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Full Freeview on the Oxford (Oxfordshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.790,-1.179 or 51°47'25"N 1°10'46"Wsa_postcodeOX3 9SS

 

The symbol shows the location of the Oxford (Oxfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 410,000 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 Oxford (Oxfordshire, England) mast?

Oxford transmitter - Oxford 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 Oxford 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
C41+ (634.2MHz)295mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) South (Oxford), 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
C44- (657.8MHz)295mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Meridian/Central (Thames Valley 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 (Central west),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C47 (682.0MHz)295mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South (Oxford), 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Central West), 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 -3dB
C29 (538.0MHz)295mDTG-850,000W
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- (601.8MHz)319mDTG-850,000W
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)319mDTG-850,000W
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

LOX
 H -10dB
C46 (674.0MHz)295mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
from 22nd December 2014: 7 That's Oxford,

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 Oxford transmitter?

regional news image
BBC South (Oxford) Today 0.4m homes 1.6%
from Oxford OX2 7DW, 6km west-southwest (258°)
to BBC South (Oxford) region - 6 masts.
BBC South (Oxford) Today shares 50% content with Southampton service
regional news image
ITV Meridian News 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Whiteley PO15 7AD, 102km south (182°)
to ITV Meridian/Central (Thames Valley) region - 15 masts.
Thames Valley opt-out from Meridian (South). All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with all of Meridian+Oxford

How will the Oxford (Oxfordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-132013-182013-1723 May 2018
VHFC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D E TW TW T
C2BBCtvwaves
C29SDN
C31com7com7
C37com8com8
C41BBCA
C44D3+4
C46_local
C47BBCB
C49tv_offC5wavesC5waves
C50tv_off SDNSDN
C51tv_offLOXLOX
C53tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4waves+BBCA+BBCA+BBCA
C55tv_offArqBArqBArqBcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off
C57tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCBBBCB
C59tv_off-ArqA-ArqA-ArqA
C60tv_offITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves-D3+4-D3+4-D3+4
C62SDN
C63BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 14 Sep 11 and 28 Sep 11.

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

Analogue 1-4 500kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 100kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-10dB) 50kW
Analogue 5(-11dB) 40kW
com8(-14.7dB) 17.1kW
com7(-14.8dB) 16.4kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, LOX(-17dB) 10kW
Mux C*, Mux D*(-18dB) 8kW
Mux A*, Mux B*(-19.2dB) 6kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Oxford transmitter area

Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision†
Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Associated TeleVision
Jan 1982-Dec 2006Central Independent Television
Dec 2006-Feb 2009ITV Thames Valley
Feb 2009-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. Oxford 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, 3 February 2014
R
Rob
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:02 PM

Got the below today, not very impressed!!

Dear Mr. Mitchell,

Thank you for contacting the Radio & Television Investigation Service (RTIS). It is provided by the BBC to assist viewers and listeners in investigating and, where possible, in resolving, interference problems.

I notice from the information you provided you are using an internal aerial. I am sorry to have to tell you the RTIS service has no responsibility to investigate cases where the installation is served by an internal aerial. However, I can offer you some advice.

After studying your case, it is possible you are receiving a weak signal on your Freeview reception. The break-up of channels which you report is often a symptom of a weak signal and you may well need to re-tune to get the best signal available. A weak signal is more susceptible to interference and degradation.

It is unlikely that Virgin TV, which is fed via a cable, would give off RF frequencies and wi-fi should not interfere with your TV under normal circumstances. You could simply have a poor quality cable connecting the aerial to your TV which is not screened. There could be electric cables in your wall. Have you tried moving the aerial and leaving the TV where it is?

You should be tuned to Oxford. When using an external, Group C/D aerial or wideband aerial, horizontally polarised, on a bearing of 109 degrees, it is predicted to give you good coverage of 79 standard definition channels and 6HD.

Many areas of the UK are served by multiple transmitters. The direction in which your aerial is pointing generally dictates the transmitter whose signal you will receive. However, it is not uncommon for signals from other transmitters to be picked up by the same aerial, even if it is not pointing at the other transmitters.

The best way to ensure you are actually tuned to the signal from Oxford is to carry out a manual retune. Before you do so, remove the aerial from your receiver and ask it to do an auto tune. This will clear the memory as, with the aerial disconnected, it cannot tune to anything at all. Then reconnect the aerial as your set is now ready for a fresh, manual retune.

A manual retune will enable you to choose the channels you wish to receive, thereby stopping your receiver storing unwanted services. The procedures for undertaking a manual retune vary between receivers, so please use this guidance in conjunction with your receivers instructions and the advice on the Digital UK website, www.digitaluk.co.uk. You can ring them on 08456 50 50 50.

The following link gives instructions on manual retuning specific to your postcode:

http://www.digitaluk.co.u…7515

You say your problem always occurs when your TV is near the party wall. This suggests it could be some form of electrical impulse interference from next door, but because you are using an internal aerial you will not have the best, most resilient signal.

Electrical impulse interference can come from a wide variety of equipment inside and outside the home. It can cause pixellation on digital TV and buzzing or crackling sound on radio. The problem can occur in bursts from a fraction of a second through a minute or so to hours at a time. It can occasionally be continuous but in most cases there is a definite start and stop to the interference as in your case. Electrical equipment is usually the cause and common examples include:

Central heating or hot water thermostats

Dimmer switches and halogen lighting

Computers

Appliances using electric motors e.g washing machines, power tools, lawnmowers

Street lighting

Electricity supply transformers

Overhead power cables

Vehicle engines and petrol- engined lawnmowers and strimmers

Electric fences

Some devices operate automatically and may not be immediately obvious. These include central heating pumps, fuel pumps, sump pumps and macerators. Interference can be very localised but will often affect neighbouring properties, and occasionally a whole street or district.

First check the interference isn't being caused by something in your own home. When your TV is showing the problem, switch off domestic devices in turn, including lighting, and especially central water heating. If the problem stops (and then comes back after the device is switched back on) you have probably found the cause. Any appliance found to be faulty will need repair or replacement. If you cannot find anything in your home, ask near neighbours to see if they are also suffering interference. If they are, and you know the problem does not originate in your home, explain what you have done and ask them to carry out similar checks in theirs.

Should you decide to have a suitable, external aerial installed, it is advisable to use a qualified installer. The CAI (Confederation of Aerial Industries) or RDI (Registered Digital Installers ) are two recognised bodies who will be able to put you in touch with one of their members in your area.

With an external aerial, your case could then be considered for investigation. However, before a case can be referred to Ofcom, you must have checked the following:

That you are receiving a good signal from your preferred transmitter

You have a roof mounted antenna in good condition
(OX51EB)

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Rob's 63 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 4 February 2014
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:26 PM

Rob
It looks as if they have confused what aerial you have. It seems they think you are using an indoor aerial, that is one within the room where your TV set is - and they are rarely good enough unless you are almost next to the transmitter. So did you tell them your aerial is loft mounted or just said 'indoors'? If the latter, they will interpret that as being in the room with the TV.

Loft mounted aerials are often OK as long as they have a good 'line of sight' view towards the transmitter. A roof mounted aerial is better but subjected to the vagaries of the weather.

So you may need to go back to them and clearly state where your aerial is mounted and that you are just 7.8 km from the Oxford transmitter. You will also need to tell them what your normal signal strength and signal quality readings are.

You would probably benefit from telling then about all the tests and checks you have made and that moving the TV set to another part of the room away from that wall resolves the problem but it returns when the TV is put back in its usual place.

Hope that helps and let us know what the say.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
R
Rob
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:32 PM
Kidlington

Hi mike,
have written back to them and explained the issue in more detail, however i have not heard back from them yet. Also have not heard back from next door on a virgin media engineer coming out so have written them a note explaining the issues in more detail.
I have asked them in the note to let me know when they can turn all there virgin stuff off when they go out so i can check once and for all.

thanks again all of the advice


regards
Rob.

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Rob's 63 posts GB flag
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Friday, 7 February 2014
R
Rob
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

11:30 AM
Kidlington

Update,
The Virgin media tech is coming over to next door today so i have asked them to send them round. Also they have agreed to turn there equipment off for two periods on Sat and Sun so should be able to see once and for all if this cures the issue.

Kind Regards
Rob

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Rob's 63 posts EU flag
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R
rob
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

5:51 PM
Kidlington

Well,
Virgin media were really rubbish, had a tech who suggested that the loose f plug on next doors tivo might have been causing an issue, which i said is that not unlikely (he said no it can cause issue). Also he told me that all of the system was fine because the tivo box and the wifi just would not work if there was a problem with them, i think he was talking s**t.
He shrugged his shoulders when i explained all the testing i had done and suggested that even if the problem did go away when it is switched off tomorrow it would still not be virgins issue as the boxes are working fine.
He would not even come in my house for me to show him.

Very disappointed, if it does go away tomorrow when its turned off then i am going to ring virgin media directly and make a fuss to get someone out who understands something.

Grrrrrrrrrr

Rob

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rob's 63 posts GB flag
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J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:34 PM

rob: What you have reported was not really entirely unexpected, as the procedures used for faultfinding on the causes of RFI are generally out with the remit of cable TV installers and who generally adopts the attitude that if their equipment appears to be operating OK then no fault can possibly exist with same.

However, tomorrow should tell you one way or another if your problem is connected in any way with your neighbours equipment, as everything you have reported strongly suggests that it is.

However, another point that crossed my mind was whether or not it can it be assumed that neither you nor your neighbour has a smart electric meter fitted on your mains input supply line? if by any chance you do then where is it positioned relative to the area that the TV is located?

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Saturday, 8 February 2014
R
rob
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

11:22 AM
Kidlington

Hi JB38,
We don't have a smart meter and i did not see one when i went around next door. There house is the same as there's so i would expect the smart meter would be in the hall near to the stairs which is a good 16 feet from the wall with another wall in between.

Lets see what happens when they turn the power off to there stuff, hopefully the problem will go.

Thanks again for all the advice

Kind Regards
Rob

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rob's 63 posts GB flag
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J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:54 PM

rob: No problem! my reason for enquiring being purely out of curiosity as smart meters communicate with the energy supplier via a radio link.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
R
rob
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:11 PM
Kidlington

Hi All,
Well here is the update, next door turned there Wi Fi box and there Tivo TV box off tonight at 5:40pm and all of the interference has gone, not one glitch all night sound or otherwise.
They are back at 8 and turning it back on so i expect it will return.
Next step tomorrow i have asked them to leave the Tivo TV box on when they are out to see if i get the interference.
At least i know it's coming from next door and they are being helpful.
So its down to Tivo Box or WiFi i think or maybe there TV but they don't watch it much and it was off when i visited and still had the problem so i don't think its that.

Again thanks for all the advice.

Kind Regards
Rob


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rob's 63 posts GB flag
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Sunday, 9 February 2014
R
rob
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:27 AM

As expected came back at 820 and it has started up again, dam you virgin media!!!

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rob's 63 posts GB flag
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