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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.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, 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 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), 71 That’s 60s,

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 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others

COM5
ArqA
 H -0.2dB
C36 (594.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others

COM6
ArqB
 H -0.2dB
C48 (690.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 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
Saturday, 2 July 2011
S
Steve
sentiment_satisfiedGold

10:11 AM

IP27 is too vague but according to this
UK digital TV reception predictor
you do not even GET C67!

But 27dBuV/m is a weak signal and 67 end of frequency range. Rain may affect reflected signals

Digital has a "cliff" from good to useless, not a fine gradation.

link to this comment
Steve's 1,173 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
B
Brian
8:49 PM

I currently have an old 12 element wide band areal, whilst i noticed all around me have been having hi-gain [contract range] areals i don't feel this is necessary, as i can pick up many channels without connecting the areal, I am therefore considering replacing it with a Log-Periodic Aerial [short 28e]

do any of you technical wiz kids have a view on my decision

thanks

link to this comment
Brian's 2 posts EU flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:40 PM

Brian: If the old aerial works, I wouldn't replace it. Going by Justin Smith's aerial tests at Gain (curves), Again , a small log periodic (shown there as 'DM Log') should have more gain in Group A, for the PSB multiplexes, but will have less above C48, where the commercial multiplexes live.

The log periodic is supposedly more resilient to impulse interference, though, so if you find your reception breaks up when cars go past, it may help.

link to this comment
Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:57 PM

Steve: DO NOT USE WOLFBANE. It is inaccurate, signal strengths shown are far lower than calculated by the ITU-R line-of-sight equation for known line-of-sight paths. I use Field Strength Calculator which shows a field strength of 81.3 dBuV/m at 66km from a 20kW transmitter on C67. Multiply the field strength shown in V/m by one million, take the base 10 logarithm ['log' on most calculators, not 'ln'] then multiply by 20.

We need a full postcode to see whether there is anything preventing line-of-sight. The Digital UK postcode checker considers how signals travel over the terrain and has factors for buildings and trees.

Bob Archer: If channels on higher frequencies break up when it rains, it often indicates that water is getting into the cables. Check that the seals on any outdoor boxes (such as a masthead amplifier or splitter) are intact and not letting water penetrate. Some aerials have a connection box on the aerial itself, where the cable connects to the aerial, again this needs to be watertight. If the cable has been up for a long time (over 10 years), the outer insulation may have perished due to ultraviolet light exposure and that again allows water to penetrate into the cable.

link to this comment
Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Friday, 8 July 2011
B
Brian
8:31 PM

Hi mike thanks for the reply, having taken a close look at the old aerial, i noticed both the bracket and mast are suffering badly with corrosion so to save the hassle i think i will replace the lot, but following your advise i will just use a basic wide band [probably yegar pattern] aerial. for the time being i have plugged an old 8inch indoor loop to the decoder [got the wife off my back] and have perfect picture on most channels [a few are missing]

Many thanks for your imput

Brian

link to this comment
Brian's 2 posts SE flag
S
Steve P
sentiment_satisfiedGold

11:46 PM

Mike D - I do not believe Wolfbane's ae choices - I can at home get a signal with a set top loop where they say "amplified high gain"

But they have a very clear presentation of what might be available and relative strength; bearing, etc.

link to this comment
Steve P's 1,173 posts GB flag
Sunday, 10 July 2011
C
chris
4:08 PM

bran having problem picking up channels up on frequency 24, reads str 7 quailty 4, but it isn't on my frequency detected list ???

link to this comment
chris's 13 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:15 PM

chris: The answer totally depends on where you are located and what your aerial set up might be, with neither being mentioned!

Ch24 being the high powered PSB2 Mux on the Sandy (Anglia) transmitter.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
C
chris
9:07 PM
Cambridge

i have a wide band aerial, situated at roof height plus. am located in cb25 0bb admittingly itv never has been the best where i am, i have a hill between us and sandy and the sudbury tx the other way. the fact is that sandy my nearest has always been dedicated to bbc. have a feeling my box is up the creek, i will try another box on there

link to this comment
chris's 13 posts GB flag
chris's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 15 July 2011
J
Joe
3:18 PM

hi I live in harlow ( cm187pb) and we are currently receiving our signal from sandy heath, a few weeks we lost mux: COM6 ArqB and from about 3 days ago we lost Mux: A..

nothing has changed with our set up, we are running 4 TV sets (3boxes 1freeview TV) from our outdoor ariel connected to. 4 way signal booster.

is it possible that our signal booster is boosting the week signals making them weeker? the problem with that is Mux C works perfectly, full signal. & no breakups.

any help/advice?

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Joe's 4 posts GB flag
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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.

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