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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.

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 25/03/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


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),

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 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C43+ (650.2MHz)245mDTG-820,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C46 (674.0MHz)245mDTG-820,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 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
Sunday, 19 August 2018
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

6:07 AM

BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Off Air from 18:14 on 17 Aug to 18:51 on 17 Aug, HD Digital TV Off Air from 18:14 on 17 Aug to 18:51 on 17 Aug. [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
P
Paul Cooper
3:47 PM

I have checked all connections.We have 4 TVs which have freeview and none of them are receiving any signal,and one of the is using a different ariel so the chances of 2 ariels developing a fault at exactly the same time would be unusual to say the least.At the time if writing this we still have no signal since 18.14 on Friday 17th August and here we are on Sunday 19th.I am in the ME8 postcode area of Rainham

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Paul Cooper's 4 posts GB flag
Monday, 20 August 2018
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:35 AM

Paul Cooper:

The Bluebell Hill transmitter had some engineering works done on Friday between 18.14 and 18.51, when it returned to normal service.

Did you by any chance perform a retune during that time? If so, you need to retune again.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
P
Paul Cooper
3:53 PM

Still no signal today,no,I have not carried out a retune.I can't believe that its pure coincidence that the signal went at the precise time that the transmitter went down and suddenly my aerial developed a fault.So it looks like I will give up on freeview completely as its not worth paying out for an aerial repair because the reception has never been great,I will make do with Sky and NOW TV.

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Paul Cooper's 4 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 21 August 2018
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:05 PM

Paul Cooper: Check that your sets are all actually tuned to the correct transmitter. If you have an underlying fault already with your system, then not finding the correct transmitter would starkly show that up.

Put your postcode into the website - it will soon show you if your area is good for Freeview or not. If not, then go with a dish, but Freeview would be much cheaper even in the short term - the equipment is a one off payment, and its possible your TV already has a Freesat tuner.

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Friday, 14 September 2018
C
clive Lambkin
8:55 PM

I am unable to receive channel 87 keep it county from blue bell hill transmitter even after repeatedly resetting freeview.

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clive Lambkin's 1 post GB flag
Saturday, 15 September 2018
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:27 PM

Clive Lambkin:

Kepp It Country is broadcast on COM7 and that requires both a Freeview HD receiver and a suitable aerial to receive the transmissions. Do you get any of the other programmes broadcast on COM 7 and COM 8? Do you have a wideband aerial?

Please give your full post code so that we can check the expected reception conditions at your location. You can also enter that into the Digital UK Coverage Checker at Digital UK - Coverage checker and ensure you are tuned to the correct transmitter for your location and also see what the expected reception is like.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Thursday, 27 September 2018
G
Grant R Brooker
5:53 PM

My signal is always dropping out and now I have no HD channels at all. I am tuned into the Bluebell hill transmitter the signal really is very poor and I even loose radio channels as well.
Any idea how I can get my HD channels back as I paid a lot of money for my TV and the signal is so poor I cannot enjoy it?

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Grant R Brooker's 1 post GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:56 PM

Grant R Brooker: Either you are in a fringe reception area or you have a fault in your aerial system somewhere. Start by checking for any loose or damaged cables or connections behind your TV. Please provide a full postcode so that we can see where you are in relation to the transmitter and your predicted signal strength etc.

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StevensOnln1's 3,606 posts GB flag
Saturday, 6 October 2018
C
Clive Whitehead
11:27 AM

I'm trying to find a clear channel, without freeview interference to send a sky signal from the RF2 outlet from my Sky HD box to other rooms. It's sent using an Analogue frequency but for some reason it is not a perfect picture and I suspect it's Freeview interference. I live in Whitstable and when I lived at the top of the hill it was a good picture, but since moving down the hill to Seasalter 3 years ago it has deteriated. Any help would be appreciated so I can retune the broadcasting setting from my box.
Kind Regards
Clive Whitehead

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Clive Whitehead's 1 post 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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