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 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
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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Thursday, 8 December 2016
S
Stephen2:58 PM
Scotty:
after working all last week Mendip com7 cut out again for me Sat 3rd to Mon 5th, and returned at its normal strength on Tuesday. A similar pattern two weekends in a row. Do you see something similar?
If not perhaps it is local interference as Chris suggested, maybe related to several neighbors who work away in the week.
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Friday, 9 December 2016
C
Chris.SE7:58 AM
Stephen: I would say that the fact that you noticed this problem 2 "weekends" in a row is just coincidence. As I mentioned this is much more likely to be atmospheric conditions changing the propagation of UHF signals and distant signals from other transmitters on the same UHF channel starting to cause interference, which in simple terms can have the sort of effect we saw.
Remember that more than one of us happened to observe the issue, Scotty being the most recent, and no Transmitter engineering work was taking place - one of the first things I checked on the engineering pages - AND it would have been reported here on these pages as well, also if there had been a fault. See page 153 for the last reported issue on October 4th.
One thing I didn't mention (so as not to confuse people with less technical understanding of propagation effects) was that there was definitely a "lift" (as it can be called) on, when I was checking signals previously around that weekend as I was periodically picking up signals from another (distant) transmitter on other UHF channels which are not normally present. It was one of the ones I can regularly get when there is a "lift". There were similar conditions a couple of weeks earlier that I happened to spot (Tues.15th) when I was doing some re-tuning. In the days of analogue transmissions, people could notice such things more readily in the form of picture interference/patterning/foreign pictures - this sort of effect can be more common in the summer and some may recall mentions of "continental interference" at such times.
I mentioned "local" interference as it's always worth trying to check that there wasn't something else having an effect at the time to compound matters, but your fundamental problem Stephen is that your "normal" signal is low - in this 30% range, so any sort of "lift" or "interference" can knock out the signals more readily. Another reason I suggested checking what sort of signals your neighbours are getting is there may be very local conditions giving a "reduced" signal, examples of which can be tall buildings or other structures in or near the line of sight, tall trees etc.
As well as checking that you now don't have a fundamental problem with your aerial/cable installation causing a weaker signal (as previously mentioned by Mike and myself) you also need to check that you don't have too strong a signal as this can "desensitise" the receiver or, as you are already aware - a close phone mast having this effect. But remember all those sort of issues are likely to have an effect on reception of all your muxes rather than just one.
The situation with Scotty is slightly different in that he says he normally has 95% signal, but location - which way the aerial is pointing etc, and again the precise local conditions (buildings, trees etc) can have an influence on what is received.
Martin: The allocation of UHF channels for the various muxes at all transmitters is defined/stated in various OFCOM documentation.
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M
Martin8:49 AM
Thanks Chris.CE
The problem is that the allocations shown for Mendip post B700 are actually completely erroneous and are therefore misleading. I just think that in the absence of official confirmation that this site is premature in publishing them, particularly when they aren't correct.
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Wednesday, 21 December 2016
M
Martin1:06 PM
Interesting that in spite of my pointing out that the post B700 channels shown here on this site for Mendip are wrong, absolutely nothing has been done about it, and the problem hasn't even been acknowledged....
Hmmmmmm.....
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MikeP
3:51 PM
3:51 PM
Martin:
How do you know they are 'wrong'? The data shown here is from a direct feed from Ofcom. They are the ones who should know.
Plus I don't recognise your terminology of 'B700'. Do you mean the intended change to use the frequencies above 700 MHz for 4G mobile transmissions?
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G
Gautham6:13 PM
MikeP:
Replying to Which Freeview channels does the Calne transmitter broadcast? here since Mendip will be the concerned transmitter for me.
Just came to know that our new build has the coax terminated inside the loft! Will the same log36 antenna work from inside or should I resort to taking the coax outside?
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Thursday, 22 December 2016
MikeP
3:49 PM
3:49 PM
Gautham:
Providing it can be directed correctly towards the transmitter and avoiding any water pipes or tanks and there is no metal lining (the common felt or 'Tyvek' is not metallic), then yes it should work fine in the loft always assuming that your have a clear line of sight towards the transmitter and are not too far away from it.
I use a Log36 in my loft in Trowbridge, Wiltshire and get excellent reception.
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Friday, 23 December 2016
M
Martin9:48 AM
@ MikeP
Thanks for your reply. The allocations of 22/25/28/40/43/46 shown here do not correspond with a list (which unfortunately isn't in the public domain as of yet) that I have been privy to.
As far as I am aware Ofcom haven't published a list of post B700 clearance channels; what would be a great help is if you could link to the exact place where this "direct feed" from Ofcom that you mention resides.
I don't think it's a state secret as such, but as far as I am aware Mendip is actually going to use channels in the range 32 - 36, along with 48. Given that these aren't what ukfreetv shows the very least the site should be doing is removing its prediction.
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MikeP
4:14 PM
4:14 PM
Martin:
Near the top os this page is a section showing the current and projected future channel usage of the Mendip main transmitter. It corresponds to that published by Ofcom recently.
I'm not sure where you are getting your channel allocation data from but it differs markedly from that already available. It is highly unlikely that it will be limited to channel ion the 32 to 36 plus 48 range.
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M
Martin4:50 PM
Hello MikeP
This is turning into a dialogue of the deaf!
I repeat - PLEASE would you indicate exactly WHERE Ofcom have published the the details of the channels that will be used - and let me make this as clear as possible - AFTER the clearance of the 700 MHz band, ie when chs 48 upwards are taken away from TV transmissions, some time around 2019.
I am not in a position unfortunately to tell you the source of my information - which is frustrating for both of us. However, it was a complete list of the UHF channel allocations which will be used post 2019 (ish), and as I say Mendip - according to this list - won't be using the channels (22/25/28/40/43/46) that are indicated here on uktvfree.
I will of course be happy to concede this if you would be good enough to point me in the direction of this Ofcom publication on which you seem to be placing so much reliance.
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