Transmitter online for the Queens Coronation
Pontop Pike is situated on a hill in County Durham nestled between Consett and Stanley and has been in service since 1953 while the nearby Burnhope Transmitter started life in 1959 and is used more for DAB stations rather than digital and high definition TV transmissions

North East Digital Switchover
Analogue TV transmissions via Pontop Pike are set to end in September 2012 as part of the digital switchover leaving the digital multiplex (Mux) bands for TV transmission

Relay Station at Fenham
As Pontop Pike is the primary broadcasting transmitter for the Norh East/Northumberland there are also a number of relay transmitters
that receive then relay the broadcasting signals; one of the nearest to Gateshead is at Fenham

We received a request for help from someone in the Gateshead area who had trouble with certain ITV channels and when trying to re-tune their TV they lost all of the digital channels

The weather conditions recently have been really poor with extended periods of rain although that wouldn’t normally cause continuous interference, pixellation and loss of sound or digital signal

They received their terrestrial TV via Pontop Pike transmitter but no one else had reported a problem nor was there any word to say that essential maintenance work was undertaken on the transmitter mast

It seems the aerial cable was over 10 years old and rainwater had found its way into a hollow cavity and tracked from the rooftop aerial down to the TV aerial socket

The aerial socket was wet but luckily the TV wasn’t affected and while the exposed cable top could have been trimmed and adjusted to prevent future rainwater penetration it was thought better to replace the cable due to the evidence of corrosion and rubbing wear on parts of the cable sheath

Aerial Installer Gateshead