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Full Freeview on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.324,0.520 or 51°19'25"N 0°31'13"Esa_postcodeME5 9RD

 

The symbol shows the location of the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter which serves 200,000 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.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter.

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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Which Freeview channels does the Bluebell Hill 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)242mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) South East, 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
C34 (578.0MHz)242mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Meridian (East 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 (Meridian south coast), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C45+ (666.2MHz)242mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South East, 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 max
C40 (626.0MHz)242mDTG-820,000W
Channel icons
20 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C43+ (650.2MHz)245mDTG-820,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C46 (674.0MHz)245mDTG-820,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 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 Bluebell Hill transmitter?

regional news image
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 28km southwest (218°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
regional news image
ITV Meridian News 0.7m homes 2.7%
from Maidstone ME14 5NZ, 5km south-southeast (155°)
to ITV Meridian (East) region - 36 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with all of Meridian plus Oxford

How will the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20122012-1319 Jul 2018
EEEW TW T
C21_local
C28_local
C32com7
C34com8
C39+ArqA
C40BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves+BBCBSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4ArqA
C45SDNBBCB
C46BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCAArqB
C54tv_offArqB
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off
C65C4wavesC4wavesC4waves

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 13 Jun 12 and 27 Jun 12.

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

Analogue 1-4 30kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-1.8dB) 20kW
com8(-7.8dB) 5kW
com7(-8.1dB) 4.7kW
Mux 1*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-10dB) 3kW
Mux 2*, Mux A*(-11.8dB) 2kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Bluebell Hill transmitter area

Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated-Rediffusion†
Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Thames†
Jul 1968-Dec 1981London Weekend Television♦
Jan 1982-Dec 1992Television South (TVS)
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Meridian
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. Bluebell Hill 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, 20 June 2016
S
Sue H
5:18 PM

Still having problems - Have just about given up on Freeview as it is so unreliable.

At this moment ITV has no signal, Ch4 has no signal -BBC2 is fine, BBC1 fine - Yet by tomorrow it could all change around and it is not the box and not the aerial - It is just Freeview going mad over these past few months and notihng being done to fix it...

So - I cannot trust Freeview to work - So why bother. :-(

link to this comment
Sue H's 4 posts GB flag
R
Richard Cooper
sentiment_satisfiedGold

5:40 PM
Norwich

Sue H: Hi, Sue. I'm very sorry that you and your mother have been so unfortunate as to experience issues with your Freeview reception on such a frequent basis! Engineers were working on the Bluebell Hill transmitter on Friday, but it should be 'all good' again today. Have you CAREFULLY checked everywhere that a coaxial cable (aerial lead) goes into a coaxial plug (aerial plug)? Connections inside these plugs are notorious for fraying, not making proper connections and so on, and so they are well worth checking CAREFULLY! Then, of course, a visual inspection is necessary outside. Has the aerial swung round, so as not to point to Bluebell Hill, which is half-way between Maidstone and Chatham. Have a look at neighbours' aerials and compare yours with theirs! Is it a problem to do with tree leaves or any other obstruction blocking the line of sight from Bluebell Hill to your aerial? That can be a significant factor at this time of year when trees increase their foliage. Finally, have you re-tuned correctly? Re-tune first with the aerial completely unplugged. this is to reset the receiver's memory. Bear in mind this will cause it to forget any favourite channels or recording timer settings, but these can be re-inputted again later! Then re-connect the aerial lead and re-tune again. Good Luck. I'd hate you to give up on Freeview when you're in an area that should receive a good signal!!! Richard, Norwich.

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Tuesday, 27 September 2016
N
Neil
1:55 PM
Leigh-on-sea

Hello,
I have just left sky after 7 years and gone back to freeview. My question is, from my postcode SS9 5BJ, Bluebell Hill is the closest mast. but when tuning in to it, I have very poor reception on com 4 ch45. My Ariel usually points at crystal palace, but this has the same issue? All other channels work fine. Com 4 is watchable on my tv, but not through my new freeview box? I have a good ariel and connection is close to the tv.
The notices of works here keep saying work at the weekend gone by, does mean they are still working on it?
thanks, Neil.

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Thursday, 29 September 2016
M
Mark Fraser
2:41 PM
Gillingham

Hello

I live in Medway postcode ME8 9SL,I live not far from the Bluebell Hill transmitter which serves me,For the past couple of weeks the signal has been poor with pictures cracking up especially on ITV Meridian.I appear to be getting a better signal on London instead.I notice the power Blubell Hill pushes out is far weaker than London.Can you please advise if there are any problems at present with the Bluebell Hill Transmitter? As I stated this has been an issue for the last couple of weeks.

Thanks

Mark Fraser

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S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

4:29 PM

Mark Fraser: Just above your post is a warning of possible service interruptions due to engineering works. There have been various other transmitter engineering warnings for Bluebell Hill over the last week or so.

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StevensOnln1's 3,669 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 4 October 2016
M
Mark Fraser
10:21 AM
Gillingham

Hello

I have noticed that Channel C43 (650.0MHz) which includes ITV Meridian and other channels are breaking up on the Bluebell Hill Transmitter. Signal strength/Quality and power keeps dropping in and out. All other Channels appear ok. Have you got any ideas which might be causing this problem?.I have noticed there is no listed engineering works or fault at present, My postcode is ME8 9SL.

Kind Regards

Mark Fraser

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Mark Fraser's 3 posts GB flag
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Wednesday, 5 October 2016
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:30 AM

Mark Fraser:

Please read the response to your earlier query given by StevensOnln1. There are major works being done to the Bluebell Hill transmitter so instances such as you report are to be expected until the work is completed. They never say when that is expected to be.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Thursday, 6 October 2016
M
Mark Fraser
7:55 AM

MikeP:

Mike

Many Thanks, Hopefully work completed on the transmitter sooner rather than later.

Thanks Again

Mark

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G
Graham
1:11 PM

I'm in sittingbourne and the signal over the last month has been so bad that I lost all bbc channels and its etc was braking up I bbc back but it's not watchable.

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Graham's 1 post GB flag
Friday, 7 October 2016
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:23 AM

Graham:

For us to assist you, we really need a full post code. That will enable us to examine the reception conditions at your location and advise on what action may be needed to rectify the difficulty.



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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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