Full Freeview on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.324,0.520 or 51°19'25"N 0°31'13"E |  | ME5 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.
Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) mast?
Bluebell Hill transmitter - Bluebell Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 25/09/2023 Pixelation or flickering 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.
64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
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.
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?
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 28km southwest (218°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
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?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 19 Jul 2018 | |||||
| E | E | E | W T | W T | |||||
| C21 | _local | ||||||||
| C28 | _local | ||||||||
| C32 | com7 | ||||||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C39 | +ArqA | ||||||||
| C40 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | +BBCB | SDN | ||||
| C43 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | ArqA | ||||
| C45 | SDN | BBCB | |||||||
| C46 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | ArqB | ||||
| C54tv_off | ArqB | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | COM8tv_off | ||||||||
| C65 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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 |
Local transmitter maps
Bluebell Hill Freeview Bluebell Hill DAB Bluebell Hill TV region BBC South East Meridian (East micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Bluebell Hill transmitter area
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Wednesday, 26 January 2022
C
Chris.SE7:18 PM
James halsey:
For Bluebell Hill the correct UHF channels are C32, C34, C45, C40, C43, C46, C55, C21 for the multiplexes in the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7 & the Local multiplex.
Reception of particular multiplexes, especially the temporary COM7 and Local will depend very much on location.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are carried on which multiplex.
If you hover over each of those channel numbers, it will give you the frequency.
Unfortunately the entries towards the top of the page haven't been fully updated by the site owner since 700MHz clearance.
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Thursday, 27 January 2022
J
James halsey6:32 AM
Many thanks.
It would appear I am unable to get a signal on C21.
Maybe I am too far away from the transmitter (Faversham)
Although I get 100% signal strength on all other Mux's
Including Crystal Palace too.
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J
James halsey6:37 AM
Thanks
I am not getting a signal on C21.
I am assuming that maybe I am too far away.
I am in Faversham with a mast head amp, I get 100% signal on all other mux.
I even get a good signal on Crystal Palace.
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C
Chris.SE2:19 PM
James halsey:
Ah, now there's an additional problem, C21 used used by a Freeview Light Relay for Faversham!! Although it's vertically polarised and Bluebell Hill horizontal, it'll still most likely be a problem.
The transmitter is located in the Ospringe area and beamed towards Faversham, so it'll very much depend on your location and possibly whether your aerial is screened from the Faversham transmitter.
If you care to provide a full postcode, we can look at predicted reception as many parts of Faversham are not predicted to get good reception from ANY of the main transmitters whose signals may reach the area.
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Friday, 28 January 2022
J
James halsey5:22 AM
Me137nb
It's only the _local mux I am not receiving.
All others are fine.
Including Crystal Palace, again except _local
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Saturday, 29 January 2022
C
Chris.SE5:31 PM
James halsey:
The problem is you are right in the middle of the coverage area of the Faversham relay. So it's transmissions on C21 just cause interference to any signal from the Bluebell Hill Local mux, hence all your set can see is a load of "noise" so it sees that as no signal.
Having looked at this in more detail, you only need to go slightly NW outside of the Faversham coverage and you'll find a signal from Bluebell Hill, even as close as the NW edges of Bysing Wood. It's predicted to be poor (as is the Faversham Relay signal) but it's there.
Basically, if you were using an aerial with good cross-polar rejection and screened from the Faversham Relay at Ospringe by say a nice thick stone building wall, you might be in with a chance. However, there's a conflict there, as to get that screening the aerial may need to be too low down to get an adequate signal fro Bluebell Hill. But here is another interesting thing.
There are some Bluebell Hill relays, most significantly one at Sittingbourne Stockers Hill which appear to be operating as a Single Frequency Network (SFN) ie. syncronised and using the same channels as Bluebell Hill (except COM7).
So it's possible that you may be getting some of your signals from that.
Question - do your get COM7 on UHF C55?
Your particular location seems to have Bluebell Hill, Sittingbourne Stockers Hill and Crystal Palace well within the beamwidth of virtually all aerials. In that order, compass bearing 268 degrees, 267 degrees & 278 degrees. so that's why you can get them without any real problem.
As far as the London Local mux is concerned, no chance. That one is beamed (as are most local muxes) from Crystal Palace towards London (unlike the Bluebell Hill one it seems).
So apart from there being no signal in any southerly direction, as London uses C35 you get quite a good signal from Dover for PSB2 which uses C35, it would wipeout anything else.
In summary, unless you are someone with a bit of tech knowledge and want to play with aerials, you might as well forget these Local muxes. If you have a good enough Broadband signal, you could watch KMTV online - (on your TV if it has a browser) at KMTV - Delivering news, sport and entertainment across Kent
HTH.
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C
Chris.SE5:36 PM
James halsey:
Should have made it clear that neither the Local Mux or COM7 are transmitted from Sittingbourne Stockers Hill.
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Saturday, 5 February 2022
J
James halsey3:03 PM
Chris.SE:
Yes I do get excellent reception on c55's mux
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J
James halsey3:12 PM
Chris.SE:
The TV advises
Transmitter ONID
South east 0x233a
TSID 0x104c
Network Id 0x3052
Information from ch32 mux
I hope that may help?
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C
Chris.SE3:13 PM
James halsey:
Well bearing in mind that COM7 operates as a Single Frequency Network (SFN) and your location and aerial direction, that signal could be coming from Bluebell Hill or Crystal Palace or a combination of both.
None of which unfortunately changes the problem of interference to The Bluebell Hill Local mux on C21 from PSB1 on the Faversham Relay at Ospringe.
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