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Freeview Light on the Marlow Bottom (Buckinghamshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.589,-0.787 or 51°35'21"N 0°47'15"Wsa_postcodeSL7 3YA

 

The symbol shows the location of the Marlow Bottom (Buckinghamshire, England) transmitter which serves 1,700 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 Marlow Bottom (Buckinghamshire, England) transmitter.

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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Which Freeview channels does the Marlow Bottom 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
 V max
C49 (698.0MHz)120mDTG-11W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) London, 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
 V max
C58 (770.0MHz)120mDTG-11W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (London), 4 Channel 4 (SD) London ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 London ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (London),

PSB3
BBCB
 V max
C54 (738.0MHz)120mDTG-11W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD London, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV London), 104 Channel 4 HD London ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Are you trying to watch these 44 Freeview channels?

the effected channels
the effected channels
the effected channels
the effected channels

The Marlow Bottom (Buckinghamshire, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera Eng, Al Jazeera English, Blaze, Blaze +1, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, Dave, Dave ja vu, DMAX, Drama +1, E4 Extra, YAAAS!, Film4 +1, Food Network, GREAT! action, GREAT! movies, GREAT! romance mix, GREAT! romance, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, Legend, PBS America, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky Mix, Sky News, Talking Pictures TV, TCC, That's 90s, That's TV 2, Together TV, TRUE CRIME, TRUE CRIME XTRA, W, Yesterday +1.

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 Marlow Bottom transmitter?

regional news image
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 45km east (98°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
regional news image
ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 47km east (97°)
to ITV London region - 55 masts.

How will the Marlow Bottom (Buckinghamshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20122012-1330 Mar 2018
C/D EC/D EC/D EC/D E TC/D E T
C49tv_offBBCABBCA
C54tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesBBCBBBCB
C58tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C61ITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves
C64BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 13W
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-0.7dB) 11W

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Crystal Palace transmitter area

Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated-Rediffusion†
Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1992Thames†
Jul 1968-Feb 2004London Weekend Television♦
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Carlton†
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc♦
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. Marlow Bottom 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
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

9:36 AM

MARLOW BOTTOM transmitter - Over the next week Marlow Bottom relay: TV (analogue) Service Shutdowns, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Thursday, 5 May 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

12:46 PM

MARLOW BOTTOM transmitter - Analogue BBC ONE Off Air; DSO related from 09:30 today to 09:50 today BBC TWO Weak Signal; DSO related from 09:29 today to 09:50 today [BBC] Over the next week Marlow Bottom relay: TV (analogue) Service Shutdowns, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Friday, 6 May 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:32 AM

MARLOW BOTTOM transmitter - Analogue BBC ONE Off Air; DSO related from 09:30 yesterday to 09:50 yesterday BBC TWO Weak Signal; DSO related from 09:29 yesterday to 09:50 yesterday [BBC] Over the next week Marlow Bottom relay: TV (analogue) Service Shutdowns, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:37 AM

MARLOW BOTTOM transmitter - Analogue BBC ONE Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 today BBC TWO Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 today [BBC] Over the next week Marlow Bottom relay: TV (analogue) Service Shutdowns, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

3:35 PM

MARLOW BOTTOM transmitter - Analogue BBC ONE Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 today to 13:35 today BBC TWO Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 today to 13:35 today [BBC] Over the next week Marlow Bottom relay: TV (analogue) Service Shutdowns, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Friday, 10 June 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:37 AM

MARLOW BOTTOM transmitter - Analogue BBC ONE Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 yesterday to 13:35 yesterday BBC TWO Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 yesterday to 13:35 yesterday [BBC] Over the next week Marlow Bottom relay: TV (analogue) Service Shutdowns, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

9:34 AM

MARLOW BOTTOM transmitter - Analogue BBC ONE Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 on 09 Jun to 13:35 on 09 Jun BBC TWO Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 on 09 Jun to 13:35 on 09 Jun [BBC] Over the next week Marlow Bottom relay: TV (analogue) Service Shutdowns, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Monday, 13 June 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:34 AM

MARLOW BOTTOM transmitter - Analogue BBC ONE Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 on 09 Jun to 13:35 on 09 Jun BBC TWO Off Air; DSO related from 09:00 on 09 Jun to 13:35 on 09 Jun [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Saturday, 14 April 2012
C
Chris Burmajster
1:59 PM

We live in Marlow Bottom and are concerned by that we won't get the full 50 Freeview channels advertised on the Freeview website after switchover, presumably due to our transmitter being a relay. Will our transmitter ever be upgraded so that we can receive all 50 Freeview channels?

Thank you.

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Chris Burmajster's 4 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:19 PM

Chris Burmajster: It is right that Marlow Bottom transmitter will not provide the full range of Freeview channels as it will only carry Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) channels.

The Commercial broadcasters (the "COMs") transmit from 80 of the largest (by viewer population) stations and achieve a 90% reach. For them to transmit from nearly 1,100 relays like Marlow Bottom would roughly double their cost of transmission. If they did this, that outlay would give them an additional 8.5% of the population. They were invited to increase their coverage and declined. For a more in-depth explanation, see Will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice


In some cases there are ways of getting the Commercial channels. These usually entail additional cost as new aerials will be required.

I had a look and have come up with the following shortlist of permutations. Not all may be possible as what can be received can only really be determined by an installer on site.

I went to the Digital UK (DUK) Tradeview predictor and put in post code in Marlow Bottom. This was to give an idea of what may be receivable.

1. Receive all services from Crystal Palace. At the test post code, DUK suggests PSBs are "good" but COMs "variable". The point being that there is a difference and the COMs aren't as good.

As Marlow Bottom is a relay of Crystal Palace, regional programming is the same.

2. The predictor considers all services (PSBs and COMs) from Hannington to be "good" at the test location. One option is to receive all services from Hannington, but this would mean changing to BBC South and ITV Meridian.

3. Use Freesat in combination with a terrestrial aerial on Hannington. You can watch BBC and ITV London programming via Freesat. Your Hannington aerial will allow you to watch terrestrial Commercial services that are not on Freesat such as Dave and Pick TV.

4. You may be able to combine ("diplex") into one downlead, your current aerial on Marlow Bottom with one on Hannington. In order to do this a diplexer must be used so that only one of the aerials supplies the signal on each channel. See here Online TV Splitters, Amps & Diplexers sales

Marlow Bottom uses C49 to C58 and Hannington's highest COM is on C47. So you would need a diplexer that splits at C48 (if such a thing is available - I'm not an aerial installer so I don't know).

This is probably a last ditch possibility where all others have been eliminated.

I should point out that some receivers (recorders/PVRs) don't function well when receiving services from different transmitters with regards to recording programmed programmes. You could use your Hannington aerial as your main one, so the services from that transmitter will be in the "proper" logical channel numbers, i.e. 1=BBC One from Hannington 2=BBC Two from Hannington. The only use your Marlow Bottom aerial will have is for BBC One London and ITV London which you could put on 800 and 801, for example.

-----
As I say, what's actually possible will have to be tested on-site. The village is surrounded by trees and these can affect reception. They will probably not be taken into account by the DUK predictor.

At the test location, the road is not flat and the houses on one side are higher than on the other. It's a fair assumption that chances of reception are likely to be greater the higher up the aerial is. The size of aerials and tall masts tells the story!

I did spot a couple of houses on the low side of the road with large aerials on Crystal Palace. These are in the direction of the other side of the road, so the higher houses will probably be causing a shadow. However, what I would say is that if those lower houses can get a signal from CP, then the chance will probably be greater if you live in one of those higher houses!

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
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