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Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"Wsa_postcodeSG19 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.

Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) mast?

Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath 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 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C27 (522.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Cambridge, 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
C24 (498.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Anglia (West micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Anglia east),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C21+ (474.2MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Cambridge, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South 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 -0.2dB
C33 (570.0MHz)291mDTG-8170,000W
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 -0.2dB
C36 (594.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
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 -0.2dB
C48 (690.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
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

DTG-8 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
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
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?

1965-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-1312 Feb 2020
VHFA K TK TK TW TW T
C6ITVwaves
C21C4wavesC4wavesC4waves+BBCBBBCB
C24ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C27BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C31BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves
C32com7
C33SDN
C34com8
C35_local
C36ArqA
C39C5wavesC5waves
C43_local
C48ArqBArqB
C51tv_offSDN
C52tv_offArqA
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 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

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area

Oct 1959-Feb 2004Anglia 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.

Comments
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:32 PM

Sean Fitzgerald: I would keep the channels between 64 - 69, as modulators in most boxes work best in these ranges.

I will say though that Sky HD boxes do have a record of complaints regarding weak modulators, so keep this in mind.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
M
MikeG
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:04 AM

Steve, regarding your LG model number 19LG3000.
I have downloaded the manual for this and strangely it seems to allow for programs to be in the 800 range, which on most units indicates duplicate TV channels have been saved.
There is a Program Swap option however which may help, but I have a suspicion that the set may need to reboot itself from scratch.
Apparently many TVs and PVRs can crash (after all it's only a computer) and unplugging them from the mains for a few minutes makes them reboot from hardware.
This can cure a myriad of problems. My Toshiba failed to recognise the remote and unplugging it cured it. Worth a try.

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MikeG's 31 posts GB flag
M
MikeG
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:06 AM

P.S. You need to actually unplug it; just turning it off at the set doesn't always completely isolate it.

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MikeG's 31 posts GB flag
I
Ian Peel
3:22 PM
Buckingham

MikeG
With your help, I'm now sorted.
Many thanks Mike. I appreciate it.
Ian

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Ian Peel's 5 posts GB flag
Ian's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
P
Paolo
10:31 PM

Last Monday I suddenly lost all my HD channels during a storm. All the other Freeview channels are fine, the aerial on the roof looks fine. I rescanned and rebooted my HD+ box (Humax HDR-FOX T2) several times to no avail. I also tried manual search and got no signal at multiplex C21 where all the HD channels are. Can you help? Could it be a transmitter problem?

Thanks a lot! (52.2418,0.2451) 

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Paolo's 3 posts GB flag
Thursday, 27 September 2012
Douggie B
6:36 PM

JB38: Have just seen your post re: channels changing on 19th September. I have an Icecrypt Freeview box which "agrees" with your changes. Strange thing is though the integrated tuner on my TV says I am still for example getting Dave on 19 and Yesterday on 12. This applies to EPG & channel selected, not a worry but most peculiar.

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Douggie B's 20 posts GB flag
S
Steve
8:09 PM

MikeG

Did a clear all then unplugged then manual tune with interesting results: 27 now working in correct place, 24 ditto, 51 and 48 fine but 52 has gone into the 800s which is good for me as I barely watch TV but when I do it's BBC or C4.

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Steve's 4 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:26 PM

Douggie B: Without knowing the model of TV involved you should temporarily remove the aerial and follow this by carrying out an auto-tune, as on most equipment this will blank out the tuners memory, then after completion of the auto tune when no channels will have been found, reconnect the aerial again and carry out another retune and when hopefully the EPG listing will have changed.

Should though by any chance this still not give the desired result then you will have to carry out a "factory reset" or "default setting" on your TV followed by an auto tune, as that is virtually guaranteed to resolve the issue.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 28 September 2012
DouggieB
6:02 PM
Harlow

JB38: Full details: Postcode CM18 6SR, wideband aerial and 16 to 26 db variable amp, set at midpoint where it has always been. According to my Icecrypt box signal strength & quality circa 90% on all muxes. Icecrypt box ok, but then I can manually tune that whereas TV auto only. TV is a Bush LT26M. Did a retune as you suggested. All the channels are there but they are all, except PSB2Ch24, in the 800-900 range. Have tried varying amp gain and even bypassing it but to no avail. Have also reset TV as suggested but to no avail. Curiouser & curiouser. Any suggestions, have no real problems as I can use the Icecrypt as my tuner which I do most of the time.

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DouggieB's 20 posts GB flag
DouggieB's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 29 September 2012
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:21 AM

DouggieB: Well with devices such as the LT26 and its extremely limited range of set up tuning facilities as well as providing more detailed technical service information, your hands up to a point are tied as you seem to have carried out most of what would have been suggested.

When you say PSB2 is up in the 800 ranges is there anything at all being indicated on the EPG 3 position?

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
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Your comment please
Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

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