Full Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.237,-2.626 or 51°14'12"N 2°37'33"W |  | BA5 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 22/05/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
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 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.
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?
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?
| Cheddar | Transposer | 15 km E Weston-super-Mare | 1674 homes |
| Luccombe | Active deflector | 6 km w Minehead | 38 homes |
How will the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2010 | 2010-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-17 | 27 Feb 2018 | |||
| C/D E | E | E | C/D E | C/D E T | W T | W T | |||
| C30 | _local | ||||||||
| C32 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C33 | com7 | com7 | |||||||
| C34 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C35 | com8 | com8 | |||||||
| C36 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C37 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C48 | SDN | SDN | SDN | SDN | |||||
| C49tv_off | BBCA | BBCA | |||||||
| C51tv_off | LBS | LBS | |||||||
| C52tv_off | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | ||||||
| C54tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | ArqA | ArqA | ArqA | COM8tv_off | |||||
| C58tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | |||
| C61 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | |||||
| C64 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves |
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
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Friday, 22 April 2016
@ Dr J Harvey, I would suggest checking that your aerial hasn't been moved out of alignment with the signal during stormy weather. Then check that the cable is OK. If both are fine, I would suggest that maybe you need a higher gain aerial or just possibly attenuation of the signal. The best thing to do is seek the services of an aerial installer. There is no reason why your system shouldn't work on channels 48 and 49. Unlike analogue, digital signals on adjacent channels do not interfere with each other.
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Charles's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data wifiC's R&TI Service businessC's digitaluk trade radioC's DAB coverage
Thursday, 28 April 2016
N
nicholas9:28 PM
Hi,i would do a replacement of all the cable and the aerial if it old,try an indoor aerial and scan to see what
the local field strength is like.You could try inverting the aerial,inverted signal was a chronic vhf problem
in areas of swindon.Try aerial at ground level,local buildings can cause chronic moving fading problems
where the signal are bound around like a yo-yo
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N
nicholas9:35 PM
JC: Hi,loss of signal can be due to inversion loss,in vhf days,swindon was badly affected due to the
signals being twisted by the terain,try inverting the aerial,try at ground level,but perhaps replace all
coax and plugs first.
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N
nicholas9:43 PM
Hi,it seems lot of the problems here are caused by signal twisting,absolutely chronic in vhf days,try in all
cases,renew all coaxial cable and plugs,get indooor aerial and scan to see what the local field strength
is like,relocating the aerials,try ground level but also inverting the aerials,signal twisting may be yr problem,local high buildings can cancel one or more channels,the signals are bounced around like
a yo-yo.
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Saturday, 14 May 2016
T
Tim11:26 PM
To Dr. Harvey of Chippenham,The issue of adjacent channels is no longer relevant because the mechanism used for Freeview to transmit a multiplex uses thousands of low bandwidth carriers tightly packed together. This means that its use of the spectrum is almost rectangular with no leakage so no problem in packing in another one in right next door.I am also of the Chippenham area and get consistent 100% quality and ~45% strength on cha 48 and 49, something else must be wrong.If you still have the aerial from times when analogue TV existed you may want to change it for a wideband "log periodic" one combined with a masthead amp, this will future proof you for when the signals really leave the original band in 2019 and overall will give you better reception characteristics.Tim.
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Sunday, 15 May 2016
MikeP
4:13 PM
Trowbridge
4:13 PM
Trowbridge
Tim
Having previously lived near Chippenham, I am aware that most parts of the town do not need any amplification at all provided that a good quality aerial is being used, we used to have an 11 element Group C/D Yagi without amplification and had excellent reception. Generally, age does not matter as long as the condition of the terminals is good without any corrosion and the cable is in good condition.
I agree a good log-periodic will make the installation as future-proof as possible, bearing in mind that we do not know for certain what the channel allocation plans are much beyond 2020.
Note also that there is no such thing as a 'digital aerial' as all UHF aerials can receive the Freeview signals - they are standard RF signals carrying a modulation. That used to be in an analogue format but is now in a digital format - but the RF signal has not changed at all. The modulation format makes no difference to the ability of an aerial to receive the carrier signal.
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T
Tim11:11 PM
To MikeP, re: amplification, log periodics have less gain than banded "contract" yagi aerials and so a masthead amp is generally recommended, some coming with them built in. They have the benefit of wideband reception and also a tighter focus on the transmitter with better rejection of "noises off", but need an amp to produce the same output as a yagi. I agree about "digital" aerials, all signals are transmitted in analogue form ultimately.
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Monday, 16 May 2016
MikeP
2:14 PM
Trowbridge
2:14 PM
Trowbridge
Tim:
Agreed if the log-periodic is not large enough. If, however, one of sufficient elements is used then no amplification is needed. That is the better solution as an amplified will not on;y increase the wanted signal strength but also any unwanted signals as well! So iis, and always has been, better to use an aerial of sufficient inherent gain. Log-periodics are available with many elements, I know of 36 element types (see http://www.trade-works.co…625) and there may well be some available with up to 72 elements. Most seem to be 20, 22 or 28 element which may not give sufficient inherent gain, but rather than adding noise with an amplifier it is always better top swap the aerial for a higher gain design.
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T
Tim3:14 PM
To MikeP: I have a Vision log periodic V10-040, the predecessor to the one you link to, see a picture here (not mine): http://www.satcure.co.uk/…shed . See here for an explanation of the gain differences between log periodics and more commonplace aerials: http://www.satcure.co.uk/…raph - see how even a "Rolls Royce" log periodic's output is much lower than a Yagi's. The point of the amp is not to amplify the received signal and noise (providing little benefit as you say) but to help overcome losses by boosting the signal for a noisy, lossy and often long downlink cable, which can be very lossy at UHF frequencies, when using an aerial producing less gain. On aggregate this arrangement with a log periodic produces better results than a Yagi. If the downlink cable is short, like the shed installation, then it is unlikely to be of much benefit.
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Tuesday, 17 May 2016
D
David12:04 PM
I'm in Bath (BA1), high up with a high gain, wide band ariel pointing at Mendip transmitter, which feeds various rooms in my house via an indoor distribution amp. I've always had strong reception but in the last few weeks a number of channels (eg Sky news, Dave, Yesterday, E4, Pick etc) have poor signal, lots of pixellating, sometimes zero signal. There seem to be no reports of transmitter problems, visibly ariel looks OK and I get 100% signal on the 'good' stations. This is common to all TVs and PVRs in the house. Retuning makes no difference. Any ideas anyone? Or anyone else in the area with the same problem? Thanks.
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