Full Freeview on the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter
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The symbol shows the location of the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter which serves 770,000 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 Waltham (Leicestershire, England) mast?
Waltham transmitter - Waltham transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 04/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
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 Freeview channels does the Waltham 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.
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 Waltham transmitter?
BBC East Midlands Today 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Nottingham NG2 4UU, 28km northwest (306°)
to BBC East Midlands region - 17 masts.
ITV Central News 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 83km west-southwest (244°)
to ITV Central (East) region - 17 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (West)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Braunstone | Transposer | 5 km SW Leicester city centre | 170 homes |
How will the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-17 | 4 Mar 2020 | |||
| C/D E | E | E | W | W T | W T | W T | |||
| C26 | LNG | LNG | |||||||
| C29 | SDN | SDN | SDN | SDN | |||||
| C31 | com7 | com7 | |||||||
| C32 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C34 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C35 | C5waves | C5waves | BBCB | ||||||
| C37 | com8 | com8 | |||||||
| C41 | _local | ||||||||
| C49tv_off | BBCA | BBCA | |||||||
| C54tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | ArqA | ArqA | ArqA | COM8tv_off | |||||
| C57tv_off | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | ||||||
| C58tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | |||
| C61 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | |||||
| C64 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves |
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 17 Aug 11 and 31 Aug 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-5 | 250kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 50kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-10dB) 25kW | |
| com8 | (-12.7dB) 13.4kW | |
| com7 | (-13.9dB) 10.2kW | |
| Mux 1* | (-14dB) 10kW | |
| Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B* | (-14.9dB) 8kW | |
| Mux C*, Mux D*, LNG | (-17dB) 5kW |
Local transmitter maps
Waltham Freeview Waltham DAB Waltham AM/FM Waltham TV region BBC East Midlands Central (East micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Waltham transmitter area
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Saturday, 30 October 2021
J
John A6:52 PM
Chris.SE:
Hi Chris,
I notice the problems mainly with channel 39 when I record overnight/early morning shows. I get problems all during the day, though one morning the pictures were fine, then after 9:00am, I had the problems back...
I have problems with channels 11, 39, 56 + 69. Sometimes the pictures are fine, then a hour or so later, I have the bad signal sign, pixelations, picture break up or even no pictures!
I have had the problems before, and a repairman came out, then had to get a fine-tuner to adjust the signal reception and everything was fine for a good while. Then a couple of weeks ago, I noticed the problems had returned. It seems the repairman for the communal aerial doesn't have a fine-tuner... Would it just be simpler to buy a signal filter/booster?
Thanks,
John
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C
Chris.SE11:05 PM
John A:
First, a quick answer to that last question - No!
All the channels (programmes) you've mentioned are carried on the ArqA/COM5 multiplex, which is on UHF channel C37 at Waltham. Were the previous problems with the same group of channels?
(See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex).
Now there's a couple of possibilities here.
The first, you've mentioned you are on a communal system. I'm assuming that the mention of "fine-tuner" to adjust the signal is a reference to that fact that a lot of communal systems (especially larger ones - roughly how many are on your system?) have what's called a channelised distribution system.
The aerial signal is fed to a number of filters and pre-amps specific to each UHF channel in use at a given transmitter. This is so that the signal strength of each UHF channel can be adjusted separately so that they are all as equal as possible and within the correct range when distributed to all the outlets in each of the premises it serves.
They obviously can go faulty from time to time.
Have a look in your set's tuning section for signal strength and quality (or error) figures. Make a note of the figures for UHF 37 when you are not seeing a problem and when you are, and compare to the other UHF channels for the other multiplexes and make a note of them. Whatever the signal strength figures (not overly important as long as they aren't too low (or excessive) as long as the quality figures are 100% (or error figures zero or very low).
I've mentioned "excessive" signal strength - this is why the answer to your question was "No". Just because one channel was/maybe low (when the others are at the correct levels), if you amplify all of them you can overload the front end of your receiver which can produce pixellated pictures, sound break-up etc. Filtering individual channels in a "domestic" set-up it not practical and would be very expensive if you were to try and "emulate" a professional distribution system.
The second possibility is a fault with that multiplex at the transmitter and the reason for the Planned Engineering. Only time will tell. If you post those figures it may give us a clue.
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Monday, 1 November 2021
J
John A9:02 AM
Good morning Chris,
Yesterday the pictures and signal strength were excellent. But this morning, the pictures on the problem channels are all breaking up again! I was hoping that my difficulties were due to Waltham upgrades, but today, I do not what to do...
Thanks,
John
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C
Chris.SE1:11 PM
John A:
It's most likely to be the Planned Engineering (not upgrades) that's still ongoing as per the post before yours. Do NOT retune (otherwise you'll probably have to do it again when signals are normal).
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Thursday, 18 November 2021
P
Peter White11:45 AM
I have Freeview postcode NG340QX and can only get 8 TV channels mainly BBC.
The has been from 15th November. Have tried retuning and sometimes can get max 22 channels but with pixelation on a lot of them and then channel list reduces to 8.
Is this due to the ongoing engineering works ?
Is anybody else having this issue ?
Any idea when it is expected to be rectified ?
Many thanks. Peter
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P
Peter White11:54 AM
I am having problems with Freeview can only get 8 TV channels from 3 days ago.
Is this due to the engineering works, does anybody have the same issue
I am located at Billingborough, NG340QX ?
Have tried retuning procedure but no joy.
Peter
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C
Chris.SE3:15 PM
Peter White:
In normal circumstances you should have no issues with reception from Waltham. As you have seen from the post before yours, the transmitter is having Planned Engineering (and has been for the previous two weeks as noted in previous posts). Exactly how such work affects anyone will depend upon location and aerial installation.
Advice as mentioned in many previous posts here, is never to retune when you have badly pixellated pictures or no signal.
Mostly this will just clear the correct tuning, you may even end up incorrectly tuned to very weak signals from another transmitter which may disappear dependent on weather conditions.
Arqiva never publish details of the work or when it will be complete, depending on the nature of the work, it could be weather dependent!
As you have already retuned and no doubt lost some of your correct tuning, your best bet will be to look in your TV Tuning section and check that the UHF channels you are still tuned to are the correct ones for Waltham and do a manual tune on the ones you aren't currently getting. You may of course have to try several times as we don't know which ones may/may not be affected by the engineering at any given time.
In the order PSBs1/BBCA, PSB2/D3&4, PSB3/BBCB HD, COM4/SDN, COM5/ArqA, COM6/ArqB, COM7, Local -
the UHF channels for Waltham are C32, C34, C35, C29, C37, C31, C55, C41.
You may/may not get reliable reception of the Local multiplex as that is lower power and beamed towards the main urban areas of Nottingham and Peterborough/Spalding.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview
for which LCNs (channels in your EPG) are carried on which multiplex.
It might be also worth advising that I've read elsewhere that Waltham seems to have had some more unusual issues with some Channel 4 and Channel 5 sister channels. This has been due to an incident several weeks back at the Red Bee Media Playout centre. I'm not sure all issues have yet been resolved as we are led to believe there was considerable damage.
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Wednesday, 15 December 2021
S
StevensOnln111:45 PM
Prof M.: BBC Four HD and BBC News HD are still being broadcast on COM7 (UHF channel 55) which has not been switched off/retired. COM7's licence is currently due to expire on 30th June 2022, however nothing has been announced regarding what will happen to any of the channels currently on on COM7.
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Thursday, 16 December 2021
C
Chris.SE12:06 AM
Prof M.:
As StevensOnln1 has mentioned COM7 has not yet been switched off, it remains on 25 of the main transmitters.
The Nov.2020 date further up the page is sonewhat misleading but if you followed the " more" link it takes you to a thread with more detail, however you do need to go back a couple of pages to get the correct overview.
See this post https://ukfree.tv/extras/…2572 to start.
The only thing that can be added to that is that EE bought those centre frequencies and could give 3 months notice to use them but that is on the assumption they have the SDL transmitter equipment available to install and operate (and of course suitable user handsets have to be available to use SDL on 700MHz).
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P
Prof. M.6:01 PM
Do we know when or if BBC News HD and BBC4 HD will return and on which mux? They are shown as being on the now retired mux 55 on this site's main page for Waltham as it has not yet been up-dated.
Many thanks.
Prof. M.
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