Full Freeview on the Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire, England) transmitter
 | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.729,-0.426 or 51°43'43"N 0°25'34"W |  | HP3 8SA |
The symbol shows the location of the Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 74,000 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.
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire, England) transmitter._______
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 Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire, 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 Hemel Hempstead 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 Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire, 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 Hemel Hempstead transmitter?
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 30km southeast (138°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 31km southeast (135°)
to ITV London region - 55 masts.
How will the Hemel Hempstead (Hertfordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 18 Apr 2018 | |||||
| B E T | B E T | B E T | E T | K T | |||||
| C29 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C31 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C34 | _local | ||||||||
| C37 | SDN | ||||||||
| C40 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C41 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | |||||
| C42 | _local | ||||||||
| C43 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C44 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | |||||
| C46 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C47 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | BBCB | |||||
| C50tv_off | SDN | ||||||||
| C51tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ||||||
| C55tv_off | ArqB | ||||||||
| C59tv_off | ArqA |
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 4 Apr 12 and 18 Apr 12.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 10kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 2kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B* | (-14dB) 400W | |
| Mux C*, Mux D* | (-17dB) 200W |
Local transmitter maps
Hemel Hempstead Freeview Hemel Hempstead DAB Crystal Palace TV region BBC London LondonWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Crystal Palace transmitter area
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Monday, 8 July 2024
Transmitter engineering
5:07 AM
5:07 AM
Hemel Hempstead transmitter - Hemel Hempstead transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 08/07/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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Monday, 22 July 2024
Transmitter engineering
9:58 AM
9:58 AM
Hemel Hempstead transmitter - Hemel Hempstead transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 22/07/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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Monday, 29 July 2024
Transmitter engineering
5:08 AM
5:08 AM
Hemel Hempstead transmitter - Hemel Hempstead transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 29/07/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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Monday, 19 August 2024
Transmitter engineering
4:04 PM
4:04 PM
Hemel Hempstead transmitter - Hemel Hempstead transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 19/08/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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Tuesday, 20 August 2024
A
Anthony Breeze9:06 AM
Hemel Hempstead
My aerial is in the loft, and l was receiving some 149 channel,s, including HD channels, but recently all my he channels are pixelated , and unwatchable. I have tried your advice on a retune etc
I understand there are engineering works from 19/07/2024. My aerial is pointing towards Crystal Palace transmitter. I would be most grateful if you can assist me in this matter,
Regards Mr A D Breeze HP3 8TD.
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Anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
S
Steve Donaldson2:13 PM
Anthony Breeze: I suggest that the Hemel Hempstead (Pimlico) transmitter may be the best at your location. I will come on to the reasons for this.
It is always good as a first step to check that the TV is tuned to the correct transmitter, and not some other transmitter if one may be available. In this instance Hemel Hempstead is only 12 degrees off beam of Crystal Palace, albeit that the former is vertically polarised and the latter horizontally so.
Multiple programme channels are broadcast on a single signal called a multiplex, and there are six multiplexes carrying the main Freeview channels:
PSB1 - "BBC A" - BBC standard definition TV and radio
PSB2 - "D3&4" - ITV1, Channel 4, Channel 5 and some sister channels
PSB3 - "BBC B" - all HD channels, BBC and non-BBC
COM4 - "SDN" - QVC, U&Drama and others
COM5 - "Arq A" - Sky Mix, Really and others
COM6 - "Arq B" - Quest, U&W and others
Freeview has published a list of programme channels by multiplex ("mux") here, and you can use this to work out which multiplex a programme channel is on and in-turn which UHF channel it is broadcast on from each transmitter:
Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview
The six main multiplexes of Crystal Palace, in order of the above, are on UHF channels 23, 26, 30, 25, 22, 28. There is also the local multiplex which carries London Live on C35. For one service (programme channel) on each of the multiplexes, check it is tuned to the UHF channel for Crystal Palace, usually by looking at the signal information screen.
The six channels of Hemel Hempstead are 40, 43, 46, 37, 31, 29, with the local multiplex being on 34.
Another possible cause of reception issues these days is a mobile phone mast starting using 700MHz frequencies, which were previously the top end of the TV spectrum. Restore TV is the organisation responsible for alleviating such issues. The solution is usually to install a filter, which Restore TV sends out for free. Restore TV says it has sent you a postcard to say you might potentially have issues:
https://restoretv.uk/post…ure/
What this means is that as another possibility to the engineering works, it could be mobile interference.
In terms of whether to go for CP or HH at your location, I offer the following comment. With respect to the channel offerings of Crystal Palace versus Hemel Hempstead, they are the same: they both broadcast the six main multiplexes plus the local London multiplex. A few years ago there were two quasi-national multiplexes carrying mainly HD channels which were broadcast by 30 of the biggest transmitters in the country -- including Crystal Palace but not Hemel Hempstead. At that time it may have been advantageous to go for CP instead of HH at your location.
I suggest that you first check you are tuned to CP. If it turns out you are not, then correct this and see whether it gives good reception. If it does then you might decide to leave things as they are and stick with CP.
If you are in fact tuned to CP and have picture break-up, then it is reasonable to suspect either mobile interference or the engineering works. The solution to the former is probably a filter and the latter may be alleviated (now and at any time in the future) by using HH instead.
It may be worthwhile to request a filter from Restore TV, being that it's free and the only cost is the time it takes to order it. Having fitted it, you can see immediately whether it has made any difference or not.
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Wednesday, 21 August 2024
C
Chris.SE12:38 AM
Anthony Breeze:
Oh dear. I'm afraid it's not our usual advise to suggest retuning IF your were correctly tuned and then have pixellated pictures or no signal. You cannot tune to signals that aren't there or can't be decoded. The usual result is to clear the correct tuning.
IF your aerial is Horizontally polarised and pointing at Crystal Palace then do check in your tuning section that you are tuned to its UHF channels as listed by Steve in his post. If you are incorrectly tuned to even Hemel Hempstead's UHF channels, reception will most likely be unreliable with the wrong polarisation of the aerial.
Where people can get signals from more than one transmitter and have become incorrectly tuned, the best cure is to clear the existing tuning (auto retune with the aerial unplugged) then MANUAL retune of the wanted UHF channels only (not automated retuning).
If you choose to change to reception from Hemel Hempstead then you'll need to change the polarisation of your aerial first (rotate it until the rods are vertical) and swing it so that it's pointing virtually SSE (compass bearing 155 degrees).
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Monday, 26 August 2024
Transmitter engineering
5:06 AM
5:06 AM
Hemel Hempstead transmitter - Hemel Hempstead transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 26/08/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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Sunday, 1 September 2024
C
Chris.SE5:26 PM
David Piper :
There don't appear to be any faults currently reported, so if it's not the engineering as noted in the post before yours then it could be current weather conditions with the high pressure producing some quite variable tropospheric conditions affecting parts of the country from time to time.
The BBC do have a current warning in place -
High pressure could affect TV & Radio services across parts of the UK from 30th August | Help receiving TV and radio
Hope you didn't retune, see the first paragraph of my previous post here!
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D
David Piper 5:33 PM
Lost all HD channels. No signal on channel 46.
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