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Full Freeview on the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.801,-0.801 or 52°48'4"N 0°48'5"Wsa_postcodeLE14 4AJ

 

The symbol shows the location of the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter which serves 770,000 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 Waltham (Leicestershire, England) mast?

Waltham transmitter - Waltham 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 Waltham 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
C32 (562.0MHz)442mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) East Midlands, 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
C34 (578.0MHz)442mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (East 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
C35 (586.0MHz)442mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD East 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 -3dB
C29 (538.0MHz)442mDTG-825,000W
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 (602.0MHz)449mDTG-825,000W
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)449mDTG-825,000W
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

LNG
 H -10dB
C41 (634.0MHz)442mDTG-125,000W
Channel icons
from 27th May 2014: 7 Notts 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 Waltham transmitter?

regional news image
BBC East Midlands Today 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Nottingham NG2 4UU, 28km northwest (306°)
to BBC East Midlands region - 17 masts.
regional news image
ITV Central News 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 83km west-southwest (244°)
to ITV Central (East) region - 17 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (West)

Are there any self-help relays?

BraunstoneTransposer5 km SW Leicester city centre170 homes

How will the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20112011-132013-182013-174 Mar 2020
C/D EEEWW TW TW T
C26LNGLNG
C29SDNSDNSDNSDN
C31com7com7
C32BBCA
C34D3+4
C35C5wavesC5wavesBBCB
C37com8com8
C41_local
C49tv_off BBCABBCA
C54tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offArqAArqAArqACOM8tv_off
C57tv_offArqBArqBArqB
C58tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCBBBCB
C61ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCA
C64BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 17 Aug 11 and 31 Aug 11.

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

Analogue 1-5 250kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 50kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-10dB) 25kW
com8(-12.7dB) 13.4kW
com7(-13.9dB) 10.2kW
Mux 1*(-14dB) 10kW
Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*(-14.9dB) 8kW
Mux C*, Mux D*, LNG(-17dB) 5kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Waltham 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. Waltham 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, 6 June 2016
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:44 AM

Keith Burrell / et al : The tropospheric ducting forecast maps (Ak William Hepburn) indicates that parts of the UK is presently being affected by high pressure, a condition which allows the reception of transmissions from distant stations, which if on the same frequency as that used by a local station will result in either same being wiped out, or alternatively causing erratic reception due to the alien signal corrupting the quality of the signal from the local station.

Unfortunately nothing can be done to alleviate this type of problem, and I may say, is one which I am sure is going to be a cause of complaint for many over this coming week, as the pressure zones are forecast to affect most areas in the UK at some point in time.


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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
R
Richard Cooper
sentiment_satisfiedGold

10:41 AM
Norwich

Mark Elvidge: Hi Mark. There are no issues with either the Belmont or Bilsdale West Moor main transmitters this morning that would require the attention of engineers, so it is unfair for any heads to be rolled! What is apparent, however, is that the UK has high atmospheric pressure conditions which can cause transmitters in the UK (or abroad) which use the same channels to interfere with one another. We call this, "co-channel interference" or "CCI". It has the effect of corrupting the quality of your received signal to the extent that you may experience picture freeze and loss of sound on your Freeview channels. Unfortunately, there is nothing that can be done to overcome the effects of high pressure; the viewer simply has to wait until lower pressure conditions prevail - which could be a matter of waiting several days. In the meantime, one could view television online instead of using Freeview, or one could invest in a 'Freesat' setup. You are, of course, entitled to contact programme providers, to inform them of your issues, but I anticipate you will get a similar response to mine. I am sorry that I could not have been of more assistance to you, Mark. Regards, Richard, Norwich, Monday 6th. June, 10:45 a.m.

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Richard Cooper's 466 posts GB flag
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
D
D.M.Rion.
11:47 AM

D.M.Rion.:
Loss of 554 Mhz CH 31 HD channels update.
I switched on again today and found the lost HD channels back on,
I had re-tuned my television last night to no avail and even lost the channels from the EPG listings.
Luckily i didn't do this on the dvd/blu-ray recorder, i just left it has it was, thats how i knew the channels were back on this morning.
I have just re re-tuned the television & all the missing channels are there with a stronger signal than before.
I see others have posted comments about "High pressure" weather conditions as why there were problems with the signal last night. However, i can only speak for myself in this, this morning when i switched on the television & dvd/blu-ray recorder and checked the signal strength in the settings i found the signal to show a higher reading than before the loss occurred. Maybe there was a problem with the Waltham transmitter after all, as well as the "High pressure" weather condition.

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D.M.Rion.'s 2 posts GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:29 PM

Ed and Alan:

There are no analogue TV transmissions from Waltham! They are all digitally encoded these days and formed into multiplexes carrying several channel services. So when you say there were no analogue signals, I'm not at all surprised as they finished more than 5 years ago and in some cases nearly 10 years ago!



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
J
James
5:29 PM

Ed: I've had no had channels all day in derby, I've tried a retune but saying no signal. My aerials haven't moved & are all connected ok, I can get normal TV fine but no HD. I'm in the DE73 area of Derbyshire

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James's 1 post GB flag
S
S. Harrison
6:19 PM

Poor / no reception started in Leicester LE9 area at 10.15pm on Sunday 5 June and continued this morning, Monday 6 June. An independent aerial specialist came out and advised that he and all other aerial specialists received a message advising of an issue. It cost us 25 in labour charges for a 2 minute test by the aerial specialist who confirmed the problem was not our aerial. Before we booked the specialist we checked online and there were no recorded problems! The specialist confirmed he had been 'inundated' with calls this morning. He also told me that problems with transmitters are almost never recorded on transmitter websites, unlike electricity, gas, flooding, water websites where there is some transparency in service glitches.

Shame that the transmitter people do not feel the need to communicate issues to customers but at least our local aerial specialists are quids in!

link to this comment
S. Harrison's 1 post GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:33 PM

S. Harrison : I would have thought that your independent aerial specialist would have been aware that the reason for numerous complaints over the last few days from both Waltham and stations covering other areas is not connected with transmission problems, but a series of high pressure zones sweeping around many parts of the country, high pressure being a condition which allows the reception of transmissions from distant stations of not only within the UK, but also outside of such as Europe.

The problem being, if one of the said transmissions happens to be on the same frequency as one of the multiplexes on the station normally used for reception, this will either result in same being wiped out, or alternatively erratic reception due to the alien signal corrupting the quality of the signal from the local station, evidenced (in some cases) by witnessing pulsed variations in signal quality accompanied by a reasonably high signal level.

Unfortunately nothing can be done to alleviate this type of problem, and which I may say, is one I am sure is going to result in numerous complaints about bad reception over this coming week, as the pressure zones are
forecast to affect most areas in the UK at some point in time, and at times, on more than one occasion.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Thursday, 9 June 2016
M
Mike Davison
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

9:51 AM
Wetherby

MikeP: Just to put you into the picture about my sister's errant Philips TV. She tried the no aerial clearout and rescan technique but no change. She called back the aerial installer who repeated everything I did and came to the conclusion that the TV's firmware was out of date with current Freeview standards which is strange but plausible and recommended an external STB. As I said previously my STB which I just happened to have with me performed perfectly and I don't think it has had a firmware update for at least 4 years but something is odd with the Philips TV not doing the usual trick of putting duplicate channels from multiple transmitters in the 800's and putting at least one in the correct location.

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Mike Davison's 127 posts GB flag
Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 13 June 2016
K
Keith Burrell
10:14 AM

There is a difference between 'Poor Quality' due to co-channel interference (which is often a combination of the interfering signal's phase, strength, aerial alignment factors) and the state 'No Signal'. Also the local transmitter's signal propagation range is affected by the ground and atmospheric conditions so weak signal areas loose the signal completely. Most users are able to access their Signal Quality / Reception displays on their Television which differentiate between the 2 signal conditions. Selecting an alternate Channel which is working from the same transmitter site proves the customer's aerial and the rest of your equipment is O.K and it is a reasonable assumption the fault lies with the transmission.
1. Can we not get an article from an engineer / technician who works on the transmitter equipment itself to explain the monitoring of service, how failure status is reported to the control room (SCADA systems etc) and what is the Service Contract demand for repair.
2. Who is in charge of the Transmitter Service fault reporting on this website and who sends in the information during normal work hours and 'out of hours'.......how does this detail get updated on website. What is a better website for this information?
3. Formal contact details stated on website for 'loss of service' reporting on digital channels.
4. How does the lower power levels of the digital transmitters and their frequencies / channels get decided upon and who monitors the impact of atmospheric conditions leading to co - channel interference effects, often from other UK areas using the same channels. Where are these warnings published?

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Keith Burrell's 4 posts GB flag
R
Richard Cooper
sentiment_satisfiedGold

12:42 PM
Norwich

Keith Burrell: Hi, Keith. I can try to answer some of your questions. The majority of broadcast transmitters are run and maintained by Arqiva, which, has strategically placed centres from which engineers go out to attend to transmitter faults, one of these being 'Emley Moor'. Arqiva, as an organisation, seems to have what one might call a 'closed', 'opaque', 'high privacy' philosophy, seemingly unwilling to share information or make it public, perhaps because of terrorist threat worries? I would be surprised if Briantist could persuade an Arqiva transmitter maintenance engineer to explain his work to us, because the engineer would probably be breaking a confidentiality clause in his contract if he did so, and would be summarily dismissed! I think you will find that website owner, Briantist, is responsible for transmitter fault reporting on this website. The information is generally publicly available if you know what you are looking for and where to look, for example, the radio and transmitter investigation service website, run by the BBC, will tell you the transmitter status for all types of broadcast tv and radio, for every postcode in the UK where there is an available service. Other good sources of information are the digital uk website for Freeview tv and ukdigital radio or getdigital radio for digital radio. In answer to your question 3., you'll have to ask Briantist. The power levels and frequencies/channels are determined by international agreements and probably monitored by the UK regulator, Ofcom. Richard, Norwich.

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Richard Cooper's 466 posts GB flag
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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