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Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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 Digital tick


Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C43 (650.0MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) West Midlands, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 19 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C46 (674.0MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (West micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) Midlands ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 Midlands ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Central west), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C40+ (626.2MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD West Midlands, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Central West), 104 Channel 4 HD Midlands 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 max
C42 (642.0MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
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 max
C45 (666.0MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
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 max
C39+ (618.2MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
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

LB
 H -13dB
C48 (690.0MHz)433mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
from 31st October 2014: 7 Big Centre TV,

DTG-8 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?

regional news image
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 15km south-southwest (200°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
regional news image
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)Transposer1 km W Burton-on-Trent60 homes
CoalvilleTransposer18 km NW Leicester600 homes
SolihullTransposerLand Rover building400 homes

How will the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-137 Mar 2018
VHFB E TB E TB E TB E K TW T
C4BBCtvwaves
C33com7
C35com8
C36LOCAL2
C39+ArqBArqB
C40BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves+BBCBBBCB
C42SDNSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCABBCA
C45ArqAArqA
C46BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C48_local
C50tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4waves
C51tv_offLB
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 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

Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision†
Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Associated TeleVision
Jan 1982-Feb 2004Central Independent 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. Sutton Coldfield 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
Thursday, 8 September 2011
S
samantha
1:46 PM
Redditch

Following yesterday's re-tune I am now missing BBC 1 ,2 and 3 anyone else in the Alcester area having difficulties?

link to this comment
samantha's 1 post GB flag
samantha's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

2:05 PM

Gemma Haran: If you are missing those channels:

First, try this - 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

Second, you may have too much signal. If you have a booster or amplifier, remove it from your system, if you don't you might have to fit an attenuator, which cost about five pounds.

Third, there is an outside chance that you have a box that does not support the 8k mode. If you do you will need a new box.

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
G
gbhall
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

2:17 PM

Ref Briantist
on this page, where you list the frequency changes from 1950, you omit to fully describe the period from 5th to 21st September 2011, where there were channel changes on the 5th - the principle one for Sutton Coldfield is BBCA to C43 apparemtly - virtually impossible to find out, but I did find it in Wikipaedia of all places once, and cannot find it again !

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gbhall's 25 posts GB flag
P
Paul Kelly
2:19 PM

Thanks again Mike & Briantist for the clarification, I shall thumb twiddle 'til the 21st, then hopefully Arqb shall return & HD shall(finally) be mine.

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Paul Kelly's 3 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

2:29 PM

gbhall: There is ONE change for digital and it's listed above next to yesterday's date: "BBCA starts on C43".

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
B
Bec
3:20 PM

Regarding the Hints transmitter, everyone (I assume) in Tamworth has their aerials pointing at Hints, Sutton Coalfield is in the opposite direction, and I've never seen an aerial pointing that way.

When I put my postcode into the Freeview checker it says Sutton Coalfield, just as the man on the end of the phone said, but that's plain wrong ... Maybe Hints is just a relay transmitter, and if so, does that need upgrading?

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Bec's 2 posts GB flag
D
Dennis
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

3:35 PM

Bec,if you live in Tamworth your aerial should point towards the Sutton Coldfield mast,this has always been the case.
If you get Freeview now the signal comes from Sutton,NOT Hints/Lichfield,the only TV transmissions from Lichfield now are low power HD and the old analogue channel 5.

On the 21st of this month,there will be no TV at from the Lichfield mast,trust me that is true,Lichfield is not a relay,or a local mast for Tamworth. The Sutton Coldfield mast covers some thirty miles,or so from that site.

Once again if your aerial is pointing at the Hints mast,its looking the wrong way.
If you get Freeview ok, its because it just happens to pick up Sutton,because the capture angle of you aerial allows this.

link to this comment
Dennis's 27 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

3:39 PM

Bec: That transmitter will be no longer in TV service in 13 days, no it not a relay, never was, only carried channel 5 on analogue, before that it was the ITV VHF transmitter.

As it never provided 1, 2, 3 and 4, it is impossible for you to have used it for those channels.

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
D
Dennis
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

3:45 PM

Bec,just thinking about this,I am in Tamworth,my aerial pointing at Sutton,butI would only have to turn it by about fifteen degrees to point at Hints/Lichfield. So I feel you think it's looking at Hints,when,in fact,its locked on Sutton.
This is certainly the case if every TV aerial around you is pointing the same way as yours,they are not all going to be wrong.

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Dennis's 27 posts GB flag
E
ezrapound
4:03 PM

GBHALL I recon 2 Analogue and 2 digital changes happened on the 7th :-

BBC2 Analogue on channel 40 Turned off permanently
ITV-1 Analogue on Channel 43 moves to Channel 40
MUX-1 Digital on Channel 41 moves to Channel 43
MUX-A Digital on Channel 47 Moves to Channel 41

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ezrapound's 10 posts GB flag
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