Full Freeview on the Heathfield (East Sussex, England) transmitter
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The symbol shows the location of the Heathfield (East Sussex, England) transmitter which serves 170,000 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 Heathfield (East Sussex, England) mast?
Heathfield transmitter - Heathfield 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Heathfield (East Sussex, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which Freeview channels does the Heathfield 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Heathfield (East Sussex, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Heathfield transmitter?
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 17km north (6°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
ITV Meridian News 0.7m homes 2.7%
from Maidstone ME14 5NZ, 41km north-northeast (31°)
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 Heathfield (East Sussex, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-17 | 19 Jul 2018 | |||
| C/D E | C/D E | C/D E | W T | W T | W T | K T | |||
| C29 | _local | _local | _local | _local | |||||
| C40 | SDN | ||||||||
| C41 | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | BBCA | |||||
| C42 | SDN | SDN | SDN | ||||||
| C43 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C44 | ArqA | ArqA | ArqA | D3+4 | |||||
| C46 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C47 | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | |||||
| C49tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
| C52tv_off | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | BBCA | |||
| C64 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ||||||
| C67 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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 May 12 and 13 Jun 12.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 100kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 20kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2* | (-18dB) 1.6kW | |
| Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-20dB) 1000W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Heathfield transmitter area
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Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?
Radiation patterns withheldFriday, 18 March 2022
C
Chris.SE12:17 AM
Andy Banks:
To add to my previous, there is some upcoming predicted Temperture Inversion/Tropospheric Ducting which will enable signals from more distant transmitters to be more easil;y received - and that will in a few instances result in interference to normal reception.
It is looking as though it's possible that this is already affecting some areas earlier than the original predictions, and could get quite severe over the early part of the weekend.
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Saturday, 13 August 2022
A
antony pakes7:34 AM
hi not receving tv channels bbc1 to channel 11 on my tv first thing in the morning
aerial pointing at heathfield
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C
Chris.SE2:34 PM
antony pakes:
There is predicted Temperature Inversion/Tropospheric Ducting which enables signals from more distant transmitters in Europe or the UK to be more easily received - and in many instances this results in interference to normal reception.
Both Freeview and the BBC have current warnings about short term interference to reception.
It seems to be currently affecting the East and South-East.
Do NOT retune your TV as this will most likely clear your correct tuning.
IF you have retuned check in your TV Tuning Section that your are correctly tuned to Heathfield's UHF channels.
In the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6
The UHF channels are C41, C44, C47, C40, C43, & C46
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
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Monday, 15 August 2022
A
Alan Goss8:50 AM
Chris.SE: Hi Chris,
Apologies, I was away for quite a while and only just found this response.
The existing roof aerial has vertical (X) and I think is pointing to Bexhill (seems to match the angles you noted). It seems to work and, as we have a very high roof, I could not get up to change the X orientation!
Some other houses behind ours look to be using Heathfield.
I have added an aerial in the loft to feed Freeview to the bedroom TV at a similar angle to the roof one (ie Bexhill) which seems to be fine but has horizontal X's (because I did not know any better).
Not sure how to check between muxes and PSB's. Would I be missing anything much by retaining Bexhill instead of trying Heathfield?
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Tuesday, 16 August 2022
C
Chris.SE2:26 PM
Alan Goss:
Hi Alan, so just to be clear if the Xs are taller than they are wide, that is vertical polarisation.
There are two ways to check what you are receiving.
The easiest way to check what channels you have. If you are tuned to just Bexhill it won't have any of the COM multiplexes, so you won't get LCN's such as LCN11 Sky Arts, LCN 12, Quest, LCN19 Dave, LCN20 drama, LCN27 Yesterday, LCN84 PBS America to name just a few of them.
Now because Bexhill is horizontal (but you are very close to it) you may still get it but at a reduced strength - which could still be adequate. If the aerial is actually pointing nearer to Hastings (bearing 74 degrees) Bexhill is still likely to be within the beamwidth but the wrong polarisation for Bexhill may reduce the strength enough to be unreliable.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex. There is no Local multiplex that is predicted that you could receive.
The best way to see which transmitter(s) you are actually receiving, is to look int eh TV Tuning Section for the UHF channel for each Multiplex. However some TVs display some/all that information when you select a channel.
The higher numbers in your postcode generally do better with reception but especially from Heathfield.
If you are only getting the PSBs from Bexhill, you could try just for a test, a manual tune on UHF C30 to try and add in the ArqB multiplex from Hastings (predicted to be a bit stronger than the others).
Occasionally people get good signals of the back of an aerial even with the wrong polarisation! Even local buildings. trees etc can make a difference. The best way to check what your set has tuned to - which could be a mixture - is to look for the UHF channels it's got.
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Monday, 18 December 2023
M
Mrs C Liston10:51 AM
I would like to know why my tv ariel has no signal for a few days then it comes back again, ok for a while then it happens again, I have been advised to have a dish, which I find ugly things, at 354 pounds for a pensioner that is a lot of money, I even get French station pop up after retunning to see if I can get a signal, if it's hot no picture if its cold no signal windy also, why is this mask not a powerful as Crystal Palace, we did'nt have any problem when we lived there, just this area I live in Oxted Surrey, have you and answers to this, yesterday I could'nt watch a thing, this morning still no signal, it comes then retreats to nothing, I live alone so over Xmas looks like there will be no tv for me to watch, which does help if you live alone, surely the strengh of the signal should be good over all the area it covers not just Eastbourn area and weak avery where else. look forward to hearing from you asap. I don't have Sky or andy other cable tv just the normal station to watch.
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B
Barry Frewin11:43 AM
East Grinstead
RH19 4AW Aerial on roof
I live in East Grinstead and have a problem with the reception.to both our TVs. We have lost all signal
From the Heathfield transmitter . Is there a problem with the signal from Heathfield? Thank you Regards Barry
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Barry's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
S
Steve Donaldson3:03 PM
Mrs C Liston: Heathfield was listed for engineering works last week, although it is not now. This is not to say that it hasn't over-run and not shown on the Freeview webpage listing engineering works here:
Planned engineering works | Freeview
You've asked a few questions and therefore I will address them in turn.
In regards retuning, the answer is "don't do it!". By resetting you have cleared the tuning for the designated transmitter. Having done that, retuning will only ever pick up what was tuned before, if at all. Crucially, it can't make a signal reappear that has disappeared!
The point is that the issue isn't with the tuning, but that the signal from the transmitter isn't coming down the aerial lead into your TV. If the TV is tuned correctly, meaning tuned to the channels of Heathfield, then it will show a picture when fed with the signal from Heathfield.
That you are in Oxted with your aerial pointing to Heathfield means your aerial is pointed towards France. In regards the TV tuning in French channels, it may or may not be that these are on the same UHF channel (frequency) as Heathfield. It is possible that they are not and that by deleting the Heathfield tuning, your TV has chosen the French channels because they are the best signal it can find across the whole TV frequency band (because Heathfield is absent at the time you retuned).
In effort to restore your channels (and so you have TV for Christmas), use manual tuning to select the broadcast channels of Heathfield:
PSB1 - BBC One - C41
PSB2 - ITV - C44
PSB3 - BBC One HD - C47
COM4 - QVC - C40
COM5 - Sky Mix - C43
COM6 - Quest - C46
To explain the above, one digital transmission signal carries multiple programme channels, and this is known as a multiplex or "mux". So all the BBC standard definition TV and radio channels are carried on PSB1 multiplex, which is broadcast on UHF channel 41 (C41) from Heathfield. In the above list, I have given one service on each multiplex. Check you are tuned to the appropriate UHF channel for that multiplex from Heathfield. Crystal Palace channels to look out for, in the same order, are 23, 26, 30, 25, 22 and 28.
With regards satellite TV, then there is Freesat and this is the satellite equivalent of Freeview. Some of the channels available are different. The point is that in order to have satellite TV you don't have to subscribe to Sky. The dish for Freesat is exactly the same as for Sky. I appreciate you said you don't want a satellite dish, but I thought I'd let you know this, should you be faced with no other option.
In terms of distance, then the bigger factor with TV reception is being able to see the transmitter. Some people are close to a high power transmitter but can't receive because there is a hill in the way. That said, Oxted is quite a distance from Heathfield and there is high ground in the way around 16 miles out around Crowborough.
Reception across a town will vary, therefore it's not possible to assess or give any idea of whether it may be possible to receive Crystal Palace at your location. A full postcode is required.
Not being familiar with the area, I can see that Oxted has high ground to the north, thereby making Crystal Palace difficult or impossible. With Heathfield, you have High Weald blocking your line of sight, in the Crowborough area around 16 miles out. Depending on whereabouts you are, there may be ground in the immediate vicinity in the way too.
If your aerial is pointed to Heathfield, then the decision may have been made that this was the better (least worst) of the two. But, as I say, neither is ideal because high ground is in the way for both. Or it could be that it is "much of a muchness" and that you might benefit by using Crystal Palace instead.
At 200kW, Crystal Palace is among a few of the most powerful transmitters in the country. Heathfield at 20kW (for PSBs) and 10kW (for COMs) is relatively low power 'high power' transmitter. The high power helps reach people, particularly those who have an obstruction such as a hill in the way. Choose how powerful a transmitter is, though, there will always be those who are struggling and would have been in a better position had it been more powerful.
My cursory assessment of Oxted leads me to believe that TV reception is either Crystal Palace or Heathfield, neither of which may be great. The only remaining question is whether Reigate may be possible. I tried a couple of postcodes in the predictor and it didn't come up, and I get the feeling that Oxted is beyond its coverage area, although as I say, a full postcode is really required to get any useful idea.
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S
Steve Donaldson7:01 PM
Mrs C Liston: Having looked into this further, it looks like high ground at Crowborough isn't completely obstructing the view to the transmitter, although it is still high enough to potentially cause an issue. The terrain plotter I am using had the height of the Heathfield mast down as being not as tall as it is. Having consulted another source to find the correct height, I have now entered it into the terrain plotter, taking a couple of sample locations in Oxted and it seems that the top of the mast can just about be seen, although the terrain is still a little in the way.
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Tuesday, 19 December 2023
C
Chris.SE1:20 AM
Barry Frewin:
Hmm, the Heathfield transmitter was on Planned Engineering last week, but is no longer of the Planned Engineering list, but it's always possible work may have over-run!
That said, even though your are only 23km from Heathfield and there are some very large hills between you and Heathfield, 3 & 4 miles out but the worst 6 miles out, from you, the reception predictions are good. HOWEVER if they were operating on the Reserve Antena during the work, that could completely scupper your reception as it's lower down the mast!
Did you perchance retune when you had no signal?
This is never advised because you cannot tune to a signal that is not there and the net effect is often to clear the correct tuning you had, so you won't get the signals back when they return without further retunes.
If you did do that then I suggest you MANUALLY retune Heathfield's UHF channels as listed in the very top section of this page.
If you have no luck with that, then do check some obvious things, such as your aerial still pointing correctly at Heathfield - compass bearing 130 degrees for you, that's almost SE, and it's rods (or squashed Xs) should be horizontal. Also check all accessible coax connections and ensure they are free of corrosion and water. If you have an amp/splitter check it still has power.
If the work has over run, then in the meantime you could try and get some signals from the East Grinstead relay but it'll only be the PSB multiplexes. It's in a different direction - SW, but is only 1km away although it's vertical polarisation you might get some signal off your aerial side-lobes.
Try a Manual tune on UHF channels C29, C31, & C37. Signals may be poor.
Post back if you are still having problems with more details about when it happened and what you've done/checked.
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