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Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"Wsa_postcodeSG19 2NH

 

The symbol shows the location of the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 920,000 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.

Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) mast?

Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 25/03/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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Which Freeview channels does the Sandy Heath 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
C27 (522.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Cambridge, 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
C24 (498.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Anglia (West micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Anglia east),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C21+ (474.2MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Cambridge, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South 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 -0.2dB
C33 (570.0MHz)291mDTG-8170,000W
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 -0.2dB
C36 (594.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
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 -0.2dB
C48 (690.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
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

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Sandy Heath transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Look East (West) 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Cambridge CB4 0WZ, 29km east-northeast (65°)
to BBC Cambridge region - 4 masts.
70% of BBC East (East) and BBC East (West) is shared output
regional news image
ITV Anglia News 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Norwich NR1 3JG, 119km east-northeast (60°)
to ITV Anglia (West) region - 5 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Anglia (East)

How will the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1965-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-1312 Feb 2020
VHFA K TK TK TW TW T
C6ITVwaves
C21C4wavesC4wavesC4waves+BBCBBBCB
C24ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C27BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C31BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves
C32com7
C33SDN
C34com8
C35_local
C36ArqA
C39C5wavesC5waves
C43_local
C48ArqBArqB
C51tv_offSDN
C52tv_offArqA
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 30 Mar 11 and 13 Apr 11.

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

Analogue 1-4 1000kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7.4dB) 180kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-7.7dB) 170kW
com7(-13dB) 49.6kW
com8(-13.1dB) 49.1kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 20kW
Analogue 5(-20dB) 10kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area

Oct 1959-Feb 2004Anglia Television
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.

Comments
Sunday, 16 March 2014
M
Moo moo
6:06 PM

coach:
Anyone having problems in Cornwall? Started half an hour ago...major interference on all channels except BBC. Have retuned TV and now no commercial channels whatsoever! Our ariel is in the loft and all equipment working fine...help!

link to this comment
Moo moo's 1 post GB flag
furkin
6:36 PM

I'm on Redruth.

I have lost MUX-2 only.
2 TV's on separate antenna, coax etc.

It seems to be a regular thing - always mux-2.

Who runs the transmitters and how do we get hold of them ?
I'd like to know why I lose mux2 on a regular basis.

link to this comment
furkin's 6 posts GB flag
S
Steph
6:45 PM
Calstock

Moo moo: We are having the same issue - re-scanned channels, and only bbc was picked up. Can't seem to get an answer anywhere. We are in south east cornwall.

link to this comment
Steph's 1 post GB flag
Steph's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
A
Ad
6:49 PM

Moo moo:
Similar problems in Mid Devon, starting around the same. For us, BBC One & Two are OK, so are ITV2 and a few other channels. But no reception for ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5.

As I type this, they've all just returned! What about you?

link to this comment
Ad's 1 post GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:13 PM

Moo Moo, Ad, Steph and others having the same problem

It is almost certainly due to the high pressure around the country. It causes 'tropospheric ducting' which makes the signals travel far further than intended. One correspondent here reports getting signals in North Wales from the Sandy Heath (Bedfordshire) transmitter.

If this happens you should *not* attempt a retune as you are highly likely to lose some services - as has bee found by some writing here.

The is nothing anyone can do about this as it's a natural phenomenon that has been affecting UHF transmissions for more than 50 years - and probably before then but we didn't use UHF as much back then.

link to this comment
MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:25 PM

Moo moo and Coach:

Please see the response from KJM, Derby given above your posts. He explains what is happening.

Please do *not* try to retune your equipment in these circumstances, younwill lose more channels and gain none.

link to this comment
MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
C
coach
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:30 PM

MikeP: thanks MikeP.

link to this comment
coach's 33 posts GB flag
Saturday, 22 March 2014
C
coach
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:53 AM

coach: help please. Still having strange signal data from itv, channel 4 and 5. Other channels are fine often with 100% strength via Sandy Heath. Getting a lot of signal fluctuations. Going up and down like a yoyo with occasional breakup of picture. Initially I thought it was down to high pressure, although the situation is better than last week. Thanks. CB25 post code.

link to this comment
coach's 33 posts GB flag
Monday, 7 April 2014
D
DemThonp
7:10 PM

I only get ch27 and ch24 and ch52 and ch48 . No HD channels and also the channels I get are to poor to watch . I'm 16 can't afford roof aerial . so can you make your transmitter stronger .

link to this comment
DemThonp's 7 posts GB flag
Thursday, 10 April 2014
D
DemThonp
1:51 PM
Blackpool

I've now got all the SD channel's . But ch27 and CH 24 are 50% quality . But the other channels are 90% . I can't get any HD channels and I have freeview HD TV . Is 50% OK and how can I get HD channels .

link to this comment
DemThonp's 7 posts GB flag
DemThonp's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Your comment please
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.

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