Freeview Light on the Black Mountain (Northern Ireland) transmitter
 | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 54.586,-6.024 or 54°35'10"N 6°1'28"W |  | BT17 0LU |
The symbol shows the location of the Black Mountain (Northern Ireland) transmitter which serves 6,600 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.
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Black Mountain (Northern Ireland) transmitter._______
Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
DTG-11 QPSK 32KN 2/3 10.0Mb/s DVB-T2 MPEG4
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Black Mountain (Northern Ireland) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which Freeview channels does the Black Mountain 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 | V -26dB | C41 (634.0MHz) | 486m | DTG- | 5W |
 1 BBC One (SD) Northern Ireland, 2 BBC Two Northern Ireland, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 14 others | |||||
| PSB2 D3+4 | V -26dB | C44 (658.0MHz) | 486m | DTG- | 5W |
 3 UTV (SD) (UTV), 4 Channel 4 (SD) NI ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 NI ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 UTV +1 (UTV), 71 That’s 60s, | |||||
| PSB3 BBCB | V -26dB | C47 (682.0MHz) | 486m | DTG- | 5W |
 46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Northern Ireland, 102 BBC Two HD Northern Ireland, 103 UTV HD (UTV), 104 Channel 4 HD NI ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others | |||||
| NIMM | H max | C33+ (570.2MHz) | 486m | DTG-11 | 2,000W |
 53 TG4, 54 RTÉ One, 55 RTÉ Two, | |||||
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Black Mountain (Northern Ireland) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Black Mountain transmitter?
BBC Newsline 0.6m homes 2.5%
from Belfast BT2 8HQ, 1,044km northeast (51°)
to BBC Northern Ireland region - 46 masts.
How will the Black Mountain (Northern Ireland) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1959-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 4 Sep 2019 | ||||
| VHF | B E T | B E T | B E T | B E T | K T | ||||
| C9 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C33 | NIMM | ||||||||
| C37 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C39 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | +NIMM | |||||
| C41 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | BBCA | |||||
| C42 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C44 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C45 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | |||||
| C47 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C49tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCB |
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 10 Oct 12 and 24 Oct 12.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 5 | 50kW | |
| NIMM≡ | (-14dB) 2kW | |
| Analogue 1-4 | (-33dB) 25W | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-40dB) 5W |
Local transmitter maps
Black Mountain Freeview Black Mountain DAB Divis TV region BBC Northern Ireland UTVWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Divis transmitter area
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Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?
Radiation patterns withheldWednesday, 13 July 2011
S
Souriau3:35 AM
What power output will this Black Mountain transmitter will have for the Digital RTE Mux
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M
Mike Dimmick5:22 PM
Souriau: We have absolutely no idea. Ofcom haven't published that information yet. The RTE multiplex is not yet licensed. The digital switchover plan does not show any frequencies allocated to this multiplex and that would be where we would expect to find the information.
It looks like it will be broadcast using DVB-T2 in 16QAM 1/2 mode, and therefore you will need a Freeview HD receiver, even if the stations transmit in SD to begin with. They will probably use MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 as that's what's used in the Republic.
The latest we have is at Digital Television - Technical guidance on the availability of TG4 in Northern Ireland after digital switchover .
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Sunday, 14 August 2011
P
Peter Henderson12:14 AM
Newtownabbey
Yep that's what I was wondering Sauriau.
Originally this Mux was planed for Divis, Brougher, Black Mountain, and Carnmoney Hill.
However, there seems to be confusion all round now as this press release Mike has linked to above only mentions Brougher, Black Mountain, and Carnmoney Hill. Is this simply an error, or have they dropped plans for Divis ? I had assumed that Black Mountain was going to be this low powered relay that covers west Belfast.
However, if this transmitter is goung to cover all of greater Belfast, then it's going to have to be at a far greater ERP than 5 wattts.
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Peter's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Saturday, 6 October 2012
M
mr v johnston9:09 AM
Does the regional channels switch onto digital on the 10th oct as i cant recieve these channels yet,only with the new digital aerial i put up.i live at hannahstown on the black mountain ,or do i need a sateilite dish put up.
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mr v johnston: At the first stage of switchover (10th October), BBC standard definition channels go on full power from pre-switchover transmitters such as Divis and they become available from relays such as Black Mountain for the first time. On 24th October the other digital channels become available.
If your main aerial points to Black Mountain then you probably know that it does not broadcast Freeview now. It will also only carry Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) channels after switchover. These are BBC standard definition TV, BBC high definition TV, BBC radio, UTV, UTV+1, UTVHD, ITV2, Channel 4, Channel 4+1, Channel 4HD, E4, More4 and Channel 5. Existing aerials on Black Mountain are expected to work after switchover as all channels are in the current analogue group.
Those who cannot receive from a full-service transmitter (which amounts to about 8.5% of the population) and rely on a PSB-only relay will only have access to PSB channels.
You refer to a "digital aerial". You must be receiving from another transmitter, presumably Divis. This will carry the full complement of Freeview channels after switchover, so you may wish to retain it for this purpose.
Aerials aren't designed specifically to pick up analogue or digital signals. In some cases different aerials are required due to different channels being used or perhaps lower power (weaker) signals).
Reception of RT/TG4: There is a potential added complication if you would like to receive RT and TG4, if you are in an area where they can be picked up. If you have another aerial pointing to a transmitter located in the Republic, then you should be OK with that.
However, these channels will also be broadcast from three Freeview transmitters in Northern Ireland, this being the "NI Mux".
The NI Mux will be broadcast on high power from Black Mountain rather than Divis. It will be horizontally polarised unlike the other Black Mountain channels which are vertically so. The reason for this is because it is principally intended to serve those who receive from Divis. With the two transmitters being close together, the angle between the two is slow small for those at a distance (e.g. for those in Belfast) that a single horizontally polarised aeial will work for both.
If you are in an area where Black Mountain isn't that far off the bearing for Divis, then the single aerial may work for both. If they are in different directions you may wish to try reception of the NI Mux using the horizontal Divis aerial (even though it faces another direction).
If a different aerial is required for Divis and for the NI Mux from Black Mountain, then your existing Black Mountain aerial should work if you change it to horizontal. You can combine the signals from two aerials using a diplexer (providing the channels used by each transmitter suit this setup):
Online TV Splitters, Amps & Diplexers sales
The NI Mux from Black Mountain will be on C39. Divis' channels will range 21 to 29. There is the potential (if the powers that be so decide) that in the future there will be a multiplex on C36 from Divis and two others in the range 31 to 37. For this reason a diplexer that "splits" at C36 would inhibit reception of that channel. The one that splits at C38 would allow it, but the neighbouring channels C37 and C39 will be attentuated. As the NI Mux from Black Mountain will be much higher power than the vertically polarised PSB channels, this may not be an issue.
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mr v johnston: I've taken a closer look at this.
The Divis coverage map suggests some gaps in the Hannahstown area. If, however, you currently receive analogue from Divis rather than Black Mountain, then your existing aerial would be expected to work for digital after 24th October.
Divis will use Group A channels exclusively, so a Group A aerial will be best, if a yagi type is used. Wideband yagi aerials have less gain on Group A channels which is why they aren't advised. See:
Digital TV Transmitters
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Tuesday, 23 October 2012
At switchover the Black Mountain transmitter will be off air from midnight until 6am on 24th October 2012 - see UK Digital switchover ends - Northern Ireland completes on 24th October 2012 | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice for full details.
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Saturday, 27 October 2012
C
chris mcculloch5:52 AM
ecellent in ballantrae s ayrshire from blackmountain also tv recetion is now good at lendanfoot from west kilbride when very poor before
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Friday, 2 November 2012
M
mrdtv6:14 PM
Briantist: NIMM is 2kW HORIZONTAL. See DUK postcode checker.
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