Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 52.600,-1.835 or 52°36'1"N 1°50'5"W |  | B75 5JJ |
The symbol shows the location of the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter which serves 1,870,000 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 Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) mast?
Sutton Coldfield transmitter - Sutton Coldfield transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 04/11/2024 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
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Sutton Coldfield 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
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter?
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 15km south-southwest (200°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
ITV Central News 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 15km south-southwest (201°)
to ITV Central (West) region - 65 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (East)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Burton (shobnall) | Transposer | 1 km W Burton-on-Trent | 60 homes |
| Coalville | Transposer | 18 km NW Leicester | 600 homes |
| Solihull | Transposer | Land Rover building | 400 homes |
How will the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 7 Mar 2018 | ||||
| VHF | B E T | B E T | B E T | B E K T | W T | ||||
| C4 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C33 | com7 | ||||||||
| C35 | com8 | ||||||||
| C36 | LOCAL2 | ||||||||
| C39 | +ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C40 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C42 | SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C43 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C45 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C46 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C48 | _local | ||||||||
| C50tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ||||||
| C51tv_off | LB | ||||||||
| 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 7 Sep 11 and 21 Sep 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 1000kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 200kW | |
| com7 | (-10.5dB) 89.2kW | |
| com8 | (-10.7dB) 86kW | |
| LB | (-20dB) 10kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-21dB) 8kW |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sutton Coldfield transmitter area
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Wednesday, 31 August 2011
P
Phil2:48 PM
Pershore
Why is it that a friend whose postcode at Romsley Halesowen is B62 0PL can receive 85 non blocky Freeview channels prior to switch over using a bog standard mini aerial, and yet I who have a top of the range ultra high gain 52 element aerial can only receive 42 channels at postcode WR10 2BP? And of those 42 channels, BBC 4 is the only one that does not go blocky?
At the moment my digital signal strength is showing around about 37%, will that increase after switch over on 7 Sep? I am locked onto the Sutton transmitter. (B62 0PL)
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Phil's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Mike Dimmick2:59 PM
Phil: You're twice the distance from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter and there's terrain blocking line-of-sight, so the signal will be reduced for that reason. Your friend could also be using the transmitter on The Wrekin, which has already switched over, though Sutton Coldfield is more likely.
Reception is expected to be substantially better on BBC channels after the 7th of September, and on all channels after the second stage on the 21st. You will need to do a complete wipe and retune (first time installation, full reset, full retune, default setting: different manufacturers call it different things) on *both* days.
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Mike Dimmick3:01 PM
Pete B: I'm sorry, it doesn't look like there are any East Midlands transmitters providing a service at that postcode.
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Mike O'Pray4:14 PM
Daventry
I get digital from Sandy Heath at the moment but the transmitter strength map shows that I would be slightly better off using Sutton Coldfield.
Assuming that "slightly better off" will be worthwhile, there may be two problems in changing:
1. I have two aerials, one of which points to somewhere in the East Mids( I assume Waltham but I am too far away according to the map although E Mids news comes in strongly) and the other to Sandy Heath.
In analogue days the aerial fitter pointed the aerial N.E. based on a line of high trees quite close to the property interfering with the signal from the S Coldfield area(W Mids).
If I had the aerial moved to point to S Coldfield would the same problem apply to digital?
2. If I want to hear local news for N'pton and Daventry area I need Look East but I take it that as I currently get good digi reception on BBC East then I could simply find the BBC Look East channel when needed?
Essentially my problem was Film 4 and ITV4 reception and todays re-tune based on Sandy Heath has made no difference but there is another re-tune on 14 Sept and then on 23 Nov.
Will these two further re-tunes improve both channels?
Thanks
Mike O'Pray
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Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Mike Dimmick5:41 PM
Mike O'Pray: I'd stick with Sandy Heath. Digital UK's prediction - which is far more accurate than the maps here - shows a good chance of reliable reception on all multiplexes from Sandy Heath except, currently, Mux C on C40, because it clashes with Sutton Coldfield BBC Two. Sutton Coldfield shows as variable on all multiplexes at present, and still variable on all the COM muxes after switchover.
On the 14th, ArqB, which carries ITV4 and Film 4, moves to its final channel and powers up. Mux C moves to C67 to replace it. (This is so Sutton Coldfield can launch a high-power digital multiplex on this channel a week later.) The coverage may be slightly better than ArqB at present, because Mux C is currently shown as staying in its present mode; it should be similar to what Multiplex B (BBC Four/CBeebies and BBC radio stations) delivered before 30 March. This may be an error, though, as Arqiva are keen to get the capacity increased ASAP so they can launch new services.
On 23 November Mux C will move to its final channel and power level, and it will definitely be in the higher-capacity mode. (We usually refer to it as ArqA after this change.).
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mike fisher7:47 PM
Droitwich
can you not get a signal from Ridge Hill ?
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mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
I have lost Sky Sports and ESPN. BT Vision has been telling us our switchover was today (31st August) on their equipment so I returned and have lost about 20 channels, including Sky Sports and ESPN.
According to BT Vision helpline (and the internet) I am on Sutton Coldfield transmitter. My aerial certainly seems to be pointing towards Birmingham rather than Nottingham. We had Sky Sports this morning now after the retune it has just disappeared.
Obviously I wouldn;t have returned if the BT box hadn't been telling me to for the last 3 weeks. Also Channel 5 did not record earlier and I assumed that was the reason why.
I seem to have lost about 19 channels and most of the radio channels.
How can I get them back?
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Chris's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
In addition it is East Midlands News that comes up not West Midlands.
Is there any way of finding out which transmitter the signal actually comes from? You used to be able to do it on Teletext.
Thanks
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Chris's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Chris O: Have you tried My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound or the channel line up is wrong | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice ?
You are probably able now to receive the additional Freeview "East Midlands" service to supplement your reception from Sutton Coldfield.
Both the Derby and Sutton Coldfield transmitters are in the same direction so you should be able to pick them up, so clearing your channel list completetly and rescanning should provide you with all the channels.
At switchover, ESPN stays on Multiplex A/SDN, but Sky Sports 1 and 2 move from Multiplex B to the ArqB multiplex, but not yet.
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