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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 11/11/2024 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), 71 That’s 60s,

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 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
C22 (482.0MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
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
C28- (529.8MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
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

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
Tuesday, 3 April 2018
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:23 PM

Colin R: Until such time as Briantist is able to update the transmitter details, you can find power levels for each mux by entering your postcode and selecting the Digital UK Trade Checker. Power levels for COM7 & COM8 are unchanged, the local mux has been increased in power. COM7 (UHF C55) is 43kW, COM8 (UHF C56) is 40kW, Local Mux/London Live (UHF C35) is 30kW from Crystal Palace and additionally 4kW on the same frequency from Croydon. If you previously received COM7 & COM8 but cannot now get them by auto or manual tuning, you should contact the Freeview Advice Line to arrange for a replacement wideband aerial to be installed (free of charge if you don't have satellite or cable - see link below).

Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview

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StevensOnln1's 3,670 posts GB flag
Saturday, 7 April 2018
C
Chris Roberts
9:03 AM

Excellent Website and also the comments re C55 & C56. We have a wideband aerial - at times we can get these programmes (just) at other times it is a "No signal". In Guildford we are in a "strong" signal area, receiving Crystal Palace, Guildford repeater and Hannington. Indeed to receive the C55 programmes we have to use C32 from Hannington - again sometimes OK others not. Two questions - 1) Why doesn't the Guildford repeater transmit Cs 55 & 56? and 2) Why cannot the power transmitted from Crystal Palace be increased? - it may only need a 10% or so increase to receive the programmes properly.
BEFORE THIS RECENT CHANNEL CHANGE ALL WAS PERFECT.
Had an excellent visit from a FREEVIEW engineer - even with an aerial amplifier or high gain aerial the signal/noise ratio is very poor and an aerial amplifier overloads the signal quality of the strong channels. He confirmed we have a wide band aerial.

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Chris Roberts's 14 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:47 AM

Chris Roberts: Increasing the power would cause interference with other transmitters. COM7 & COM8 are temporary multiplexes which cover around 70% of UK households from 30 transmitters at a lower cost than COM4/5/6 by reusing old transmitter equipment left over from before digital switchover. You may find that reception improves when COM7 & COM8 move to UHF channels 55 & 56 at Hannington on 18th April and form a single frequency network (SFN) with Crystal Palace.

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StevensOnln1's 3,670 posts GB flag
C
Chris Roberts
2:05 PM

Thank you for your interesting response. As the Transmitted Power for these programmes is, I understand the same as before the changeover, I had wondered whether the atmospheric attenuation was greater for 754MHz (C56) than for 586MHz (C35). Otherwise it does not seem to make sense - why the weak signal? It cannot be due to the aerial as my aerial/tv receives a very strong signal for 722MHz (C52) (it is Guildford BUT Vertically polarized) with a Quality rating of 100 and Strength in the 60s.

Thanks again for your interesting and quick response.
Chris Roberts

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Chris Roberts's 14 posts GB flag
Sunday, 8 April 2018
R
Roger Scott
11:08 AM

I don't know whether it's me being thick or missing something but I cannot understand why it was necessary to do frequency changes. Before the changes all multiplexes were between channels 23-33 and all in group A. Reception was perfect. My understanding is that the frequency changes are necessary due to the pending use of mobile 5g phones which will utilize channels 48-60.
Therefore why have some of the multiplexes moved to channels 55 and 56 which surely is part of the band that needs to be cleared ?
To make it worse because these channels are no longer in group A I am now not getting any signal at all. It means I have lost BBC4HD and KIC which I regularly watched. Also London Live has moved from channel 29 to channel 35 , again another favourite station no longer viewable.
Obviously I am far from happy so can someone please explain this fiasco

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Roger Scott's 9 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:39 PM

Roger Scott: COM7 & COM8 had to be moved in order to free up UHF channels 31-37 in so that they can be used for services that were previously broadcast in the 700MHz band. COM7 & COM8 have been moved to UHF channels 55 & 56 which form the centre gap between the uplink and downlink frequencies that will be used by 5G mobile services, therefore allowing COM7 & COM8 to continue beyond the completion of the 700MHz clearance program (no date has been confirmed for when COM7 & COM8 will eventually close although 2022 has been suggested).

The London local mux is due to get a power increase on 18th April (frequency changes are taking place at various relays in London as well as neighbouring regions on this date). If you don't have satellite or cable you may be eligible to have a wideband aerial fitted free of charge to restore the channels which are now outside the frequency range of your Group A aerial (contact the Freeview Advice link via the link below to arrange).

Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview

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StevensOnln1's 3,670 posts GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:43 PM

Nickadsluk:

Due to the changes of frequencies used at Crystal Palace, a wideband aerial is now essential. The older Group A aerials do not receive signals above Channel 39 but there are now transmissions up to Channel 56. So an aerial capable of receiving these channels is essential to get the full range of services.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
P
Phil Deacon
1:04 PM

PhilD
I am on the Midhurst Transmitter in GU33; some neighbours are on Rowridge. The mix is around 50-50. Since March 2018 frequency change and retuning, my reception has been abysmal. Channels 48 and 54 are strong. The rest are intermittent or none existent. UHF 33 is fair. I seem to be half picking up reception from both Rowridge and Midhurst. I get Sky on uhf 22 in one room. The auto tuner cant make ups its mind whether to lock onto Rowridge signals or Midhurst.
I had few problems before the frequency changeover. is this going to improve? The recent work has left a 80% decent system 50% unusable.

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Phil Deacon's 1 post GB flag
NICKADSLUK
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:18 PM

MikeP:
I fully understand that mike but where I am near Gatwick my Samsung tv new has to preform at 85 percent minimum for both strength and quality and a wideband aerial in the loft wont reach that level
ok for a Panasonic and Sony tv but not lg or Samsung

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NICKADSLUK's 38 posts GB flag
Monday, 9 April 2018
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:51 PM

Nickadsluk:

Then you either have too small an aerial or need an adjustable amplifier.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
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