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Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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 - Crystal Palace transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 04/11/2024 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 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C23 (490.0MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) London, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 16 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C26 (514.0MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (London), 4 Channel 4 (SD) London ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 London ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (London), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C30- (545.8MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD London, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV London), 104 Channel 4 HD London 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
C25 (506.0MHz)314mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
20 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C22 (482.0MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C28- (529.8MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

LW
 H -10dB
C35 (586.0MHz)324mDTG-1220,000W
Channel icons
from 31st March 2014: 8 LONDON LIVE,

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 Crystal Palace transmitter?

regional news image
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 12km north-northwest (335°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
regional news image
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 AthleticTransposerRedeveloped north stand Charlton Athletic Football Club130 homes
DeptfordTransposersouth-east London100 homes
GreenfordTransposer12 km N Heathrow Airport203 homes
HendonTransposerGraham Park estate50 homes
White CityTransposer9 km W central London80 homes

How will the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20122012-1321 Mar 2018
VHFA K TA K TA K TA K TW T
C1BBCtvwaves
C22ArqAArqA
C23ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCABBCA
C25SDNSDN
C26BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C28-ArqBArqB
C29LW
C30C4wavesC4wavesC4waves-BBCBBBCB
C33BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavescom7
C35com8
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 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

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Crystal Palace transmitter area

Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated-Rediffusion†
Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1992Thames†
Jul 1968-Feb 2004London Weekend Television♦
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Carlton†
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc♦
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. Crystal Palace 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
Monday, 4 June 2012
N
NICK ADSL UK
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

2:28 PM

Robert since switch-over my set up has been very bad despite all the equipment being of the highest spec one day on one day off and am told that's the way it's going to be in future by the BBC for some on Crystal Place

As for the reason the guy i was speaking to wasn't saying and i myself along with my tv field engineer have drawn a blank

I have freesat so this free view is no big deal but none the less would have liked it to work like is has done without fault from day one come switch over it's gone to pot

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NICK ADSL UK's 72 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
R
Robert
12:58 PM

NICK ADSL UK : Thanks for your posting. I might explain a bit of a reluctance to engage I have felt from certain quarters. There is far far more to a problem of this type than the just technical issues. I was clueless to the scale of DSO and the technical risks taken. Im very glad Im not involved with any of the discussions and events that led up to DSO; however as an ex- European Technical Support engineer would love a bash at being part of the solution.
For a decade Freeview sometime took 30 minutes to set up and find a sweet spot for the indoor aerial, then it that was it, stable as a rock until I bought the next bit of AV kit and wanted to move stuff around.

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Robert's 20 posts GB flag
Friday, 8 June 2012
V
Val Tilley
2:09 PM

For over 2 weeks, I have been unable to watch TV most of the time because of the 'pixeling'(?). Was OK once the final changeover took place, although Channel 12 does not even show on list. However, I have had to resort to watching on my computer and even that keeps giving up the ghost. Have re-tuned at least 4 times without success. Am not technically minded and would appreciate help in simple form!

Thanks

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Val Tilley's 1 post GB flag
Saturday, 9 June 2012
M
Mark Fletcher
sentiment_satisfiedGold

12:44 AM
Halifax

Val Tilley.As you did not leave a full postcode or a nearby location as such,we cannot be of useful help to you !

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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
Sunday, 10 June 2012
N
NICK ADSL UK
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

6:48 PM

Robert
as you may not know in that i am a Microsoft MVP who helps the world for free in the main forums in security

I post hundreds of security updates a year and the vast majority of the people in the world receive these without a problem but for some reason there are thousands more who run into a problem and i guess that free view is just the same all we can do at the end of the day is to help out the public the best we can and hopefully educate the public a little better so that they can understand on what's going on behind the scenes so that they realize that there not alone and free help is forthcoming

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NICK ADSL UK's 72 posts GB flag
M
martyh
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

10:45 PM

From martyh Ash Vale.

PICTURE PROBLEMS WITH FREEVIEW DONGLE.

Further to my postings regarding my digital TV and it being unable to use the new signal from April 4th, I purchased a scart plug in device (scart adapter) from Currys as suggested by jb38. It's a type that plugs in to a scart socket at the rear of my TV. However, I am extremely disappointed by the picture quality I'm getting and the fact that I have lost some part of the picture at the top and to the right of my screen. From the adapter remote menu, I would say that Im, getting (on average) about 80% quality and 80% signal (variable). My pictures lack true depth of colour and can also be grainy. I have also noticed colour saturation problems (especially black and white in lack of definition, for example no definition on suit lapels). I have tried adjusting elements such as sharpness, colour, contrast etc, using my TVs menu without success. In addition, I have also tried altering between the RGB and CVBS modes on the adapter remote menu. When I switch between the two the screen options, the picture moves (flickers) to the left like its offset. CVBS mode seems richer in colour but gives a less defined image, almost blurred. I have also selected combinations of 16:9 and 4:3, and combinations of these with the letterbox/full frame options. I have also tried several retunes, to see if that helps, to no avail, though I do get 115 TV and radio channels. Compared to the pictures I was getting on the 2k signal, direct through my TV Ariel into my TV, I am really not impressed with what I am seeing, especially as quality of pictures I now receive are actually straining my eyes. I thought the new format was supposed to be an improvement but it seems not. Any ideas. Please refer to my previous posts if youd like to revise. Thanks! Martyh. Manual for my adapter can be found here: http://documents.knowhow.….pdf
ps.I have had my adapter for about 4 weeks.

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martyh's 25 posts GB flag
R
Robert
11:06 PM

Val Tilley: As a TV/Video amateur with a computer background what I understand is Error Pixels or block on the screen start to appear when the block of data which make up the video audio stream come through with uncorrectable (unrecoverable) data errors due to too much noise or interference on the modulated UHF signal from the aerial.

Digital transmission is fault tolerant, you can have a degree of noise or interference but it has to be within the bounds of the error correction circuits. This is its greatest strength. Your tuner not only knows the data is damaged but can correct it so the picture and sound generate are perfect so you never know but looking at the TV.

However, the fact the data had to be corrected is reported in the statistics used for either Signal Quality or bit rate error. This is a feature most tuner have somewhere in their menu structure.

Missing channel 12 (Yesterday) probably means that your tuner failed to find one of the Multiplexers. Crystal Palace transmits all TV and radio over six multiplexers. To check I my tuner has found each one I should have BBC1 (1), ITV1 (3), ITV3 (10), Pick TV(11), Yesterday (12) and BBC1HD(50). Information on what TV station is on what Mux is explained elsewhere on the website but BBC2 shares with BBC1, ITV1 shares with Channel 4 & 5.

My recent experience with automatic scanning suggest that it is not very fault tolerant. The TV's tuner had a perfect picture yet the PVR which I was tuning missed the Mux. I was just manually tuning the Mux with ITV1 on it yet Channel 4 and Channel 5 were not in the list yet worked if I tapped 4 or 5 on the remote. So not very robust either.

Missing muxes are a common problem if you were setting up to watch Freeview via an indoor aerial but prior to DSO finding the sweet spot for the aerial was a 5 or 10 minute task once found it was reliable. I never knew there were seven muxes before DSO because I did not have to be able to diagnose reception problems before.

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Robert's 20 posts GB flag
Monday, 11 June 2012
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:30 AM

martyh: Just to clarify a point insomuch that I did "not" recommend that particular brand of device to you, but had said that you should purchase a Freeview box or alternatively a Freeview adaptor and provided a link purely for reference purposes, the link being for a Konig brand device which is somewhat superior to anything with a Logic tag attached to it.

That said, have you went into this devices set up menu and selected settings to suit the TV you are using? this described on page 24, plus made sure that the same settings have been used on the actual TV? as your type of problem is usually caused by them having been set different to each over.

You have to also consider the other aspect concerning the level of Freeview signal you are receiving, as when your Philips TV stopped working after switch over this means that you will not be aware of the level of signal you are receiving from higher powered transmitters, and with neither myself or anyone else being able to assess this as you haven't provided a post code, or at least one from a nearby shop or pub, and a level predictor requires this info.

Maybe you could give an update on the aspects mentioned.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
M
martyh
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

11:35 AM

From martyh GU12 Ash Vale Surrey/Hants

Hi jb38. Comments noted re Konig recommendation. If you read my previous posts, I did ask if it matters what make adapter was used, and had no reply, so thought any would do. No offence in my last post, as not blaming you on that. On settings, I have scart plugged into EXT1, and have selected this as my decoder on the actual TV settings. On the actual adapter remote menu have selected widescreen 16:9 (TV is widescreen), and full frame. Again, as per previous post have tried different settings on the logic and my TV menus to see if it makes a difference but it seems not to. The only thing I have not re-tried (again as it didn't seem make any difference at first set-up), is take an RF output from the logic to my TV Ariel 'in' socket. Re: signal levels. On the 2k signal pre April 4th (with Ariel plugged direct to my TV), I had 114 channels - all pulling in good pictures - and in full frame. However, built in to the TV there is a signal strength indicator, and for the most part it indicated signal strength to my location GU12 as always being poor - indication a red square, where red is poor, yellow good, and green excellent. Again, even so, I still got all the channels and very good pictures. Just to clarify that the Logic does have a signal quality and strength indicator, with bar type displays, and this is what I was referring to previously. As far as I can tell, I have unified both the Logic and TV settings. Hope this helps.

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martyh's 25 posts GB flag
S
Steve
2:11 PM

I've been reading with interest the problems others are experiencing with their Freeview reception and it prompts me to ask a few basic questions:

First, I presume that transmitters are mounted on tall masts so as to ensure the signal emitted is presented with the least obstruction over the greatest possible distance - but what is the profile (shape) of the signal? Does it start off narrow and spread out wider with distance?

I note that several of the people with reception problems are quite close to the Crystal Palace transmitter and I understand that sometimes this might result in the signal they are receiving being too strong and requiring attenuation - but given the height of the mast, is it also possible to be so close to the transmitter that the signal passes over the top of a roof mounted aerial and hence misses it completely?

Finally, I live around 25 to 30 miles from CP and receive excellent freeview reception via an indoor aerial - obviously, the signal has to pass through the walls of my property - so why would something like leaves on a tree disrupt reception?
Thanks in advance.

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Steve's 10 posts EU flag
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