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Full Freeview on the Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps54.773,-3.091 or 54°46'21"N 3°5'28"Wsa_postcodeCA7 8DW

 

The symbol shows the location of the Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) transmitter which serves 120,000 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 Caldbeck (Cumbria, 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 Caldbeck 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
C25- (505.8MHz)619mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) North East and Cumbria, 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
C28- (529.8MHz)619mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Border (England)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) North ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 North ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Yorkshire Emley Moor), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C22- (481.8MHz)619mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD North East and Cumbria, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Granada), 104 Channel 4 HD North 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 -3dB
C23- (489.8MHz)598mDTG-850,000W
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 -3dB
C26- (513.8MHz)598mDTG-850,000W
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 -3dB
C30- (545.8MHz)598mDTG-850,000W
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

PSB1
BBCA
 H -3dB
C27- (521.8MHz)489mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Scotland, 2 BBC Two Scotland, 7 BBC Alba HD, 23 BBC Three, 24 BBC Four (Scotland SD), 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 13 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H -3dB
C24- (497.8MHz)489mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Border (England)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) North ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 North ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Yorkshire Emley Moor), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C22- (481.8MHz)509mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD North East and Cumbria, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Granada), 104 Channel 4 HD North ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 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 Caldbeck transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Look North (Newcastle) 1.6m homes 6.0%
from Newcastle NE99 2NE, 97km east-northeast (77°)
to BBC North East and Cumbria region - 70 masts.
regional news image
ITV Lookaround 0.2m homes 0.7%
from Carlisle CA1 3NT, 17km northeast (45°)
to ITV Border England region - 33 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with Tyne Tees

Are there any self-help relays?

BorelandActive deflector25 km NE Dumfries22 homes School
CarsphairnTransposer35 km SE Ayr84 homes
Crosby GarrettActive deflector35 km N Dumbarton42 homes
DeepdaleActive deflector20 km SW Penrith20 homes
Eskdalemuir BActive deflector45 km NW Carlisle31 homes
KeldActive deflector30 km E Sedbergh17 homes
StaintonTransposer8km W Penrith251 homes (low lying area of housing)

How will the Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1961-80s1984-971997-981998-20092009-1325 Mar 2020
VHFA K TW TW TW TA K T
C11ITVwaves
C22-BBCBBBCB
C23-SDNSDN
C24-D3+4
C25-BBCABBCA
C26-ArqAArqA
C27-BBCA
C28ITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves-D3+4D3+4
C29-ArqBLOCAL2
C30BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves-BBCBArqB
C32C4wavesC4wavesC4wavescom7
C33_local
C34BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves
C35com8
C56tv_offC5wavesC5waves_local

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 24 Jun 09 and 22 Jul 09.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

Analogue 1-4 500kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB, PSB3 sc(-7dB) 100kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, PSB1 sc, PSB2 sc(-10dB) 50kW
com8(-11.5dB) 35.8kW
com7(-12dB) 31.9kW
Mux 2*, Mux A*(-15.2dB) 15kW
Analogue 5, Mux 1*(-17dB) 10kW
Mux B*(-21.9dB) 3.2kW
Mux C*, Mux D*(-24.9dB) 1.6kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Caldbeck transmitter area

Sep 1961-Feb 2004Border Television
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.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

Radiation patterns withheld

Comments
Thursday, 20 January 2022
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:32 PM

John Rooke: If you're referring to channels such as BBC Four HD, BBC News HD, RT HD, Quest HD, etc those are all carried on the COM7 multiplex which (along with COM8) was removed from Caldbeck (and 4 other transmitters) during the 700MHz clearance work carried out over the last few years. COM7 was only ever intended to be a temporary service and is expected to close completely when it's licence expires at the end of June this year. COM8 already closed in August 2020 for commercial reasons following the reduction in advertising revenue suffered across the entire commercial broadcasting industry during the first lockdown. Nothing has been announced regarding what will happen with any of the channels currently carried on COM7 and there is currently no spare capacity available for any more HD channels to be carried on another multiplex.

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StevensOnln1's 3,672 posts GB flag
Monday, 19 December 2022
R
Roy Taylor
11:24 AM

Until the last couple of weeks, we have never experienced reception difficulties on any channel. Now we have problems even with BBC 1&2.

THERE IS DEFINATELY a PROBLEM WITh THE CALDBECK TRANSMITTER, WHY IS NO ONE ADMITTING TO IT?

link to this comment
Roy Taylor's 1 post US flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:28 PM

Roy Taylor: Caldbeck is a main transmitter broadcasting to over 100,000 households and you're the only one reporting a problem. That makes it far more likely that the problem is something at your end (i.e. a fault or loose connection in your aerial system somewhere) or local interference. Have you checked for any loose or damaged cables or connections behind your TV? Have you had a postcard from Restore TV or seen any new or upgraded mobile phone masts nearby? The 700MHz frequency band previously used for TV services is now being widely used by the mobile networks and can sometimes cause interference - if this is the case you can obtain a free filter which connects between your aerial and TV to block out the unwanted frequencies (see the website below). If you provide a full postcode we can check the predicted reception at your location and may be able to offer further advice.

https://restoretv.uk/

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StevensOnln1's 3,672 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:41 PM

Roy Taylor:

To add to what StevensOnln1 has said, I've done a check via 2 sources and there are currently no listed faults or outages for Caldbeck and the transmitter hasn't been listed for Planned Engineering for a good number of weeks.
Have the problems been continuous, or on some days now and again, or do they occur at specific times, are they happening at present?

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,365 posts GB flag
Thursday, 24 August 2023
C
Carol Oliver
9:38 PM

Hi, the lights on the ITV mast at Caldbeck (CA7) are coming on very late. Tonight it was 10 minutes before dark (2045) when they came on and the transmitter mast was barely visible - the only bit showing was the white section near the top which could easily blend in with cloud. I see this as a hazard to aviation. Is this due to the engineering work being done this week or is it normally this late lighting up?

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Carol Oliver's 1 post GB flag
S
Steve Donaldson
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

11:15 PM

Carol Oliver: This is an independent site, not connected with any broadcaster. I don't know what the regulations are with respect to aircraft warning lights, in terms of what ambient light level they should come on at.

As you can see the mast you are presumably familiar with what sort of light level they normally come on at, and the reason you have posted here is because they are coming on later. If you have noticed a change then I suggest you report it to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) as I would imagine they would have to take such a report seriously.

See the CAA contacts page:

Useful links and contacts for obstacles | Civil Aviation Authority

There is an email address for Airspace Regulation given (no phone number). I suggest you send them an email: arops@caa.co.uk

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Steve Donaldson's 259 posts GB flag
Friday, 25 August 2023
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:05 AM

Carol Oliver:

You could also copy/send the email to Arqiva who do the transmitter and mast maintenance.
https://www.arqiva.com/co…act/

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Chris.SE's 4,365 posts GB flag
Monday, 30 September 2024
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_satisfiedGold

5:06 PM

Caldbeck transmitter - Caldbeck transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 30/09/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 1,917 posts GB flag
Monday, 7 October 2024
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_satisfiedGold

5:09 AM

Caldbeck transmitter - Caldbeck transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 07/10/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 1,917 posts GB flag
Monday, 14 October 2024
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_satisfiedGold

5:11 AM

Caldbeck transmitter - Caldbeck transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 14/10/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 1,917 posts GB flag
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