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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, 3 January 2019
M
Mike Hoare
1:02 PM
Kettering

Hello,
I have a digital arial that has to be re-positioned to Sandy Heath. It is on the roof and my postcode is NN15 5BZ. What will be the compass heading in order for me to position the arial please from this location.
Regards,
Mike Hoare

link to this comment
Mike Hoare's 1 post GB flag
Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:05 PM

Mike Hoare: The Digital UK checker shows that Sandy Heath is on a bearing of 131 degrees from your postcode. You don't have a digital aerial as no such thing exists. Your aerial will need to be a wideband type for good reception of all multiplexes from Sandy Heath.

link to this comment
StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
Monday, 14 January 2019
M
M. Walsh
12:45 PM
Market Harborough

Hi, we have regular problems with DTV channels BBC1 BBC2 etc (channel 27). but the HD channels are fine. We are tuned to Sandy Heath. The signal strength is good but the quality is poor/medium. This usually happens when there is a period of high pressure. Is there anything we can do? Our post code is le16 7bt
Aerial is on the roof.

link to this comment
M. Walsh's 1 post GB flag
M.'s: ...
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:13 PM

M. Walsh: If this is only happening during periods of high pressure then it's unlikely that anything can be done. The high pressure allows radio signals to travel much further than normal, causing interference from distant transmitters which broadcast on the same frequency but which are not receivable under normal conditions.

link to this comment
StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
Thursday, 24 January 2019
N
NINA
12:54 PM

Hello. over the past two weeks i have had bad pixerlatating on my TV . its been so bad that i,v even gone out and brought a New TV thinking the other TV was on the way out, but it still pixerlates. are you or any other componey doing any signal manternace thank you ,.ps sorry about the spelling.

link to this comment
NINA's 1 post GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:09 PM

NINA: There is no engineering work showing for Sandy Heath. Have you checked for any loose or damaged cables or connections behind your TV? Please provide a full postcode so that we can see where you are in relation to the transmitter and your predicted coverage etc.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
Monday, 11 February 2019
H
hardy
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

4:28 PM

Mr Walsh . the coverage checker shows a strong signal at your location. You are inland so should not get much continental interference . I wonder if your aerial system is too sensitive .(overloading the tv) . You should not need an amplifier . I would remove it if you have one and you may need a small attenuator to reduce the signal further . Without an amplifier you should aim for a signal strength reading of no more than about 80%.

link to this comment
hardy's 137 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 13 February 2019
M
Michael John Howarth
10:28 PM

This evening (13-2-2019) we have had major disruption of the main TV Channels, making them unwatchable for almost all the time. This occurs a number of times each year, although some channels never seem to be affected (Channel 37 "Quest" for example.

We have a brand new roof arial, with internal signal booster, and yet both before and after the replacement arial, this keep occurring. The arial installer about the alternative, Talconston, which is equidistant from Sandy Heath, advised us NOT to change , as it was no more reliable.

We are aware that in high pressure weather systems, signal strength at the extremes of range are reduced - but to lose signal altogether on ONLY SOME (The Main) channels is unacceptable and inexplicable

link to this comment
Michael John Howarth's 2 posts GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:37 PM

Michael John Howarth:

You have explained it yourself. High pressure causes numerous recepotion problenms and often affected just some channels and not others. As it is a perfectly natural phenomenon there is noth anybody can do about it. It has been known about the many decades.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Thursday, 14 February 2019
P
Peter Reynolds
9:01 AM
Peterborough

Have no signal from Sandy heath.....can get Sky news,and various other channels
but no BBC ,Itv or Channel4 or 5.
We are on freeview.
Have tried turning off booster...no difference.
All connections have been checked and ok.
We have experienced this problem before and then it clears.
Is this an atmospheric issue ?
There is a mobile phone mast near us in the village... could that cause interference?
Postcode is PE3 9NH.
THANKS

link to this comment
Peter Reynolds's 1 post GB flag
Peter's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P'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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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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