Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"W |  | SG19 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 25/11/2024 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)
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.
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?
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
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?
| 1965-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 12 Feb 2020 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | K T | K T | W T | W T | ||||
| C6 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C21 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C24 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C27 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C31 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ||||||
| C32 | com7 | ||||||||
| C33 | SDN | ||||||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C35 | _local | ||||||||
| C36 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C39 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C43 | _local | ||||||||
| C48 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C51tv_off | SDN | ||||||||
| C52tv_off | ArqA | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | COM8tv_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
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Friday, 15 April 2011
M
Marcus1:36 PM
I have installed a new digital aerial in my loft, i have a masthead amp also.
But i cannot get the five usa channel or film 4 channels.
Is there a plan to boost the signal on these services to 180 k ?
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Marcus: Yes, as above "The commercial multiplexes at Sandy Heath will remain on their pre-switchover channels and powers for a period after digital switchover. SDN will then temporarily move to channel 31 (at 20kW ERP) on 31 Aug 2011, before adopting its final allocation of channel 51 on 18th April 2012. Arqiva A will adopt its final allocation of channel 52 on 23 Nov 2011. Arqiva B will temporarily move to channel 67 (at 20kW ERP) at switchover and then it will adopt its final allocation of channel 48 on 14 Sept 2011. "
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D
Doug Richardson2:32 PM
Harlow
Mike Dimmick wrote:
>if Mux B was marginal, ArqB is likely to not work.
BBC4 was always very prone to pixellation and sound dropouts.
>If you provide a full postcode we can see if this temporary location is expected to work for you, and therefore you have a problem with your installation, or if it's just not practical to receive it at the moment.
CM19 5EA is the postcode. The aerial is about 15 years old, but I recently fitted a new masthead preamp and rewired the run to the TV in the correct type of coax for digital.
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Doug's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
P
Paul5:09 PM
Well where do i start!
BEFORE the switchover we were getting Dave,Davejauvu,E4+1,Sky Three (pick tv) pretty much 95% of the time since 2007.
AFTER the March switchover at Sandy Heath we gained new stations BBC1,BBC2,BBC3,BBC4,BBC News and some other stations.
AFTER the April 13th switchover we have gained some stations but lost others,then some of the new stations we have gained dont work 100% of the time,for instance Dave,Davejauvu,E4+1 now go totaly down when before switchover they were fine 95% of the time, ITV2+1,Challenge,5 Star,5 USA and others also go totaly down and dont work, and we cant even get Film4,Four Music,Virgin,TMZ etc. BEFORE the switchover we could 'sometimes' get Film 4,Virgin,TMZ etc on rare ocasions.
We have a high end Panasonic freeview,dvd & video recorder combi,a high end 42" LG HDTV with built in freeview, and a high end Samsung 23" HDTV with built in Freeveiw.
We are in Hilgay near Downham Market.
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Saturday, 16 April 2011
J
JohnB9:10 AM
Peterborough
I've changed my aerial to 'W' type and am receiving signal Mux psb 1, 2 and 3. TV says 31 channels. I'm looking to get ch34-ESPN, ch41-SkySp1, ch42-SkySp2 (I have BTVision card) also ch19-Dave with no luck!!! Moved aerial through approx.10 degrees 20-30 times, no change. Should I be able to receive them or will I have to wait until signal strength improved Aug2011? Sun11Apr did get ESPNSkySp1/2 but have disapeared. Would Waltham Tx be better?
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JohnB's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
JohnB: Yes, you would stand more chance getting all services today from Waltham.
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K
kim jones11:30 AM
Wellingborough
since the sandy heath transmittor has been turned off i no longer recieve itv/anglia through my freeview box which is run through a satellite dish. we have retuned it several times but it still comes up no signal.
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kim's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
D
Dimitry12:26 PM
Luton
Hi,
I live in Luton, postcode LU2 0BL and since the switchover reception on all channels execpt the BBC ones (such as Channel4, ITV etc) is awful, pixelation and breaking, no sound etc. Even though I also have freeview HD on my new TV I do not receive any HD channels.
I don't know if I am doing something wrong and I have retuned multiple times hoping it would fix it. I don't know if it is the area etc or just me.
Any advice is more than appreciated.
Thanks
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Dimitry's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
KMJ,Derby1:15 PM
Dimitry:The Digital UK postcode checker shows Freeview reception to be available from 3 transmitter sites. If your aerial is pointing at Sandy Heath you should currently have good reception on the PSB muxes only. You would expect to receive additionally Mux ArqB from 14th September 2011, Mux ArqA from 23rd November 2011 and MuxA/SDN from April 2012.If your aerial has vertical rods it is pointing at the Luton relay and should give good signals on the 3 PSB muxes only. If you are using this transmitter check that you have tuned in to C50, C59 and C55 and not signals earlier in the scan from Sandy Heath or Crystal Palace. Similarly if using Sandy Heath make sure D3+4 is on C24. Check channel list in the 800s for duplicate channels that might work correctly. The Crystal Palace transmitter offers all muxes but with poor to variable reception. Another possibility if you have amplification on the aerial is too much signal. Use an attenuator or remove the amplifier if this is the problem. Check the condition of cables and connectors. You really should expect good digital reception if analogue used to be good.
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