Freeview: Mendip (Somerset, England) Full Freeview transmitter
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Full 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

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Mendip (Somerset, England) transmitter. Click to recheck

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The symbol shows the location of the Mendip (Somerset, England) 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.


List by multiplex|List by channel number|List by channel name|See terrain plot

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.

MuxAerial positionFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 horizontal max
C49 (698.0MHz)591m64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
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

PSB2
D3+4
 horizontal max
C54 (738.0MHz)591m64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
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),

PSB3
BBCB
 horizontal max
C58 (770.0MHz)591m256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s DVB-T2 MPEG4		100,000W
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

COM4
SDN
 horizontal max
C48 (690.0MHz)591m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
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

COM5
ArqA
 horizontal max
C56 (754.0MHz)591m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
Channel icons
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

COM6
ArqB
 horizontal max
C52 (722.0MHz)591m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
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



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

Jan 1958-Jul 1968Television Wales and the West
Jul 1968-Feb 2004Harlech Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• 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  ◊  Later commentsnext Latest commentslast

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.

peter
Thursday 31 December 2009 6:19PM
What's New7 and New8?

Mendip HD is April - Digital UK looking into why it's not shown, but the relays do show HD.
Andy
Friday 1 January 2010 9:13AM
You have to read through the long ofcom documents on there website to find out about NEW 7 & NEW 8.

These are 2 new slots that went up for auction.

When i last checked they were channels 55 & 59.

It was stated that 59 would not be available untill May 2011.

There was no mention when 55 would be available and no mention of what type of services or who has them yet ofcom were supposed to be issuing a statement end of 2009 but i have not seen it on there website yet.
KMJ, Derby
Friday 1 January 2010 12:34PM
Jan Wills:BBC channels switch to high power PSB1 on 24th March 2010 and Mux2 becomes high power PSB2 on 7th April 2010, so not much longer to wait for the main channels. There is however a later switchover for the COM multiplexes due to the frequencies currently being in use at Salisbury.
Bob Ford
Friday 1 January 2010 3:55PM Wells
Thanks Peter. I should have looked closer - C58 will be Mux BBCB and it says "In addition the BBCB multiplex will now, from December 2009, be used for the 256QAM DVB-T2 high definition service".
Hmmm - living in Priddy, 2 miles from mast with 10x power (100KW) - time to get out the wire coat-hanger as an aerial ;-)
Andrew
Friday 1 January 2010 7:33PM
In response to KMJ Derby on 25th Dec: Thanks for your response. We've had a good look round over xmas when all building work has stopped and can't see anything in line of sight for a couple of miles. Tonight reception across all muxes is almost perfect so I'm completely baffled. Humax digi-box reports 52% strength, and 100% quality compared to 32% and 10% when things are bad. I guess we'll just have to wait for the switch over and hope things settle down.
Tracy
Saturday 2 January 2010 7:49PM
I live in BA4 area and ever since the retune in September I have lost about half of the channels I had previously and all of the BBC channels are frequently unwatchable due to pixelation. It is not my aerial and this is really driving me nuts.
KMJ,Derby
Saturday 2 January 2010 10:34PM
Tracy:It is possible that signals from Stockland Hill were found and these channels stored rather than the correct ones for your area from Mendip.Look in your channel list for BBC channels in the 800s. If there are some that give good reception it will indicate that this is the case.If it is possible to do a manual tune clear your channel list by doing a scan with the aerial unplugged,then with the aerial reconnected manually enter the Mendip MUX channels.Alternatively start the scan with the aerial unplugged and plug it back in halfway through the scan to miss out the unwanted signals.
Tracy
Sunday 3 January 2010 10:07AM
I've checked our channel listings and we are missing all of Muxes A,B and C, and Muxes 1 and D are heavily pixelating. Only Mux 2 is ok. Also we don't have any channels up in the 800's.
Tim Sheehan
Sunday 3 January 2010 4:03PM
As of yesterday, suddenly unable to get freeview programmes dispite re-programming on 2 different freeview sets/boxes. Older TV , not using freeview gets BBC1&2, ITV and Channel 4 without problems using same ariel.
My postcose is DT118LX. Why has this occured?
Thanks
Regards
Tim Sheehan
Ron
Sunday 3 January 2010 6:12PM Warrington
I can only receive BBC stations on both my freeview tuners. This problem began this afternoon Sunday 3rd. Has somebody switched off the transmitter? My post code is WA1 4DU
Regards
Ron
KMJ,Derby
Monday 4 January 2010 12:01AM
Tracy:I think the next thing to check is that all leads and connectors are in good order.Are you able to check the analogue signals- what is reception like on these? Also if the aerial feed goes via a VCR or satellite receiver make sure that power is connected to it.The only change in the September retune was to the content of the multiplexes,frequencies and transmitter power stayed the same.Reception of each multiplex should therefore also have remained the same.
Tracy
Monday 4 January 2010 7:08AM Shepton Mallet
Funnily today is the first day in ages that our analogue picture has been a decent picture and since last night the bbc channels have been ok.
Tracy
Tuesday 5 January 2010 7:11AM Shepton Mallet
Have done a retune and have regained all muxes except B. And touch wood no pixellation on mux 1 at the moment.
Jan Wills
Thursday 7 January 2010 3:41PM
In response to KMJ Derby. Thanks for your reply, the annoying thing that we did have all channels with perfect reception before the compulsory retune. I hope the digital switchover in March/April will not be another backard step.
Mick
Thursday 7 January 2010 8:14PM
Has anyone in Minehead/Williton area lost all their digital reception as from yesterday 6th Jan? Understandably it could be the severe weather. Kind regards, Mick.
Robin
Friday 8 January 2010 12:14PM Bristol
For about the last 5 weeks my Mendip Freeview has been frequently failing about every 2 minutes on all channels. Normally it shows a high signal strength and is very good. It fails for just long enough to drop the picture and sound. Now I have had to revert to analogue which is brilliant. Are the upgrades at Mendip causing all these issues?
Richard Vine
Saturday 9 January 2010 9:54AM Swindon
I live in the swindon area SN25 and I lost my ITV and the majority of my channels a few weeks ago on all three of the TV's andthey have been retunned. Do I need to get s stronger aerial or something? What more can I do?
Iain Davies
Saturday 9 January 2010 12:15PM
Make sure you have the correct group C/D aerial for Mendip, and that heavy snow has not misaligned the aerial and is still pointing at the TX. If not, your TVs should be connected to your aerial via a powered amplified splitter so no loss of signal. there are lots or things you can try including checking all connections, make sure water is not enering the cable etc.
Andrew
Saturday 9 January 2010 8:22PM
Richard - I'm in SN25 (orbital centre) and in exactly the same position. Over Christmas all muxes were patchy during the day, and non-existant during the evenings and night. In the last week everything has been restored and whilst signal strength is still low (we're right on the edge of Mendip's range) the quality is fine.

I've pretty much given up figuring out what the problem was... but if you get any clues let us know.
Iain Davies
Saturday 9 January 2010 8:27PM
Richard, amy chance of using Oxford?,uses the same aerial group as Mendip.
Mick
Sunday 10 January 2010 3:14PM
Still wondering, no signal at all for Freeview in TA24 area. Ice? Snow? My aerial got damaged by frost? I get a bad analogue signal still on 4 and 5, but zero at all on Freeview, when it was perfect for about 9 months until three days ago. I deas welcome please.
Mick
Iain Davies
Sunday 10 January 2010 8:52PM
Mick, I think it is weather related, check water in cable, cable contracted with severe cold and come away from connections etc. Weight of snow misaligned aerial, whole system from aerial to TV should be looked at.
Iain Davies
Sunday 10 January 2010 8:53PM
P.S. I'm in the Mendip area and no probs with TX.
Professor Sir Keith Chittenden
Saturday 16 January 2010 7:25PM
During all recent traumas,we have consistently received BBC programmes on channel 59. They are still there, but woe betide anyone who has been inveigled into a recent channel search as thereafter they no longer appear! So my DVD (which hasn't done a search recently) still receives them all but my other 4 DVB receivers on which (on the promise of access to new channels)I have tried to search in the last few days are now unable to receive these digital programmes (and aren't the analogue picture qualities awful!)
Do we think the authorities know of this issue? Is something missing from channel identification on the appropriate MUX and can we expect to return to the situation we enjoyed a week ago, or is all on hold for 3 months until switchover?
Jordy
Sunday 17 January 2010 2:44AM
I can say the same as Iain. I've spent some time at my brother's in Devizes... Mendip coverage has been exceptional especially since the last time i was here, when reception appeared abysmal. Perhaps that new 5 sided RFS array is doing it's job... Wonder if that down in gain reserve is still in use...
David Smith
Sunday 17 January 2010 11:06AM Warminster
Suddenly, here in BA12 9LT all is well, having followed the various bits of advice posted here, latterly doing a full scan with the aerial unplugged, thus wiping the memory, then a full scan with it re-instated. The only puzzle is that we get Plymouth local news on BBC rather than Bristol.
Pete
Sunday 17 January 2010 2:58PM
David Smith : Is BBC One on Channel 59 ?
Pete
Sunday 17 January 2010 3:04PM
Professor Sir Keith Chittenden

Same thing happened to me in the North West of England. Try rescanning with the aerial out removing all channels, then again with it in and if the BBC multiplex doesn't come up the first time keep trying using the ADD NEW CHANNELS option until they do!! This worked for me. Pete
Mick
Sunday 17 January 2010 3:17PM
Thanks to the gent on this forum who suggested the snow had disorientated my aerial for Mendips reception in TA24 area. Now sorted, and an excellent picture again.
Mick.
Jordy
Sunday 17 January 2010 4:26PM
Mick - Take that as a warning sign for the future that the cable may water logged and dryed out... Could be simply water ingress in the balun and a spot of simple weather proofing with amalgamating tape could be a fix...
Iain Davies
Sunday 17 January 2010 7:46PM
Mick, you are very welcome!
Neil Vicker
Monday 18 January 2010 8:24PM Bristol
I receive from mendip and for the last few days my analogue signal (and therefore freeview aswell) goes completely mid afternoon and all evening but comes back on in the morning. It is v frustrating. Can you advise what is happening and when it will be finished. Digital TV upgrade work perhaps?
David Smith
Tuesday 19 January 2010 8:13AM Warminster
Here in BA12 9LT our analogue reception and associated Ceefax, once an electronic soup, is now back in apple pie order. The text service is better than the BBC digital red button offering.
Bob Ford
Tuesday 19 January 2010 3:47PM Wells
To Neil V: I'm under the mast (2 miles away in Priddy) but with non-optimum loft aerial giving signal strength of 70% - absolutely no changes here - everything is stable.
Ali
Tuesday 19 January 2010 10:45PM
I am in Ta2 area and since Monday have lost all digital channels from Mendip. I have tried unplugging everything and then restarting - no joy - what is going on?
Jeff Glynn
Tuesday 19 January 2010 10:53PM
Ali,
No problem with Mendip. Check your own installation.
Colin Moore
Thursday 21 January 2010 6:06PM
Can you please supply information about the complex sequence of power and channel changes which are to occur to the COM Muxes from the Mendip transmitter between its DSO this March/April and 2012?
KMJ,Derby
Thursday 21 January 2010 8:18PM
Colin Moore:COM4/SDN mode change, power increase and frequency change to C48 after Oxford switchover in 2011.(March/April? TBC). MUXC and MUXD continue until switchover completed at Salisbury in 2012. After this date power increased and mode changed as ArqA begins on C52,and ArqB begins on C56.
Brian Tosh
Friday 22 January 2010 5:41PM Bristol
Here in BS37 8TD we have lost Freeview reception from the Mendip Transmitter since Wednesday 20 January for ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5. The BBC channels, although slightly patchy at times recently, appear ok. Is there a problem?
Pete
Friday 22 January 2010 9:08PM
David Smith : I really miss Ceefax it was superb compared to its digital replacement on all fronts : News, Weather with clear maps and summaries, a host of info sadly lacking on digital here in the North-West. Business news is rubbish now, there is no weekend tax news on BBC TWO to equate to the 270-277 pages, which I used to check my allowances. There is no regional weather description, no shipping forecast no highest & lowest temps around the UK, to name but a few. At least I lived in the era where Ceefax existed. It was nice to visit friends in Yorkshire recently who still have it.
Briantist
Saturday 23 January 2010 4:41PM
Brian Tosh: Please see Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent digital TV + switchover advice, since 2002 for help with that.
Briantist
Saturday 23 January 2010 4:44PM
Pete: Surely you can read it at news.bbc.co.uk link icon http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/default.stm or ceefax.tv link icon CEEFAX1 mobile if you really need to?
Pete
Saturday 23 January 2010 5:40PM
Possibly Brian, I just liked the simple and clear display on Ceefax with the black background and large clear letters. I hate the new system where you are forced to watch a tiny picture in a window in the top left and the bright coloured background. They could at least give you the option for the text to fill the screen. Perhaps if they removed the sex, casino and shopping channels we could have a fuller BBC text service.
Pete
Saturday 23 January 2010 5:42PM
Tried your Ceefax link Brisn - "PAGE NOT FOUND" !!
Briantist
Saturday 23 January 2010 5:46PM
Pete: You can always change the browser to supply just those colours.

The "sex, casino and shopping channels" are carried on non BBC multiplexes (mostly part of Teletext Ltd's allocation) and have no impact on the BBC text service.
Pete
Saturday 23 January 2010 5:58PM
Tried the second link Brian and this does work, many thanks.
It won't show the weather map though just the text on P. 401. I suppose all this will die in 2012 or before anyway.
How do I alter the colours on the digital text background on my tele ? Surely they are fixed by the broadcaster. Does my Freeview box have a browser and is so how do I do this ?
The computer version off Ceefax does not display the headings of the shares so the numbers are a bit hard to follow. These are clearer on : newsvote.bbc.co.uk link icon BBC NEWS | Business | Market Data | Shares | London | Popular Shares
Thanks anyway, Pete
Pete
Saturday 23 January 2010 6:05PM
When Freeview first started the BBC did spread some of their text and radio services across quite a number of the other multiplexes. I remember the BBC World Service was not on the BBC multiplex at the time, which struck me as odd, but I guess following switchover and the HD allocations things have changed , but not necessarily always for the better judging by all the comments from people having difficulties. The stonger signals seem to have created as many problems as they have solved.
Briantist
Sunday 24 January 2010 4:57PM
Pete: The BBC World Service is paid for by the FCO, not the TVL. This is why it has often appeared on odd multiplexes (it was on a different DAB multiplex too if I remember correctly).

There used to be a rather good text service that told you information about the current and last programmes too.
Briantist
Sunday 24 January 2010 5:56PM
Pete: Sorry about the duff link. You can't alter the broadcaster's colours, I mean you can using IE/Firefox/Chrome etc.
Tony
Monday 25 January 2010 11:43AM Chippenham
The channel allocations for some digital services quote the channel number followed by a plus or minus sign. I presume this indicates a shift in the frequency. Can you confirm if this is the case and if so by how much. Also why has it been done ? (map)
peter
Monday 25 January 2010 7:12PM
Yes, it's offsets to reduce interference. + or - 0.167 MHz
Pete
Monday 25 January 2010 8:10PM
BBC World Service has always been on
Multiplex 12B on DAB as long as I've had a DAB tuner (since 1999). It started with a bit rate of 80kbps (mono) but is now down to 64kbps (mono) on 12B since the introduction of BBC Radio 7 (mono), 6 music and the Asian Network. It is in stereo on BBC Radio 4 FM through the night (01:00am to 05:20am) at least until 2015.



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