Full Freeview on the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 55.861,-3.874 or 55°51'40"N 3°52'27"W |  | ML7 4NZ |
The symbol shows the location of the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmitter which serves 940,000 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 Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) mast?
Black Hill transmitter - Black Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 11/11/2024 Screen may go black 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 Black 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.
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 Black Hill transmitter?
BBC Reporting Scotland 2.4m homes 9.2%
from Glasgow G51 1DA, 26km west (271°)
to BBC Scotland region - 230 masts.
STV News 1.3m homes 4.8%
from Glasgow G51 1PQ, 26km west (271°)
to STV Central (Glasgow) region - 94 masts.
Are there any self-help relays?
| Ardtornish A | Transposer | 22 km NW Oban | 15 homes |
| Balquhidder | Transposer | 12 km NW Callander | 42 homes |
| Benmore B | Active deflector | 50 m WNW Glasgow | 7 homes |
| Blair Drummond | Transposer | 5 homes caravan park | |
| Blyth Bridge | Active deflector | 30 km SW Edinburgh | 50 homes |
| Glendaruel | Active deflector | 40 hotel | 40 homes hotel |
| Glendaruel B | Active deflector | 12 homes (second level) |
How will the Black Hill (North Lanarkshire, Scotland) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1957-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 3 Oct 2018 | ||||
| VHF | B E T | B E T | B E T | E T | W T | ||||
| C10 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C30 | _local | ||||||||
| C32 | com7 | ||||||||
| C35 | com8 | ||||||||
| C37 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C40 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C41 | +SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C43 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C44 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C46 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C47 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C50tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ||||||
| C51tv_off | LG | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | _local | COM8tv_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 8 Jun 11 and 22 Jun 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-5 | 500kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 100kW | |
| com7 | (-10.7dB) 42.9kW | |
| com8 | (-11.1dB) 39.2kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-14dB) 20kW | |
| LG | (-20dB) 5kW |
Local transmitter maps
Black Hill Freeview Black Hill DAB Black Hill TV region BBC Scotland STV Central (Glasgow micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Black Hill transmitter area
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Friday, 14 October 2011
Sony Bravia 703EX
I'm experiencing zooming on STVHD(51) as it constantly switches between 1080i and 1080p. Also have this on BBCHD channel(54)
Very annoying!!
Any info??
Adrian Tobin
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Saturday, 15 October 2011
Adrian Tobin: Your set should not "zoom" when switching between 1080i and 1080p.
You might need to do a "software upgrade" on your set, which you can get from here http://support.sony-europ…X703 .
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Tuesday, 25 October 2011
S
Stuart7:27 PM
Adrian, I saw this answered on another site. The broadcasters switch dynamically between 1080i and 1080p to maximise picture quality. Your TV has different picture settings for each of these modes. You need to alter the zoom setting for each mode so they match :)
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Thursday, 27 October 2011
D
David1:27 PM
Black Hill COM5 & COM6 have now changed to 3/4 FEC and are now 27Mb/s.
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David: I think the resultant bitrate is actually still 28Mb/s due to changes of the guard interval to compensate for the change to FEC. I will get around to making the necessary code changes to show the overridges above at some point later this week.
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T
Tim4:25 PM
Kilmacolm
Hi. We get intermittent interference on Mux2 channels, but no others. This lasts up to an hour, making the channels unwatchable, and happens at random times during the day. It is not associated with any of our electrical goods being on or off. Aerial is on the roof and we have a booster in the attic. Blackhill is our transmitter. Any thoughts? If your suggestion is that it is interference from external sources, then bring back analogue!
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Tim's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Mike Dimmick4:45 PM
Briantist: Changing the guard interval would not itself improve reception directly (except in rare cases of strong distant echoes, which are unlikely; 7.5km is plenty of distance to prevent this problem). It would improve only if the intent was to synchronize transmissions with another transmitter, in which case the overlap area would have constructive, rather than destructive, interference. It all hinges on the timing.
The nearest candidate using the same frequencies will be Chatton, when it switches over at the end of next year. For that reason, I doubt that it is to do with improving coverage.
Others are certainly reporting that the guard interval has not changed and therefore capacity has increased. The larger capacity is for the moment just carrying more null packets.
On its own, this change will reduce coverage slightly.
The retrofit is due to complete, at least for ArqB, on 23 November (Selkirk, and Tacolneston DSO 2), so we should know more then.
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M
Mike Dimmick6:08 PM
Tim: That booster? You probably don't need it.
Check that the box has actually tuned to Black Hill transmissions and not something else. The Kilmacolm relay transmitter is very close to you and uses lower frequencies, so could well be picked up when tuning, as older boxes often just store the first signal found when scanning. See Digital Region Overlap for thoughts on how to deal with reception from more than one transmitter.
Otherwise I'd be inclined to assume it's impulse interference caused by the thermostat or other central heating device (pump motor). Does it happen shortly after the central heating comes on?
If none of that sorts it, you can report the problem to the BBC at BBC - Reception problems . Select 'No' for 'Does this answer your problem?' and continue through.
Digital UK, and that BBC page, suggest that you can get a signal from the Strathyre Link transmitter, but I think that's very unlikely. It's probably what you'd expect to get from Black Hill if your aerial was pointing at Strathyre Link. My guess it's treated as a Single Frequency Network in the DUK predictor, but the sole purpose of Strathyre Link is to get the signal down the valley to the Strathyre transmitter itself, and hence is very, very low power (130 milliwatts).
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Mike Dimmick: looking at the "Blue Book 7", it rather implies the change is just to increase the capacity of the multiplex from 24.13 Mbit/s to 27.14 Mbit/s
DVB-T
Option 1 - 2k (1705) 64QAM 2/3 1/32 24.1283422 Mbit/s
Option 2 - 2k (1705) 16QAM 3/4 1/32 18.0962567 Mbit/s
Option 3 - 8k (6817) 64QAM 2/3 1/32 24.1283422 Mbit/s
Option 7 - 8k (6817) QSPK 1/2 1/32 6.0320856 Mbit/s
Option 8 - 8k (6817) 64QAM 3/4 1/32 27.1443850 Mbit/s
"For the Option 8 mode, transmission trials have started. It is too early to say whether the above modes under consideration will be specified for future use. It is felt prudent that performance parameters for Option 8 should be specified in this version of the D-Book. However at his time, receivers need only be tested ... with a small sub-set of the Option 8 performance parameters. "
For reference
DVB-T2
Option 4 - 8ke (6913) 64QAM 4/5 1/32 PP7 242 34.6880914 Mbit/s
Option 5 - 32ke (27841) 256QAM 3/5 1/128 PP7 59 36.1407594 Mbit/s
Option 6 - 32ke (27841) 256QAM 2/3 1/128 PP7 59 40.2146452 Mbit/s
Option 11 - TBC
Option 9 - 32kn (27265) 256QAM 3/5 1/128 PP7 59 35.2461861 Mbit/s
Option 10 -32kn (27265) 256QAM 2/3 1/128 PP7 59 39.2192332 Mbit/s
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Friday, 28 October 2011
Strathearn
10:33 AM
10:33 AM
Tim: I'm [still] suffering from the same experience on Mux2 Channels only. See my posting on the 2nd Oct. Although, in my case, the channels in question are JUST watchable. I have a Humax PVR and the signal detection shows the strength at around 60% and quality is constantly jumping between 40% and 80%. I know these readings through the PVR are only approximate, but the other Mux's show a higher strength signal and the quality reading is pretty well constant at around 80/90%.
I'm in Clydebank, not far to the north of you. I use Blackhill because Whitelees Wind Farm [currently the largest land wind farm in Europe] created similar, but worse, problems when the Darvel transmitter was used - although Darvel IS the Clydebank area recommended transmitter. In fact Scottish Power provide a free service for retuning to Blackhill - if required!
I'm wondering whether some minor wind farm, or something similar has gone up between us and Blackhill...?
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