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A.T.V   (Aerials and Television) est. 1994
419 Langsett Rd
 Hillsborough
 Sheffield
 S6 2LL
© 2008 Justin Smith A.T.V
 All Rights reserved
Free P&P for orders over £100, Online or by Phone           Tel : 0114 285 4254                 Contact Us
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Main Page List

Mendip Transmitter                                      OS Grid Ref  ST 564 488

 Note As work takes place on various digital transmitters (to prepare for the DSO)
 you may experience reception  problems, e.g. with certain MUXES disappearing.
First try rescanning your set top box and if this fails to work check on Transmitter work  
 or phone reception advice on 08700 100 123 (BBC) or 0844 881 4150 (ITV).
Situated 18 miles South of Bristol it has a  population coverage of around 1.5 million and
it`s signals are picked up in many towns/cities including Bristol, Bath, Chippenham,
Weston Super Mare and areas of South Wales including Cardiff.
The mast was built in 1967 and with a total height of 305m (a.g.l) it is of a similar design to Waltham, see How High is High ?  Mendip`s power output is 500kW on analogue (apart from Channel 5 at 126kW) and 10kW on all the Digital / Freeview. The transmitter is horizontally polarised and was a C/D group but although all digital Muxes are still within band (plus the 4 main analogue channels) analogue C5 is out of band (on C37) and may require an E group.
That said most people should still get it OK,  see the graph for Mendip.
Mendip has fifty nine smaller repeaters to improve its coverage in areas of poor reception.
 For Mendip`s TV Channels/frequencies see its Channel Allocation Guides for before
and after the DSO. These also includes the same information for Rowridge, Stockland Hill, Wenvoe, Ridge Hill, Bristol Kings Weston, Bristol Ilchester, Oxford, Hannington and Salisbury. This data can be of great use in determining possible causes of co-channel interference and/or alternative transmitters to try if Mendip fails to give an adequate signal, see the importance of “Line Of Sight”. Notice how all the transmitters outputs dovetail together particularly Ridge Hill, Mendip and Wenvoe. The Channel Allocation Guides can
also be invaluable if you are trying to find a spare channel for a modulated output
(e.g. for a Sky box or CCTV system) to be added to your TV setup/distribution system without suffering from co-channel.
 The transmitter is reputed to put out more power (on analogue) to the North than the South, but Ofcom report that all the digital output is omnidirectional.
DSO is due to occur in April 2010 and it has been confirmed by Ofcom that
Mendip will be returning to a C/D group.
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That`s a big bolt.....
Close up of one of Mendip television transmitters stay tensioning assemblies where it attaches to the anchor block.
Note the £1 coin (to give an idea of the scale) and also the earthing straps.
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Mendip transmitters TV channels for before (above) and after (below) the DSO.
 Also check Mendip`s fifty nine smaller repeaters
Note the gaps in the table below for channels 31 to 35, 37, 39 to 40 and 63 to 68, they`re reserved for “other uses”....
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Mendip television transmitter at dusk, looking towards the South West.

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   Mendip transmitter into the clouds, and out of the top........

Mendip TV transmitter                                                            Picture Justin Smith (ATV)

That`s a big piece of concrete (and there`s a lot more of it underground)......

One can imagine how much pull is exerted on the stay lines (particularly in a high wind) by the size of the block required to anchor it.                                Picture Justin Smith (ATV)

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Mendip`s channels in relation to the UHF TV band and the gain curves of the aerials

we recommend for it.   DM Log    Log40     Yagi18C/D     XB10E     XB16E

Note analogue C4 and how it should still be receivable on a C/D in the vast majority

of areas. It is on Digital MUX 2 anyway

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Mendip has no railways within 12 miles of it now but the old Somerset & Dorset line (from Bath to Bournemouth) used to run only three miles to the west of it. The S & D was opened between 1862 and 1874 but finally closed in 1966, thus no travellers on it would have seen  the transmitter as it was opened in 1967 ! Part of the original Great Western line (which ran from Yatton to Witham and ran within two miles of Mendip) does still exist and is used by aggregate traffic from the huge quarry at Merehead. This same line is also used by the

East Somerset Railway which has been based near Shepton Mallet since 1972.  

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We recommend the DM log for strong signal areas, the Log 40 for medium signal areas,

the Yagi18E or the XB10E for poor signal areas and the XB16E for those with the most marginal signals. The dimensions and test performance of the antennas can be found on

the relevant tables. The prices of the aerials are on the Sales page.

A C/D aerial may not bring in analogue C5 but do not be persuaded that you need a wideband because our tests prove that a C/D will work almost as well as a wideband

down to this frequency, see Mendip Graph.

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