• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Pontop Pike 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?

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

5:09 AM

- Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV week commencing 28/08/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

11:19 AM

- Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV week commencing 04/09/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

5:09 AM

- Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV week commencing 11/09/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all [DUK]

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M

Mark
10:13 AM

I repaired a flooded about a month ago, then started to get break-up and drops from . I assumed my repair hadn't been a complete success, and fitted a new K-band and coax , foolishly without checking for works.

What are all the "Engineering Works" doing, and why are they going on so long?
They have been continuing for at least the last 4 weeks on pretty much every , according to https://www.freeview.co.u…rks.

At least I now have the same quality signal as I had with the original aerial, but without the need for the mast amplifier.

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Mark's 2 posts GB flag

C

Chris.SE

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

2:36 PM

Mark:

It sounds as though your system may well have been degrading for some time, especially if it was at least ten years old and you had water in a pre-amp, the chances are the coax was compromised as well. You mentioned it was a aerial, if it was (and not an old Group C/D - the original group for ) *I assume it was replace at some 10+ years ago.

You've certainly done the right think by installing a Group K aerial to cover the UHF used by Pontop Pike and it will likely have a better response at the lower channels than a wideband. Additionally Group K is designed to minimise response above UHF where those frequencies may now be used for new/updated mobile signals which could present an problem.
If you have any such masts near you, you may still suffer a problem but can get a Free Filter from https://restoretv.uk/ but as you haven't given a full postcode I can't advise whether you should have received a postcard from them, but you can check on their website. (There have been a few cases where thpostcards should have been sent but weren't/were not received!).

I you used double screened coax such as CT100 or similar to minimise the risk of future interference.

I'm afraid Arqiva never giver details of what the work entails or how long it will last as some of it may be weather dependant. Clearly such work is better done at this time of year when weather is not so inclement. It's a good ten years since DSO and one would image that most transmitters will need a lot of maintenance checks etc. This isn't the only where works have been running on and off for several weeks. In addition to which they may well be carrying out additional checks since the fire at to try and ensure such things don't happen elsewhere!

Pontop Pike has been listed for Planned since the 28th August so hopefully any work/maintenance may be nearing completion, however you shouldn't find a continuous reduction in your strength and signal on all multiplexes unless they are having to continuously use the reserve for some reason.
Check your signal strength and quality figures in your tuning section, you should have 100% quality on all multiplexes if there is no problem (except in adverse conditions) and a high signal strength.

The lists of Planned Engineering do change each week and you'll find a "rotation" of transmitters affected.

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Chris.SE's 4,153 posts GB flag

M

Mark
11:22 AM

Chris.SE: I am in SR4 area. aerial was fitted in 2006 and I did get a free at800 filter (which made no difference when I removed it). Had no problems till -tie snapped and it filled with water. Used 15 metres of RG6 cable, not CT100. SNR on is 82% according to / box. This was dropping to 50% momentarily when the was breaking up. on TV always shows 100%. Not noticed any dropouts since last week.

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Mark's 2 posts GB flag

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Chris.SE

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

2:16 PM

Mark:

Just to be clear, the at800 filter is the band which was cleared for mobile use many years ago now, clearly you didn't have any problems at the time.
The filters for the band are different (but would also block 800MHz). As I mentioned, go to https://restoretv.uk and check your full postcode there.
(A partial SR4 code isn't of any, it's a wide area).

Normal strengths around 80% should be fine especially if you consistently have 100% .

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Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

10:47 AM

- Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV week commencing 16/10/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

5:10 AM

- Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV week commencing 23/10/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

5:11 AM

- Pontop Pike transmitter: Possible effect on TV week commencing 30/10/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all [DUK]

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Page 118

Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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