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.
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter._______
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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Friday, 10 July 2015
S
Steve8:28 AM
Thank you for the response Dave,
Unfortunately using manual tune doesn't give me a signal strength.
Actually scanning using manual lists 22 sevices on C46, none of which are available to be stored.
Checking the signal using the TalkTalk box I get 60% strength and 100% quality on BBC 1.
I can't remember the last time I tried to use the TV tuner, but a few months ago it was OK.
Can't understand why both freeview boxes are getting all the channels, but the inbuilt one in the TV isn't.
Thanks,
Steve
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M
MikeB9:34 PM
Steve: Can I ask how the TV and the box are connected. The Talk Talk (ok, really a HUmax) manual would probably tell you to put the main feed into the back of the recorder, and then get another aerial lead and 'loop through' into the TV.
If thats how its been done, then you know that your aerial feed is at least working (although more on that in a moment). If its passing fine via the box (and if it wasn't, you'd get nothing at all via the TV), then its worth just changing the aerial lead from the box into the TV. It could well be very loose, damaged, etc, hence the very dodgy signal.
There is one thing which might point to something else, or a combination of a dodgy aerial lead and something else. Your predicted signal from Bluebell Hill should be good, your just 9km from it! In fact a Talk Talk box would normally be screaming from too much signal. Now if you've put an attentuator on the feed that makes sense, but 60% is not that high for a transmitter so close with a tuner known to be fairly sensitive. It could be that your main aerial is fine for the Humax/Talk Talk, but the TV tuner is less sensitive, and perhaps compounded by a dodgy aerial lead, your getting very limited signal into the TV. You try swaping the main feed directly into the TV, just to see if that helps.
However, I'd check your main aerial as well as change the extra aerial lead, because your problem might be further up the chain.
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Saturday, 11 July 2015
J
jb388:14 AM
Steve : In addition to that already said (by others). You stated on your initial posting that - no amount of re-tuning made any difference, but though did you try resetting the TV?, e.g: by carrying out a "manufacturers reset" / "default setting" / "first time installation" or some similar meaning name, as resetting is "sometimes" the only way of rectifying odd problems.
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Sunday, 12 July 2015
S
Steve10:27 AM
OK, the main aerial goes into the back of an old freeview boc with a loopt through gizmo, then into the TalkTalk box, then to the TV.
I have ordered 2 new coax extensions, WF100 cable, which I assume is going to be a lot better than the stuff I have at the moment.
I will find out how to do a manufacturer's reset on the TV and try that also.
The coax from the aerial is good quality, but I must admit to having the aerial in the attic as there is direct line of sight, so that's probably why the strength is so low.
Thanks again for all the help.
Steve
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M
MikeB11:39 AM
Steve: Yout loft TV should be fine with direct line of sight - your only 9km away! In fact you night get away with an indoor aerial at that distance.
OK - so the signal goes via an old Freeview box (if the TV has a Freeview tuner, take it out of the circuit -you dont need it), then into the Talk Talk, and then into the TV.
The better cables might help, but do some tests first.
a) Put the feed from the wall directly into the TV and see what you get. If the signal strength is suddenly really high, then you know that the problem is somewhere along the chain (and again, if something doesn't need to be there any more, take it out). And check the aerial cables. The ones you've just ordered will be much better, but you can certainly get duff cables. In fact I was wiring up the 'new to us' TV last night, and one coax cable was shot, which took a while to work out, since it was looping through.
B) Make sure the TV is tuned to the right transmitter - it happens!
c)If the TV is getting a rubbish signal after all that, then it might be the tuner (make/model?), but I suspect the problem might be nearer the aerial, perhaps a dodgy connection in the roof or something. At least its in the roof, so you can check it more easily than if its on the roof. If the tuner is shot, then you have at least a backup with the Freeview box you've already got (and simply dont bother connecting up the TV tuner at all), plus the Talk Talk. But the extra tuner is really handy, since you can watch one channel and record two thers all at the same time.
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Monday, 13 July 2015
S
Steve9:54 AM
Well, thanks for the all the help.
I am sure I tried the aerial straight into the TV before and got the same result.
Anyway, first I completed the factory reset, still no good.
Aerial straight into TV, now got all channels, hurrah.
Back to going through the old freeview, and TalkTalk boxes, no BBC.
Using a spare coax cable tried all combinations of cables, still no BBC.
Checked aerial into TV again, all OK.
Left out old freeview box, no BBC.
Put old freeview box back in, left out TalkTalk box, all OK.
So it was the new TalkTalk box, went into settings, sure enough the loop through was "off", switched to "on" and all channels now available on the TV.
Now, I would have thought the TalkTalk guy seeing should have set this to "on".
But I also tried to use the TV whilst waiting for the new box and I couldn't get the channels, but by then I believe I had tried everything to get the old TalkTalk box working including factory resets etc. (had a lot of programs recorded), so probably turned off the the loop through during the process.
Again, thanks for all your help, and the new cables will probably be worth it anyway.
So back to being able to record four channels and watch one......
Steve
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Thursday, 17 September 2015
S
Scott Martin7:40 PM
Thursday 17th September. Freeview HD channel 4 picture breaking up during the Simpsons. 8pm no HD channels being received, even after full retune. Area ME7 Gillingham on Bluebell Hill transmitter. Is anybody else having this problem?
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Friday, 18 September 2015
P
Peter Robinson8:19 PM
Channel 24 Craigkelly has very poor signal quality, all others from this transmitter very good. Just happened recently as I retuned a couple of weeks a go and 24 had good signal then. No changes this end so it must be the transmitter, strangely see another comment from the 17th about channel 4. I would prefer a website which was up to date and told us when problem was likely to be cured.
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Sunday, 1 November 2015
We have lost the BBC channels for two days now- can only receive them on Hi Def TN37 7ND
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John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 2 November 2015
X
XYZ8:09 PM
Having problems with channels such as Dave and others on the same Mux.
Also had signal issues with BBC HD channels yesterday.
There must be something going on but there are no updates or problems showing on any site.
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