Freeview Light on the Bishops Stortford (Hertfordshire, England) transmitter
 | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.871,0.176 or 51°52'16"N 0°10'33"E |  | CM23 5GB |
The symbol shows the location of the Bishops Stortford (Hertfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 7,700 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 Bishops Stortford (Hertfordshire, England) mast?
Bishop's Stortford transmitter - Bishop's Stortford transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 18/11/2024 Screen may go black on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Bishops Stortford (Hertfordshire, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: U&Yesterday, 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera Eng, Al Jazeera English, Blaze, Blaze +1, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, DMAX, E4 Extra, YAAAS!, Film4 +1, Food Network, FRANCE 24 (in English), GREAT! action, GREAT! christmas, GREAT! movies, GREAT! romance mix, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, Legend, PBS America, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky Mix, Sky News, Talking Pictures TV, That's 90s, That's TV 2, Together TV, TRUE CRIME, TRUE CRIME XTRA, U&Dave, U&Dave ja vu, U&Drama +1, U&W.
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which Freeview channels does the Bishops Stortford 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.
| Mux | H/V | Frequency | Height | Mode | Watts |
| PSB1 BBCA | V max | C29 (538.0MHz) | 108m | DTG- | 14W |
 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 | V max | C31 (554.0MHz) | 108m | DTG- | 14W |
 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 | V max | C37 (602.0MHz) | 108m | DTG- | 14W |
 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 | |||||
Are you trying to watch these 44 Freeview channels?
The Bishops Stortford (Hertfordshire, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: U&Yesterday, 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera Eng, Al Jazeera English, Blaze, Blaze +1, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, DMAX, E4 Extra, YAAAS!, Film4 +1, Food Network, FRANCE 24 (in English), GREAT! action, GREAT! christmas, GREAT! movies, GREAT! romance mix, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, Legend, PBS America, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky Mix, Sky News, Talking Pictures TV, That's 90s, That's TV 2, Together TV, TRUE CRIME, TRUE CRIME XTRA, U&Dave, U&Dave ja vu, U&Drama +1, U&W.
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Bishops Stortford transmitter?
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 45km south-southwest (208°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 44km south-southwest (206°)
to ITV London region - 55 masts.
How will the Bishops Stortford (Hertfordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 21 Mar 2018 | |||||
| C/D E | C/D E | C/D E | C/D E T | A K T | |||||
| C29 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C31 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C37 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C49tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ||||||
| C50tv_off | BBCB | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | D3+4 | |||||
| C59tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | |||||
| C62 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves |
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 | 29W | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-3.2dB) 14W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Crystal Palace transmitter area
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Monday, 2 April 2012
Roof aerial points to Crystal palace. Location Stansted Mountfitchet
Would Sandy Heath give me a good picture?
Last week we had the pleasure of receiving ITV Anglia News instead of London! Reverted unfortunately over the weekend.
Why did this happen?
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Steve's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Steve: Looking around your road using Google Streetview there are quite a few talls trees which could be an issue. I can't see a single aerial on Sandy Heath, but a few have an aerial on Sudbury and one on Crystal Palace.
This perhaps suggests that the trees put paid to reception from Sandy Heath. Maybe your neighbours could advise as to how good their Sudbury reception is.
If you do go for Sandy Heath, then its Public Service (PSB) channels are Group A (first third of the band) and Commercial (COM) channels are Group B (middle third of the band). Thus, if your current aerial is a Group A one (which all of Crystal Palace's channels are before and after switchover), then it will work for Sandy Heath's PSBs.
If you go for Sudbury, then its PSBs are Group B and its COMs are Group C/D (top third of the band).
Wideband aerials trade sensitivity within each Group with increase sensitivity across the whole band, particularly being less so on Group A channels. See here:
Gain (curves), Again
In summary:
- Crystal Palace would appear to be your best bet from a signal strength point of view on all channels. However, it gives you London programming.
- Sandy Heath may be blocked by trees; you can perhaps see much better whether this is the case than Streetview shows.
- From what I can see, no one has an aerial on Sandy Heath. You could perhaps take a walk around your area and see if this is the case, perhaps identifying why it may be the case (e.g. trees).
- Whilst the Digital UK Predictor suggests that reception of Sudbury's PSBs will be "poor" and its COMs "variable", there are a number of aerials on it. The predictor's calculation of poor PSBs could be as a result of another transmitter using the same channels. Aerials have greater rejection of unwanted signals in some directions than in others, so this may be less of an issue, depending on that factor.
- For full service from Sandy Heath or Sudbury, Group aerials that cover a third of the band will not be sufficient. Either a single wideband aerial (perhaps a less favourable option for Sandy Heath with its PSBs being Group A) or two Group aerials diplexed (combined) together into one downlead. Or for Sudbury, a single Group E aerial (top two thirds of band).
- If you do go for Sudbury, then its COMs are on low power until 27th June, so will probably be unavailable at your location until then.
- Sandy Heath's SDN multiplex (ITV3 etc) is on low power until 9th May, so may be unavailable until then.
For lots of information about aerials, see ATV Sheffield's site www.aerialsandtv.com
See the page on aerial Groups Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial
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Steve: I hope that I've gone in at too high a level. If I have, let me know.
If you are considering getting in a professional rigger, then can help to have an appreciation of the potential issues.
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Monday, 11 November 2024
Transmitter engineering
10:48 AM
10:48 AM
Bishops Stortford transmitter - Bishops Stortford transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 11/11/2024 Shutdown [DUK]
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Tuesday, 12 November 2024
Transmitter engineering
1:49 PM
1:49 PM
Bishops Stortford transmitter - Bishops Stortford transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 11/11/2024 Screen may go black on some or all channels [DUK]
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Monday, 18 November 2024
Transmitter engineering
5:09 AM
5:09 AM
Bishops Stortford transmitter - Bishops Stortford transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 18/11/2024 Screen may go black on some or all channels [DUK]
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