Freeview Light on the Luton (Luton, England) transmitter
 | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.877,-0.431 or 51°52'38"N 0°25'52"W |  | LU1 5SS |
The symbol shows the location of the Luton (Luton, England) transmitter which serves 29,000 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 Luton (Luton, England) transmitter._______
Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Luton (Luton, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera English, Blaze, Blaze +1, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, DMAX, E4 Extra, Film4 +1, Food Network, FRANCE 24 (in English), GREAT! action, GREAT! movies, GREAT! player, GREAT! romance, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, YAAAS!, Legend, PBS America, POP UP, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky Mix, Sky News, Talking Pictures TV, That's Melody, That's TV 2, Together TV, TRUE CRIME, TRUE CRIME XTRA, U&Dave, U&Yesterday, U&Drama 1, U&W.
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 Freeview channels does the Luton 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.
| Mux | H/V | Frequency | Height | Mode | Watts |
| PSB1 BBCA | V max | C39 (618.0MHz) | 209m | DTG- | 80W |
 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 | V max | C42 (642.0MHz) | 209m | DTG- | 80W |
 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 TV 3, | |||||
| PSB3 BBCB | V max | C45 (666.0MHz) | 209m | DTG- | 80W |
 46 5SELECT, 57 U&Eden, 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, 203 CBBC HD, 204 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others | |||||
Are you trying to watch these 43 Freeview channels?
The Luton (Luton, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera English, Blaze, Blaze +1, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, DMAX, E4 Extra, Film4 +1, Food Network, FRANCE 24 (in English), GREAT! action, GREAT! movies, GREAT! player, GREAT! romance, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, YAAAS!, Legend, PBS America, POP UP, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky Mix, Sky News, Talking Pictures TV, That's Melody, That's TV 2, Together TV, TRUE CRIME, TRUE CRIME XTRA, U&Dave, U&Yesterday, U&Drama 1, U&W.
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 Luton transmitter?
BBC Look East (West) 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Cambridge CB4 0WZ, 56km northeast (43°)
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, 145km northeast (52°)
to ITV Anglia (West) region - 5 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Anglia (East)
How will the Luton (Luton, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 6 Jun 2018 | |||||
| C/D E | C/D E | C/D E | E T | B E K T | |||||
| C39 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C42 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C45 | _local | _local | |||||||
| C50tv_off | BBCA | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | |||||
| C59tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | |||||
| C62 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | ||||||
| C65 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | 80W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area
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Thursday, 13 January 2011
A
Anne5:54 PM
Luton
I live in LU2 7BD. We had no alternative but to subscribe to Virgin when we moved here as we can't get any analogue signal. Is this likely to change when we get switched?
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Anne's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 14 January 2011
Anne: From 13th April 2011 this transmitter will provide you with the Freeview Light service, assuming you have a rooftop aerial.
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Wednesday, 19 January 2011
A
aerials by chris hobbs9:26 AM
Checking you post code for digital reception in the Luton area is a hit and missa afair. Most of the population of Luton live on and around the surrounding hills and as long as you can 'hit' a main transmitter you will recieve digital reception,ie. Sandy or CP.If you are on CP you will not have to change your aerial unless it very old (before the intro' of ch5). If you are on Sandy you will need to upgrade to a new wide band aerial if you have not done so already.
These comments do not take into account poor cabling and in the case of multi dwelling,poor distribution.
You can amplify or, boost, a low but clean signal, but you can not boost a low and dirty signal. Doing so will only increase the poor signal quality.Likewise too much signal power will effectively shut down a digital tuner - the recieving threshold is very narrow.
Most aerials on the luton relay at Farley Hill are wideband and should not need replacing unless faulty. Also remember -there is no such thing as a digital aerial.
Aerials are configured to recieve certain frequencies and it's these frequencies that carry the analogue or digital signal
Hope this helps
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Sunday, 30 January 2011
T
Tanesha S10:36 PM
Hello
Im from Leagrave and only recieve about 10 channels and most of them are radio stations. Any idea how to get more?? And how do i upgrade to digital tv before march??
Please get back to me
Thanks
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Monday, 31 January 2011
Tanesha S: Spending money on a new aerial to get Freeview for two months extra is probably a waste of money, and you didn't supply an address so it may not even be possible.
You might find Freesat a good solution, however. All about Freesat | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
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Thursday, 3 February 2011
I
ian10:58 PM
Luton
I live in Leagrave . I can pick up BBC on Freeview very ell. ITV is awful. I cannot pick up BBC HD. Currently my wide ariel is installed in the loft and pointing towards Sandy.
Would I have to point my ariel towards CP to pick up BBC HD? Any other tips would be grately reieved.
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ian's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 4 February 2011
ian: Sandy Heath does not transmit Freeview HD until Wednesday 13th April 2011.
Loft aerials are not suitable for reliable Freeview reception, so you should move the aerial to the roof.
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Monday, 7 February 2011
B
Big Sim12:02 PM
Luton
My mother lives in LU1 3UN and can't get free channels 1-10 on her new HD tv. She has a loft aerial. She can't receive Ch5 as an analogue service. Any ideas why she can't receive these channels?
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Big's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Big Sim: Well, firstly loft aerial are unsuitable for Freeview reception anyway.
Also, which BBC and ITV regions does she have?
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Tuesday, 8 February 2011
B
Big Sim5:29 PM
London
She receives BBC East and Anglia.
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Big's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Big Sim: I think that is what you would expect with a loft aerial pointing at Sandy Heath.
A rooftop aerial will probably give good reception after switchover 13th April 2011, but I don't think you have much hope with a loft aerial.
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Thursday, 17 March 2011
D
Dee8:35 PM
Hi, I'm in Luton and have freeview in my car. I am being told were getting a transmitter in luton which will help with the quality is it true?
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Monday, 21 March 2011
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
S
Sleo1:55 PM
Dunstable
I don't seem to be able to pick up Anglia TV now the switchover has taken place, what do I need to do to get it???
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Sleo's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Mike Dimmick2:58 PM
Reading
Sleo: ITV1 remains on analogue at Luton until the 13th. Only BBC digital services have started up so far.
The predictor suggests it's more likely that you're using Sandy Heath than the Luton relay. In that case, see Single Frequency Interference, and see whether it improves after switchover completes next Wednesday.
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Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
S
Sleo5:04 PM
Dunstable
Thx for that Mike, I did see that about the 13th after I had posted and wondered if that was the problem, I will re-assess the situation after next Wednesday.
Thx again.
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Sleo's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
A
Arthur10:05 AM
Luton
About luton transmitter. Is it only 20 frieview channels available in Luton? What about other channels?
My postcode is LU3 1DS
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Arthur's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Arthur: This is a public service transmitter, only the channels listed above are provided.
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Thursday, 28 April 2011
C
Charlotte11:38 AM
Luton
Has anyone noticed that they're getting Meridian news and weather during ITV1's daybreak?
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Charlotte's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Mike Dimmick3:39 PM
Charlotte: That's expected on ITV1 +1, because ITV are only transmitting macro-regions on the delayed channel. The whole of Anglia and Meridian regions get Meridian South-East news. The whole of Wales, the West, and the South-West regions get Wales. The north-east gets Yorkshire West while the north-west gets Granada. London gets London and the whole of the Midlands gets Central West.
It's not clear why this is. It may be because they only had six slots available on satellite, and only bought enough delay equipment for these six slots. (There may be some monitoring necessary to cut out programmes that they don't have the rights to broadcast twice in quick succession.)
If it's happening on the main channel, it's possible there was some failure in the news studio and they had to revert to a backup programme supply.
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C
Charlotte8:03 PM
Luton
Mike: Thanks for that. I did notice it was on ITV+1 today so that is prob why. Thanks for clearing that up :)
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Charlotte's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
B
Barry T12:48 PM
Can someome please advise.
I have an old tv in one of my bedrooms, I have installed a setop box and a boster. But no joy with digital Channels.
However there is a loft areial in the house which is curently switched on, could this be causing interference?
I tried to scan for channel but sometimes get ITV, but only of I hold my indoor arieal in a certain position.
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Barry T: A rooftop aerial is required for reliable Freeview reception.
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Saturday, 7 May 2011
B
Barry T11:59 PM
Luton
Thanks,
What the best frequency to get all the channels
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Barry's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Barry T: You will need to point your aerial at the Sandy Heath transmitter to get all the services, and only on 21st September 2011 will they all be broadcast at full power.
You will also need a wideband aerial for that transmitter.
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Tuesday, 14 June 2011
N
Nav11:19 AM
hi ive bought a DVB-T Digital Antenna from
DVB-T Digital Antenna - Free Shipping - DealExtreme
and my tv wont receive digital channels, is there anyway to get it working if not what are the cheap solutions to get freeview channels onto my tv?
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M
Mike Dimmick3:10 PM
Nav: Usually, for best results, you should use whatever aerial you were using for analogue reception before switchover.
Generally you need a reasonable amount of gain and good directional properties from whatever aerial you're using, and the aerial oriented correctly for the strongest transmitter. A simple quarter-wave monopole such as you linked to is unlikely to give good results. Frankly I don't believe the 3.5 dBi claimed, a plain dipole offers 2.15 dBi and other aerials should be measured against that (shown as dBd rather than dBi).
For best results, the rooftop Yagi aerial is always king, but check with a local installer. If you provide a full postcode we can tell you whether an indoor aerial would have any chance of success.
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Wednesday, 3 August 2011
R
Roy Mitchell10:23 AM
Luton
Does anyone know if the Luton tranmitter is offering all channels? I have just had an aerial fitted and am receiving from Oxford!! I live in North east Luton in the shadow of Warden Hill. My aerail installer tells me that the Luton one is only giving out BBC.
Help!!
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Roy's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Roy Mitchell: The transmitter is providing the "Freeview Light" services, as listed at the top of the page.
Looking at your reception options, in the long-term you are only going to get the PSB multiplexes from either Oxford or Crystal Palace. In the mean time you will get full services from Sandy Heath, but you will loose these.
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R
Roy Mitchell12:32 PM
Luton
Thank you Braintist.
It looks as though its Oxford. Its a professional installer. Never mind. Hopefully Oxford will go HD at some time in the future. Will the Luton transmitter never offer the full monty?
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Roy's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Roy Mitchell: Oxford offers HD from Wednesday 28th September 2011. Luton will never have a full Freeview service.
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R
Roy Mitchell4:19 PM
Luton
Thanks again Briantist. We will stick with Oxford. Really appreciate your guidance.
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Roy's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Roy Mitchell: You might want to have a look at Freesat for a reliable service in the longer term. See Compare Freeview Light and Freesat TV | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
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J
jb389:33 PM
Roy Mitchell: I would like to strongly second what Briantist has recommended for long term reliability, that is looking along the lines of Freesat, as even although Oxford is not a "light" transmitter, it might as well be as far as your reception possibilities of it are concerned.
This because the trade predictor indicates that at present only one Mux (Ch48) is in the green,(good) three being classed as variable and two poor, the 14th of September showing a burst of two in the green. (Ch53 - Ch34)
However even after September, only the main three Mux channels are shown as receivable, with the fourth Mux A/SDN only showing as possible between April & June next year, as until then it being in the category of "poor".
Predictors (even trade ones) can have large margins of errors, and you may well be in a good spot for reception, but in situations such as yours indicates nothing can be guaranteed with Freeview in the same way as it can be 99.9% of the time with Freesat.
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Wednesday, 10 August 2011
R
Roy Mitchell3:50 PM
Luton
Thanks again for the advice. we actually had the local installer back to feed in another two TV points. he checked the signal again. Definitely Oxford. To be honest, its a very good signal. we live at LU2 7BG. I shall definitely look into freesat. Its a shame I threw all the sky equipment away when I changed to cable about a year ago! But, I`m delighted with the range of channels available on Freeview. More than enough! The cable boxes are going back.
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Roy's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb384:43 PM
Roy Mitchell: Thanks for the update on the situation regarding your signal source etc.
That's problem with reception in areas such as yours, insomuch that "some" people might get a reasonable signal at a particular spot whereas a very short distance away another person could be struggling for any.
The other potential problem about this type of reception is, that seasonal changes can in many cases cause quite large variations in the signal strength received, as the good reception one person might be having could well be because of a reflective signal, this being why when an aerial is being set up (or altered) that in some cases the best signal received is "not" always obtained in the exact direction of the transmitter, but can be 10/20 degrees (or more) to either side of the direct line.
Freeview can be very convenient as far as multi-room use etc is concerned, but it will never rival Freesat for sheer reliability.
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Wednesday, 17 August 2011
R
Roy1:26 PM
Dear JB38. You make very good points. When it rains the signal breaks up. I did look at Freesat, but the range of programmes is very poor. I have done a deal with Virgin. I have kept the broadband and phone with them. I can keep the Vbox at no charge. It gives me Freeview channels plus the catch up option. So I have the best of both worlds.
Thanks
Roy
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M
Mike Dimmick4:18 PM
Roy Mitchell: Adding to what jb38 has said about Oxford, the reason that Arqiva A and B are shown as poor is that they use the same channels as transmissions from the Luton transmitter.
It's not totally clear why SDN is also shown with no prediction from mid-2012. It's possible that the predictor includes a hidden retune to C50 - C62 is now to be released for 4G mobiles, but this change happened too late to integrate into the main switchover programme for the main transmitters at this stage. If so, this channel will also clash with Luton.
The predictor's antenna model has quite a wide acceptance angle and not a lot of front-back or cross-polar rejection. You may well find that a real aerial is better and doesn't pick up enough signal from Luton for it to be a problem. Still, it's rather like trying to listen to someone across a crowded room with someone else shouting in your ear.
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Thursday, 19 April 2012
B
Bob1:33 PM
Hi guys, I just had a quick couple of queries and wondered if anyone might know the answers. Firstly, I get my (limited) Freeview services using an 'amplified' indoor aerial, from my local (Luton) transmitter, which I believe is Freeview Light, and is about 1-2km from me. However, when looking at this page, Compare Freeview Light and Freesat TV | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice I saw 'ITV3 (CI)' mentioned and wondered if this was something which WAS on this Light transmitter, but has since been removed? Also, are the PSB1, 2 and 3 services, which I recieve the limit of what I would recieve from a 'Light' transmitter in future? Just thought I would ask, as I have a dish sitting idle, and think that getting a basic Freesat HD box may be a far more cost effective way of getting more channels, rather than getting an upgraded roof aerial, and feeds to all the Freeview televisions in the house. Any pointers/thoughts would be much welcomed.
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Bob: The range of channels available from the Luton relay transmitter is not likely to increase. The Commercial broadcasters don't transmit from Luton and nearly 1,100 similar small relays because, evidently, it isn't worth their while (from a cost/benefit point of view). They broadcast from 81 of the largest transmitters (largest by population) and achieve a 90% coverage of the population. Transmitting from all the small relays would roughly double their cost of transmission whilst only adding a further 8.5% of the population to their potential viewer base. They were asked if they wish to increase coverage and they declined. See Will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice for a fuller explanation.
The mention of "ITV3 (CI)" on the other page means that ITV3 is carried on transmitters on the Channel Islands and this is in lieu of ITV1+1 because there is no +1 feed of ITV1 Channel Television region.
In some cases where one is on a "lite" transmitter, it is possible to receive from another station that carries the Commercial ones. Obviously this will mean a change of roof-top aerial where it faces the local "lite" relay.
If your roof-top aerial points to Luton, then you aren't going to pick up the Commercial channels. Alternatively, if it faces another transmitter, it may perhaps offer the Commercial services.
Or you may be in an area where you can get sufficient signal on the Commercial channels using a set-top aerial. The thing with aerials, and particularly so with set-top ones is positioning. That's why knowing what might be receivable is worth checking on before you set out trying to tune in.
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Bob: Freesat will work with a dish installed previously for a Sky service.
If you wish get a satellite recorder, you will probably need two leads from the dish and dual LNB (the bit on the dish that the cable connects to). This is because in order to watch one channel and record another, there needs to be a single cable for each channel being received.
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B
Bob3:00 PM
Thanks for your posts Dave. You've covered my queries perfectly, and even included some very important points that I hadn't thought of, such as the sort of LNB setup I might need if I were to go down the route of a Freesat recorder rather than a regular Freesat box. Much appreciated.
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Saturday, 25 April 2020
C
Chris.SE2:22 PM
Mr Brian Brackley:
If you mean the Sony Movies Classic channel, Sony changed multiplexes for a lot of it's channels last year and this is one of the ones only transmitted on Local Multiplexes (the one where you have a Local station at LCN7 in your EPG), see Channel listings | Freeview
The Luton transmitter is a "Light" transmitter and only transmits the 3 PSB multiplexes, none of the COM or Local multiplexes if that is the transmitter you receive rather than your "location".
Also note there is an error in the table at the top of the page, UHF45 is the PSB3/BBCB HD mux, not a local one.
If it's not the transmitter you receive, we'd need a full postcode to look at the predicted reception at your location.
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Monday, 1 February 2021
B
Brian Brackley2:35 PM
Transmitter engineering: not receiving channel708 on sony recorder. receive ok on tv. why is this?
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C
Chris.SE7:50 PM
Brian Brackley:
Channel 708 is BBC Radio 4 Extra. Does your Sony recorder get the other BBC Radio stations?
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