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.
Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) mast?
Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath 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
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, 15 September 2011
M
Mike Dimmick7:19 PM
Alan Peachey: If you're in the south-east of the Sandy Heath region, or you could get analogue reasonably reliably from Crystal Palace as well, it's probably a channel clash with the early HD service from CP, which is also on C31.
I'm surprised that they were that short of channels that they end up engineering a clash at this point in the process!
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M
Mike Dimmick7:27 PM
chrism42: No, it probably doesn't apply in Cambridge, I think it just applies to the south face. The power might still be restricted too, though, not just the position.
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Friday, 16 September 2011
A
ALAN PEACHEY12:06 PM
Hi. Thanks Mike. That must be it then, because I can pick up London on the same aerial. Also as matter of intrest I can also pick up BBC and ITV1 from the Sudbury Transmitter (ch 41 and 44) but only them 2 for some strange reason. In case you are wondering I live in a flat with a shared aerial.
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D
Derek6:28 PM
Can anyone help. Since 14 Sept I have lost sky news and other channels which all seem to be on mux C. Prior to this at last re-tune date, I lost film 4 plus other channels, these have now returned. My postcode is cb24, sandy heath transmitter. I have checked cables, have a new wide band ariel and have disconnected any boosters etc.. but still only get 84 out of 103 channels. Changed the rf output on sky as suggested but still nothing. Disconnected sky box completely and sky news returned briefly but picture quality was vey poor. Any help would be appreciated.
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B
Bob7:26 PM
Leighton Buzzard
Derek: I have lost Mux C and Com 6. I did a reinstall as instructed. The channels were there but no signal. Today I did another install and now the channels aren't there at all. Preserve us from another power increase! I think that someone has done something at the transmitter that we aren't being told about.....
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Bob's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
L
Louise10:13 PM
Ely
Since the 14th September retune we've gained some channels but lost quite a few as well!!! No more Sky News, Pick TV or Dave, etc?? We're on the Sandy Heath transmitter and it seems we're not the only ones though, wonder what's going on? Tried rescanning, unplugging and everything else you're supposed to do but to no avail. Oh well!!
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Louise's: mapL's Freeview map terrainL's terrain plot wavesL's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
KMJ,Derby11:27 PM
Derek and Louise: Mux ArqB (Film4 etc) was using C67 when you were unable to receive it. Mux ArqB has now changed frequency to C48, and MuxC (Sky News, Dave etc) is now using C67, which explains why you have gained Film4 but lost Sky News. The Digital UK postcode checker predicts good reception of C67 at both locations, so the current non-reception of MuxC is likely to be due to single frequency interference affecting C67, or the aerial does not perform very well at this frequency.It could also be that the aerial is positioned in a null for that frequency and moving it slightly to either side or raising/lowering it would give reception of the missing mux. The situation is due to change again on 23rd November 2011 when MuxC/ArqA changes frequency to C52, adopts 64QAM and 8k mode working and increases power.
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J
John11:29 PM
FAO Briantist
I am in Cambridge, with loft aerial
Every time I re-tune I lose all on MIX 67
e.g. now its "Dave " etc
will this be permanent even after 23/11?
Is it due to the 842mhz or the aerial being indoor ?
Thanks
John
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K
KMJ,Derby11:43 PM
Bob: After clearing the channel list try doing a manual tune on C67 and C48 and see if the channels are then found. It is possible that when doing an auto scan weak signals from Crystal Palace are found first and (unwatchable) channels stored. MuxC from Sandy Heath might then be overlooked as a duplicate, and Mux ArqB being in 8k mode would be seen as a new set of channels and placed in the 800s of the channel list due to the "normal" positions being already occupied.
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Saturday, 17 September 2011
C
chris10:05 AM
yet again you have changed the set up of sandy heath, and noe transmittin mux a c and arqB on very low power.
it doesnt matter what my post code is, until you increase the output most of the channels will be mucked up.
so either you have the choice now increase power to bring things back to a reasonable service or change back to analogue. people will be mighty cheesed off paying a tv subscription for services they cant get.
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