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-Dec 2014Harlech Television
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.

Ann
Tuesday 18 January 2011 10:51AM
I have retuned again this morning mainly because the weather is much improved today from the gloom of the past week. Our tv with STB now has all the missing channels back in place. Has itv1+1 but not Sky Sports1 or SS2. I would guess this is down to work at the transmitter rather than the weather though. Post Code BA1
Mrs Johnson
Tuesday 18 January 2011 11:11AM Melksham
I cannot get BBC 1 on freeview. Any ideas?
Mr Wooldridge
Tuesday 18 January 2011 11:36AM
Recently I have been experiencing intermittent signals on Film4 and other low powered channels (com6). I have a digital ariel and have tried retuning the channels but to no avail. This problem has also been encountered by friends living locally. Has there been changes at the Mendip transmitter which might have cause such problems?
Pete Green
Tuesday 18 January 2011 12:13PM Weston-super-mare
Mrs Johnson

Are you getting BBC2. If you are you may have deleted BBC1 from you favourites list. If not try retuning channel 61.
Tom
Tuesday 18 January 2011 12:30PM Gillingham
I'm in North Dorset (Mendip transmitter). Until Friday all freeview channels were fine. Then I lost all of them, with the box detecting no signal at all. Then they came back on a retune the next day for a few hours, then lost again. Same thing yesterday. It's either all channels or none. Engineer came yesterday and says we need a new aerial to cope with the changed strength of signal from Mendip (it's an old analogue one I think with a booster). Does this sound feasible?
Michael Bane
Tuesday 18 January 2011 4:54PM
Ann:

Try retuning again....my Post Code is BS16 and since the retune I am getting Sky Sports perfectly ok via BT Vision and have not lost any channels as far as I can see.
chris
Tuesday 18 January 2011 5:05PM
Were we not informed in the very beginning that this changeover would not cost us anything and would not have to buy special equipment, so far I've had to have a digitial outdoor aerial fitted & had to buy freeview digital boxes or freeview tv's for various rooms.All working ok until month ago when all channels lost & could not re-boot or re-tune freeview box, friend said it was broken, 3 weeks after exactly same happened to another of my freeview boxes, I thought it strange both not working within such short time of each other but friend convinced they were broken & probably something to do with circuit as could not get them to re-boot or re-tune so they ended up in the bin. About a month ago lost itv, ch5 & others on a freeview tv, & today cannot get half my channels even basic itv, ch5 & many others on another freeview tv and many channels are breaking up with coloured lines, so can someone please tell me what the hell is happening & in plain engish how do I get all my channels back, one of my tv's won't let me search channel by channel have to do automatic search & still can't get channels required itv, ch5 etc also just renewed tv licence so not happy can't watch channels I want to. I am now convinced 2 recordable freeview boxes were thrown out because we thought they were broken when in actual fact were probably ok, so thank you for all the aggro etc due to this changeover & all this messing about by whoever is dealing with this, I can only see more problems ahead. Does anyone know who it is I can actually complain to and who or what is Mendip?
Steve
Tuesday 18 January 2011 5:20PM Melksham
Briantist: Many thanks for your advice. I now have all channels on my DVD recorder apart from MUX A. Thanks again.
Christopher
Tuesday 18 January 2011 9:50PM
This is somewhat annoying.

Bought a new Humax PVR last week, set up The Mentalist on serial record so I never miss a recording again (so rubbish using other recorders). Go away for the weekend. come back and no recording. wondered what I had done wrong. then the channels start having trouble and now lost 5 completely.

Was beginning to think I had a dodgy box...now it looks like its not me after all.

What a time to get a new box! Thanks for letting me know.
John
Thursday 20 January 2011 5:39PM Wotton-under-edge
Since about a week ago I have not been able to receive several Freeview channels including Yesterday. They were fine previously. Is this because of the work on the Mendip transmitter? The problem is on every television in the house (5) and is not removed by retuning.
Andrew Poulton
Saturday 22 January 2011 6:29PM
After the retune on Mendip last week I had all my channels now they have all gone on COM 6 arqB

I have tried all the fixes but nothing has sorted it.

I have 2 other TV's in the bedromms on a cheap short aerial they are both okay but my bog array and line of sight Mendip is not working.

What is the answer please.

A new aerial? It is in the loft for easy access. I put it there.

Why has it stopped?

Cheers Andrew
Unhappy Mendip Viewer
Saturday 22 January 2011 7:17PM
Is there anything that can be done for those of us that have lost so many channels after a channel switch? We may be in outlying areas but we have had all channels with a good signal for several years... if I had known it was happening i would have saved the money I spent on a Freeview PVR and bought a Freesat PVR instead!
Andrew Poulton
Saturday 22 January 2011 9:30PM
EEERRRR

WHAT HAS HAPPENED.

All the missing channels are back on the Humax PVR !! [they were .NO SIGNAL' on there and TV before.

I did not retune it but I did the TV and lost them all.[COM 6 arqB]

I have just done a retune on the TV and they are all back !!!

What was that about. I did not hear or see anything on any outage?
Elaine
Sunday 23 January 2011 10:05AM Bristol
The top of the page still mentions transmitter engineering works, saying service will be "liable to interruption" - that might have been it.

I might rescan mine again, but I suspect my problem is because they've moved ArqB to 64QAM - I've never been able to pick up the ITV3 MUX, which is the other one on low strength 64QAM.
Andrew Poulton
Sunday 23 January 2011 12:10PM
Hi Yes you are correct. I did not think they would do it on a Sat Evening though.

Tjank you Elaine
mike
Sunday 23 January 2011 2:59PM
After all this re tune factory re set still no 67 on ICAN stb can get all missing channels on 847etc so will just key in for Film4 etc until next retune in Sept All tvs with freeview retune no problem ICAN stb used mainly for HD channels..
Bizman
Monday 24 January 2011 12:13PM Taunton
I found that if I first deleted anything shown as Ch59 and then rescanned Ch67 only, it restored all the missing programmes without putting any in the high number range. The move of Arq B/Com6 from 59 to 67 was not well published and presumably 'do a rescan' was thought to suffice.
sbmarlborough
Monday 24 January 2011 6:06PM Marlborough
does the fact that they have moved Ch 62 and Ch 67 to 64QAM account for problems receiving on some equipment in situations with lower signal strengths? If so why did they do this whilst transmitting at such low power, couldn't it have waited until the transmission power and/or channels were increased at the next stage (or two!)?
PeteGreen
Monday 24 January 2011 6:55PM
sbmarlborough.

This was done so that BT could sell sky sports on freeview.
Pete.
Iain Davies
Monday 24 January 2011 7:34PM
Just got back after being away for some time, have not got time to read all posts so sorry for repitition if so! ITV1+1 from Mendip is ITV1 Wales.
sbmarlborough
Monday 24 January 2011 9:17PM Marlborough
Hi PeteGreen

I knew that the reason was that they wanted to make space for Sky Sports on Freeview but surely there was a way of doing this without ruining the service for those of us who are in the outer areas of transmission... or wait until next year when they up the power. I invested in my equipment after determining the signal strength at my home and did not expect the signal to made worse, all the publicity suggested that it would improve after analogue was switched off. If only I could pay a proportion of my licence fee!
pellow
Tuesday 25 January 2011 11:04AM Bristol
I'm giving up with Freeview completely and going over to Freesat. Never needs retuning and much better pictures. The Freeview service is rubbish!
David S.
Tuesday 25 January 2011 1:12PM Warminster
Here in BA12 9LT our HD reception is patchy. Does anyone have similar problems.
David S.
Tuesday 25 January 2011 1:14PM
Sorry - wrong e mail address with earlier post. Corrected with this one.
sbmarlborough
Tuesday 25 January 2011 3:00PM Marlborough
Hi David S

You should have no problem receiving HD unless there is something very local to you blocking the signal. I checked your postcode and you should have a very strong signal. Mine is far weaker and i receive HD without any blockiness or sound issues.

Could it be your aerial?leads/equipment?

Tim
Tuesday 25 January 2011 3:12PM Drybrook
I live in nr Westbury Forest of Dean and have now lost the set of channels including itv4, yesterday and film 4

I have tried clearing out channels and retuning ...no luck.

Any other ideas anyone please
sbmarlborough
Tuesday 25 January 2011 3:31PM Marlborough
Hi Tim

Same here and I have lost those on C67 too, they have changed the modulation which appears to manifest itself as a poorer signal on some equipment.
Gareth
Tuesday 25 January 2011 3:53PM
Update from Chippenham.

The current situation is: I have all Channel67 progs on 1 V Box, 1 Set top box, and 1 iDTV, but not on another iDTV. I have replaced a splitter and about 15 metres of coax cable. However, on all devices there re Channel 56 progs with sound but no vision. Everything was hunky dory prior to the January 11th retune debacle just to get ITV1+1 from Wales.

Has anybody noticed that there are 3 channels ITV Preview 1 which broadcasts (ITV Nightscreen) for 2 hours per day, Home broadcasting for 1 hour per day and Big Deal for 1 hour per day. Talk about wasting resources. Whose idea was it to have Mendip transmitter 'liable to disruption' less than 7 days after the post retune problems started?
Alex
Tuesday 25 January 2011 3:58PM Broadway
Higher modulation = greater compression... higher liklihood of drop-out, interference, etc. Get Freesat instead, it's just easier.

Freeview used to be all 64QAM, which was why it was rubbish under ITV Digital... all the BBC bits are 16QAM now, which is why they're better.
Miss Moppet
Tuesday 25 January 2011 7:56PM
Anyone needing answers try the Arquiva Mendip Transmitter man, Bruce Randall, on 01962 822582. Friendly helpful chap. He claims that 99% of problems are caused by not having a roof aerial, but like the rest of you I've had a perfectly good signal from a loft aerial, till recently.
michael
Wednesday 26 January 2011 9:45AM
Bruce is right. Exceptions "prove the rule" - such as when all muxes radiate final full power. Unless close to and within view of the mast, a good quality roof aerial, sat-quality cable and good connections are advisable.
Tonyn
Wednesday 26 January 2011 6:17PM Chippenham
Something very strange : I have a Panasonic digital TV downstairs and an old Philips digibox upstairs both fed from the same roof aerial. Following the Mendip changes I have rescanned both and also done the whole clear-down procedure you suggest. No matter what I do the "Blue" service stays on LCN 190 on the Panasonic TV, but correctly moves to LCN 98 on the Philips box. Everything else is OK. Any ideas ?
peter
Wednesday 26 January 2011 9:13PM Blakeney
Following the recent Mendip changes I re-scanned. I can no longer get Sky News. Additionally the signal on many Non BBC channels is variable, ranging from pixel freeze to unwatchable

My daughters got TVs for their bedrooms at xmas. Splitting the cable may have caused some of my problems, but I could definitely got Sky news on the main TV after the aerial was split. On one of my daughters TVs Sky news is still available. My gut feeling is that my problems are partly due to splitting the aerial.

Anybody got any ideas?
distressed
Thursday 27 January 2011 7:12AM
I have no channels at all this a.m.? Was fine until around midnight last night when I went to bed! It's asking me to check that the aerial is properly connected. It is. I have rescanned, turned off and on, etc, and still nothing? Is there a problem?
distressed
Thursday 27 January 2011 7:13AM
Ps I'm in Bristol
Briantist
Thursday 27 January 2011 7:17AM
distressed: No transmitter faults are reported, can you please see www.ukfree.tv link icon Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice ?
Gareth Smart
Thursday 27 January 2011 10:48AM
Distressed: You to are not alone on this one! On the PSB multiplexes I to have found them to be unwatchable recently. The BBC one was always 100% strong for me. Now it's only about 20% with pixleation break up if I'm lucky. So now I've decided to get my TV from Wales which ironically, is coming through stronger with my aerial pointing almost 180• the wrong way!
Mike Dimmick
Thursday 27 January 2011 2:44PM Reading
Gareth Smart: I suspect your percentages are from the 'signal quality' meter rather than 'signal strength'. This meter is typically useless, as it usually shows the number of uncorrected errors, and you can see those - if the picture is perfect it will show 100%, any less than 100% and you're getting some picture or sound breakup.

I think it's most likely that your problem is too much signal. The first thing you should do is remove any amplifiers. If you don't have any, or that doesn't solve it, consider adding an attenuator.
john tovey
Thursday 27 January 2011 3:25PM Bristol
ihave retuned still no signal
Tonyn
Friday 28 January 2011 11:52AM
Briantist : Thanks for reply, but if you read my original post carefully, you will see that I have already done the full clear down procedure you recommend (several times in fact) but problem remains.
sbmarlborough
Friday 28 January 2011 2:14PM
I have tried making a complaint to Digital UK about the recent channel change and loss of power but after a couple of emails they say they only advise and pointed me to making a complaint about reception on the BBC website, despite the fact the lost channels aren't BBC ones! I then go to the BBC website and it states that Digital UK are RESPONSIBLE for the leading the switchover!!!! Aargh.... As usual its pass the buck time!
Iain Davies
Friday 28 January 2011 8:20PM
TXs from Mendip are all "SPOT ON"
Chris Holmes
Saturday 29 January 2011 2:58PM Bristol
I'm having problems with the TV in the house that relies on an aerial - so who did what and when to screw-up my reception?, because I've changed nothing. To try to fix the problem, I've now retuned, but BBC et al is still pixellating; Sky channels seem OK
a.spiers
Sunday 30 January 2011 9:28PM Salisbury
Would a recently erected steel scaffolding on a building site 25metres to the west of my property cause a loss of several freeview TV channels.I live in Amesbury,Wilts.The Mendip Tx.is to the West of my house.The ariel is in the attic?My postcode is SP4 7LD
Fred Wheeler
Monday 31 January 2011 9:35AM
Of course Bruce Randall is right. Only when you live in a very strong signal area shoud you mess about with loft aerials. The atenuation by tile and similiar roofing can be imence. So spend a bit of money and be assured of a good signal with a correctly insralled outside aerial
bruce
Monday 31 January 2011 1:18PM
monday 31st we have channel 1 on freeview channel 20 tuesday 1st no channel 1. is yet another retune necessary as we appear to have gained challenge freeview channel 46?????



Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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