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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
Thursday, 19 December 2013
D
DSB
1:55 PM
Cambridge

I can't receive channels on frequency 21 from sandy heath. CB1 9YE.

I have received it in the past from the same aerial (loft which I lack access to), but because I normally use cable TV, I can't pin down what has changed when.

All other channels have excellent reception - BBC/ITV/C4 in particular have 100% signal and quality.

Interestingly when I manually scan on 21, it picks up strength (around 90-100%), but quality is always 0 and no channels are found.

I bought a variable attenuator in case the signal is too strong, it it does reduce signal strength (including manual scan on 21), but what ever I set it at it never finds channels.

My parents less than half a mile away get the HD channels no problem. I even tried the same HD box to exclude equipment.

Before I hire an aerial expert to install an external wideband, any ideas?

link to this comment
DSB's 7 posts GB flag
DSB's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
T
tro
6:09 PM

Hi I'm 16 I use an indoor aerial on my TV and i can get a 100 % on CH 27 and 48 and 51- but ch21 and ch24 and ch52 keep jumping from 20 % to 80 % . And it makes the picture break up why is this I have an expensive aerial and good TV and the new HD CH 32 I can't get at all .

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tro's 1 post GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:55 PM

tro:
You don't give any idea where you are located so we have a problem trying to work out what the cause of yo9ur problem might be. A post code , or one of a nearby shop, would help as would a model number of your equipment.

Indoor aerials, as opposed to loft aerials, arew notorious for poor reception of some signals but not others. Just moving the aerial to another location in the room can improve some signals but other may deteriorate.
Only an outdoor aerial on the roof, or possibly in the loft if the location is suitable, is good enough to give reasonable reliable reception. Room aerials are rarely good enough unless you are very,very close to the transmitter aerial.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Friday, 27 December 2013
S
suzy
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:25 PM

postcode area LU5 i cant pick up any of the station on CH 48 CH 51 & CH 52 nothing since christmas eve. signal strength is good around 70% and upwards but quality is Zero on but these channels tried a auto retune and a manual one, and cant get anything at all ots not finding any of the programme that should be on these stations, i can only receive programmes that are on CH24 & CH27 totally fed up missed all the programme that were set to auto record

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suzy's 25 posts GB flag
Sunday, 29 December 2013
M
MikeG
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:42 AM

Please note that if signal or signal quality is flicking between say 80% and 20% fairly quickly it can be the sign of a dodgy tuner, especially in PVRs. I bought a Humax (refurbished) model a couple of months ago and could not suss out what was wrong with it. Did all the tests possible and eventually discovered that one of the tuners was good and stable at 80% while the other was intermittent. I returned the faulty unit and they sent me another with exactly the same problem; returned that for a refund. Humax refurbished models appear to be returns that they ship out again without checking. This fault with tuners could of course happen on any other make of PVR or TV. If it's a two channel PVR always check signal strength and quality on both channels.
Mike (retired radio & Electronics Eng.).

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MikeG's 31 posts GB flag
Thursday, 16 January 2014
D
d
6:46 PM

I have very poor signal its like sandy heath are lowering the power ch24 is 50 % and some others are 30 % but before I used to get 100% on all channels I use an indoor aerial its an expensive one . I have a Panasonic TV . Can anyone help .

link to this comment
d's 1 post GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

6:53 PM

d: The best place to start is the Single frequency interference | Freeview Interference | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice page.

Indoor aerials are not really suitable for reliable Freeview reception. You should be using a rooftop aerial.

Also, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) .

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:30 PM

d: Purely for your information, all mux channels from the Sandy transmitter are being received perfectly OK up here in the Stamford area, but as Briantist has mentioned a post code is required in order for anyone to be able offer assistance as you might reside in an area known to suffer from reception problems.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 17 January 2014
P
Pete
9:33 PM

Yet again, all BBC channels (and probably some others) have gone. Most of the remaining channels are showing only around half strength, 46-56dBuV.
It's a clear night with a lovely bright moon so can't be weather...

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Pete's 3 posts GB flag
P
Pete
9:35 PM

Forgot to add - they've been off all week, and I've retuned twice.

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Pete's 3 posts GB flag
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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.

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.

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