Full Freeview on the Divis (Northern Ireland) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 54.607,-6.009 or 54°36'24"N 6°0'34"W |  | BT17 0NG |
The symbol shows the location of the Divis (Northern Ireland) transmitter which serves 440,000 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 Divis (Northern Ireland) mast?
Divis transmitter - Divis transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 11/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
_______
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 Divis 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 Divis transmitter?
BBC Newsline 0.6m homes 2.5%
from Belfast BT2 8HQ, 1,044km northeast (51°)
to BBC Northern Ireland region - 46 masts.
Are there any self-help relays?
| Chapel Fields | Transposer | Central Belfast | 61 homes |
How will the Divis (Northern Ireland) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 4 Mar 2020 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | A K T | A K T | K T | W T | ||||
| C1 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C21 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | +D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C23 | SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C24 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C26 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C27 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C29 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C30 | LBT | ||||||||
| C31 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ||||||
| C33 | com7 | ||||||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C36 | _local | ||||||||
| C48 | NIMM | NIMM | |||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | 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 10 Oct 12 and 24 Oct 12.
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 | |
| com8 | (-16dB) 12.7kW | |
| com7 | (-16.1dB) 12.4kW | |
| LBT | (-20dB) 5kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B* | (-23.4dB) 2.3kW | |
| Mux C* | (-24dB) 2kW | |
| Mux D* | (-24.9dB) 1.6kW | |
| NIMM | (-47dB) 10W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Divis transmitter area
|
|
Friday, 3 August 2012
P
Peter Henderson3:57 PM
Steve: No.
I'm afraid you'll just have to put up with it for the next 11 weeks or so.
Either that or intall Freesat.
| link to this comment |
Wednesday, 8 August 2012
P
Peter Henderson10:55 PM
Lost all BBC channels this evening, obviously due to lift conditions.
Roll on October when hopefully this will all be a thing of the past.
| link to this comment |
Saturday, 11 August 2012
N
Noel9:18 PM
I'm not getting all the freeview channels , in particular itv4. I live in Dungannon northern ireland, BT71 7TJ
| link to this comment |
J
jb3810:55 PM
Noel: I cant really see your situation improving until October 24th when Divis (@ 32 miles) switches over to full power operation, as the multiplex that ITV4 uses is only transmitting on 1.6 Kw whereas it will 50kw as from the date mentioned, the reception in your area presently predicted as being non existent on some channels and poor on others, the ArqB mux that ITV4 uses being the only one of the five with a prediction in the green, this being good. (in theory anyway!).
| link to this comment |
Sunday, 12 August 2012
P
Peter Henderson3:26 PM
Your other alternative is Freesat Noel.
However, according Digital UK's poscode checker you should heve good reception from Divis after the 24th October.
Many people still use Freesat even if they good Feeview reception.
| link to this comment |
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
M
MARGARET MARTIN9:07 PM
Belfast
Hi we live at foot of divis and blackmountain bt127hf we had a digital aerial fitted but can only get a few channels ie yesterday film four the guy said that we will have to wait ontill black mountain starts relaying the signal is this right
| link to this comment |
MARGARET's: ...
P
Peter Henderson10:26 PM
Margaret: No.
According to Digital UK's postcode chaecker you should be getting excellent reception from Divis at the moment, and after DSO. You should also be able to receive the NI mux from Black Mountain on October 24th.
Check to see which transmitter your aerial is currently receiving. If it's vertically polarised (i.e. the elements are up and down) then it's Black Mountain. If it's horizontally polarised then it's Divis.
Another way to check is to see if you're getting a good picture from Channel 5 analogue.
Personally, I'd seek the advice of a reputable aerial installer to see exactly what you need.
| link to this comment |
Thursday, 6 September 2012
MARGARET MARTIN: The answer to the question would depend on which transmitter the new aerial is directed at.
I should say that there is no such thing as a "digital aerial". Aerials are designed to pick-up particular frequencies. In some cases a different aerial is required for digital reception because the frequencies used are different to the former analogue.
As Peter Henderson says, Digital UK does predict "good" reception on all channels from Divis now. However, such predictors should always be taken with a pinch of salt as there are other factors not taken into account.
I had a look down your road on Streetview (photos taken August 2008) and most houses have two vertical aerials (or did then). They would appear to be pointing at Black Mountain and Clermont Carn (for RT, TV3 and TG4). I spotted only one horizontal aerial on Divis.
This leads me to think that reception from Divis is difficult because there is no line of sight to the transmitter on the top of the hill. Furthermore, I should think that if you can get any digital from Divis now (bearing in mind that it's on much lower power than after switchover), then you're lucky!
It would appear that the only two transmitters north of the border that you can receive (if at all) are Divis and Black Mountain:
- If your new aerial is on Black Mountain then it will be vertical and pointing a bit anti-clockwise of west. This does not carry any digital (Freeview) now and after switchover will only carry Public Service channels (these being all BBC TV (standard definition and high definition), BBC radio stations, UTV, UTV+1, ITV2, Channel 4, Channel 4+1, Channel 4HD, E4, More4 and Channel 5 (I assume UTV HD if there is such a channel).
There should be no need to replace aerials on Black Mountain as the channels (frequencies) used after switchover are the same as those used for the current analogue. Only where viewers change transmitter (probably to Divis) to get the full service will a different aerial probably be required.
- If your new aerial is on Divis then it will be horizontal and pointing roughly north-west. Divis broadcast all Freeview channels after switchover, unlike Black Mountain which will be "Lite".
The fact that you can receive one of the multiplexes suggests that your new aerial is probably pointing at Divis. If not, then you must be receiving it with the aerial not pointing at the transmitter and with the aerial vertical when the signal is horizontal.
If your aerial is on Divis, then all you can do is try manually tuning missing channels (if your receiver allows). The rigger has installed the aerial based on the signals that can be received now. You will have to hope that the boost in power in October will be sufficient. I'm not sure whether you have recourse with him if it's not because he can't know for certain whether the aerial will work come October. For this reason it would perhaps have been pertinent to have the aerial changed after switchover.
By the way, the changeover will happen in two stages. On 10th October BBC standard definition services will go on full post-switchover power. These will take the place of BBC Two analogue. BBC One, UTV and Channel 4 will continue to be available on analogue.
Two weeks later on 24th October the other analogue channels will go and the other digital ones will go on full power.
| link to this comment |
Monday, 17 September 2012
D
Deirdre9:34 PM
BT7 3EE
I am new to digital tv and recently set up a box. I have a small indoor aerial. Reception is okay sometimes but other times, it freezes/looses signal/picture goes to small frozen squares. Also should I be able to get film4? Sometimes, I can improve reception by disconnecting from mains. Advice I've read mentions interference from other appliances/mobile phones but this is not relevant in my case. Any help/advice very much appreciated.
| link to this comment |
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
B
B Moffatt9:46 AM
Belfast
Did a quick check on the Digital UK site with your post code and you should get Divis ok (it says 100%).
Go to dtg.org.uk
Type in your postcode (put a house name or number it makes it more accurate) and then in the page that opens click 'detailed view' (top right)you will get the transmitters muxes and their notional strengths.
I am in the Isle of Man west coast and we get it ok here (although you get some break-up (on some muxes incl Film 4) in unusual weather conditions.
I would not do any aerial work until after DSO (Oct 10th and 24th) because then the signal will be boosted dramatically.
If you still have probs after Oct 24th get the aerial man!
Cheers
| link to this comment |
B's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Select more comments
Your comment please