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.
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._______
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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Thursday, 4 August 2011
Bob Archer: My apologies, this transmitter has a "type 6" switchover, not a "type 3". I have corrected the database.
Thanks for pointing it out.
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J
jason3:00 PM
Hi All
Could you please tell me why sandy heath transmitter on ch21,24,27 is very strong from milton keynes but ch40,43,67 is a lot lower.
Will this change soon.
Many thanks
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Mike Dimmick4:32 PM
jason: Because the channels that will eventually be used are still required at other sites. Both the allocated channels and the temporary ones clash with other sites. Moving to full power now would damage other people's reception, either of analogue or of low-power digital services.
In order of what's going to happen:
On 31 August, Mux A will move from C43 to C31, at the same power level, to free C43 for Sutton Coldfield. C31 is released by Waltham on that date.
On 14 September, ArqB moves from C67 to C48, its final frequency, at full final power level. C48 is in use at Oxford before this date. Mux C changes mode, becoming ArqA, and takes over C67 from ArqB, at the same power level.
On 23 November, ArqA moves from C67 to C52, which is currently used by Tacolneston, at full power. This is its final channel.
On 9 May 2012, Mux A changes mode, becoming SDN, and moves to C51 at full power - this is its final location.
On 27 June 2012, the vertical beam tilt - the angle of the main part of the transmission - will be raised. It is currently restricted to the south-west, to protect services at Rowridge. Effectively this will increase power levels for viewers further away from the transmitter.
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Friday, 5 August 2011
B
Bob Archer7:06 PM
Very informative post Mike, thanks - I was curious about the Vertical beam tilt
Bob
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Sunday, 7 August 2011
J
joe4:53 PM
Would the mux magician from Amazon uk be enough to fix my problems from a few pages back? Is suitable for this transmitter? Would there be too much signal being boosted?
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mr weet5:39 PM
if the transmitter is down and i cannot get any tv. does that mean i can have a refund on my tv licence as i am not getting what i have paid for?
also digital isnt as good as analogue as if there is a storm there is a problem with signal!
this is not being rude or disrespectful just asking a fairly sensible question.
thankyou
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mr weet: No refund is due to your TV Licence unless you sell your TV set.
Digital TV more resilient to weather-based faults than analogue.
The current issue are planned engineering work, not faults.
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Mike Dimmick7:20 PM
joe: First, check that your box or TV can properly handle 8K mode. If it can't, it may have picked off-beam transmissions from Crystal Palace rather than the desired ones from Sandy Heath, when you retuned at switchover. The signals from Crystal Palace could still be strong enough to pick up, but a lot closer to the 'cliff edge', meaning they come and go. There is a list of some equipment known not to work at http://www.digitaluk.co.u…ment .
At present, Mux C at Sandy Heath is still using its pre-switchover 2K mode. Crystal Palace - which switches next April - is still broadcasting everything in 2K mode.
Some boxes will store the first channels they find when scanning, starting at C21 and working their way up, so it could still store Crystal Palace in preference to Sandy Heath. In this case, usually the other set(s) found is/are stored somewhere else in the programme guide - often at channel 800 and up.
Check the frequencies that the box shows for each channel group at the top of the page - this is often in the tuning menu or in System Status. If it says 25 for BBC One, 22 for ITV1, 28 for BBC Four/CBeebies then it's using Crystal Palace. You should do a full reset with the aerial unplugged, to clear all stored channels, then manually tune on C24 and C27 for BBC and ITV. If the box won't detect anything on those channels, try without the amplifier. If it still won't, it may not be able to handle 8K mode at all.
I would strongly recommend you don't try to change your roof-top aerial yourself. If you do require a high-gain aerial - and the prediction suggests that you won't, once all changes are finally complete (9 May next year, unfortunately) - a grouped aerial will be smaller for the same amount of gain. Those tri-booms are, frankly, overkill for most people.
If it's definitely tuning into Sandy Heath, the problem could easily be that water has got into the cables or outdoor connections - this affects the highest frequencies first and worst. ArqB is way up at C67 at present, and Mux A/SDN is shown as the lowest probability of reliable reception at your postcode, for now.
As you can see, it's not a simple answer, and professional assistance might get the problem sorted out sooner.
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mr weet9:22 PM
fair enough, but if you don't ask as they say.
so can i ask how i can watch the tv i require whilst engeneering in progress?
on the railways they have buses in when they have engineering so no backup transmitter?
prehaps they real reason for riot was that there was no tv in tottenham haha...
just joking of course, unfortunately i can't watch the news so i don't know.
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Monday, 8 August 2011
mr weet: Use the "live TV and radio" panel in the right hand column.
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