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Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.424,-0.076 or 51°25'26"N 0°4'32"Wsa_postcodeSE19 1UE

 

The symbol shows the location of the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter which serves 4,490,000 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 Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter.

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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Which Freeview channels does the Crystal Palace 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C23 (490.0MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) London, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 16 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C26 (514.0MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (London), 4 Channel 4 (SD) London ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 London ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (London),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C30- (545.8MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD London, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV London), 104 Channel 4 HD London ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 H max
C25 (506.0MHz)314mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C22 (482.0MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C28- (529.8MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

LW
 H -10dB
C35 (586.0MHz)324mDTG-1220,000W
Channel icons
from 31st March 2014: 8 LONDON LIVE,

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 Crystal Palace transmitter?

regional news image
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 12km north-northwest (335°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
regional news image
ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 11km north-northwest (345°)
to ITV London region - 55 masts.

Are there any self-help relays?

Charlton AthleticTransposerRedeveloped north stand Charlton Athletic Football Club130 homes
DeptfordTransposersouth-east London100 homes
GreenfordTransposer12 km N Heathrow Airport203 homes
HendonTransposerGraham Park estate50 homes
White CityTransposer9 km W central London80 homes

How will the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20122012-1321 Mar 2018
VHFA K TA K TA K TA K TW T
C1BBCtvwaves
C22ArqAArqA
C23ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCABBCA
C25SDNSDN
C26BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C28-ArqBArqB
C29LW
C30C4wavesC4wavesC4waves-BBCBBBCB
C33BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavescom7
C35com8
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off

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 4 Apr 12 and 18 Apr 12.

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

Analogue 1-4 1000kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 200kW
com7(-13.7dB) 43.1kW
com8(-14dB) 39.8kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*, LW(-17dB) 20kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Crystal Palace transmitter area

Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated-Rediffusion†
Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1992Thames†
Jul 1968-Feb 2004London Weekend Television♦
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Carlton†
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc♦
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. Crystal Palace 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.

Comments
Saturday, 2 June 2012
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:24 PM

David: You are not getting two different signals from one transmitter. You cannot be getting BBC South from Crystal Palace because it broadcasts BBC London!

If the BBC South signal is coming from Hannington (the signal strength screen will say it is tuned to C45), then run the automatic tuning scan and unplug the aerial when it gets to 30%. This will have the aerial plugged in for Crystal Palace and unplugged for Hannington and a few other transmitters that "may perhaps" be available to you.

Looking around the streets on Streetview there are quite a few aerials on Hannington, so you may be able to get it if you want BBC South and Meridian.

Failing that you may be able to pick up from Hemdean, which is a relay of Hannington, although it doesn't carry the Commercial channels. A way round this may be to combine the Crystal Palace aerial with a Hemdean one or if you can receive from Hannington directly, you could always retain your CP aerial and combine with a Hannington one to give you BBC South, ITV Meridian, BBC London, and ITV London.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:39 PM

David: From what I can see on the map, you're a little low lying of Burghfield Hill. The trees beyond there look to be in the line between the transmitter and you and they appear as if they may be on the brow of the hill over which the signal comes. If so, then they are probably a detriment to your reception.

Those living in the valley in which the Thames runs also look to be affected with regards poor to non-existant reception from Hannington. This probably explains why Hemdean transmitter was built.

You are of course near to the Kennet, so that explains why your area might not be so good.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:44 PM

David: One other thing to point out is that Hannington's Commercial multiplexes (known as "COMs") are not as strong as the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) ones. Hemdean relays Hannington's PSBs, but does not transmit the COMs.

So you may find that you can receive Hannington's PSBs but not its COMs. If you are unable to receive Hannington's COMs, then its PSBs are also available from Hemdean (as it is a relay).

If you combined the Crystal Palace aerial (assuming that you can receive CP's COMs), then you will be able to watch Hannington's PSBs and the COMs.


For a list of multiplexes, see this page under the heading "After switchover configuration" (you may need to refresh to see the graphic):

Freeview multiplexes | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

BBCA, D3&4 and BBCB are the PSBs and SDN, ArqA and ArqB are the COMs. BBCB is the HD multiplex.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
R
Robert
3:45 PM

Does anyone else consider that Crystal Place now has an insidious intermittent transmitter problem for people very local to the transmitter? Their Freeview reception can go totally to pot when the transmitter mast gets wet. And this is a new phenomenon post 4th April BBC and 18th April the rest. How much does anyone, world wide know about the behaviour of the multiplexers run at higher power. What changes were made to the configuration? How well is the science understood? How much field testing was done? I have had the very sensible suggestion of using attenuation which I have experimented with. But I also have noted a steady drop off signal powered as measured by my hard disc recorder, over the weeks since 4th April 2012. A few days latter after purchasing new aerials and attenuators, I thought the signal power measurement did not work, because it was always 10, even with 18dB of attenuation. It was only when I tried an unterminated VCR RF lead that I got a reading of 6. A few weeks later when I froze my configuration and stopped trying to find a new sweet spot for my new indoor aerial, as I had come to the inescapable conclusion the fault was outside of my equipment, I ran for a while with 12 dB but have reduced to 6 and then 0 in response to the measured power levels and continuing problems. Seven people or 100% of the people I talked too who use broadcast Freeview; in my block have noticed a decline in reception quality. 5 have the same insidious fault where TV can become unwatchable since DSO. Lots of indoor aerials and two independent communal aerial systems now longer are reliable for Freeview. After over 50 years of successful broadcast from Crystal Palace, TV is no longer a wireless device in this area. How can you watch a film error free for 2 hrs and the reception become totally unwatchable just at the climax of the film? Our communal aerials would be condemned in an eye blink because of their age according to DigitalUK. UK TV is not designed to be received by anything but an outdoor aerial here lots of people use a bit of wire, coat hanger or nothing, It gobsmaked the engineer who was doing the pre tune for channel 5 that all these TVs worked and on my post DSO survey I found a lady who uses Freeview and still has no aerial. The advantage of digital transmission is that with error correction, noise and interference can be filtered, Schmitt trigger circuits can clean up a digitally modulated analogue signal before it is converted back into in digital data all this help to make the medium far more tolerant and resilient but there are limits. Whatever is going wrong is far s beyond the scope of the signal processing and error correction circuits to cope with. Professional investigation is required. Any comments?

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Robert's 20 posts GB flag
Monday, 4 June 2012
R
Robert
1:05 PM

What power did Multiplex BBCA on C23 start with on 4th April. 20 or 200 MW?

Does anyone, outside Arqiva know the detailed configuration changes to the broadcase antenna and if not being able to find BBCA on C23 was a resonable problem to have on an indoor aerial or not.


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Robert's 20 posts GB flag
N
NICK ADSL UK
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

2:28 PM

Robert since switch-over my set up has been very bad despite all the equipment being of the highest spec one day on one day off and am told that's the way it's going to be in future by the BBC for some on Crystal Place

As for the reason the guy i was speaking to wasn't saying and i myself along with my tv field engineer have drawn a blank

I have freesat so this free view is no big deal but none the less would have liked it to work like is has done without fault from day one come switch over it's gone to pot

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NICK ADSL UK's 72 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
R
Robert
12:58 PM

NICK ADSL UK : Thanks for your posting. I might explain a bit of a reluctance to engage I have felt from certain quarters. There is far far more to a problem of this type than the just technical issues. I was clueless to the scale of DSO and the technical risks taken. Im very glad Im not involved with any of the discussions and events that led up to DSO; however as an ex- European Technical Support engineer would love a bash at being part of the solution.
For a decade Freeview sometime took 30 minutes to set up and find a sweet spot for the indoor aerial, then it that was it, stable as a rock until I bought the next bit of AV kit and wanted to move stuff around.

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Robert's 20 posts GB flag
Friday, 8 June 2012
V
Val Tilley
2:09 PM

For over 2 weeks, I have been unable to watch TV most of the time because of the 'pixeling'(?). Was OK once the final changeover took place, although Channel 12 does not even show on list. However, I have had to resort to watching on my computer and even that keeps giving up the ghost. Have re-tuned at least 4 times without success. Am not technically minded and would appreciate help in simple form!

Thanks

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Val Tilley's 1 post GB flag
Saturday, 9 June 2012
M
Mark Fletcher
sentiment_satisfiedGold

12:44 AM
Halifax

Val Tilley.As you did not leave a full postcode or a nearby location as such,we cannot be of useful help to you !

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Mark Fletcher's 673 posts GB flag
Mark's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 10 June 2012
N
NICK ADSL UK
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

6:48 PM

Robert
as you may not know in that i am a Microsoft MVP who helps the world for free in the main forums in security

I post hundreds of security updates a year and the vast majority of the people in the world receive these without a problem but for some reason there are thousands more who run into a problem and i guess that free view is just the same all we can do at the end of the day is to help out the public the best we can and hopefully educate the public a little better so that they can understand on what's going on behind the scenes so that they realize that there not alone and free help is forthcoming

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NICK ADSL UK's 72 posts GB flag
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