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.
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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?
![regional news image](/styles/images/regionalnews/302x152/bbc-look-east-west.jpg)
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
![regional news image](/styles/images/regionalnews/302x152/itv-anglia.jpg)
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 |
Local transmitter maps
Sandy Heath Freeview Sandy Heath DAB Sandy Heath TV region BBC Cambridge Anglia (West micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area
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Sunday, 27 May 2012
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Colin12:16 PM
Used to get ITV3 good quality on chanel 10 (tv)
Did auto retune and no longer get itv3 or very bad signal that keeps breaking up.
Did manual retune and found Itv3 was only available on block (not sure of correct word) 29.
Again picture was very poor and kept breaking up.
Any suggestions on what needs to be done?
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Colin: UHF channel 29 (equivalent to frequency) means that you're receiving the signal from the Waltham-on-the-Wolds transmitter, near Melton Mowbray.
For Sandy Heath, you may need a wideband aerial. This would replace the "traditional" aerial type (Group A) used in the days of four-channel analogue.
If you are receiving Pick TV on C52 and Yesterday on C48, then this suggests that your aerial is fine. (You found that ITV3 is on C29, so carry out the same procedure to find out what channels Pick TV and Yesterday are coming in on.)
The objective, therefore, is to get ITV3 tuned to C51, which is that used by Sandy Heath.
If your receiver has manual tuning, then this may be the way around the problem.
You may be able to run the automatic tuning scan with the aerial unplugged so as to "blank" the memory, so that no channels are stored. Then manually add the five (or six) groups of programme channels (known as multiplexes).
For Sandy Heath they are 27, 24, 21(HD), 51, 52, 48. These correspond to BBC One, ITV1, BBC One HD, ITV3, Pick TV and Yesterday, respectively.
As a matter of good practice, I suggest that, having tuned, you check that these are all correct so that you know that it is tuned fully to Sandy Heath.
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Lisa1:27 PM
Thanks very much jb38 for explaining things in simplistic terms for me - I have to admit I'm not that technically minded and am totally baffled by a lot of the jargon on these pages as it is. ;-)
Well, I was right to assume that the 5 channels that I got back last night would have disappeared again today - they have done and I either get a message on screen saying "weak or no signal" or "service not available". I have also lost Yesterday (12) as well, although I now understand that they are not 'lost' as such, just that the signal to my TV is not strong enough to pick them up at the moment - as you said, I guess I was just very lucky last night.
In all honesty, I have absolutely no idea what kind of aerial I have on my roof or whether it is a wideband one, but as your diagnosis suggests that a booster/amplifier may help with signal strength, I will probably see if I can get one reasonably cheaply and give it a go. Watch this space, I will keep you posted/updated as to any progress I may make when I get a booster.
Thank you so much once again for all your time, kind help, input and suggestions - it is much appreciated.
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Stephen P1:45 PM
+ http://www.argos.co.uk/st….htm
Lisa - any of these.
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jb382:21 PM
Lisa: Well, its really the case that most people do not realise that when they select a channel and it doesn't appear that in 99.9% of the time its not because their TV or box has lost it, but only because that the signal has dipped under the reception threshold of their particular device, this level varying from TV to TV and box to box, but with me having unfortunately to say that Samsung tuners are not particularly sparkling in this respect.
As far as the booster is concerned, have a look in the Argos book page 650 and item 7 @ £11.99, as that should be ideal for your set up by it being a variable type offering a range of 0-20db, the higher end being somewhat excessive but at least it can be set to give best performance without being over the top on the main BBC & ITV channels, as if its adjusted too high you might see these two channels start to break up in the same way as they would on a weak signal, this being another misleading symptom when dealing with digital reception.
The only other alternative you have to this is upgrading your aerial, although I hardly think that the cost would be justified considering that you are receiving programmes on an adjacent channel perfectly OK, this as aforementioned an indication that the missing channels are just under the level and no more.
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Rob P7:11 PM
Bury St. Edmunds
Hi, anyone out there that can help. Woke up Saturday morning to watch channel 4 racing and nothing. Tried other channels and found no ITV1, ITV2 no channel 5. Have done all manual/auto re-tunes, checked frequency levels and noticed that channel 24 is completely off the radar. Have a wideband aerial as I live in the Mildenhall area. Have a HD/freeview ready Sony Bravia and this is the first time after multiple re-tunes that I cannot receive aforementioned channels. Have spoken to other people in the area experiencing similar problems and the local satellite/aerial provider commented that they had received a large number of calls from locals of reception problems.
Any suggestions?
Rob (any ideas will be greatly appreciated)
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Rob's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Lisa10:23 PM
Many thanks jb38 and Stephen P - I'd already bought the black SLX1P Booster (up to 20dB range which I think is the one you suggested jb38) after my last posting this afternoon and managed to get a new one off eBay for just £5.00, so got a good deal there. :-)
Hopefully it will arrive by mid-week and I can try it out - will let you know how I get on.
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jb3811:26 PM
Lisa: Yes, please do, and I would suggest that you initially set it at about 20% above zero whilst on one of the muxes that although seen in the EPG programme guide is not showing a picture, then if necessary "slowly" advance it in stages with pauses between, until the picture comes on.
This of course said on the basis of you NOT having carried out any further re-tunes since these channels dropped out again.
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Monday, 28 May 2012
S
Stephen P12:19 AM
RobP - The gaudy stuff at top of page confirms C24 as the "mux" giving you trouble, and if as you say others having the same best guess is that it is interference due to all the hot weather.
Suggest you talk to a local ae man.
If you are using an ampifier, try without it.
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Rob P7:04 AM
Bury St. Edmunds
Stephen.P,
Many thanks for your troubleshooting. Will talk to local sat centre today.
Cheers Rob.P
link to this comment |
Rob's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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