Full Freeview on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter
Brian Butterworth first published this on - UK Free TV
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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Thursday, 23 December 2021
C
Chris.SE3:29 AM
Robert warnock :
The Planned Engineering continued last week but has been completed as far as we know. What has been an issue for a few days is weather conditions.
There has been moderate Temperature Inversion/Tropospheric Ducting affecting large parts of the UK for several days.. Do NOT retune, it will more likely remove your correct tuning.
These conditions are predicted to ease late on Wednesday by the end of the night
Despite the incorrect spelling, this link does work - simple technical explanation
https://www.bbc.co.uk/rec….jpg
Essentially it results in interfering signals from other transmitters in the UK or Europe reaching you and so your wanted signals are disrupted. It won't necessarily affect all multiplexes or necessarily at the same time if more than one. It can last for seconds, minutes, sometimes hours or longer.
The BBC have had a warning on their Works and Warnings page for a few days, and Freeview had added one on Wednesday (better late than never!) but at the time it was then mainly affecting the S & SE.
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Wednesday, 26 January 2022
J
James halsey6:59 PM
What is the mux frequency for _local?
I would like to get kmtv and the other channels on this mux
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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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