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Full Freeview on the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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
Tuesday, 16 October 2018
C
Colin Sharp
9:11 AM

MikeB:
Thanks for your response. After some hours, I believe I have at last identified the problem.
May I first explain my aerial set up. In the past, when using analogue recorder, I wanted to be able to playback from the recorder ( located in the lounge ) to a TV in any room of the house. The aerial coax is still connected via the same system to the now digital PVR via one socket of a 2 gang plate. Loop output coax from the PVR then connects via the other socket of the 2 gang plate providing input to an amplifier in the loft. Amplifier output coaxes then connect to the TV sockets in each room ( including the lounge ).
It would appear that the aerial socket in the 2 gang plate has developed a fault. What has confused things, is that despite unplugging the cable, which inputs and loops back through the PVR, the amplifier still picks up sufficient signal to feed the room sockets, including the lounge. Hence the Samsung TV, when connected via coax, is still able to tune to channels such as 20 ( Drama ) but the PVR when coax reconnected to the aerial socket and using HDMR to the Samsung, is losing channels.
I am ordering a new 2 gang socket and trusting once this has been fitted that the problem will have been solved.
Thanks again,
Colin

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Colin Sharp's 4 posts US flag
C
Colin Sharp
9:14 AM

MikeP:
Thanks for your response. After some hours, I believe I have at last identified the problem.
May I first explain my aerial set up. In the past, when using analogue recorder, I wanted to be able to playback from the recorder ( located in the lounge ) to a TV in any room of the house. The aerial coax is still connected via the same system to the now digital PVR via one socket of a 2 gang plate. Loop output coax from the PVR then connects via the other socket of the 2 gang plate providing input to an amplifier in the loft. Amplifier output coaxes then connect to the TV sockets in each room ( including the lounge ).
It would appear that the aerial socket in the 2 gang plate has developed a fault. What has confused things, is that despite unplugging the cable, which inputs and loops back through the PVR, the amplifier still picks up sufficient signal to feed the room sockets, including the lounge. Hence the Samsung TV, when connected via coax, is still able to tune to channels such as 20 ( Drama ) but the PVR when coax reconnected to the aerial socket and using HDMR to the Samsung, is losing channels.
I am ordering a new 2 gang socket and trusting once this has been fitted that the problem will have been solved.
Thanks again,
Colin

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Colin Sharp's 4 posts US flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:02 AM

Colin Sharp:

Whoever set up your aerial and signal feed system made a classic mistake. The amplifier, if needed at all, should always be as close to the aerial as is possible and should always be the first active item in the system. Yours is not the first item in the system so it is amplifying not only the signals received off-air but also the signals feed out by the PVR which may include some RF feed (many are fitted with a modulator for use when there is no SCART or HDMI connection possible). So I would suggest that when you replace the dual faceplate that you investigate how to get the amplifier, if needed, into the signal feeds before both the PVR and the TV.

By checking the signal strength shown on the manual tuning page of your TV set you will then see whether the amplifier is needed at all. An ideal signal strength would be between 60% and 85%, any more would give the loss of channels experienced by some with too much signal, often shown on the TV as a message saying 'No Signal' which is misleading.


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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
C
Colin Sharp
6:40 PM

MikeP:
Your advice, questioning the need for an amplifier and indicating, if required, where it should be positioned in circuit, relative to the Aerial and PVR is appreciated. I will consider the possibility of amending the existing wiring set up. This was installed in the days of analogue signals and VHS recorder.
Whilst I accept that it may not be the correct arrangement now, I am not sure, given the requirements at the time, which were to split the analogue signal to TV sockets in 6 locations throughout the house and to provide video playback at all of these, from a single recorder, that this could have been achieved in a different manner.
Regards, Colin

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Colin Sharp's 4 posts US flag
Wednesday, 17 October 2018
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:28 AM

Colin Sharp:

Yes it could have been. The aerial would have fed the VHS recorder directly and the output of that fed to a distribution splitter, which may have provided some amplification to bring all the signals to the same level, and thence to each of the sockets. Note that an active splitter is not the same as a signal amplifier. in splitting the signal feeds there is always some loss involved and an active splitter provides enough amoplification to recover the signal levels at each output to roughtly the same as it would have been without the signals being split. On the other hand, an aerial amplifier is mounted as close to the aerial as possible and amplifies an already weak signal. If the signal is not weak, then no amplifier is needed. In your case it seems that you need an active splitter and not an amoplifier. Please check whether the device you are calling an 'amoplifier' is either an amplifier or an active splitter - looking up the product name/part number will help.

It would help if you provided a full post code so that we contributors can look at the predicted reception conditions at your location and hence determine whether you need any amplifier at all.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Saturday, 20 October 2018
M
MR P WATMOUGH
7:07 PM
Nottingham

Michael: Dear Sir We are having major problems with 4G interference on most channels I have fitted the filters al800 provided waste of time, it even totally removed Sky News. I suspect that 4g are slowly increasing their ERP month by month. I have 2 quality outdoor aerials on my mast I note that the top aerial gives less 4g problems. I have spoken to al800 an utter waste of time they ARE NOT ENGINEERS just clerks and do not have a clue about the problems just post out (eventually) filters. I now intend to demand that they send a senior to carry out any work required at now charge.
Again many Thanks Mr P. Watmough 20 Church Lane Redmile Notts NG13 0GE phone 01949842687

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MR P WATMOUGH's 6 posts US flag
MR's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 21 October 2018
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:36 AM

P Watmough:

At Redmile you are just 12km from the Waltham transmitter and should be getting a very strong signal - and that could well be the cause of your problems and why the 4G filters had no effect.

May I suggest that you check the signal strength using the facility on your TV set, usually found in the Manual Tuning option but DO NOT RETUNE. Make a note of the strengths for each multiplex. The ideal levels are between 60% and 85% - any less or more will cause the type of problems you report. If they are above 85% then you need to reduce those levels by fitting an attenuator into the aerial feed, use an additional flylead so that the weight of any attenuator does not 'hang' on the aerial input socket bon the back of the TV. Attenuators are availble in differing strengths or as a variable type that you can adjust. Shops such as Amazon, amongst others, sell them.

BTW, never give your full address on a public website such as this, that almost invites potential problems. All this site needed was a full post code and not a full address.

(As an aside, I used to live in Cropwell Bishop so I know how beautiful the area is.)

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Thursday, 25 October 2018
I
Ian
8:36 PM
Hinckley

After years of normal service from my set up I now have a problem.
My aerial is set to Waltham even though Sutton Coldfield is nearer, because I'm in the East mids and not the West.

All Muxes have been fine, not as strong as from Sutton Coldfield but all over 75% quality. Over the past few months I have noticed that mux 29 has reduced to poor quality but is still stable but mux 56 has completely disappeared, no signal strength or quality, 57 is perfect. Not a real problem as due to the position of the aerial I can get the missing mux from Sutton Coldfield on the side of the aerial. Its the same on all equipment. Just wondering why its only the one mux that has gone??? Cant pinpoint when this actually happened because freeview is only used as a back up and in 2 rooms, normally use satellite.

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Ian's 9 posts GB flag
Ian's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 26 October 2018
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

12:05 PM

WALTHAM transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Very Weak Signal; DSO related from 10:19 today. [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
I
Ian
1:49 PM
Hinckley

Doesn't explain the problems.

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Ian's 9 posts GB flag
Ian's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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