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Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"Wsa_postcodeSG19 2NH

 

The symbol shows the location of the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 920,000 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 Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) mast?

Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath 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 Sandy Heath 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
C27 (522.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Cambridge, 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
C24 (498.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Anglia (West 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 (Anglia east),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C21+ (474.2MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Cambridge, 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 -0.2dB
C33 (570.0MHz)291mDTG-8170,000W
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 -0.2dB
C36 (594.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
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 -0.2dB
C48 (690.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
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 Sandy Heath transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Look East (West) 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Cambridge CB4 0WZ, 29km east-northeast (65°)
to BBC Cambridge region - 4 masts.
70% of BBC East (East) and BBC East (West) is shared output
regional news image
ITV Anglia News 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Norwich NR1 3JG, 119km east-northeast (60°)
to ITV Anglia (West) region - 5 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Anglia (East)

How will the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1965-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-1312 Feb 2020
VHFA K TK TK TW TW T
C6ITVwaves
C21C4wavesC4wavesC4waves+BBCBBBCB
C24ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C27BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C31BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves
C32com7
C33SDN
C34com8
C35_local
C36ArqA
C39C5wavesC5waves
C43_local
C48ArqBArqB
C51tv_offSDN
C52tv_offArqA
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 30 Mar 11 and 13 Apr 11.

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

Analogue 1-4 1000kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7.4dB) 180kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-7.7dB) 170kW
com7(-13dB) 49.6kW
com8(-13.1dB) 49.1kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 20kW
Analogue 5(-20dB) 10kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area

Oct 1959-Feb 2004Anglia 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.

Comments
Tuesday, 22 February 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

6:48 PM

Wayne Drury: No, this is not in any way "due to work preparing for the switchover".

I would suggest you look at the Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice - the deal is that you don't pay a subscription, but the responsibility for reception is down to you.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
C
chris davies
7:23 PM

Hi Mike
Thanks, I thought much the same as you but wondered if there is an issue with low power on Mux b as I see no level drop at all on the other muliplexes. I wondered if anyone else had experienced this as I dont think all engineering work is reported.
chris

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chris davies's 16 posts GB flag
W
Wayne Drury
8:25 PM

Briantist, thanks for the response. I have check the reception link you provided back at Christmas when we had the same issue for just of 2wks.

Our Ariel is new as of 3 years ago specifically for Freeview in our house and has been working fine up until the last 6 months on/off loss of channels. The worst it has been has been since Nov2010 through until now.

As for weather affecting, the other day it was crystal clear blue sky in Northampton and still no channels on those MUX I mention.

I accept reception is down to us public, but from a logic point of view, when nothing has changed in house/Ariel and I loose channels for over weeks and the weather has been clear, dry, wet, mist (i.e. never the same) its hard to believe it all down to something magical in our house/ariel is the cause. Particulary when we are aware the transmitter is in the process of being upgraded.

Whats concerns me most is after going out and buying a Freeview HD TV ready for the switchover. We are now having these kind of issues with standard Freeview, what come back if any do I have when I end up with no channel post switchover? Who do we call on 1-Apr when/if we have no channels post a retune?


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Wayne Drury's 5 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

7:33 AM

Wayne Drury: The correct people to contact still is your aerial installer.

The transmission people are not responsible for anything other than providing the output at the specified levels and frequencies.

If you still have problems once switchover is complete, it is still down to you to ensure your reception works.

Your reception of Multiplex A (COM4/SDN) will not improve until 31st August 11, and Multiplex C (COM5/ARQA) will happen on 14th September 11.

Freeview HD will start on 13th April 11.

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
T
Tim Newton
9:15 PM

Are the current digital transmissions from Sandy Heath in the 2k or 8k mode?

Thanks. (TQ729075) 

link to this comment
Tim Newton's 5 posts GB flag
LutonFan
sentiment_satisfiedGold

9:30 PM

Tim Newton- 2K at present.

link to this comment
LutonFan's 382 posts GB flag
Thursday, 24 February 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

6:44 AM

Tim Newton: ...as it says at the top of the page.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
D
Dom
10:11 AM

@ Nigel in Wellingborough

You live around 50 yards from me - carry on to the bottom of your road, nip over the fence and you're in my road lol. We've had reduced signal strength and power on Multiplex B but can just about scrape a signal with our loft aerial. All other multiplexes seem to be behaving themselves and with you being so close I doubt its an external issue affecting your reception.

link to this comment
Dom's 9 posts GB flag
AlexG
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

12:53 PM

wayne: I don't think you say whether or not you have a loft aerial, but if you do, that certainly won't help!

link to this comment
AlexG's 27 posts EU flag
N
Nigel
7:08 PM
Wellingborough

Brian

Nothing close that could cause interference. I have a surge protector (Monster Power) which handles all of the socket and has a pass through for the aerial. Tried it without that in place but no difference. First channel I can view tonight is Channel 18.

link to this comment
Nigel's 5 posts GB flag
Nigel's: mapN's Freeview map terrainN's terrain plot wavesN's frequency data N's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Your comment please
Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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