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Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.600,-1.835 or 52°36'1"N 1°50'5"Wsa_postcodeB75 5JJ

 

The symbol shows the location of the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter which serves 1,870,000 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 Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) mast?

Sutton Coldfield transmitter - Sutton Coldfield 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 Sutton Coldfield 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
C43 (650.0MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) West Midlands, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 19 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C46 (674.0MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (West 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
C40+ (626.2MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD West 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 max
C42 (642.0MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
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 max
C45 (666.0MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
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 max
C39+ (618.2MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
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

LB
 H -13dB
C48 (690.0MHz)433mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
from 31st October 2014: 7 Big Centre 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 Sutton Coldfield transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 15km south-southwest (200°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
regional news image
ITV Central News 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 15km south-southwest (201°)
to ITV Central (West) region - 65 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (East)

Are there any self-help relays?

Burton (shobnall)Transposer1 km W Burton-on-Trent60 homes
CoalvilleTransposer18 km NW Leicester600 homes
SolihullTransposerLand Rover building400 homes

How will the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-137 Mar 2018
VHFB E TB E TB E TB E K TW T
C4BBCtvwaves
C33com7
C35com8
C36LOCAL2
C39+ArqBArqB
C40BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves+BBCBBBCB
C42SDNSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCABBCA
C45ArqAArqA
C46BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C48_local
C50tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4waves
C51tv_offLB
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 7 Sep 11 and 21 Sep 11.

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(-10.5dB) 89.2kW
com8(-10.7dB) 86kW
LB(-20dB) 10kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-21dB) 8kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sutton Coldfield 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. Sutton Coldfield 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
Thursday, 22 January 2015
M
Mr & Mrs I L Rubery
11:20 AM
Ashbourne

QUESTION
We get good Freeview reception from Sutton Coldfield transmitter with an old C/D roof aerial, and receive West Midlands news programmes. When we point it around to the Waltham direction and retune so as to obtain East Midlands news programmes the reception is very poor to non-existent. Our post code is DE6 3EP (between Ashbourne and Belper, north-west of Derby).
With technology as it is now, is there a way of receiving and selecting East Midlands news programmes from Sutton Coldfield?

link to this comment
Mr & Mrs I L Rubery's 1 post GB flag
Mr's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:59 AM

Mr & Mrs I L Rubery: No, because they aren't broadcast from Sutton Coldfield.

There are a number of transmitters up the Derwent valley that relay Waltham, but you are out of range of them all.

Refer to this terrain plot:


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location


The ground rises and falls within a couple of miles of you and may be the cause of your difficulty.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Friday, 23 January 2015
D
Dave Kirk
5:44 PM

MikeB: Thanks for your help. Not the answer I was expecting! I can't find your cheap 20dB aerial attenuator on Amazon, so I'll dash out for a 12dB one from my nearest Maplin (£6.49) and hope that's enough.

Thanks again!

link to this comment
Dave Kirk's 3 posts GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:11 PM

Dave Kirk: You can, but you will spend a bit more. See here: 18dB Coax Plug Inline ATTENUATOR: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

They obviously do other ones as well. Best thing to do is to buy a couple of different ones, and then you can see which one works best. If you need to kill the signal more than just using one, you can put them in series. Also good idea to use an extra fly lead, so that nothing vaguely heavy stick out of the socket.

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Saturday, 24 January 2015
D
Dave Kirk
10:43 AM

MikeB: That's ridiculously cheap, especially as it says postage is free! Makes me wonder about the quality, but the two reviews (and you) say it works so I'll order one (or two).

I'll use it in the loft where the aerial is plugged into the down lead. Thanks again! I'll report back on what happens.

link to this comment
Dave Kirk's 3 posts GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:59 PM

Dave Kirk:

You would be better putting it/them close to the aerial input socket of the TV. That way the signal strength in the downlead is greater and therefore less susceptible to interference if there is any locally. As MikeB suggests, put a short flylead into the TV socket and then put the attenuator on the end of that and then connect the downlead to the attenuator.

link to this comment
MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Sunday, 25 January 2015
G
Gordon Insley
6:15 PM

Mr & Mrs I L Rubery
Hi,
There are local transmitters in Ashbourne, Bolehill (Wirksworth) and Belper (Firestone Hill / Chevin).
Reception is somewhat geographic / terrain / elevation related and dependent on exactly where your property is located will determine which local relay or main regional transmitter(s) are within range for suitable reception. I assume you are in or near to Hulland.
However, I do have clients in your vicinity who receive reception directly from the Waltham regional transmitter.
But to receive all the available channnels you do require a decent 'wideband' high gain TV aerial of professional grade and quality, an old 'Yagi' C/D grouped aerial will certainly not do the job.

Gordon.
picture-perfect@talktalk.net



link to this comment
Gordon Insley's 8 posts GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:15 PM

Dave Kirk: I'd agree with MikeP - if only so you dont have to go up in the loft! And yes, they are cheap, which is fine, they seem to the job OK for me, so buy a couple of different ones, and see how they do.

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 27 January 2015
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:31 AM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - MainPossible weak signal [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
M
Mr T jones
7:07 PM

Had problems with itv3 today +itv3+1.

link to this comment
Mr T jones's 1 post 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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