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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
Wednesday, 16 September 2020
J
jj
1:12 PM

hello, last couple of nights on signal from waltham, have had pixilating and weak signal after 10pm, cant see that there is weather conditions to affect the 25kw and 10kw mux's? this is really annoying as the bbc and itv on 50kw mux's never affected by weather so far!

so is there work being carried out after 10pm? but if it is weather, why cant the signal be upped to 50kw, or at the very least when there is potential for atmospheric effect, temporarily up these 25kw and 10kw mux's to 50kw same as bbc and itv mux?

i have a loft ariel in central peterborough PE1 with no problem ever with bbc or itv on 50kw, waltham is my best bet, as low urban sprall in that direction.

to many high rises and brick walls to go through for sandy heath direction.

the only common denominator seems to be difference between mux's signal power at the transmitter?

link to this comment
jj's 1 post GB flag
Thursday, 17 September 2020
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:52 AM

jj:

It isn't just "weather conditions" that you may physically observe, it's "Tropospheric Ducting" that can occur under certain atmospheric conditions. Indeed there were some strong tropospheric conditions in different parts of the country Monday and Tuesday, and more predicted later in the week, but like weather forecasts, predictions can change.

The further you are from a transmitter (as well as how strong/weak the signals are) and the specific frequency will determine how likely interference from any distant transmitter (Europe or UK) might be at any given time.

If you are finding that this becomes a more frequent issue, (climate change isn't something anyone has direct control over) maybe best firstly to check your installation hasn't deteriorated in any way (aerial moved a bit, coax degraded, other objects in/on/around the loft or roof causing signal reception to be different), but then secondly to consider an improved aerial installation.
As you haven't provided a full postcode, I can't comment on the predicted reception at your location.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
J
jj
10:33 AM

hello, chris,

thanks, i understand the atmospherics having this effect, but my annoyance is that the bbc, itv channel 4 mux's broadcast at 50kw, are never a problem (so the 50kw power seems to negate the effect of atmospherics?), so my installation is good. recently updated from a 5 element to a 12 element aerial which really improved signal strength.

but occasionally, when there is bad weather / atmospheric events between me and Waltham, the mux's broadcast at 25kw (really pick dave etc.), pixelate and breakup, while the 50kw bbc itv ch4 mux's remain fine.

and then the 10kw mux forces tv, is a problem more frequently.

my questions, being that the power of broadcast seems to be the common denominator. Is why cant the 25kw and 10kw mux's be broadcast at 50kw?, and if this isn't viable on a permanent basis like the bbc and itv mux's are, why cant the power be boosted when atmospheric events occur, to maintain seamless transmission across all programme channels? thanks.

link to this comment
jj's 1 post GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:35 PM

jj:

I'm afraid that 50kW doesn't always guarantee good reception even if reasonably close.
Reported elsewhere, on Monday eg. at Ventnor I-O-W, reception of the BBCA mux was wiped out in the evening, and the D3&4 the following morning. There was good reception of some French muxes on other UHF channels.

Transmitters have always had to share frequencies, but they are generally allocated around the country so as not to cause problems in the predicted reception areas under normal conditions, and the same principle goes for coastal areas (eg. S. coast and France, E. coast and Belgium etc.) as well as the use of directional transmission where possible. The higher the power the more likely there'll be unwanted interference.

Because priority is given to ensuring that as much of the country as possible can receive the 3 PSB muxes, that has a limiting effect on available frequencies & powers for the other muxes. There are over 1100 transmitters in the UK, just over 80 are main transmitters, the rest are relays carrying just the 3 PSBs (apart from one welsh one which has SDN as well!). So at the end of the day, it's a bit of a balancing act and unfortunately there will be some locations that lose out on some muxes due to co-channel interference, good directional aerial installations may help in some places but not everywhere.

Turning up the power would just cause additional interference to many, so unfortunately that isn't an option.
You may happen to be in a poor spot for some of those COM muxes anyway.

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Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
J
John Pykett
11:35 PM

anyone else having problems with com7 on this transmitter???

link to this comment
John Pykett's 7 posts GB flag
Friday, 18 September 2020
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:41 AM

John Pykett:

It might be an idea to read the 3 or 4 posts just before yours.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 3 November 2020
T
Tim
7:08 PM

Hello,
20th October ITV HD regions were supposed to have changed, and for those on freeview no retuning was needed, should automatically start getting ITV HD Central (East) instead of West, but doesn't seem to have happened.
Signal is coming from Waltham which I'm guessing is still correct (this page still shows central west but I'm guessing it may not have been updated).
Tried retunes, tried adding one channel at a time (channel 35) incase one is overtaking another on installation but still getting Central West on 103 (note, still getting Central East on 3, which was always the case for SD).
Thanks

link to this comment
Tim's 2 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:21 PM

Tim: ITV HD regions have not changed on Freeview, the changes only took place on satellite and cable. There has been no announcement of any date/timescale for any additional BBC or ITV HD regions to be made available on Freeview. Making these changes on Freeview is much more complex and expensive than satellite or cable and required the BBC and ITV to agree to co-ordinate and split the cost (several million pounds) of the changes required to bring additional HD regions to Freeview.

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StevensOnln1's 3,606 posts GB flag
T
Tim
7:41 PM

StevensOnln1: Thanks! I must have misheard Freesat with Freeview and got ahead of myself! Plus side is that today I've learnt about transmitters frequencies and channels! Thanks again!

link to this comment
Tim's 2 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 10 November 2020
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:29 AM

WALTHAM transmitter - DAB: Off the air due to a fault from 10 Nov 07:48 until 10 Nov 07:50. . [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
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