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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 25/03/2024 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),

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 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C45 (666.0MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C39+ (618.2MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 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
Friday, 11 November 2011
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:49 AM

Freddie: Plus to what you will read on Briantist's link, you should be aware that the indications seen on most TV's when receiving a signal on the verges of being over powerful are liable to be totally inaccurate, as they are only a reference guide for that particular set and not by any means what you would obtain from a test instrument.

The aspect that misleads most people being, that the symptoms experienced in areas with exceptionally high signal strengths are "exactly" the same as when in the reverse of the situation, and the only way for any person to prove categorically if this is their problem (or not!) is to purchase (or borrow) a variable attenuator, as if this is inserted in line with the aerial socket of the TV and the signal strength observed with it set to its zero reduction position, then if when slowly advancing the adjuster the signal strength is actually seen rising rather than falling then that's the proof of an "over the top" signal being received, and something which causes instability in most equipments tuners hence the type of problems you mention.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:01 AM

Freddie: I would also advise against writing to your MP to complain, as they are unable to do anything about the laws of physics, in this case the inverse power law - Power law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia .

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
B
Brian Springthorpe
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:57 AM

Briantitst,

Given that the signal in Wolverhampton is too strong, I have got a couple of adjustable attenuators that I thought I might need for North Wales where I live, (but didn't!). These are adjustable between 0 to 20dB or so it says on the device.

I also have a simple signal finder. I am assuming that the aerial is pointing the right direction, as I don't really want to climb on the roof at my age, so when I hook up my finder what optimal signal strength should I be looking for?

By the way, when I abandoned using the TV and decided to use my computer to pick up the TV I had no problems whatsoever!

link to this comment
Brian Springthorpe's 76 posts GB flag
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

9:13 AM

Brian Springthorpe: What units is your "simple signal finder" calibrated in? From memory the minimum signal level is -80dBm.

As a general rule, the external USB DVB-T receivers usually perform very well. This could be due to being distant from the electrical noise of the inside of a television set or set top box.

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Saturday, 12 November 2011
B
Brian Springthorpe
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:06 AM

Briantist,

It's just a simple cheap SLX DB-T Signal Meter.

It has 4 green lights marked as 80, 70, 60, and 50 dBv.

So if the signal is more than 80 I am going to be unsure I think.

link to this comment
Brian Springthorpe's 76 posts GB flag
Monday, 14 November 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:29 AM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:29 AM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

8:18 AM

Brian Springthorpe: At least it is working now.

link to this comment
Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
J
John O'Connor
11:58 PM

So - here we go again... I can only presume the intermittent problems we have been having here (WR14 in Malvern) with Freeview is due to the engineering work; but it would be really useful to have advanced warning. Is this ever likely to be the case? That way I could have used my time this evening more productively. I can't believe there isn't some way of using a teeny bit of the bandwidth to alert users to the potential of singal breakup or loss.
Does anybody have any experience of a successful communication with Arqiva on the issues of transmitter work forecasts and updates? It looks from their websites as if they don't want to be bothered by the public, and I get the impression so far that the attitude is 'it's free - so what have you got to complain about?'
Don't ask.
John

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John O'Connor's 5 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
K
Ken
9:15 AM
Alcester

My TV in the bedroom has a cheapo argos set top box and an old CRT telly. That works better in wet weather than the dgital lcd telly in the living room. But the lead from the wall to the set top box is 10m long cos I am too mean to buy a shorter one! It has moulded plugs either end. Anyone have any idea how muct attenution is proviced by such a lead? I am thinking of swapping the 10m lead to the downstairs telly to see if it improves things. But I do live in a difficult area (B49)

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Ken's 9 posts GB flag
Ken's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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