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 28/10/2024 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, 13 July 2022
C
Chris.SE1:36 PM
Ken Reaveley:
Oh, forgot to mention - that regular viewers of the channels on COM7 will have seen the pop-up information that appeared on each channel explaining what was happening to the individual channel after June 29th/30th and these pop-ups were available for at least a week.
COM7 (& 8) were always temporary multiplexes (this is years old information) to stimulate interest in HD. The OFCOM extension of the licence until June 30th 2022 had been known since June 2020 which was initially the date it was thought those two multiplexes may close had the sale of the frequencies for MNO use (EU wide) gone ahead as planned. Covid of course disrupted all of this.
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Saturday, 16 July 2022
J
John Simmons11:56 PM
I am only receiving channels on PSB1, signal strength 97%, all others are just a blank screen, signal at 0%. Can't find any info online.
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Sunday, 17 July 2022
C
Chris.SE3:40 PM
John Simmons:
Whilst current weather conditions can disrupt reception with signals from distant transmitter in the UK or Europe causing interference (Freeview and the BBC had issued warnings) reception in your area is unlikely to be affected at this particular moment (doesn't mean it won't be!).
I take it from your remarks that you probably haven't retuned, but DON'T as this will probably clear your correct tuning if done when you have no signal.
If perchance you have retuned, then
I suggest you do a MANUAL tune on the UHF channels for the multiplexes you are missing (list right at the top of the page, remembering COM7 has now closed).
The transmitter has been the subject of Planned Engineering, and there's a possibility that some work may be continuing, it's unusual for individual multiplexes to be off-air or low power for any length of time.
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Sunday, 7 August 2022
C
C Russell 8:10 AM
No Freeview on 34--43--46
32&40 ok
Problem started 6/8/22
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C
Chris.SE2:03 PM
C Russell :
For Bluebell Hill the full list of UHF channels are C32, C34, C45, C40, C43, C46, & C21 for the multiplexes in the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6 & the Local multiplex.
Bluebell Hill has been currently listed for Planned Engineering with the possible effect "Screen may go black on all or certain channels". As you haven't given a full postcode we can't say if you are in a weak signal area where such engineering may have greater impact.
To complicate matters, current weather conditions have resulted in some very variable Tropospheric Ducting resulting in periodic interference with signals from distant transmitters in Europe or the UK affecting reception.- do NOT retune, as this will likely just clear your correct tuning.
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Wednesday, 10 August 2022
J
John Groves5:59 PM
Today 10th August 2022 Meridiam TV has been replaced with LOndon why is that and why do you not have a contact telephone number
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C
Chris.SE6:34 PM
John Groves:
I can't find any faults currently listed for the Bluebell Hill transmitter. It was listed for Planned Engineering last week and it's possible some work may be continuing although not listed. Depending on the work sometimes the "wrong" region is fed for a period of time.
However there may be other reasons that you are seeing London news. If at some point you had no signal and retuned (never advised if you were correctly tuned before as this usually just clears the correct tuning), you can end up tuned to the wrong transmitter, maybe Crystal Palace.
Check in your TV tuning section that you are correctly tuned to the UHF channels as listed in the post before yours.
If you haven't retuned, then note the remark about weather conditions. This is currently affecting the SE and you simply may be getting signal from another transmitter on the same channels. Nothing you can do except wait for conditions to change.
If you require further help and reception advice we need a full postcode to look at your predicted reception.
This is an independent technical helpsite and if you still need to contact Meridian you are probably best using a search engine and look for "Contact us" on the relevant site.
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Wednesday, 9 August 2023
B
Brian9:52 PM
Had problem for a week from bluebell hill. Yesterday service returned to normal on all channels. Tonight problem has returned. What going on with the transmitter
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C
Chris.SE10:41 PM
Brian:
A|s you may have seen from the post before yours, last week the transmitter was subject to Planned Engineering.
You say tonight the problem has returned, what exactly is the problem you are having?
What time approx. did it start? Is it now back to normal?
The BBC have logged a fault with the BBCB HD multiplex which would have affected all HD channels only, but that fault should have been cleared at 9.03pm
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Tuesday, 5 December 2023
C
cyril horton8:57 AM
Have just bought a new LG TV first thing in the morning I tend to lose all my channels and have to retune but during the day all you can turn the TV with no problem .Would this be you or my new TV
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