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 22/04/2024 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, 4 September 2013
J
Jeanne Gunning3:25 PM
The trouble always seems to start at around 2l.00 hrs. The picture begins to break up and then disappear. Last evening, 3rd September, all channels apart from BBC1 and Channel 3 showed "No Signal". I have just purchased a new T.V. and have an aerial booster. Where does my signal come from? Have you any advice?
Many thanks.
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Friday, 27 September 2013
L
lynne9:53 PM
I have constant problem where the tv loses the signal i live in Herne bay is there any thing i can do to make the signal better just seem so daft that in 2013 we are still having signal problems
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Saturday, 19 October 2013
M
martin Crabtree1:32 PM
Maidstone
hello
We are currently not receiving any TV signal in East Street Hunton for over 2 hours. Is there currently a problem with the Blue Bell Hill transmitter ?
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martin's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 2 November 2013
L
LouiseB3:28 PM
Gillingham
Have recently turned my loft aerial towards Bluebell Hill after all reception from Crystal palace was becoming unwatchable (was ok until 6 days ago, last staw was losing PCB1!, used to receive over 100 channels without a booster previously).
I'm in area ME7 5HY and from Bluebell Hill I am not receiving any channels from ArqA or ArqB. I've tried clearing all channels and retuning more than once, sometimes I seem to pick up enough signal for the ArqA channels to be put in the 800's on my TV (Samsung TV with built in tuner). I have tried a separate freeview tuner and it is reporting poor to no signal for ArqA and no signal at all for ArqB. Meanwhile as I type, the wind outside has picked up and I'm experiencing a lot of interference with the channels I can receive (PSB1 is blank with broken sound, and SDN is juddering and popping, it was OK this morning). I don't understand how can I have such poor reception from my local transmitter.
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LouiseB's: mapL's Freeview map terrainL's terrain plot wavesL's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage
LouiseB: Looking at your street, there are going to be few, if any, locations where reception from Bluebell Hill within the loft "might" be a possibility.
The row of houses are in line with the signal! That is, the houses run a little clockwise of being north to south and the signal is coming from just clockwise of south.
It's likely that the signal path will be through a neighbour's roof space and that's aside from the question of whether there are trees and other obstructions in the way.
The hospital and trees around it quite clearly cause difficulty with TV reception from Bluebell Hill as the houses which are closer to it tend to be using Crystal Palace.
Quite frankly, I think that you have been lucky to have ever been able to receive Crystal Palace with a loft-fitted aerial, bearing in the mind that you are low down with higher ground in the way.
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L
LouiseB4:46 PM
Dave: Thanks again, have replied to your comments on the Crystal Palace page. Google maps doesn't show the terrain as well as I had hoped, as I always thought I was on fairly high ground - as there's quite a climb up from the valley that Chatham and Rochester are in - so the next high ground in view/sight is cuxton/shorne country park. Looks like I'll have to put the aerial back to Crystal Palace for now. Just wish I knew why the reception had deteriorated so much since the storm on 28th October as I said it was mostly watchable before that.
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LouiseB: I think that your difficulty with Bluebell Hill is caused by a combination of the hospital and the fact that the houses run in line with the signal. It's likely to be a waste of time if, on pointing the aerial at Bluebell Hill, it's being directed through a neighbour's loft space.
At least with Crystal Palace the house is perpendicular to the signal path (from the transmitter).
If your aerial is Group A (red tip) then it isn't so suited to Bluebell Hill. Group A is the bottom third of TV frequencies. Bluebell Hill's channels are Group B, which is the middle third.
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Sunday, 3 November 2013
L
LouiseB5:12 PM
Dave: Thanks, I've been learning a lot in the last 24 hours, all useful. I've been given the suggestion to try a test with a set-top aerial, which I will try as soon as I can borrow one. A friend of mine in Maidstone (uses either Bluebell Hill or Tonbridge transmitter, I'm not sure) has recently bought a new aerial from Asda with a 3G/4G filter and has said her reception has improved significantly. So I have a few things I can try/test before I start thing about replacing my whole set-up.
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LouiseB: A 4G filter is unlikely to be required, and if it is it can be added later. Those at greatest risk of interference use a transmitter which broadcasts on C60 or C59 which are the closest to 4G signals.
According to publically available data, the closest base stations to you are on the hospital (or at least within its grounds).
I've posted on the Crystal Palace page: I suggest that you get a Group K aerial if it's a yagi; a wideband is unnecessary. Invariably DIY shops and other outlets sell wideband aerials.
Do your homework and track down a model that professional installers would use.
Also, bear in mind that if all else fails you might have to have it put on the roof.
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