Full Freeview on the Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 50.511,-4.437 or 50°30'38"N 4°26'14"W |  | PL14 5LT |
The symbol shows the location of the Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) transmitter which serves 180,000 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 Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) mast?
Caradon Hill transmitter - Caradon Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 11/11/2024 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Caradon 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Caradon Hill transmitter?
BBC Spotlight 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL3 5BD, 26km east-southeast (123°)
to BBC South West region - 107 masts.
ITV West Country News (West) 0.8m homes 2.9%
from Plymouth PL7 5BQ, 32km east-southeast (116°)
to ITV West Country region - 107 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (East)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Barleycombe | Active deflector | 25 km E Plymouth | 3 homes |
| Parracombe | Transposer | 17 km NE Barnstaple | 80 homes |
How will the Caradon Hill (Cornwall, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1961-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2009 | 2009-13 | 27 Mar 2019 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | ||||
| C12 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C21 | +SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C22 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C24 | -ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C25 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | +D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C27 | -ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C28 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | +BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C30 | _local | _local | |||||||
| C31 | com7 | ||||||||
| C32 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ||||||
| C37 | com8 |
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 Aug 09 and 9 Sep 09.
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 | |
| com7 | (-16.3dB) 11.6kW | |
| Mux 1* | (-20dB) 5kW | |
| Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-21dB) 4kW | |
| com8 | (-24.2dB) 1.9kW |
Local transmitter maps
Caradon Hill Freeview Caradon Hill DAB Caradon Hill AM/FM Caradon Hill TV region BBC South West West CountryWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Caradon Hill transmitter area
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Saturday, 8 January 2022
C
Chris.SE10:35 PM
Mr&Mrs Williams:
My apologies, you imply you get your signals from Caradon Hill as you've posted on its transmitter page. I can't find any listed faults for the transmitter and it's not listed for Planned Engineering.
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Tuesday, 5 April 2022
R
Robert 6:19 PM
Saltash
Recently I have been unable to receive a number of channels e.g. BBC Southwest, whereas I can receive ITV Southwest. I still have a loft aerial which has not been changed since digital transmission was introduced. My post code is PL12 4UE. A contractor recently carried out work in my loft space so may have accidentally moved the position/direction of the aerial slightly. How critical is the accuracy of the direction? What would be the direction I should point the aerial, e.g. WNW? Would a different aerial be required for digital rather analogue transmission?
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Robert's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE6:53 PM
Robert :
Firstly, there is NO difference in an aerial for digital or analogue. An aerial receives RF signals, it doesn't care if they are digital or analogue!
Yes, the aerial could have been disturbed, for your .locale, it should be pointing at compass bearing 310 degrees, that's 5 degrees W of NW, and its rods (or squashed Xs) should be horizontal. Generally speaking the odd couple of degrees shouldn't make much difference considering the beamwidth of most aerials, but local conditions ie. trees, neighbouring buildings and such like may mean it needs to be tweaked one way or another.
But first, check you are correctly tuned to Caradon Hill's UHF channels. Go to your TV's tuning sections and look for the UHF channel for each of the 6 multiplexes (groups of channels).
In the multiplex order PSBs1/BBCA, PSB2/D3&4, PSB3/BBCB HD, COM4/SDN, COM5/ArqA, COM6/ArqB, -
the UHF channels for Caradon Hill are C28, C25, C22, C21, C24, C27.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
A couple of weeks ago, weather conditions caused interference to reception for some viewers, if you retuned at any time when you had pixellated pictures or no signal, it most likely will have cleared the correct tuning, it never advised to retune in those situations.
If you find you are incorrectly tuned, you could try retuning as currently you should get excellent reception.
If you find you have to go into the loft to check the aerial, also check that the coax connections/cable don't appear to have been damaged.
If you aren't getting BBC Southwest at present, I'd expect you to be having the same problem with the other BBC channels as they're on the same multiplex.
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Friday, 28 October 2022
R
Ruth Cremin11:23 PM
Hi there
I'm at my wits end! I live in Plymouth and have had a new rooftop aerial installed with new cabling.
Yet I still get a pixelating & distorted picture. I don't know how on earth to correct this problem.
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Saturday, 29 October 2022
C
Chris.SE1:57 AM
Ruth Cremin:
Please provide a little more detail. Why did you have a new aerial? Do you know what type/make/model of aerial it is?
Was this pixellation problem present when the installer finished installing the aerial and new cable or is it something that's occurred since - possibly on more than one occasion - it happens and then stops?
I'm assuming from the way you've phrased your post that it's just (re)occurred earlier this evening (Friday). It may well have cleared by the time you read this reply.
If so, then it's most likely to be the current weather conditions again. Please read the post just before yours about Caradon Hill's UHF channels and weather conditions causing interference. If it is, (or not - whatever the cause) do NOT retune if you have pixellated pictures or no signal. If you've done so then check you are tuned correctly.
If it's more of a persistent problem, please explain when it occurs - eg.at particular times of day, or days of the week etc. Please provide a full postcode so we can check your predicted reception.
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Saturday, 22 April 2023
S
StevensOnln12:37 PM
Bob: The remaining BBC One HD regions launch on Freeview on Wednesday 26th April, see the link below for details.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/rec…2023
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C
Chris.SE4:47 PM
Bob:
Are you not getting a pop-up message on screen when tuned to 101 advising a retune may be needed next Wednesday?
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Sunday, 25 June 2023
D
David Adams7:38 PM
Par
My TV will revert to channel 800 instead of 101 for BBC 1 SW HD. Why?
PL24 2DB Loft aerial.
TV retuned many times. 101 comes, then when TV off overnight, reverts to channel 800.
I also have a Humax Freeview Play recorder box which has the same problem. This tunes to channel 802.
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David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 26 June 2023
C
Chris.SE12:39 AM
David Adams:
This sort of issue is usually caused by the set/box memory either getting "muddled" or you were receiving more than one transmitter when you reuned.
The best way to resolve this is to clear the memory and then perform a manual retune BUT note -
There has been some quite variable weather related Tropospheric Ducting in recent days which can affect reception because of interference being received from more distant transmitters in Europe or the UK - not all multiplexes are necessarily affected, but this isn't normally sustained for any lengthy periods, but if present during automatic retunes can cause the sort of problem you've seen especially with multiple retunes!
The usual way to clear memory is to unplug the aerial and start an automatic retune (you can cancel it once started) so no channels are found. With your Humax beware it may also clear any scheduled recording which you'll have to reset.
IF this method doesn't clear memory, refer to the set/box's manual.
In normal circumstances you are predicted to be able to receive more than one transmitter, and this could be "enhanced" in current conditions so that even with the transmitters in different directions your aerial may still receive the signals on "side-lobes".
The best way to ensure that you tune correctly is to manual tune the UHF channels -
For each of the 6 multiplexes (groups of channels) -
The UHF channels for Caradon Hill are C28, C25, C22, C21, C24, C27 - that's In the multiplex order -PSBs1/BBCA, PSB2/D3&4, PSB3/BBCB HD, COM4/SDN, COM5/ArqA, COM6/ArqB
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