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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.

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.

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
Thursday, 18 October 2018
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:41 AM

Chris SE:

I am very well qualified as I spent 50 years working in the TV inductry in technical roles, as a Senior Technical Trainer for a large TV rental company before moving to similar roles in other related companies. I also have a Masters Degree in Electronics and Physics. So I am very well qualified to make the comments I do based on both technical knowledge and understanding as well as relevant experience.

Further, you miss the point that we do not know what equipment is being used by the person reporting a problem. So we need a general approach unless a specific question is asked. Further, due to the varying attenuation by the atmosphere we do not know how much their signal varies, as it does on every receiver, so we need to give guidance in such a way as to avoiud the overload conditions whilst still meeting the minimum requirement levels needed by tuners.

I know of instances where a 90% signal strength gives intermittent problems. My younger brother, also an electronics engineer with higher degrees, was suffering from just such a problem and when we checked the strength it was in the 90% range and varying. So a 3dB attenuator was fitted, reducing the signal levels to 84% on most multiplexes and that cured the intermittent sound problem. A family friend was having problems with apparent loss of some channels. All the usual checks were made of the aerial system and the only feature visible was the strength being 96% on the worst affected mux. A 6dB attenuator solved that with a signal strength now showing as 86%.

You asked why I and others so often quote the 60%-85% range, they are examples of why. You assumed I didn't know what I was talking about so I have now corrected your understanding.

QED.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Monday, 22 October 2018
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:12 PM

MikeP:

Quote - "You assumed I didn't know what I was talking about so I have now corrected your understanding. "

I did nothing of the sort, NOR did I state that, NOR did I state that there were not cases where signals greater than 85% gave problems.

You made a statement in another post elsewhere that "any more WILL cause significant problems".
That is patently NOT true, whilst it MIGHT cause a problem in some cases, it won't in all cases.
It's your definitive wording that I'm quibbling with.

I'm certain that there are plenty of others who have posted here (and no doubt elsewhere) that have signal strengths greater than 85% with no issue.

Your post on Tuesday, 16 October 2018 11:24 AM was posted in a tone that assumed I did not understand anything to do with the issues involved, as does your last post. That is arrogant. Nor am I missing any points. I am also a degree qualified engineer (as I indicated in my previous post) with a similar number of years experience with TV and in other electrical & electronic fields.

As stated, I just don't agree with your definitive wording, IMHO you should use that word MIGHT not WILL, "simples" as the saying goes. Now doubt you will carry on using wording of your choice.
Having now thrashed this to death, Endof.


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Chris.SE's 4,363 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 23 October 2018
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:02 AM

ChrisSE:

I wonder where you got those quotes from as they do not apear in any of my postings - I am careful not to be so deliberately rude!

Your understanding is different from mine, so please stop trying to change physics.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Friday, 26 October 2018
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:49 AM

MikeP:

I don't believe I've been rude at all, just because I didn't agree with your choice of words.
I have quoted from your posts.

Try reading your post on Monday, 15 October 2018 10:47 AM on the Sudbury transmitter page -
Quote "So start by checking the indicated signal strengths on all the multiplexes. They need to be between 60% and 85%, any more will cause significant problems that can be cured by fitting an attenutator into the aerial cable behind the set ........."

Other "quotes" are from your posts on this transmitter board.
I notice some of your more recent posts have been worded in a way I totally agree with.
As I've said, this has been thrashed to death, so we'll have to agree to disagree.
However one query - what equipment was your younger brother using that had the intermittent sound problem?

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,363 posts GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:01 AM

ChrisSe:

We disagree. End of. Please don't mislead anyone further.



link to this comment
MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
C
Chris
11:38 PM

Chris.SE & MikeP:

Why does my signal drop out when vehicles pass by my house? I live on a busy road and it is worse at rush hour or when a bus goes by. I live within 2km of the transmitter and my signal strength is 70 to 90%. Signal quality 90 to 100% but drops off when traffic passes. Often goes black and displays "No Signal" message. Didn't happen before changes on 19th July 2018. What has changed to cause this? Thanks

link to this comment
Chris's 17 posts GB flag
Saturday, 27 October 2018
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:52 AM

Chris:

We need a full post code so that we can see exactly where you are in relation to the transmitter and road. Is the road level above your house?



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Monday, 29 October 2018
C
Chris
8:19 PM
Chatham

My postcode is ME5 8UN. The house is at the same level as the road.

link to this comment
Chris's 17 posts GB flag
Chris's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:40 PM

MikeP:
Why couldn't you answer my question - "However one query - what equipment was your younger brother using that had the intermittent sound problem? " I was genuinely interested!

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Chris.SE's 4,363 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 30 October 2018
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:58 AM

Chris:

In a reply to one of your previous posts in August, Mike suggested the possibility of too much signal as you are only 2km from the transmitter with which I agree is a possibility. However, as you have mentioned in various posts that this only started happening with HD channels after the July transmitter changes, I think we'll need a lot more information.
The transmitter changes only moved some of the SD muxes around existing UHF channels, the exception being the move of COM7 and 8 to UHF 55 & 56, both of these are DVB-T2 (HD) muxes. Both of those are lower power (no change) than the other 6 muxes.

So, precisely which HD channels are you having a problem with?

How old is your aerial installation, has it been changed in say the last 12 months and have there been any other changes to the installation?
If the coax is old, it may have degraded and/or become damaged.
Have you checked all your internal coax connections/plugs?

Do you know what aerial you have, how big is it and where is it installed?
Is the aerial still pointing in the correct direction, has it moved at all?
Have there been any nearby structural changes to buildings, any scaffolding etc.?

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Chris.SE's 4,363 posts US flag
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Your comment please
Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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