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Full Freeview on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.324,0.520 or 51°19'25"N 0°31'13"Esa_postcodeME5 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 28/10/2024 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 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C32 (562.0MHz)242mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) South East, 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
C34 (578.0MHz)242mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Meridian (East micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Meridian south coast), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C45+ (666.2MHz)242mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South East, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South 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
C40 (626.0MHz)242mDTG-820,000W
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
C43+ (650.2MHz)245mDTG-820,000W
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
C46 (674.0MHz)245mDTG-820,000W
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

DTG-8 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?

regional news image
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 28km southwest (218°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
regional news image
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?

1984-971997-981998-20122012-1319 Jul 2018
EEEW TW T
C21_local
C28_local
C32com7
C34com8
C39+ArqA
C40BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves+BBCBSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4ArqA
C45SDNBBCB
C46BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCAArqB
C54tv_offArqB
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off
C65C4wavesC4wavesC4waves

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

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Bluebell Hill transmitter area

Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated-Rediffusion†
Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Thames†
Jul 1968-Dec 1981London Weekend Television♦
Jan 1982-Dec 1992Television South (TVS)
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Meridian
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. Bluebell Hill 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, 4 June 2013
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

2:21 PM

Adrian: Without knowledge of your location, preferably by way of a postcode for yourself or a nearby shop/public building, it is not possible to check the predicted reception anticipated by DUK, thereby being able to possibly give further advice. All I can say, is that the reception of Bluebell Hill in a number of locations around Southend is shown as variable suggesting that either the terrain is difficult in some areas, or interference from distant transmitters could be experienced.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
B
Bert
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

6:22 PM
Sittingbourne

ME10 1DB, using Bluebell hill
Do you have any idea why our HD signal on C40 keeps going to "No Signal" on the TV screen on all the HD channels, All the SD channels are OK. We have a Panasonic DMR PWT420 recorder & within its set up you can see the signal strength & the signal quality levels moving around quite a bit & they will fall away completely for a second or so then recover. Our aerial man is a bit baffled. Our aerial is a wide band high gain & about 20 years old, it is already fitted with an amp.
Why is it only affecting the HD. Annoying, before the switchover last year it was OK. The aerial man has tried various filters & attenuaters

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Bert's 32 posts GB flag
Bert's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:00 PM

Bert: I wonder if it could be traffic on the M2 and the A249 which both cross the signal path. Or indeed it could be something else in the signal path, such as vegetation.

You don't have line-of-sight to the transmitter:


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location


Perhaps this is something that is out of your control which is why the various attempted fixes have not worked.

Different frequencies are affected by objects along the signal path in different ways which can result in not all channels being received at the same strength at a single location.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
A
Adrian
3:55 PM
Westcliff-on-sea

Thanks for replying kmj

My postcode is SS0 7SN

link to this comment
Adrian's 5 posts GB flag
Adrian's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
B
Bert
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

5:02 PM
Sittingbourne

Dave Lindsey
I did wonder about the line of sight problem, I can't view the terrain plot as i'm using IE8 on XP,
Aerial man is returning on Friday with an E group aerial & I will tell him to put it up on the chimney using the existing pole

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Bert's 32 posts GB flag
Bert's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
B
Bert
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

7:24 PM
Sittingbourne

Dave Lindsey
I clicked through to the megalith pages & fiddled about with my location to get it closer to the home. I still had two hills in the way but pushed the aerial up to 15 metres & it just clipped one up by the M2. So I'm out with the measuring tape tomorrow to get an idea of the height of the chimney, plus pole. I will tell the young aerial chap of the findings.
Thanks

link to this comment
Bert's 32 posts GB flag
Bert's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:34 PM

Bert: It doesn't work on a thin laser-like point! Anything within the first Fresnel Zone may affect reception:

Fresnel zone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also, there are objects on the ground and terrain plots only sample the ground height at intervals, so it may not be totally accurate.

Megalithia shows the first Fresnel zone by a pink line:


Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location


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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Saturday, 8 June 2013
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

8:25 AM

Adrian: The DUK prediction is for good reception on all muxes from Bluebell Hill and Crystal Palace using a suitable aerial. Firstly is your aerial on Bluebell Hill intended to receive C54? A group "E" or wideband would normally have been fitted for analogue reception, however if your aerial is a group "B", identified by a yellow stopper at the end of the boom, it would be somewhat less efficient at picking up C54. Trees or a tall building obstructing the signal path could also result in C54 being received at lower strength. If the aerial happens to be positioned in a null for C54, slight repositioning (raising, lowering or a short distance either side) might be needed to improve reception. Interference blocking the signal is another possibility, either an analogue signal from the RF modulator of a Sky box or VCR set on or near to C54, or interaction with an HDMI cable, which would need repositioning relative to the tuner or aerial fly lead to overcome such a problem. Check that all connectors are in order. One other thought, if a communal aerial is in use there might be channel filters which require adjustment to let C54 through. In that case the landlord or building management company would need to be contacted after getting confirmation that neighbours in the same block were having a similar problem.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 11 June 2013
B
Bert
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:11 PM
Sittingbourne

Dave Lindsay
My existing aerial & 3 metre pole have been refixed to the chimney gaining about 5 metres in height from its previous position. Since then we have not experienced any temporary loss of signal on the HD channels. The aerial man then said that we had 75db of signal with our existing masthead amp, he tried again but without the amp but the db's were too low. The chap said that the existing signal could be too high under certain conditions, so we now have a variable amp mounted in the loft set to give us 60+/-db. 3 TVs are off this one aerial, the bedroom & kitchen tvs are on one cable via a splitter instead of a small booster, this booster was not necessary with the good signal now from the repositioned aerial.
So, height matters in our post code.
Thanks for the advice

link to this comment
Bert's 32 posts GB flag
Bert's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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