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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 15/04/2024 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),

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 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
C22 (482.0MHz)321mDTG-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
C28- (529.8MHz)321mDTG-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

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
Thursday, 11 June 2015
D
Demetrius Skortou
11:23 AM
London

Dear Sir/Madam,

I live in a tenement block; 28 Tabard House, Manciple Street, London, SE1 4DL.

We have a communal aerial in the loft.

However, the TV signal coming from the Crystal Palace transmitter , sometimes breaks up, or goes off altogether.

I have just recently purchased an indoor HD aerial, (max 41db gain) which is working well, however, I am still getting the same problems of picture break up and loss of picture for a few seconds.

HD channel signals are weak and mostly these Hi-def channels break up or freeze, most of all.

I have checked all my connection cables and they are perfectly OK.

Any advice from you would be greatly appreciated, on how I can resolve these problems!


Kind Regards,

Demetrius Skortou

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Demetrius Skortou's 1 post GB flag
Demetrius's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:23 PM

Demetrius Skortou: If the fault isn't with your own wiring or equipment, then it's the aerial system which is at fault and therefore the party responsible should be notified.

At your location, with the transmitter being only 5 miles away with clear line-of-sight, too high a signal level is very much a possibility here. The system's amplifier probably wants turning down a bit.

Some systems are fitted with filters so as to only allow through those channels (frequencies) used by the designated transmitter. If you are not receiving the newer multiplexes then, at the same time as fixing the fault, get the engineer to enable them, these being:

COM7 - C33 - 106 BBC Four HD
COM8 - C35 - 111 QVC+1
L-LON - C29 - 8 London Live

There's also the possibility that 800MHz 4G services could be overloading the amplifier as well. Either way, it's up to the party responsible to get an engineer.

Too high a signal level can appear as too low a signal, or dips in quality. It's like having the volume on a sound system set too high -- the signal distorts and does so to differing degrees depending on the sound.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Thursday, 25 June 2015
J
john kirby
7:46 PM
London

Hi,
I live in London Nw7 1ng with crystal palace being my primary transmitter. The signal on multiplex 30 which supplies my HD BBC stations jumps every few minutes with strength constantly being about 30% but quality jumping between 5% and 100% which makes it unwatchable.
All Standard Definition Stations are fine.
I am using manual tune on a Humax HDR FOX T2 and have tried the multiplex 56 for the BBC B HD from the *Finchley* Relay station, which is only one kilometer away, but can get no signal. I have used a attenuator to reduce the signal strength in case that is an issue.
The aerial is on the south facing wall outside, at gutter level facing the Crystal Palace transmitter. I have also renewed the coaxial connections to eliminate that as a problem.
Would be grateful for any advice on the next step please.
Thanks. John Kirby.
Link for coverage page:
Coverage Checker - Detailed View

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john kirby's 1 post US flag
john's: ...
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:01 PM

john kirby: Looking at the digitaluk page, your doing everything right. 22km is not that far, and Crystal Palace is lower in the scan than the relay station. A Fox T2 has a very sensitive tuner, so you'd expect a great signal - if anything, far too strong, yet your only getting 30% on an HD mux. Yes, its jumping up and down in quality, which is what you'd expect, but its not like your certainly getting too strong a signal. And the Finchley transmitter is very close, and the bearing should be close enough to pick it up, yet nothing.

I think this is JB38's/David Lindsay's area, but I do have a suggestion. You've changed the coax, but have you thought of just getting an indoor aerial, just to check? Just borrow one, and see if its works. The other thing to check is the SD signal level - if its OK but low, then the HD channels are going to suffer more.

Be interested to see what the problem is, because that is just strange!


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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:54 PM

John kirby: Although fully appreciating your thinking behind trying to receive BBC HD channels from Finchley's 13 watts relay station, you have to look at the situation from the point of view, that even without an attenuator being fitted in line with the aerial input connection on your TV, you might find difficulty in receiving that station anyway, as not only does it transmit on vertical polarity compared to that of Crystal Palace on horizontal polarity, its also situated at an angle roughly half way to the reception dead spot on your aerial, that being 90 degrees from the signal path, the attenuator being the likely cause of killing any signal that may have been received, hence the "no signal" indication.

What value of attenuator have you temporarily placed in line with your aerial facing towards Crystal palace? as the possibility exists the value of said attenuator is too low, this being why you are experiencing the problem.



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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 26 June 2015
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:13 AM

John kirby: I also meant to mention, that the signal path from the Crystal Palace transmitter suffers from a mild restriction @ approximately just under 4 miles out from you location, something which under certain conditions could have an affect on your reception.



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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Monday, 29 June 2015
F
Floris
4:58 PM

I am moving nearby Penge West station and Crystal Palace. I have been told there are no communal aerials in the building and they are not allowed on the roof. It is likely therefore that I will need some form or portable aerial or other means to get TV. Any thoughts?

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Floris's 1 post GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:43 PM

Floris: I would suggest that you would have to be terribly unlucky not to receive a good signal so close to the transmitter!

So much so that you should NOT purchase an indoor aerial which has an in-built booster (amplifier). You should also be aware that you could potentially have too high a signal level, owing to being so close to the transmitter, and that this can appear as if the signal were too small, what with the signal level and quality level potentially constantly dipping downwards.

The preferable part of the building as far as reception goes is the side on which the transmitter is. That's not to say you won't receive at the other side. And hopefully with nothing metallic within the wall.

A set-top aerial is a possibility. Or if there's somewhere inside to mount an aerial (facing the transmitter through a wall) then this would be ideal at only 40cm long:


Labgear Mini-Compact Log Periodic Aerial | TV Aerials & Freeview | Screwfix.com


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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Thursday, 2 July 2015
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

1:30 PM

CRYSTAL PALACE transmitter - LW: Radio 4 MF Reduced Quality from 12:29 today. [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 150,632 posts xx flag
Monday, 13 July 2015
J
Jen
8:16 PM

Issue with Ch 23 (BBC A) from crystal palace. Channels are very broken and unwatchable. Al,l other channels seem fine. Tried manual re-tune to Bluebell transmitter (ch 46) but no reception. Think 4G is the culprit!

Any suggestions?

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Jen'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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