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Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter

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The symbol shows the location of the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter which serves 1,870,000 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 Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) mast?

Sutton Coldfield transmitter - Sutton Coldfield 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 Sutton Coldfield 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
C43 (650.0MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) West Midlands, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 19 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C46 (674.0MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (West micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) Midlands ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 Midlands ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Central west),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C40+ (626.2MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD West Midlands, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Central West), 104 Channel 4 HD Midlands 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
C42 (642.0MHz)433mDTG-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
C45 (666.0MHz)433mDTG-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
C39+ (618.2MHz)433mDTG-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

LB
 H -13dB
C48 (690.0MHz)433mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
from 31st October 2014: 7 Big Centre TV,

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 Sutton Coldfield transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 15km south-southwest (200°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
regional news image
ITV Central News 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 15km south-southwest (201°)
to ITV Central (West) region - 65 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (East)

Are there any self-help relays?

Burton (shobnall)Transposer1 km W Burton-on-Trent60 homes
CoalvilleTransposer18 km NW Leicester600 homes
SolihullTransposerLand Rover building400 homes

How will the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-137 Mar 2018
VHFB E TB E TB E TB E K TW T
C4BBCtvwaves
C33com7
C35com8
C36LOCAL2
C39+ArqBArqB
C40BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves+BBCBBBCB
C42SDNSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCABBCA
C45ArqAArqA
C46BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C48_local
C50tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4waves
C51tv_offLB
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 7 Sep 11 and 21 Sep 11.

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(-10.5dB) 89.2kW
com8(-10.7dB) 86kW
LB(-20dB) 10kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-21dB) 8kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sutton Coldfield transmitter area

Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision†
Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Associated TeleVision
Jan 1982-Feb 2004Central Independent 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. Sutton Coldfield 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
Thursday, 30 October 2014
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

7:32 AM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 10:02 on 28 Oct to 14:32 on 28 Oct. FM: Radio 1 FM Weak Signal from 10:02 on 28 Oct to 14:40 on 28 Oct, Radio 1 FM Weak Signal from 13:38 yesterday to 14:16 yesterday, Radio 2 FM Weak Signal from 10:08 on 28 Oc [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
K
KEVIN GARDINER
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:35 PM
Stourbridge

I am aware that engineering work is currently underway on the DAB radio multiplexes.However, I have noticed that although the TV multiplexes are not effected in any way regards to their ERP's, the sound on most of the HD channels is being effected. I'm not sure whether they are working on changing the sound configuration in some way, or whether its just a temporary alteration whilst they are working on the DAB multiplexes. The difference that ive noticed is that the sound level on broadcast is normal, but when you record a programme and play it back, the sound level is low and fluctuates both up and down. I've tested my soundcard audio settings on my laptop and they are fine as I can play all my previous recordings ok. and I can play back standard Freeview channels perfectly. As far as I can see, all the HD channels are effected except ITV1 and BBC3. And today, I tested out the standard channels and all were perfect both in audio and video recording a data stream just over 15,000 kbps, except today, when the data stream for the PSB2 multiplex was on reduced data stream of just under 5,000 kbps.
The above problem has been going on since around 15th October and although engineering work has to be untaken to ever improve the quality of our television reception, I believe that not all engineering work to be carried out is advertised to the public if it doesn't have any effect the reception due to decreased ERP Also, to make a comparison, I also tested reception from Brierley Hill, and exactly the same reception problems prevail. Has anyone else experienced, or are currently experiencing the same problems as myself?

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KEVIN GARDINER's 68 posts GB flag
KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

9:39 PM

KEVIN GARDINER: I can't see how you would get any change to the DVB-T2 HD broadcasts because of the DAB system, they are unrelated.

However, the DVB-T2 system is backed up from the Intelsat 907 satellite. It could be that there are only stereo channels on the backup system.

The Intelsat 907 signals are only used when the bi-routed main fibre-optic feeds to the site are unavailable. It could be - and this is speculation - that there are power issues, or that the HD channels are being taken from 11495.00 on Intelsat 907.

Intelsat 907 (27.5?W) - All transmissions - frequencies - KingOfSat shows that the HD Multiplex feeds have ITV Central West HD so you wouldn't notice the "wrong region" problem that this backup system causes.



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Briantist's 38,915 posts US flag
Friday, 31 October 2014
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:32 AM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 10:02 on 28 Oct to 14:32 on 28 Oct. FM: Radio 1 FM Weak Signal from 10:02 on 28 Oct to 14:40 on 28 Oct, Radio 1 FM Weak Signal from 13:38 on 29 Oct to 14:16 on 29 Oct, Radio 2 FM Weak Signal from 10:08 on 28 Oc [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

7:31 AM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 10:02 on 28 Oct to 14:32 on 28 Oct. FM: Radio 1 FM Weak Signal from 13:38 on 29 Oct to 14:16 on 29 Oct, Radio 1 FM Weak Signal from 10:02 on 28 Oct to 14:40 on 28 Oct, Radio 2 FM Weak Signal from 10:08 on 28 Oc [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
T
tri mom
5:00 PM

there have been some change number changes on Freeview and now I've 'lost' channels and gained cbs action ch 70
I'm on the sutton coldifeld transmitter

True Entertainment 61 is longer on my list and i;ve returned the tv a couple of times and still cant get it.
Can it get it back?

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tri mom's 1 post GB flag
K
KEVIN GARDINER
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

5:22 PM
Stourbridge

Braintist, Thank you for your expertise in trying to explain what may be the causes of my Freeview HD audio issues that im currently experiencing. I 've decided to give you an update as to what's going on today. Today, I re-checked the audio status of all the HD channels on both multiplexes and found that the problem still exists. i.e. reduced audio level on play back of recordings, or reduced audio level with unstable, fluctuating levels. The channels with stable but reduced audio levels are ITV1, CBBC, BBC NEWS and channels with normal audio levels after recorded playback are CBEEBIES and THE COMMUNITY CHANNEL. You outline that the cause of audio instability may be due to a temporary loss of use of the fibre optical cable feed to the transmitting station, and they are therefore, having to revert to a back up system using Interstat 907 satellite in-put feed instead. This may well be the case Brian, but something doesn't seem right because, I've also noticed that BBC2's audio reverts back to normal straight away after the channel shuts down and shows a loop of programme clips throughout the night. If they can revert back to normal audio, then why do they need to use a satellite feed if no engineering work on the tv multiplexes is currently taking place? A bit of a mystery I think.

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KEVIN GARDINER's 68 posts GB flag
KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 1 November 2014
J
James
8:02 PM
Hinckley

I have bought a TV and Im picking up west midlands when I live in the East do you know how I change this??

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James's 2 posts GB flag
James's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:35 PM

James: Point your aerial to Waltham and tune to Waltham.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Sunday, 2 November 2014
J
js
sentiment_satisfiedGold

4:01 AM

KEVIN GARDINER: Many events, like this one-

*************
BBC ONE HD
Sun 02 Nov 2014 21:00
Death in Paradise

H.264/AVC high definition video, 16:9 aspect ratio, 25 Hz
HE-AAC audio, stereo
HE-AAC receiver mix audio description for the visually impaired
DVB subtitles (normal) for display on a high definition monitor
*************

-have two audio streams.

Could it be that you are recording only the audio description?

If both audio streams are present in your recordings, are you able so select the correct stream in your player?

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js's 822 posts GB flag
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Your comment please
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