Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) Full Freeview transmitter | free and easy menuMENU Freeview emailsearchsettings News homeNews headlines bookmarksRead this question_answerYour comments groupAbout us reply_allCan YOU help? brightness_5 Free TV 2022 TV listAll free TV infoChannel info compare_arrowsCompare TV play_arrowConnected TV settings_input_hdmiCord Cutting UK webGeneral hdHigh definition live_tvOnline TV now surround_soundSound Freeview live_tvMy Freeview predict wifiTransmitters error_outlineBBC Faults scannerFind by frequency list_altFreeview news fast_forwardFuture Freeview? network_checkGot interference? add_circleInstalling local_activityLocal TV local_playLocal TV stations add_locationMast locations merge_typeMultiplexes wavesTransmitter details Freesat satelliteFreesat live_tvGeneral satellite mapSatellite footprint maps credit_cardSky No Card Maps error_outlineLive faults layersBBC regions commentComment places list_altEvery mast filter_3Freeview 3 vs 6 mapFreeview maps hdHD Freeview extra layersITV regions local_playLocal TV areas historyOlden days (1936-85) radioRadio layersSaorview wavesTV Frequency map border_outerTV regions Radio radioMy Radio prediction infoAbout digital radio wavesAM+FM frequency settings_input_antennaAM+FM mast list settings_input_antennaAM+FM masts trainAM+FM stations compare_arrowsCompare radio settings_input_antennaDAB mast list merge_typeDAB Multiplexes trainDAB stations settings_input_antennaDAB transmitters live_tvRadio on TV Help! helpKnowledge base moneySave money trending_upTop questions satelliteFree satellite? settings_input_antennaFreeview, aerials? infoGlossary hdHigh Definition? flightNon-UK channels? border_outerOutside the UK? tv_offTelevision sets? trainTV/radio stations? compare_arrowsWhich system? Archive (2002-) Article archive 4G maps 2013 700Mhz clearance Affiliated (blog) All posts by... at700 Freeview retune at800 Freeview retunes BBC Charter 2017 Box software Fake and fraud TV Feedback History of TV List of DSO dates Old diagnostics system Recording TV Rigger's zone Site development Switchovers TV channels news UK Free TV - News (6) Watch TV online Click to see updates Full Freeview on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter Brian Butterworth first published this on 1st May 2004 at 08:20 - UK Free TV Google Streetview Google map Bing map Google Earth 54.868,-1.771 or 54°52'5"N 1°46'15"W DH9 9AT The symbol shows the location of the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter which serves 700,000 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. This transmitter has no current reported problems The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmitter. Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name _______ Which Freeview channels does the Pontop Pike 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. Mux H/V Frequency Height Mode Watts PSB1 BBCA H max C39 (618.0MHz) 447m DTG-3 100,000W 1 BBC One (SD) North East and Cumbria, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, 250 BBC Red Button, plus 15 others 700 BBC Radio 1, 701 BBC Radio 1Xtra, 702 BBC Radio 2, 703 BBC Radio 3, 704 BBC Radio 4 (FM), 705 BBC Radio 5 Live, 706 BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, 707 BBC Radio 6 Music, 708 BBC Radio 4 Extra, 709 BBC Asian Network, 710 BBC World Service, 719 BBC Newcastle (BBC local radio), 720 BBC York (BBC local radio), 721 BBC Cumbria (BBC local radio), 722 BBC Tees (BBC local radio), PSB2 D3+4 H max C42 (642.0MHz) 447m DTG-3 100,000W 3 ITV (SD) (Tyne Tees), 4 Channel 4 (SD) North ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 North ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV +1 (Tyne Tees), PSB3 BBCB H max C45 (666.0MHz) 447m DTG-6 100,000W 56 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD (England no regional news), 102 BBC Two HD (England), 103 ITV HD (ITV Granada), 104 Channel 4 HD North ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 109 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others 66 TBN UK, COM4 SDN H -3dB C32 (562.0MHz) 447m DTG-8 50,000W 12 Quest, 20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! movies action, 46 Channel 5 +1, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 CBS Reality, 74 Dave ja vu, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 89 ITV4 +1, 203 CITV, 208 POP MAX, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, plus 15 others Create and Craft, Racing TV, Kiss Chat & Date, Proud Dating, ADULT Xpanded2, 16 QVC, 22 TJC, 263 SonLife, 264 VisionTV, 265 On Demand 365, 269 Arise News, 670 ADULT Section (start), 724 Capital, 727 Absolute Radio, 728 Heart, COM5 ArqA H -3dB C34 (578.0MHz) 447m DTG-8 50,000W 11 Sky Arts, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 pick, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 57 Smithsonian Channel, 60 Drama +1, 70 Quest +1, 75 Yesterday +1, 83 Together TV, 233 Sky News, plus 8 others 45 Gems TV, 85 CRAFT EXTRA , 673 ADULT smileTV3, 723 talkSPORT, 730 RNIB Connect, 731 Classic FM, 732 LBC, 733 Trans World Radio, COM6 ArqB H -3dB C35 (586.0MHz) 447m DTG-8 50,000W FreeSports, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 71 Quest Red +1, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 88 Classic Hits, 235 Aljazeera English, plus 19 others ADULT smileTV2, ADULT Studio 66, 37 QVC Beauty, 38 QVC Style, 51 Ideal World, 72 Jewellery Maker, 206 Pop, 674 ADULT Babestn, 678 Xpanded TV, 699 ADULT Section, 711 Hits Radio, 712 KISS FRESH, 713 KISS, 714 KISSTORY, 715 Magic, 716 Greatest Hits Radio, 717 Kerrang!, 718 Smooth Radio, 725 Premier Radio, LNE H -13dB C56 (754.0MHz) 447m DTG-12 5,000W from 22nd September 2014: 7 Made in Tyne and Wear, com7 H -4.7dB C55 (746.0MHz) 447m DTG-6 33,800W DTG-3 64QAM 8K 2/3 24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2 DTG-6 256QAM 32KE 2/3 40.2Mb/s DVB-T2 MPEG4 DTG-8 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 Pontop Pike transmitter? BBC Look North (Newcastle) 1.6m homes 6.0% from Newcastle NE99 2NE, 15km northeast (42°) to BBC North East and Cumbria region - 70 masts. ITV Tyne Tees News 1.4m homes 5.4% from Gateshead NE11 9SZ, 12km north-northeast (29°) to ITV Tyne Tees region - 47 masts. All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with Border Are there any self-help relays? Kieldor Dam Active deflector 6 homes Holiday complex Low Haber Active deflector West Allen Dale, 18 kn SW Hexham caravan site North Hartlepool Transposer 84 homes How will the Pontop Pike (County Durham, England) transmission frequencies change over time? 1950s-80s 1984-97 1997-98 1998-2012 2012-13 13 Nov 2019 VHF C/D E C/D E C/D E C/D E T W T C5 BBCtvwaves C32 SDN C33 com7 C34 com8 C35 ArqB C39 BBCA C42 D3+4 C45 BBCB C49tv_off BBCB C50tv_off SDN C54tv_off C4waves C4waves C4waves D3+4 C55tv_off ArqB com7tv_off C56tv_off LNE C58tv_off BBC1waves BBC1waves BBC1waves BBCA C59tv_off ArqA C61 ITVwaves ITVwaves ITVwaves 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 12 Sep 12 and 26 Sep 12. How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare? Analogue 1-4 500kW BBCA, D3+4, BBCB (-7dB) 100kW SDN, ARQA, ARQB (-10dB) 50kW com8 (-11.6dB) 34.6kW com7 (-11.7dB) 33.8kW Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* (-17dB) 10kW LNE (-20dB) 5kW Local transmitter maps Pontop Pike Freeview Pontop Pike TV region BBC North East and Cumbria Tyne Tees Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Pontop Pike transmitter area Jan 1959-Feb 2004 Tyne Tees Television Feb 2004-Dec 2014 ITV plc Feb 1983-Dec 1992 TV-am• Jan 1993-Sep 2010 GMTV• Sep 2010-Dec 2014 ITV Daybreak• • Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Pontop Pike 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. Is the transmitter output the same in all directions? 0db-2db-4db-6db-8db-10db-12db-14db-16db-18db180°170°160°150°140°130°120°110°100°90°80°70°60°50°40°30°20°10°350°340°330°320°310°300°290°280°270°260°250°240°230°220°210°200°190°LNE Comments Sunday, 30 September 2012 J John 9:59 AM Morpeth NE65 9QE (roof aerial) near Felton Northumberland Since the switch over the reception on Channel 50- ITV 3 etc has been very poor - tolerable to non-existence. It was perfectly OK prior to retuning.The variability suggests it is the signal, and not my set - up. Any suggestion to resolve this would be grateful. link to this comment John's 1 post J jb38 sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum 11:07 AM John: Two points about your reception problems, the first being that the reception predictor does indicate your location with a status of "poor" as far as the reception of Pontop Pikes three commercial muxes is concerned and with this being on a permanent basis, so although predictors are not by any means 100% accurate (or anywhere near it!) this fact cannot be discounted. The second point being that it would appear that the signal path to your location is at a very low angle whereby likely to be affected by trees and such likes, and variables seen on the signal strength / quality is nearly always (not exclusively though) caused by this sort of thing. Do you use any form of booster? as in cases such as yours a booster can keep the signal running at a higher level whereby when it drops its still above the cut off threshold. That said though it depends on how much of a variable you get? as if its dropping from about 50% to near zero then a booster will not help. Bilsdale at over twice the distance away as Pontop Pike does indicate superior reception of all muxes bar one ArqB, but I do have my doubts about this irrespective of what is indicated on the predictor. Maybe you could give an update on the booster & the question on the span of the variables referred to. link to this comment jb38's 7,179 posts P Peter 7:36 PM Hexham Living in Hexham, until the switch over I only received analogue TV since retuning I get a much better picture but am receiving only limited digital channels. Is there anything I can do to increase the number of channels I can access? link to this comment Peter's 1 post Dave Lindsay sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum 8:37 PM Peter: Unfortunately only the main transmitters and some larger relays carry all channels. The Commercial broadcasters don't consider it worth their while to transmit from the smaller sites like Wall. The only possible transmitter at your location is Pontop Pike, if it were possible. Digital UK Postcode Checker does not think that it is possible, although such predictors should always be taken with a pinch of salt. It would appear that you live at the bottom of a 70m slope on top of which is Cock Wood: Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location I'm not an aerial installer, but the impression I get is that you don't really have any chance. At the bottom of such a steep drop trying to receive from over the brow of the hill is one thing, but add to that the fact that the trees are (from what I can see) on that brow..... That said, keep your eyes open for new aerials pointing at Pontop Pike. These will be north west (at 321 degrees) and will be horizontal. link to this comment Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts Tuesday, 2 October 2012 E Eileen 9:15 AM Morpeth I'm having the same problem as John. HD was perfectly ok before the switchover & retuning, but now HD isn't worth watching. SD signal shows 97% - 100% HD is only 5% - 10% and sometimes 0%. I wrongly assumed signal quality would be improved once analogue signal was switched off. link to this comment Eileen's 4 posts J jb38 sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum 9:48 AM Eileen: Whilst on the HD signal signal check screen have a look at the mux channel number being indicated associated with the strength / quality, as if its from Pontop Pike it should be Ch49 whereas if Ch23 its from Bilsdale, Ch25 being from your very local Morpeth relay albeit that the DUK predictor does not indicate that you should be able to receive it. A contradiction is seen though, as on this site Morpeth is indicated as providing the strongest signal which is at odds with DUK's indications. link to this comment jb38's 7,179 posts Wednesday, 3 October 2012 E Eileen 8:39 AM Morpeth jb38. Hi thanks for your response. Mux channel is showing 49. Just checked this morning and it shot up from 2% to 48% then down to 4% in a couple of seconds. Is it my aerial do you think? SD channel strength is excellent Thanks PS sorry it's taken a while to reply - I'm not getting email updates for some reason. link to this comment Eileen's 4 posts Thursday, 4 October 2012 J jb38 sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum 8:06 AM Eileen: The common reason for what you have observed is usually because the signal being received is passing over areas where dense vegetation exists in the form of trees, something which I notice seems to be in an abundance in your area and with the first cluster of them not being that terribly far away, the worst type of situation. I fully realise you have said that the other channels are OK but signals from the mast as well as being at different heights very seldom ever reach a non line-of-sight aerials in an equal fashion, so what you find is not that unusual. Changing your aerial would not help this type of situation either as these swings are too great, although sometimes moving the position of an aerial a few feet sideways can help the problem, but this is more in the domain of an enthusiast as its not practicable in the commercial sense for someone being paid to carry this out as its a time consuming exercise. I dont really feel that you have any option but wait and hope that the situation improves, and which it might do with the season changing and the effects that has on vegetation. The other thing I had meant to say was that if any neighbour might say that their HD is OK then that's simply because they are at a slightly different angle to you are, and what I was meaning about aerial positions. link to this comment jb38's 7,179 posts E Eileen 9:20 AM Morpeth jb38 OK thanks for that. It just seemed a bit odd that HD was ok before switchover and poor afterwards, yet the trees are still the same. link to this comment Eileen's 4 posts Friday, 5 October 2012 J jb38 sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum 12:19 AM Eileen: Although this isn't always generally known about, but when a signal being received has (or relies on) an element of reflection attached to it this can suddenly alter when the signal gets stronger, as the beam angles change slightly in sympathy with the power levels meaning that a signal might start to reflect off something it didn't before, likewise "not" from something it did!, and that aspect "might" be a contributory factor with your particular problem. The other aspect is that HD signals are far more critical as far as reception conditions are concerned, this being why they will always falter first in situations where the signal being received is slightly too strong as well as in the case of the reverse, the difficulty being that the symptoms seen by the viewer are identical in both situations, picture break ups, freezing, pixilation and all sorts. Just out of curiosity, what signal levels (strength / quality) do you get indicated on the normal channels? BBC(Ch58) - ITV(Ch54) and ITV3(Ch50) link to this comment jb38's 7,179 posts Select more comments P1 P54 P55 P56 P57 P58 Page 59 P60 P61 P62 P63 P64 P116 Your comment please Please post a question, answer or comment If 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. UK Free TV is here to help people. If you are rude or disrespectful all of your posts will be deleted and you will be banned. Your comments Debbie : Your name Your email Your site or @twitter Email me updates Save my details Privacy policy: UK Free Privacy policy.