Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.424,-0.076 or 51°25'26"N 0°4'32"W |  | SE19 1UE |
The symbol shows the location of the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter which serves 4,490,000 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 Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) mast?
CRYSTAL PALACE transmitter - AM: Radio 4 on MW has now closed. Please retune to FM, Digital Radio, digital TV, BBC Sounds or smart speakers to continue listening. More information can be found on the front page of this Reception Advice website. from 15 Apr 00:00. . 
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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 Crystal Palace 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 Crystal Palace transmitter?
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 12km north-northwest (335°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 11km north-northwest (345°)
to ITV London region - 55 masts.
Are there any self-help relays?
| Charlton Athletic | Transposer | Redeveloped north stand Charlton Athletic Football Club | 130 homes |
| Deptford | Transposer | south-east London | 100 homes |
| Greenford | Transposer | 12 km N Heathrow Airport | 203 homes |
| Hendon | Transposer | Graham Park estate | 50 homes |
| White City | Transposer | 9 km W central London | 80 homes |
How will the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 21 Mar 2018 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | W T | ||||
| C1 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C22 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C23 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C25 | SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C26 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C28 | -ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C29 | LW | ||||||||
| C30 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | -BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C33 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | com7 | |||||
| C35 | com8 | ||||||||
| 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 4 Apr 12 and 18 Apr 12.
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 | (-13.7dB) 43.1kW | |
| com8 | (-14dB) 39.8kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*, LW | (-17dB) 20kW |
Local transmitter maps
Crystal Palace Freeview Crystal Palace DAB Crystal Palace AM/FM Crystal Palace TV region BBC London LondonWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Crystal Palace transmitter area
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Saturday, 7 January 2012
J
jb3810:57 AM
AD: As you have posted your query under Crystal Palaces heading if indeed you are in that area then reception from CP can be very variable for many, even when not terribly far away from the station.
Indoor (same room) aerials are not really recommended for Freeview reception because of the signal being so vulnerable to signal fluctuations due to movement within the room, or even through a wall, but the fact that you receive anything at all suggests that you are not located in too bad an area and which only a post code could verify, but come next April 18th when the transmitters involved increase their power from 20Kw to 200Kw you will most likely find that this will rectify your present problems, albeit that what I said about same room aerials still applies.
Once you have a full compliment of channels do not be tempted to immediately re-scan if they drop out at any point, as all you do is scrub them from the memory which requires frequent scans to recover them, as they weren't lost in the first place but just under the reception threshold for your TV or box and will return when the signal strength rises.
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S
Sue1:28 PM
I don't know whether I'm tuned to Crystal Palace or Reigate transmitters. The Digital Switchover site says that with my postcode it's likely to be Reigate but that I could get a better signal from Crystal Palace.
How can you tell which you are turned to without getting someone in to go on the roof and check the aerial position? I have a digital aerial, by the way.
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Sue: The difference between Crystal Palace and Reigate signals (apart from, perhaps, the direction that they come from) is that the former are horizontally polarised and the latter are vertically polarised.
If your aerial is horizontal, then you are on Crystal Palace and if it is vertical then it is Reigate.
See here for a photograph of aerials in each polarisation:
Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial
There is no such thing as a "digital aerial", but in some cases a different aerial may be necessary, but that is due to different signal strengths or different frequencies being used than are/were used for analogue.
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Sue: Which transmitter will provide the best signal depends on the location. A post code is an extremely large area and results can vary greatly. Furthermore, the predictor does not take into account obstructions such as buildings and trees that will affect reception. It should be used as a guide only.
If you are having issues with reception; for example some channels break-up or disappear at times, then it must be borne in mind that in three months time the transmission power of Crystal Palace and Reigate will be increased (at switchover) and as such is likely to irradicate any issues with the signal going into your receiver being too low (or touch and go).
This means that any changes you make will probably only be needed for the next three months.
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A
AD5:29 PM
Banstead
Hi jb38 or anyone else really.
Well its actually funny that NOW i've got good reception on all channels...aaah i'm sure it'll all go wrong when I go to bed and my curtains interfere with the position of my aerial and then i'll be starting all over again...no such luck with me I guess.
Oh by the way i should have pointed out i live in the Banstead region (SM7 postcode) I'm told Crystal Palace is my nearest transmitter, but surely Croydon and Reigate are more closer :s hmm
ok so you're telling me not to retune my tv at all? What about during switchover? I thought we all had to do so on the switchover dates?
Also I have an HDTV - why am i not getting the HD channels :s i have all the other freeview channels though - I think.
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AD's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
AD: TV signals get bounced around, reflected and refracted when they hit and pass through objects, just like light. It could be that something has moved that was blocking the signal or perhaps that it is that something else has moved and is now reflecting signal. Really, it's difficult to say because you can't see it.
Crystal Palace is a main transmitter and therefore throws out a higher power signal than Reigate and Croydon. These are relay transmitters and are intended as filler-inners. They broadcast to smaller areas that Crystal Palace doesn't reach, perhaps because those areas can't "see" it due to the topography.
Retuning is necessary at switchover. The reason for jb38 saying that you shouldn't retune if you loose the signal is because it is not the tuning which is at fault. It is the fact that your receiver isn't getting the signal fed into it from the aerial.
HD channels are broadcast by Crystal Palace. It was one of only four transmitters in the country to carry HD before switchover. It is also the case that the HD signal from Crystal Palace is on lower power than the current standard definition services. Also, the frequency it uses is the same as is used by Reigate which means that the strength of its HD signal will be restricted in that direction, so as to try to prevent interference with people receiving from Reigate. As you are in the line between Crystal Palace and Reigate, my guess is that Crystal Palace isn't throwing out as much HD signal in your direction. Also, couple that with the fact that your aerial isn't at roof level and therefore doesn't have direct line of sight.
You could try to pick up HD services. To do so you will need to manually tune to Ch31.
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J
jb388:15 PM
AD: As Dave Linsay has explained everything it enables me to somewhat shorten my reply, insomuch that all I would like to add is that on checking DRG's trade view reception predictor using the info provided still indicates Crystal Palace as your main source of a signal, as although its located at 10 miles away with Reigate only being 5, Crystal Palace is on 20Kw compared to Reigate's 200w.
As far as HD is concerned, many have problems picking up HD from Crystal Palace as it temporarily transmits on even lower power than BBC1, namely 10Kw, plus it prone to occasional interference from Sandy's SDN mux as its on the same frequency.
Maybe though you could mention the model number of the TV you are using, this to enable its spec to be checked.
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Sunday, 8 January 2012
R
Rose11:11 AM
Sevenoaks
For the last few days I have lost all ITV channels on my Freeview (TV and DVD player both have receivers and both have lost them). Analogue is still fine, and also BBC channels. I have a roof aerial. I have tried retuning my DVD but to no good effect. Any ideas?
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Rose's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
N
Neil8:09 PM
Hello - we're in the Chelmsford CM1 area with an aerial pointing to Crystal Palace that is suitable for picking up freeview. All has been well until New Year when the signal from Channel 22 is no longer of sufficient quality for our freeview tuners to display correctly.
Nothing else has changed in our setup and I can confirm we could pick up a good enough signal to watch/record Channel 4 on 30/12/2011 - a few days later and digital signal on Channel 22 is not of sufficient quality to even display. Analogue signal is watchable but very poor.
Is this likely to remain our position until mid-April 2012 when digital signals are given more power?
After reading all other posts and advice on your site nothing seems to make sense to me aside from a change external to us i.e. weather issues or changes at Crystal Palace affecting channel 22.
We'd appreciate anyones help in advice to allow us the possibility of watching stations on channel 22.
Thank you for reading and any time spent/advice offered.
Neil
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A
Avril8:59 PM
Horsham
I live in a ground floor flat - the aerial is on the roof and has been upgraded in the last 6 months.
Can you tell me if the aerial was redirected to Midhurst would we get a better picture.
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Avril's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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