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 04/12/2023 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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Tuesday, 4 October 2016
M
Mark Fraser10:21 AM
Gillingham
Hello
I have noticed that Channel C43 (650.0MHz) which includes ITV Meridian and other channels are breaking up on the Bluebell Hill Transmitter. Signal strength/Quality and power keeps dropping in and out. All other Channels appear ok. Have you got any ideas which might be causing this problem?.I have noticed there is no listed engineering works or fault at present, My postcode is ME8 9SL.
Kind Regards
Mark Fraser
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Mark's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 5 October 2016
MikeP
10:30 AM
10:30 AM
Mark Fraser:
Please read the response to your earlier query given by StevensOnln1. There are major works being done to the Bluebell Hill transmitter so instances such as you report are to be expected until the work is completed. They never say when that is expected to be.
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Thursday, 6 October 2016
M
Mark Fraser7:55 AM
MikeP:
Mike
Many Thanks, Hopefully work completed on the transmitter sooner rather than later.
Thanks Again
Mark
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G
Graham1:11 PM
I'm in sittingbourne and the signal over the last month has been so bad that I lost all bbc channels and its etc was braking up I bbc back but it's not watchable.
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Friday, 7 October 2016
MikeP
10:23 AM
10:23 AM
Graham:
For us to assist you, we really need a full post code. That will enable us to examine the reception conditions at your location and advise on what action may be needed to rectify the difficulty.
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Sunday, 9 October 2016
R
Richard Cooper5:06 PM
Neil: Hi, Neil. On Sunday 9th. Octber at 5:04 p.m, there are no reported problems on Bluebell Hill, which means that the transmitter is functioning properly in full working order with no engineering works going on. Richard in Norwich.
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Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 15 October 2016
C
Colin Smith10:36 AM
Sittingbourne
I have recently moved to a house in Rodmersham 1.5 miles from Sittingbourne ME9 0LR,the antenna is in the roof and is ok but signal tests suggest a weaker than normal signal it is pointing east,according to the maps the nearest Transmitter is in Maidstone to the west,I am not able to figure this out as the other houses are pointing both east and west,there appears to be very little signal when pointing west to the Bluebell hill transmitter,any thoughts?
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Colin's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
MikeP
12:53 PM
12:53 PM
Colin Smith:
Looking at the information accessed via the blue boxes below your posting, it is clear that Bluebell Hill is the best option. Your are only 16 km away and your aerial would need to point due west. However, when you retuned after moving it is likely that your equipment picked up Crystal Palace instead of Bluebell Hill, they are almost in the same direction. Crystal Palace signals are in Group A so appear before those from Bluebell Hill which are in Group B. The digitaluk trade information shows which channels you should be using. I suggest you firstly check that your aerial is a Group B type, or better still a log-periodic one, and is aimed due west at 270 degrees. Then unplug the aerial from the equipment and do a full retune to clear out the unwanted settings. Then start another retune but plug the aerial back in when it reaches Channel 31. That should mean it get the services from Bluebell Hill. If there are any problems, then a manual tune of each multiplex may be required, using the channel data shown in that digitaluk trade information.
BTW, there is no TV transmitter in Maidstone shown on any of the location data available.
The only other transmitter possible is at Dover, which is south east of your location but is shown as giving very poor reception. It is a Group C service so an aerial for that will not be very good for Crystal Palace and not ideal for Bluebell Hill.
Hope that helps?
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MikeP
12:56 PM
12:56 PM
Colin Smith:
Sorry, also meant to mention that as you are relatively close to Bluebell Hill you should ensure that the signal strengths shown for each multiplex is not too strong. A strength between 65% and 85% is best, more than that usually results in pictures breaking up and often sound problems. You will not need any form of booster or amplification.
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Monday, 14 November 2016
Transmitter engineering
11:09 AM
11:09 AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Possible weak signal [DUK]
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