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Full Freeview on the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter

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The symbol shows the location of the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter which serves 770,000 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 Waltham (Leicestershire, England) mast?

Waltham transmitter - Waltham 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 Waltham 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
C32 (562.0MHz)442mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) East Midlands, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 17 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C34 (578.0MHz)442mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (East 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
C35 (586.0MHz)442mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD East 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 -3dB
C29 (538.0MHz)442mDTG-825,000W
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 -3dB
C37 (602.0MHz)449mDTG-825,000W
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 -3dB
C31 (554.0MHz)449mDTG-825,000W
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

LNG
 H -10dB
C41 (634.0MHz)442mDTG-125,000W
Channel icons
from 27th May 2014: 7 Notts 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 Waltham transmitter?

regional news image
BBC East Midlands Today 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Nottingham NG2 4UU, 28km northwest (306°)
to BBC East Midlands region - 17 masts.
regional news image
ITV Central News 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 83km west-southwest (244°)
to ITV Central (East) region - 17 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (West)

Are there any self-help relays?

BraunstoneTransposer5 km SW Leicester city centre170 homes

How will the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20112011-132013-182013-174 Mar 2020
C/D EEEWW TW TW T
C26LNGLNG
C29SDNSDNSDNSDN
C31com7com7
C32BBCA
C34D3+4
C35C5wavesC5wavesBBCB
C37com8com8
C41_local
C49tv_off BBCABBCA
C54tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offArqAArqAArqACOM8tv_off
C57tv_offArqBArqBArqB
C58tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCBBBCB
C61ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCA
C64BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 17 Aug 11 and 31 Aug 11.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

Analogue 1-5 250kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 50kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-10dB) 25kW
com8(-12.7dB) 13.4kW
com7(-13.9dB) 10.2kW
Mux 1*(-14dB) 10kW
Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*(-14.9dB) 8kW
Mux C*, Mux D*, LNG(-17dB) 5kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Waltham 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. Waltham 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
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:29 AM

WALTHAM transmitter - tham Transmitter works 30 and 31 May 2012: Engineering transmitter work will take place between 00:01hrs and 06:00hrs. TV services that will be disrupted: Analogue services - n/a Digital services - PSB2 will be subject to periods of shutdown. [DUK] Over the next week Waltham main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:01 AM

phil selvidge: Although being aware that the West side of Leicester does have areas where Waltham's reception can be difficult hence the reason for the Leicester relay (@ 2 miles / 81 degrees) away from you, but on having a study at the signal path between your location and Waltham (@ 21 miles / 52 degrees) I noticed quite a few patches of trees along the way including the somewhat closer by Braunstone Park, trees being a real problem for RF signals as even one tree smack right in front of an aerial can cause erratic reception, this even excluding the slight dip you refer to.

However as far as an aerial is concerned, if you had reasonable reception before the mishap then the Log 40 referred to would be ideal for your purpose, and indeed far in away better than an aerial with a sharper more focussed pick up angle such as these multi-element types which you may possibly have previously been using.

The other plus point about logs being, that as well as their construction offering much less of a wind resistance than multi-element types and likewise not putting the same strain on the support mast, on their technical side they are all wideband devices which is necessary for reception from Waltham, as its six mux channels span from 29 - 61.

Its obviously your choice on what you wish to do, but I would not hesitate in recommending a Log 40 as the replacement for your previous aerial.

By the way, keep in mind that starting tomorrow engineering work will be getting carried out at Waltham in the early hours of the morning and with ITV being liable to suffer from random periods of shutdown, the engineering work continuing next week when all Freeview channels are liable to be interrupted.



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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 1 June 2012
C
Chris Hall
10:06 AM

I have no signal to the TV from 22.00hours on 31/5/12 please advise. Ariel on roof and connected. NG103DY

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Chris Hall's 1 post GB flag
P
phil selvidge
6:30 PM

Thanks jb38. I did go for the log aerial but not sure if it's a 40, I will have to check. It is indeed quite neat as you say. Also, though I haven't had a chance to properly check out reception on the different muxes on each of my tuners, first glance seems to show that the HD tuner is showing both poor strength and quality. I'll be doing that over the weekend (subject to works!!) Your answer has though prompted another question - should the installer have checked the strength from both Waltham and the relay? I wasn't aware that the relay existed. Won't bother me, but I hope that they will be manning the phones if they cut off freeview during the jubilee!!!!!

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phil selvidge's 7 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:57 PM

phil selvidge: Well, the Leicester relay is not indicated as being receivable at your location and not even with the status of poor, but what your installer should possibly have checked was for reception from the high powered Sutton Coldfield transmitter @ 27miles / 266 degrees (all muxes 200Kw) as it is shown as being possible.

By the way, PSB transmitters at Waltham are only on 50Kw and with the three commercials on 25Kw.

You wont really be able to check things properly until engineering work levels off at Waltham as I had a report from a neighbour of mine that their reception from Waltham had been erratic at times today, although it appeared to have settled down when I checked it about an hour ago.

If though once engineering work has ceased and you find that the overall level of signal is a little low then you can add a variable gain booster in line with the aerial lead, as very little (if anything!) will beat a log used in conjunction with a booster in an area known to suffer from difficult reception.


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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 8 June 2012
B
bernard
9:58 AM

waltham itv3 signal. using aerial c/d on roof
often bad signal quality but good strength via a roof mounted amplifier.
all others good quality at all times itv3 only good in good weather.
any option than to spend on a w aerial just for one channel-why stick it on 538 way out of band
comments please

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bernard's 2 posts GB flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:51 AM

bernard: a group C/D aerial will not provide useful gain down on C29. You really do need to replace it with a wideband, I'm afraid.

The Midlands is very crowded with signals and it just wasn't possible to fit everything into Group C/D, particularly with half that group, C63-C68, being released (C61 and C62 are also to be released, BBC A will move to C49 some time next year, expected to be October).

Anyone who had Freeview before switchover needed a wideband already. You would have had best results on Channel 5 analogue by changing to a Group E or wideband. That was probably taken into account, along with the expected population coverage, when deciding which transmitters had to have services outside the old analogue group.

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:36 PM

bernard: And it would have been of considerable assistance in assessing the level of signal that you are liable to be receiving if you had indicated your location, pref post code or one from nearby, e.g: a shop etc, because although as was mentioned by Mike Dimmick your aerial will be lacking efficiency on Ch29 this will not be quite so important unless you are located at a considerable distance from the transmitter as well as residing in a known problem area.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Saturday, 9 June 2012
M
Mark Fletcher
sentiment_satisfiedGold

1:43 AM
Halifax

Bernard.Then again come 2020 there is the possibility that Waltham could by that time end up as a group K transmitter if the proposal to clear the 700MHZ band were implemented as such.This if given the go ahead will mean the commercial multiplexes on Waltham will all be relocated within the group A aerial band,while the public service broadcast multiplexes will all be relocated within the group B band.The 2020 scenario here for Waltham is transparent but opaque currently for neighbouring Belmont transmitter pages and looking at the potential 2020 scenario for Waltham above,SDN would relocate from frequency 29 to fr 22,ArqA moving from frequency 56 to fr 25,ArqB reallocated from frequency 57 to fr 28.The result will lead to SDN on frequency 22,ArqA on frequency 25 and ArqB on frequency 28 on Waltham's projected 2020 scenario all clashing with Belmont's BBCA on frequency 22,D3+4 on frequency 25 and BBCB (HD) on frequency 28,the single frequency interference issue could possibly occur as the 2020 scenario for Belmont is still unclear at present (only up to 2015 ? currently on the Belmont page).
As for the options you stated about your current group C/D aerial (green tipped),you can consider diplexing a group K aerial (grey tipped) and retain your current group C/D antenna using a frequency/channel 38 diplexer,the group K semi-wideband aerial optimised for ther lower/middle frequencies is the new future proof wideband aerial should the 700MHZ bands be cleared by 2020,not forgetting the 800MHZ bands will all be cleared of TV broadcasting in 2013.
The BBCA multiplex will move from frequency 61 to fr 49 in 2013,and come 2020 if the 700MHZ band clearance does take effect the public service broadcast multiplexes on Waltham,BBCA relocates again from frequency 49 (presently 61) to fr 45,D3+4 moves from frequency 54 to fr 42,BBCB (HD) reallocated from frequency 58 to fr 39.

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Mark Fletcher's 673 posts GB flag
Mark's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

9:20 AM

Mark Fletcher: The plan for Belmont is quite interesting if the suggestion to use C22/25/28 for the COM muxes at most transmitters (including Belmont) is adopted. The suggestion is that Belmont would transmit Yorkshire TV SFN with Bilsdale to the North and Anglia TV/BBCEast SFN with Sandy Heath to the South. Presumably the existing BBC region from Belmont would become defunct as it would need to become Humberside and N.Yorks.on the Bilsdale frequency. This plan could actually give Belmont viewers a better service, especially in East Anglia. As you say Waltham (and Tacolneston) would become Group K, Belmont and Sandy Heath would revert to group A. Viewers living anywhere near a 4G transmitter, as a first line of defence to reject interference, would then be best advised to ditch their wideband aerials and fit one for the correct group for their transmitter.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
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