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 05/06/2023 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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Tuesday, 21 June 2011
C
Colin11:15 PM
Gillingham
We live in Gillingham, Dorset
Have lost several channels recently - Fiver, 5USA ITV4 etc
I have the biggest aerial one can buy and I still cant pick up all the free view channels!! When will the "very Low" band be improved. Why do we pay 100% TV licence when we do get 100% of the channels
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Wednesday, 22 June 2011
M
Mike Dimmick3:13 PM
Colin: Check that your box hasn't decided to tune into Stockland Hill instead. Some just store the first version of the channels that they find, and Stockland Hill is on lower frequencies. The prediction for the commercial muxes from Stockland Hill is variable or poor, and the aerial will pick up less signal from that direction, but it could still be enough to detect the services. Changes at other transmitters, particularly Ridge Hill which now uses the same frequencies, could have made it worse. See Digital Region Overlap for some thoughts on how to fix this.
"I have the biggest aerial one can buy."
That could be your problem. Digital UK's postcode checker shows a prediction of 99-100% across the board, and it's usually a bit pessimistic.
There's a slight terrain restriction which will reduce levels slightly compared to clear line-of-sight. Line-of-sight levels are expected to be 80 dBuV max, on Mux 2/D3&4 (C54) and minimum 69.6 dBuV on Mux A/SDN (C62). These figures include 10 dBd of aerial gain, which is what Digital UK use in their predictions. The recommended upper limit, to avoid intermodulation, is 65 dBuV.
If you have any amplification, you should remove it. You will probably also need to add some attenuation to bring levels into spec.
As far as the TV licence goes, it's your licence to own and operate a TV. That's it. You have to pay the full rate if you own a colour TV. You can still pay a reduced rate for a monochome TV, bizarrely. The funds from the licence fee go to the BBC only, so even if it were based on reception - which it is not - I can't see that you'd be entitled to any discount if you were getting all BBC services.
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Colin: A Mike says, your receiver may well be tuning to Stockland Hill, or anything else being broadcast lower down the UHF band. Mendip transmits on channels grouped well up toward the top end of the UHF band, so any receiver sweep tuning up the band during its channel search will 'see' every other possible broadcast signal before it finally reaches the wanted Mendip channels. The way to check is to watch it tuning...don't take your eyes off the search tuning display for a moment! The Mendip standard definition channels for the five multiplexes are 54, 56, 61, 62 and 67. Most (but not all) receivers show what channel is being locked on to as the search progresses and valid signals are found, so by keeping your eye on the screen you can check and see exactly what's happening during the automatic tuning cycle. If your receiver identifies any TV broadcasts whilst it is tuning between the bottom of the band (channel 21) and channel 53, then that's wrong. If so, check to see if your receiver allows for manual tuning, rather than automatic search. If so you can probably resolve things by firstly clearing its memory (full reset or factory default) and then going to manual set up,entering each of the five channel numbers I've mentioned in sequence, as prompted. The receiver will then only search within that channel's multiplex, avoiding any unwanted ones.
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Friday, 24 June 2011
C
Colin smith6:18 PM
Bristol
free view picture much worse and now impossible to watch, breaks up and says no signal.
Aerial is in the loft and used for several years generally OK reception, worse in summer with trees.
Also have another TV in the house with satellite dish, no problems here.
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Saturday, 25 June 2011
M
Mike Gallimore1:53 PM
Swindon
Aerial replaced last year for digital freeview switchover. It is on a 2.5 metre pole on the gable end of 2 story house. The installer positioned it for Mendip transmitter, BBC West and ITV West. For the last 2 weeks we have had problems receiving stations on Channel 61 and 56, i.e. BBC and Sky News. The signal strength hovers on 3 to 4 with the quality mainly on 1. We can get a more stable signal from the South or South West transmitters but obviously they are not for our specific region.
Have tried switching off all mains electrical equipment in turn but no change. Today the TV's are coming up with no signal. All other channels are brilliant and stable, quality 10 and signal strength 6 or 7.
We use Panasonic Plasma Freeview TV's with a distribution amplifier in the loft. Any ideas please, its driving my wife and I nuts!!!! Thanks.
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Wednesday, 29 June 2011
M
Mike Dimmick3:04 PM
Mike Gallimore: Digital UK's predictions are the exact opposite of what you're saying. The prediction is for extremely good chance of reliable reception from Mendip, but poor or variable for Hannington (South) and Stockland Hill (South West).
This tends to indicate that signal levels are too high overall. If there's a separate amplifier included in the chain before the distribution amplifier, remove or bypass it. If not, or that doesn't help, turn down the distribution amplifier, and/or add an attenuator between the aerial and the distribution amp.
If the distribution amplifier is separate from the splitter, remove the amplifier. If not, consider replacing the distribution amp with a passive (unpowered, unamplified) splitter.
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T
TONY9:20 PM
Highbridge
WHAT DEGREE SHOULD MY ARIAL BE POINTING ?
it is mounted on caravan but picture keeps freezing and intrmitant talking.
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Thursday, 30 June 2011
J
jb387:20 AM
TONY: Taking it that you are located at the post code given, then for the Mendip transmitter your aerial should point directly to the East and be mounted with the elements being horizontal.
Predictions are that you should get good reception, this statement being made with the usual qualifications! (i.e: never assume %100 accuracy).
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Friday, 1 July 2011
S
Steve D3:11 PM
Bristol
I've just moved to BS9 3TB. Should my aerial be pointing at Mendip or Bristol Kings Weston ?
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A
Adam B4:26 PM
Dunstable
Steve D: See the post I have just put up on the Kings Weston transmitter page of this website.
Hope this helps,
Adam.
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