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

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

Radiation patterns withheld

What do the colours on the map mean?

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

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.

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 BBC Red Button 1, 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, 303 BBC Red Button HD, 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 21 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, 302 BBC Red Button 2, 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 22 others



Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch 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.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with West Country (West)

Are there any self-help relays?

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

How will the Mendip (Somerset, England) 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.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

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

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services 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.

P
peter
Monday 25 January 2010 7:12PM
Yes, it's offsets to reduce interference. + or - 0.167 MHz
P
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.
Briantist
Monday 25 January 2010 8:25PM
Pete: I'm not sure, there was an odd configuration when BBC Parliament (Audio) was on DAB until 14 November 2000. I've not got any record to check at the moment.
P
Pete
Monday 25 January 2010 8:33PM
Some BBC Local stations also used to carry BBC World Service overnight(128kbps), but not many, if any, do these days, mainly 5 Live. These would be on another multiplex usually 11A, 11B, 11C, 12A or 12C. BBC Radio Wales also carries BBC World Service through the night on 12B.
P
Pete
Monday 25 January 2010 8:37PM
Yes I remember BBC Parliament and also BBC Radio 4 LW for a time, but as far as I remember they were all on 12B. Parliament went off air for long periods, similar to what 5 Live Sports Extra does now, when it isn't reducing BBC Radio 4's bit rate.
Briantist
Monday 25 January 2010 8:44PM
Pete: I don't think you could actually get any commercial receivers back then, there was one at work used for some technical purpose. It can't have been on D1 as it didn't start until 15 November 1999.
P
Pete
Monday 25 January 2010 9:14PM
Brian: I've had a Technics ST-GT 1000 DAB/FM/AM tuner, I'm pretty sure, since September 1999, it cost me over £400. I'm almost certain it was 1999 as I recall having it before my dad died in Jan 2000, he gave some money towards it. The fact that I remember the display saying BBC Parliament (an audo service as you say)seems to support this. In recent years my DAB/FM/AM tuner has sadly been switched more to FM as the bit rates on DAB have dropped and certain programmes have gone into mono on DAB but remain in stereo on FM, so much for progress. I still have the receipt somewhere, if I find it I'll let you know the precise date I bought it from a hi-fi shop in Sale, Cheshire. It was the year I came back from working overseas, which according to my diary was 1999. There is a website which gives the history of all the bit rates of the BBC DAB channels, which Multiplex they were on and when they changed. Apart from the BBC Local Radio stations, I'm fairly sure the BBC World Service and all the BBC National DAB Channels have always been on Multiplex 12B.
P
Pete
Monday 25 January 2010 9:29PM
There was also a channel on 12B called BBC Test, for a while, which duplicated the World Service, probably testing if the BBC could get away with lowering its bit rate from 80kbps ahead of the new channels, as the test channel was also broadcasting with 64kbps. When this happened for good the difference was really obvious. Hence my disappointment with DAB, having been in there from the beginning, when most of the bit rates were higher on the BBC channels. It's that old chestnut quality vs quantity, where quantity always seem to win !!
Briantist
Tuesday 26 January 2010 9:46AM
Pete: There used to be a dedicated channel for "data" as well (40kbps, I think). I agree that DAB used to sound better, but like everything else "digital" there is more choice now, but with lower quality. However, the iPlayer streams are super-high quality now.
Briantist
Tuesday 26 January 2010 10:42AM
Pete: I'm wondering if there was a time when there was BBC Parliament on DAB and not the World Service, but as I said I have nothing to check against.
P
Pete
Tuesday 26 January 2010 2:08PM
Very true about the i-player which I can now feed into my CD disc recorder to record my favourite progs or individual songs using the timer bar, which overcomes the problem of not being able to make timed recordings anymore and allows me to record BBC Radio 7 in ((( stereo ))). If I finalise my discs I can play them in the car.

J
Jeff Eastmond
Wednesday 27 January 2010 4:44PM Clevedon
OK Colour me confused. I've received the Digital Switchover Guide, and it says on the 24th March, we lose analogue BBC2 (Channel (Ch)64), and we'll need to re-tune our equipment. According to the DigitalUK webpage, the only effect retuning will have is to move Mux1/BBCA from Ch59 to Ch61, all other channels stay as-is. Ch61 is the channel for analogue ITV1(!) - will we be losing that too? Why is BBC2 being switched off at that time when there is nothing going to Ch64 to replace it?
On 7th April, we lose the rest of the analogue channels (BBC1/C4/Five, assuming ITV1 also went the way of BBC2 on 24th March) and have to retune again - this time Mux2/D3+4 goes from Ch55 to Ch54, MuxB (Ch65) disappears and MuxHD appears on Ch58, and MuxD/ArqB moves from Ch67 to Ch59. MuxA/SDN and MuxC/ArqA stay on channels 62 and 56 respectively.
Then, at some point in 2011 we have to retune again, MuxA/SDN moving from Ch62 to Ch48, MuxC/ArqA moving from Ch56 to Ch52 and MuxD/ArqB moving again, this time from Ch59 to Ch56.
Finally(?), another retune in 2012, which seems to have no effect at all.

Now, I'm fairly savvy and have the retuning of my Humax down pat - complete retune aerial out, then manual retune using the appropriate channel numbers from Mendip (so no Wenvoe interference) - what hope does anyone who isn't so knowledgable and just follows the instructions, autotunes and has to sit watching the Welsh channels the box will pick up, not knowing anything different? There's going to be a lot of unhappy people on one hand, and others getting very rich on 'consulting fees' going round fixing the situation...
A
Andy
Wednesday 27 January 2010 5:38PM
There is no retune listed as yet for 2012 its just going full power on 48 52 56 to match that of 54 58 61.

Although 61 will move at some point in the future due to the cash straped goverment selling off this channel slot.
I
industrycynic
Wednesday 27 January 2010 6:09PM
Mendip:

Take a good look here.

www.digitaluk.co.uk link icon http://www.digitaluk.co.u….pdf

You are right: there is going to be another retuning fiasco on a par with that in the North West because of the overlaps between Wenvoe and Mendip. Just in the middle of a possible Election too!!
N
Nedbod
Wednesday 27 January 2010 7:54PM
Looks like Freesat will have a bumber year then, with everyone who is hacked off with all the pitfalls of Freeview (especially those in relay & overlap areas) and those who can't wait for limited HD on Freeview + those who bought ordinary Freeview in their HD ready TVs not knowing it would not pick up HD. I suggest anyone who has not switched yet seriously consider this FREESAT alternative, as I don't know of anyone who has opted for Freesat and been disappointed, apart from the qualityn of the football picture on ITV4 which is terrible on all platforms to be honest !!
M
Martin Bird
Wednesday 27 January 2010 8:02PM
Hi Jeff E

I have the same problem as you, picking-up Wenvoe in preference to Mendip (I'm in North Bristol). Even when I do the same as you and manually tune to Mendip my Humax still gets confused and starts locking-up after a day or 2. I'm hoping the power boost in March will help. Is there a way of providing greater directional protection at the aerial?
J
Jeff Eastmond
Wednesday 27 January 2010 9:47PM Clevedon
@Martin Bird: Yes, in Clevedon auto scans pick up Wenvoe before Mendip, even though the aerial is pointing directly at Mendip bearing 144degrees whereas Wenvoe is almost completely the other direction at bearing 277degrees (of necessity, it's a wideband mounted horizontally for analogue Five reception). I'm no tech whiz on aerials, but I'm sure that others on this board would have some insight into the protection you describe.

My Humax is a 3-year-old PVR 9200T. No problem with lockups of any sort, so can't help you there.
J
Jeff Eastmond
Wednesday 27 January 2010 9:59PM Clevedon
@industrycynic: The document you refer to is over 2 years old. It still refers to the ArqA/B multiplexes as 'NGW', a reference to Five moving Mux has already been done, and it only offers a 'before and after' snapshot.

The DigitalUK webpage I was referred to by Andy on 30th December has more current detail and shows the changes at each stage through the DSO.

One thought has occurred to me: perhaps there is a mistake on that page and Mux1/BBCA is temporarily going to Ch64 between the 24th March and 7th April. Then the shutdown of analogue BBC2 makes sense and we won't lose analogue ITV1 before 7th April.
I
industrycynic
Thursday 28 January 2010 10:06AM
Jeff Eastmond: I suspect Ofcom will issue a new version shortly. They tend to release further information just before switchovers.
R
Robin Dew
Thursday 28 January 2010 4:05PM
Mendip versus Wenvoe channels
I suggest that when you retune, disconnect the aerial until the autotune gets to 50%. This stops the equipment picking up the Wenvoe channels, then reinsert the aerial and all it will pick up is Mendip channels. I live in Claverham, south of Bristol and a very poor reception area, and this method works fine.
I
Iain Davies
Thursday 28 January 2010 4:51PM
Yes all very well until switchover! What happens then with Wenvoe's high channels on CH49 & CH51 and Mendip's low channels on CH48 & CH52, a real problem. Another problem arises with Hutton, Hutton's channels are smack in the middle of Mendip's. In certain parts of W-s-M where you can get both this will totally confuse the reciever. I can see people ending up with half there channels in the 800s.
I
Iain Davies
Thursday 28 January 2010 4:57PM
Another thought, as I've said before I can't understand why they can't transmit the West from Wenvoe as was in the 405 line days, this would mean no need for a number of relay stations in the West of England allowing a lot of channels to be freed for say giving the Bath relay 6 MUXs.
I
industrycynic
Thursday 28 January 2010 5:05PM
Iain Davies: you are on the money. The West DSO will be an even bigger screw up than the North West DSO. It also won't help as the new Freeview HD boxes eg Humax and Bush all have the new autotuning system built in: manual tuning with selection and sort is needed. March is going to bring another DSO debacle.
I
Iain Davies
Thursday 28 January 2010 5:14PM
In Weston-super-Mare we had enough problems with receivers tuning to Stockland Hill once on full power, it's going to be an absolute nightmare with Mendip and Wenvoe on full power. At least Stockland Hill and Mendip are in two different parts of the band, keeping the aerial lead out trick works!
M
Mike Levitt
Thursday 28 January 2010 7:49PM Cheltenham
Living in Cheltenham we at present receive The West Country News via an analogue signal - and the Midlands news via a digital signal. Any thoughts as to how we can continue to receive the West Country news after Mendip goes digital.
J
Jeff Eastmond
Thursday 28 January 2010 10:42PM Clevedon
@Robin Dew: I have my equipment sat inside a fitted shelving unit and have very little access to the plugs at the rear. In any case I am chary of plugging and unplugging things while still 'on' and connected to the mains.
At least doing it manually I have control over what Mux channels it scans for TV channels.
Can you imagine an elderly person kneeling down with their arm behind the TV waiting to plug in the aerial when it got to an indeterminate point in the autoscan procedure?
I
Iain Davies
Thursday 28 January 2010 10:50PM
Mike, Ridge Hill will transmit a dgital West MUX at R.H. switchover on CH26
I
Iain Davies
Thursday 28 January 2010 11:07PM
Mike, Sorry slip of a digit should be CH29.
Briantist
Friday 29 January 2010 2:29PM
Mike Levitt: If you can receive a BBC or ITV region before switchover, you will still have it afterwards. Alternate versions appear on channel number 801, 802 and 803 usually. Press CH- from channel 1 on a Freeview box.
P
Pete
Friday 29 January 2010 6:23PM
Unless you live in the Isle of Man (IoM) who have switched from Border / North East to Granada / North West, apart from those viewers on the IoM coast who can receive digital TV direct from a mainland tranmitter in England / Scotland / Northern Ireland or Wales (depending on which part of the island they live).
Briantist
Friday 29 January 2010 6:38PM
Pete: Yes, that was an intentional switch, Manchester is nearer to you than Newcastle!
P
Pete
Friday 29 January 2010 8:11PM
So why didn't the Isle of Man get Granada ITV & ABC (up until 1967) on analogue TV, it hasn't moved and it has always been nearer to Manchester than Newcastle. (Border, of course, came from Carlisle, not Newcastle but BBC North East was from Newcastle - strange situation which I think was something to do with viewers in Cumbria preferring Mike Neville to Stuart Hall & David Davies) ?
Briantist
Friday 29 January 2010 8:16PM
Pete: I think it was chosen to be that way because the "Border" region needed it to get to a critical size.

I think the idea is that the Isle of Man has closer links with the Granada region. Possibly.
P
Pete
Friday 29 January 2010 8:51PM
That makes sense Brian. When I worked in Ballacarmel near Ramsey IoM in 1992-3 you could pick up Winter Hill from our holiday cottage with an indoor aerial, not a bad picture, so we could get both Granada & Border plus BBC North West, North East & BBC Scotland from I think Caldbeck.
C
Chris.SE
Saturday 30 January 2010 1:56AM
Having read some of the comments here, it seem the best advice to give to anyone thinking of buying a new STB or iDTV is that it is either capable of doing a Manual tune OR a MOVE (and Delete) channels.
I
Iain Davies
Saturday 30 January 2010 11:35AM
The problem is you don't know what a receiver is able to do before you buy it, then if it is not faulty you are stuck with it! The best thing is buy better equipment, my Panasonic DVD recorders all have manual tunning so you can choose the transmitter you want. No problems with a Moel-y-Parc/Winter Hill, and in this area a Mendip/Wenyoe/Stockland Hill situation.
Briantist
Sunday 31 January 2010 8:23AM
Chris.SE: The problem with most systems is that if you delete or move a channel and then rescan or new channels start up, you often get put back where you start from.

It is often easier to use CH- from channel 1 to deal with the duplicates.

I guess many people would love a "disable shopping channels" function!
Briantist
Sunday 31 January 2010 8:25AM

Pete: I think this is what I meant ... Isle of Man Guide - Isle of Man Ferries - "Liverpool" is the closes point to the isle.


J
Jeff Glynn
Tuesday 2 February 2010 12:43AM
Tuesday 2nd Feb, 00:30: Total failure (no carrier)on MUX 2 (55) and 2 (62) Probably
be OK in the morning.
J
Jeff Glynn
Tuesday 2 February 2010 12:58AM
Planned egineering overnight and tomorrow;
all MUXs affected, shut down for up to six
hours overnight (Digital UK info).
M
MFPA
Tuesday 2 February 2010 2:04AM
Jeff, does that affect analogue as well? About 30 minutes after losing digital, my analogue went off except Ch 5.
J
John
Tuesday 2 February 2010 2:10AM Clevedon
Mendip is listed as having no reported current problems at the moment, but I've lost all my channels. I can pick up BBC Wales, presumably from the other transmitter, but I've lost all my usual channels.

Can anyone confirm the state of play with Mendip transmitter please.
M
MFPA
Tuesday 2 February 2010 2:41AM
Confirmed from Digital UK's website, BBC1&2, ITV and CH4 analogue affected as well as all digital. Off for "up to 6 hours overnight" today and tomorrow.
C
cp
Tuesday 2 February 2010 2:42AM Chippenham
I've lost analoghe as well as freeview 2.39 Wiltshire
C
cp
Tuesday 2 February 2010 2:51AM Chippenham
Thanks for the information - I'll go back to bed!
M
Mark
Tuesday 2 February 2010 4:04AM
Despite your web page saying all is well, Freeview is down on Tuesday 2nd Feb 4am
M
Mark
Tuesday 2 February 2010 4:08AM Barry
Yep both signals gone despite website saying all is fine with the transmitter...
Briantist
Tuesday 2 February 2010 7:30AM
Mark: It does not logically follow that a reception problem is caused by a lack of transmissions, of course.



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