Freeview: Mendip (Somerset, England) full-Freeview transmitter
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Freeview on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter

Google StreetviewGoogle mapBing mapGoogle Earth51.237,-2.626 or 51°14'12"N 2°37'33"WBA5 3LB

Transmitter fauls and engineering works

MENDIP transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 11:32 on 15 May to 12:33 on 15 May. BBC
Over the next week Mendip main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, no analogue radio, Radio (digital) working normally. Digital tick
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The symbol shows the location of the Mendip transmitter which serves 720,000 homes.

Other maps:Mendip DABMendip regionBBC WestWest

Radiation patterns

Radiation patterns withheld

Map key

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.

Mendip transmitter Freeview broadcasts

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. The rating shown takes in account the output power level and the various Freeview transmission modes and do not indicate an ongoing fault.

MuxEffective power level, aerial positionRatingModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
Channel icons
1 BBC One West, 2 BBC Two England, 7 BBC Three, 9 BBC Four, 70 CBBC Channel, 71 CBeebies, 80 BBC News, 81 BBC Parliament, 301 301, plus 12 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C49 (698.0MHz) from 591m datum.
PSB2
D3+4
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
Channel icons
3 ITV (West), 4 Channel 4 South ads, 5 Channel 5 Part Network ads, 6 ITV 2, 13 Channel 4+1 South ads, 14 More 4, 28 E4, 33 ITV +1 (West),
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C54 (738.0MHz) from 591m datum.
PSB3
BBCB
 horizontal
Maximum256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s
DVB-T2 MPEG4		100,000
Channel icons
101 BBC One HD (England no regional news), 102 BBC Two HD (England), 103 ITV HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South ads, plus 1 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C58 (770.0MHz) from 591m datum.
COM4
SDN
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
Channel icons
10 ITV 3, 20 G.O.L.D. (not free), 25 Dave ja vu, 26 Home (not free), 27 ITV 2 +1, 30 5*, 31 5USA, 34 ESPN UK (not free), 38 Quest, 39 The Zone, 44 Channel 5 +1, 72 CITV, plus 22 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C48 (690.0MHz) from 591m datum.
COM5
ArqA
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
Channel icons
 TV News,  TV Stars, 11 PICK TV, 12 Dave, 17 Really, 29 E4+1, 32 Movie Mix, 46 Challenge, 48 Food Network, 82 Sky News, 87 Community Channel, plus 9 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C56 (754.0MHz) from 591m datum.
COM6
ArqB
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
Channel icons
15 Film 4, 18 4Music, 19 Yesterday, 21 VIVA, 24 ITV 4, 41 Sky Sports 1 (not free), 42 Sky Sports 2 (not free), 47 4seven, 83 Al Jazeera English, 85 RT English , plus 21 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C52 (722.0MHz) from 591m datum.


Regional news from the Mendip transmitter


BBC Points West 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS8 2LR, 25km north
to BBC West region - 60 masts.

ITV West Country News (East) 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Bristol BS4 3HG, 23km north
to ITV West region - 61 masts.

Self-help relays

CheddarTransposer15 km E Weston-super-Mare1674 homes
LuccombeActive deflector6 km w Minehead38 homes

How the transmission frequencies change over time

years1984-971997-981998-20102010-1327/3/13-2013-182019-
aerial groupC/D EEEC/D EC/D EWK
C22SDN
C25ArqA
C28ArqB
600C33com7
C35com8
C37C5C5
C40BBCB
C43D3+4
C46BBCA
C48SDNSDNSDN
700C49 BBCABBCA
C51local
C52ArqBArqBArqB
C54C4C4C4D3+4D3+4D3+4
C55+2
C56+CArqAArqAArqA
C58BBC1BBC1BBC1BBCBBBCBBBCB
C59+1
800C61ITVITVITVBBCA
C62+A
C64BBC2BBC2BBC2
C65+B
C67D

orange background for multiplexes names moregreen background for transmission frequencieslilac background for power levels in watts800MHz band: 4G mobile to start in 2013700MHz band: possible 4G in 2019 more600MHz band: new or moved digital TV services more
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W
Italics for analogue, digital switchover was Wednesdays 24th March and 7th April 2010.

  • Ofcom have projected that a local television service for Bristol could use an Interleaved Frequency on the Mendip transmitter using C51
  • COM7, COM8 projected for 2013-16. COM7 and COM8 to operate as Bristol Ilchester Crescent,Bristol Kings Weston, Mendip SFN.

Comparison of old analogue and current digital signal levels

Analogue 1-4 500kW
Analogue 5(-6dB) 126kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, com7, com8, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 100kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 10kW

History of Channel 3 in the Mendip transmitter area

• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Mendip was not an original Channel 3 VHF 405-line mast: the historical information shown is the details of the company responsible for the transmitter when it began transmitting Channel 3.


Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom

firstFirst comments prevEarlier comments  ◊ 

Your comments are always welcome. Please use the form below to add your thoughts or questions to this page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

Rob
Saturday 6 April 2013 11:27AM
Oh and to Michael Perry - i'm in Swindon. But was in a Bridgwater hotel most of last week - and guess what! They've lost all BBC channels too!
Dave Lindsay
Saturday 6 April 2013 12:03PM
Rob: Communal aerial systems may need adjustment to work with the new channel. This could, perhaps, explain why a hotel may have lost access to BBC services.
mwhite
Saturday 6 April 2013 12:04PM
Now over a week without the BBC. Watched Doctor Who on the computer last Saturday, other than that what exactly is the license fee for????

Geoff
Saturday 6 April 2013 12:19PM
Since digital signal switch over, get more picture disturbance, when we pay television licence fees we should receive signals that avoid this
Michael Perry
Saturday 6 April 2013 12:24PM
To jb38: I never said it was the 'bee's knees' and at that price it was bound to be limited (decent ones are around £4000!). You need sufficient signal strength first and then decent quality (freedom from reflected signals, co-channel noise, etc) to allow in-built error correction to get a usable signal (strength and quality) for each Mux. Even an £8 device can show if your signal is too weak and can help correct alignment. It's not the final answer though,just a starting point.

To Chloe and Rob, et al: There cannot be a fault at the transmitter as more than 1,000,000 viewers are receiving all BBC programmes, but some (it seems they are largely to the south and south west of the transmitter site, but not always) are having problems resolving the new Muxs. Hotels, flats, some urban low-lying areas, etc may have communal aerial systems and these filter what channels are distributed and may well need adjusting (the large firm I worked for before retiring had many contracts with hotels and they all had that type of distribution equipment). Some Freeview equipment is not as well designed as we might hope and some cope poorly with the adjustments made to get 4G space. Some group C/D aerials may not be as good in the Ch 48 and 49 region as they ought to be. Some receivers need to be completely reset and all memory of what channels they used to have removed before doing a full retune as if starting from initial installation again.
So Rob: If your fellow flat dwellers are having the same problem get your housing agents to have the aerial distribution system corrected (the filters probably need resetting) and then do the full retune. (BTW, I live near Lyneham)

On a general point, can anyone shed light on why so many of the people reporting here are in the areas to the south or south west of the Mendip service area? Huntshaw Cross, in North Devon just south of Barnstaple, shares three channels, 48 52 and 56, but not 49 so I doubt that is a cause. Any ideas?
Bizman
Saturday 6 April 2013 3:04PM
@Geoff, your licence fee doesn't entitle you to good reception any more than a marriage licence entitles you to a good wife. I expect over the years the wording has changed, but at one time it was simply for ownership of the receiving apparatus (whether it works or not).
Michael Perry
Saturday 6 April 2013 6:10PM
I have written to BBC Radio and Television Reception, www.bbc.co.uk/reception, in the hope that they might come up with some help for people still having problems - I'm not holding my breath though.
jb38
Saturday 6 April 2013 7:58PM
Michael Perry: Well on having twice read over my reply I cant honestly say that I noticed anything said by me that could even remotely be interpreted as inferring that you had made that claim for the device, nor if it comes to it criticising anything said by you, but just simply pointing out to anyone "other than yourself" who may also have been viewing the posting and likewise thinking about purchasing the device to beware of its limitations as well as the reason for, as its an important aspect and which I am quite sure is not brought into the equation by many, and who although in past years may have been perfectly proficient at setting up aerials used for analogue reception but though not being fully aware of the pitfalls that's liable to be experienced with digital reception, and especially so when its being received under difficult conditions, this being the main point of my reply.
KMJ,Derby
Saturday 6 April 2013 9:25PM
Michael Perry: The odd thing about the reception problems which are mainly in the Taunton direction is the number of cases that report poor reception currently on C48 which did not give problems prior to C49 being adopted for BBCA. Makes one wonder if just maybe there is a problem with the radiation towards the southwest. Among the countless thousands of viewers who have no problems there could still be a significant difference between the strengths of the signals being received. I agree with the other points you make, additionally viewers who have interference on C49 might have always had it but of course not noticed it. Equipment that has the RF modulator set to C49/50 and radiation from poor quality HDMI cables could be factors for some viewers.
chloe
Sunday 7 April 2013 10:11AM
As Taunton seems to be having such issues and no one is taking it seriously I'm going to have to get used to watching BBC channels on the iplayer!
Michael Perry
Sunday 7 April 2013 11:55AM Winchester
To KMJ, Derby (and Chloe). That's what I suspect as well and hence contacting BBC Reception for them to be aware of it and hopefully investigate. Arqiva only give a postal facility (Arqiva, Crawley Court, Winchester, SO21 2QA, or phone their main switchboard +44 (0)1962 823434) and no means for a viewer to contact them by email, webmail, etc!
To jb38. Aerial alignment used to be easier in analogue days as you could see the effects of reflected signals, as 'ghost' images, and align for enough signal with minimum 'ghosting' (by minimising back/side lobe reception). But that is not possible with a digital system even though the reflections may be a significant cause of poor signal quality. Hence the need first to ensure sufficient signal strength before looking at the quality of that signal, either on a professional test instrument (expensive) or the receiver's own software systems. Most TV viewers only want to watch the programmes and not be troubled by the technicalities, so one should start by following the KISS principle. Check the simplest/most obvious first then if that doesn't reveal the cause investigate further. Remember that many who post here are/were not in the business but concerned viewers who have lost the ability to watch favourite programmes due to the changes made at Mendip (and the potential for problems glossed over by the regulators) and are seeking help and guidance.
Alison
Sunday 7 April 2013 12:18PM Shepton Mallet
Update: Here in Shepton Mallet still waiting for communal aerial to be configured while using internal aerial - otherwise still nothing on C48 or C49.
Alison
Chloe
Sunday 7 April 2013 2:30PM
To Michael Perry, I have taken your advice and contacted the BBC reception, lets hope someone can at long last help us in the Taunton area.
EL
Sunday 7 April 2013 4:28PM Bristol
Not sure whether this may help anyone, but I thought someone asked about reception in Bristol.

For once I've not had trouble with the latest changes, at BS4 4DN. I'm receiving the BBC channels (and CH48) with no trouble, on both LG LED HD TV (signal & quality both showing 100% for CH48 and CH49) and Panasonic DMR-EX75 (signal c. 8/10, quality 10/10 for both CH48 and CH49). This is on a wide gain roof aerial with mast-top amplifier left over from the days when Mendip was transmitting at reduced power.

Interestingly, I think the Panasonic managed to pick up PSB2 from the Barton House relay (somewhere behind the aerial!), although the LG hasn't.
John
Monday 8 April 2013 2:35PM
Although living well outside the service area for Mendip BBCA and D3&4 have always provided good reception here in North Herefordshire.
Since the change of BBCA channel to C49 I can no longer receive this multiplex, constant breakup and high error rate.
The D3&4 Mux on C54 also seems to have dropped off a bit as I am now starting to see higher error rates on this channel also.
I suspect the ERP has dropped off since the change.
I only had a 2dB margin on my analyser on BBCA and D3&4 so a little bit of margin above the cliff edge. I would say the results I am seeing point to a 2dB drop in power received at this location.
jb38
Monday 8 April 2013 9:02PM
EL: Yes, many thanks for your report and especially when being accompanied with the P/C location being referred to, as this type of info is exceedingly handy for reference purposes.
Roger Alban
Thursday 11 April 2013 12:27PM
I live in Penarth in a three story victorian house not far from the sea front with a high gain aerial in the loft pointing at the Mendip Transmitter. The aerial was installed in the days of the analogue service. Since the change over of channels which took place in late March 2013, I now experience poor signal strength on channels C49, C48 and C52 with good signal strength on channels C54 and C56. Will need to change this high gain aerial to receive all the channels transmitted from the Mendip transmitter?
Dave Lindsay
Thursday 11 April 2013 1:13PM
Roger Alban: First off try rotating the aerial a bit. Or if that doesn't work, maybe try the aerial in different positions in the loft-space to see if you can find a spot where all channels are good.
Bizman
Thursday 11 April 2013 8:22PM
@Chloe, If all else fails I would be prepared to offer assistance as I live in Taunton (TA3) and reception here is excellent. None of my neighbours have a problem with BBC, nor any friends who live in town. I have odd bits of test & diagnostic equipment that could be put to resolving the matter which seems to be very localised.
Bob
Friday 12 April 2013 7:15PM
For those wanting to contact Arqiva, you can email the "Head of Communication and Reputation", Natalie Field, from the Crawley Court office in Hampshire at this address:
your.feedback@arqiva.com

Jonny
Friday 12 April 2013 8:10PM
Hi, I am wondering why I am unable to pick up Film4? I have a Freeview Digital TV and live in central Stroud. Has it got something to do with the power of my ariel or does the Stroud area have limited frequencies? I have tried retuning.

Many thanks for anyone's help?!
Dave Lindsay
Friday 12 April 2013 8:23PM
Jonny: If you are receiving from the Stroud relay, or "filler-in" transmitter, then you will not have the Commercial (COM) channels; it only carries Public Service (PSB) channels.

For a list of which services are carried on which multiplex (i.e. which are PSB and which are COM), see:

www.dtg.org.uk link icon DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex

The COM channels only broadcast from the largest transmitters as their prmiary objective is profit and they have no "Public Service" obligation. See here:

Londonderry (Northern Ireland) digital TV transmitter | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice

If you are receiving from Stroud then you may be able to receive the full service from another transmitter such as Mendip or Wenvoe. The latter carries Welsh regional programming and you may be able to use a separate receiver for it (or use Wenvoe as your main transmitter and Stroud via a separate set-top box for regional programming).
Dave Lindsay
Friday 12 April 2013 8:31PM
Jonny: I would suggest that you're not likely to be able to receive from Mendip and that you're only option in the centre of Stroud might be to receive all channels from Wenvoe and regional PSB channels from Stroud. Unfortunately due to the channels (frequencies) used by these two transmitters being interleaved, you won't be able to have the two feeds (from each aerial) combined so as to feed it into one receiver.
EL
Friday 12 April 2013 8:31PM Bristol
Jonny: probably best to check your postcode on this website to see what your forecast coverage is likely to be.

Depending on where in Stroud you are, I would imagine the hills surrounding the Five Valleys may get in the way of the main signal from Mendip. In that case, you may be getting your signal from a local public service relay. For example, Stroud has its own relay (http://www.ukfree.tv/shutdowndetail.php?tx=SO836077), which you may be getting if your main BBC1 channel comes in on UHF 40 (on Mendip it comes in on UHF 49).

If it's only relaying public service ("Freeview Lite"), then I think you'll only get PSB1, PSB2 and PSB3. Since Film 4 is on COM6, a commercial set of channels, you may not be able to get it at all.

Are you also missing channels such as ITV4 and Yesterday? Can you get Dave or ITV3? These are all on commercial UHF channels which the Stroud transmitter is not relaying.
Paul
Monday 15 April 2013 10:48PM Swindon
HI been through the reset procedure on my mums Samsung TV which is about 2 years old there is no free veiw box so i think the tv has the freeveiw tuner built in it was working fine before event now no BBC
their postcode is Sn2 7Pr which is Swindon they live in community housing so the service is provided by landlord for all the tenants they have another tv in the bedroom which uses the same Ariel point and this receives all the channels after it was retuned I have done the reset procedure scan minus the Ariel lead unplug power off wait 30 seconds power on scan again I removed the set in the bedroom from the point before starting and finishing procedure but to no avail the set did find BBC around 800 MHz but the picture was pixellated with no sound it used to show as channel 1 and channel 2 now the first Channel is number 3 but to no avail any ideas as their set seems to be the only one that's not picking up BBC
MikeP
Saturday 27 April 2013 2:11PM
Whilst it is often not advisable to diplex two aerials into a single feed there is another possible solution, one that I used when living in Swindon and could receive from Mendip and Oxford main transmitters. Both aerials were mounted on a good strong pole, thicker than is normally used, and each had a separate good quality downlead into the lounge by the TV set. They connected to a coaxial switch that had two inputs and one output, so only one aerial was connected at a time. Simply moving the manual switch allowed selection between sources. The switch has to be a good quality coaxial one and fully screened to avoid picking up interference and to maintain the integrity of the coaxial connections. It must be designed for 75 Ohm coaxial UHF systems, can be either IEC coax or F-connector but not BNC connectors. Works with all UHF TV signals with no problems if cables and connections are made properly. You'll need to search for one but avoid any 'automatic' ones.
Transmitter engineering
Sunday 12 May 2013 11:41AM
MENDIP transmitter - Over the next week Mendip main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) working normally, no analogue radio. [DUK]
Pete Green
Monday 13 May 2013 4:03PM Weston-super-mare
Transmitter engineering

Please explain "Radio (analogue) working normally, no analogue radiio."
Dave Lindsay
Monday 13 May 2013 4:13PM
Pete Green: Transmitter engineering is a bot whose job is to scrape the information from official sources. In this case it is from Digital UK, as the presence of its logo denotes.

The information comes from Digital UK's engineering page at:

www.digitaluk.co.uk/engineeringworks
Pete Green
Monday 13 May 2013 5:47PM Weston-super-mare
Dave Lindsay. I still don't understand the message whoever it comes from.
Dave Lindsay
Monday 13 May 2013 6:51PM
Pete Green: I suspect that this — the "no analogue radio" bit — might be a bug in the program that takes the information from its source. I have e-mailed the site owner to make him aware of it.
jb38
Monday 13 May 2013 8:06PM
Pete Green: Analogue is referring to its FM transmissions.
Transmitter engineering
Thursday 16 May 2013 8:58AM
MENDIP transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 11:32 yesterday to 12:33 yesterday. [BBC] Over the next week Mendip main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) working normally, no analogue radio. [DUK]
Transmitter engineering
Thursday 16 May 2013 4:19PM
MENDIP transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 11:32 yesterday to 12:33 yesterday. [BBC] Over the next week Mendip main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, no analogue radio, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]
Transmitter engineering
Friday 17 May 2013 4:32AM
MENDIP transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 11:32 on 15 May to 12:33 on 15 May. [BBC] Over the next week Mendip main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, no analogue radio, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]
Pete Green
Friday 17 May 2013 10:58AM Weston-super-mare
Dave Lindsay

Your e-mail seemed to have worked. Analogue now chaged to Digital.Thank you.
Dave Lindsay
Friday 17 May 2013 11:03AM
Pete Green: The site owner said it was a bug and that it has been fixed.
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