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Full Freeview on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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The symbol shows the location of the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter which serves 200,000 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 Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) mast?

Bluebell Hill transmitter - Bluebell Hill 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 Bluebell Hill 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
C32 (562.0MHz)242mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) South East, 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
C34 (578.0MHz)242mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Meridian (East 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 (Meridian south coast),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C45+ (666.2MHz)242mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South East, 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 max
C40 (626.0MHz)242mDTG-820,000W
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
C43+ (650.2MHz)245mDTG-820,000W
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
C46 (674.0MHz)245mDTG-820,000W
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 Bluebell Hill transmitter?

regional news image
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 28km southwest (218°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
regional news image
ITV Meridian News 0.7m homes 2.7%
from Maidstone ME14 5NZ, 5km south-southeast (155°)
to ITV Meridian (East) region - 36 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with all of Meridian plus Oxford

How will the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20122012-1319 Jul 2018
EEEW TW T
C21_local
C28_local
C32com7
C34com8
C39+ArqA
C40BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves+BBCBSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4ArqA
C45SDNBBCB
C46BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCAArqB
C54tv_offArqB
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off
C65C4wavesC4wavesC4waves

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 13 Jun 12 and 27 Jun 12.

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

Analogue 1-4 30kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-1.8dB) 20kW
com8(-7.8dB) 5kW
com7(-8.1dB) 4.7kW
Mux 1*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-10dB) 3kW
Mux 2*, Mux A*(-11.8dB) 2kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Bluebell Hill transmitter area

Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated-Rediffusion†
Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Thames†
Jul 1968-Dec 1981London Weekend Television♦
Jan 1982-Dec 1992Television South (TVS)
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Meridian
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. Bluebell Hill 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
Wednesday, 26 January 2022
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:18 PM

James halsey:

For Bluebell Hill the correct UHF channels are C32, C34, C45, C40, C43, C46, C55, C21 for the multiplexes in the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7 & the Local multiplex.
Reception of particular multiplexes, especially the temporary COM7 and Local will depend very much on location.

See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.

If you hover over each of those channel numbers, it will give you the frequency.
Unfortunately the entries towards the top of the page haven't been fully updated by the site owner since 700MHz clearance.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Thursday, 27 January 2022
J
James halsey
6:32 AM

Many thanks.

It would appear I am unable to get a signal on C21.

Maybe I am too far away from the transmitter (Faversham)

Although I get 100% signal strength on all other Mux's

Including Crystal Palace too.

link to this comment
James halsey's 6 posts GB flag
J
James halsey
6:37 AM

Thanks

I am not getting a signal on C21.

I am assuming that maybe I am too far away.

I am in Faversham with a mast head amp, I get 100% signal on all other mux.

I even get a good signal on Crystal Palace.

link to this comment
James halsey's 6 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:19 PM

James halsey:

Ah, now there's an additional problem, C21 used used by a Freeview Light Relay for Faversham!! Although it's vertically polarised and Bluebell Hill horizontal, it'll still most likely be a problem.
The transmitter is located in the Ospringe area and beamed towards Faversham, so it'll very much depend on your location and possibly whether your aerial is screened from the Faversham transmitter.
If you care to provide a full postcode, we can look at predicted reception as many parts of Faversham are not predicted to get good reception from ANY of the main transmitters whose signals may reach the area.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Friday, 28 January 2022
J
James halsey
5:22 AM

Me137nb

It's only the _local mux I am not receiving.

All others are fine.

Including Crystal Palace, again except _local

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James halsey's 6 posts GB flag
Saturday, 29 January 2022
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:31 PM

James halsey:

The problem is you are right in the middle of the coverage area of the Faversham relay. So it's transmissions on C21 just cause interference to any signal from the Bluebell Hill Local mux, hence all your set can see is a load of "noise" so it sees that as no signal.

Having looked at this in more detail, you only need to go slightly NW outside of the Faversham coverage and you'll find a signal from Bluebell Hill, even as close as the NW edges of Bysing Wood. It's predicted to be poor (as is the Faversham Relay signal) but it's there.

Basically, if you were using an aerial with good cross-polar rejection and screened from the Faversham Relay at Ospringe by say a nice thick stone building wall, you might be in with a chance. However, there's a conflict there, as to get that screening the aerial may need to be too low down to get an adequate signal fro Bluebell Hill. But here is another interesting thing.
There are some Bluebell Hill relays, most significantly one at Sittingbourne Stockers Hill which appear to be operating as a Single Frequency Network (SFN) ie. syncronised and using the same channels as Bluebell Hill (except COM7).
So it's possible that you may be getting some of your signals from that.

Question - do your get COM7 on UHF C55?

Your particular location seems to have Bluebell Hill, Sittingbourne Stockers Hill and Crystal Palace well within the beamwidth of virtually all aerials. In that order, compass bearing 268 degrees, 267 degrees & 278 degrees. so that's why you can get them without any real problem.
As far as the London Local mux is concerned, no chance. That one is beamed (as are most local muxes) from Crystal Palace towards London (unlike the Bluebell Hill one it seems).
So apart from there being no signal in any southerly direction, as London uses C35 you get quite a good signal from Dover for PSB2 which uses C35, it would wipeout anything else.

In summary, unless you are someone with a bit of tech knowledge and want to play with aerials, you might as well forget these Local muxes. If you have a good enough Broadband signal, you could watch KMTV online - (on your TV if it has a browser) at KMTV - Delivering news, sport and entertainment across Kent

HTH.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:36 PM

James halsey:

Should have made it clear that neither the Local Mux or COM7 are transmitted from Sittingbourne Stockers Hill.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Saturday, 5 February 2022
J
James halsey
3:03 PM

Chris.SE:

Yes I do get excellent reception on c55's mux

link to this comment
James halsey's 6 posts GB flag
J
James halsey
3:12 PM

Chris.SE:

The TV advises

Transmitter ONID
South east 0x233a
TSID 0x104c
Network Id 0x3052

Information from ch32 mux

I hope that may help?

link to this comment
James halsey's 6 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:13 PM

James halsey:

Well bearing in mind that COM7 operates as a Single Frequency Network (SFN) and your location and aerial direction, that signal could be coming from Bluebell Hill or Crystal Palace or a combination of both.
None of which unfortunately changes the problem of interference to The Bluebell Hill Local mux on C21 from PSB1 on the Faversham Relay at Ospringe.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
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