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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.

Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) mast?

Caldbeck transmitter - Caldbeck 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
_______

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),

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 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 -3dB
C26- (513.8MHz)598mDTG-850,000W
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 -3dB
C30- (545.8MHz)598mDTG-850,000W
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

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),

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
Wednesday, 7 August 2019
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:55 PM

Don Ismay:

Did you not read my earlier posts here, advising about the retune event on 31st July and that COMs 7&8 that carry these HD channels would be no longer broadcast from Caldbeck?

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Friday, 9 August 2019
D
David Rowell
2:42 PM

Transmitter engineering: I would just like to know after the signal changes at the CALDBECK transmitter in Cumbria on 31st of July and re-tuning my TV & Freeview box (BT) why some of the channels I had before are missing? e.g. 106 - BBC4 HD, NOW 80s - 83, Forces TV - 96, Pick TV+1 - 92, Smithsonian - 99 just to mention a few.

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David Rowell's 1 post GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:06 PM

David Rowell:

You could try reading my post immediately prior to yours, and the earlier posts to which it refers.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Saturday, 21 September 2019
I
Ian Haddow
3:35 PM
Moffat

DG10 9BS. Very recently my remaining HD channels (101,2,3,4,5 eg) are providing poor reception. BT box says that strength is about 95%, quality goes from 40% upwards and occasionally 0% and no picture. SD channels are coming through at 100% strength and 100% quality. Is this a transmitter (Caldbeck) problem? This has been trouble free for years and comes on the back of the removal of BBC4 HD and BBC News HD!

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Ian Haddow's 1 post GB flag
Ian's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Michael Bunter
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:59 PM

Ian Haddow: 95% is far too high a strength - search for 'too much of a good thing' on this site and the page will give you ideas on how to cure it.

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Michael Bunter's 2,579 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:56 PM

Ian Haddow:

If your box has always said 95% for the strength before the changes, I wouldn't worry about it too much especially as you are 66km from the transmitter as it's a fairly arbitrary figure and will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, but I would keep it in mind if you have changed your aerial since the retunes.

The BBC HD multiplex is now on the lowest of the UHF channels (C22) broadcast from Caldbeck and if you have an old group C/D aerial (not been recently changed) then it may well be not getting those lower channels too well. In addition to which there's been a lot of tropospheric propagation in recent days (it causes tv signals to travel a lot further than normal and so interference from other transmitters can occur) so can upset your signal and cause low quality. Things should improve over the next few days.

To get the most reliable reception from Caldbeck you need a Group A aerial (you no longer need a group T/Wideband but one of those might suffice). If you have an old aerial and you don't have Cable or Satellite TV you can get free help by contacting Freeview on 0808-100-0288 also see Important changes to Freeview TV signals Important changes to Freeview | Freeview and also see the FAQs on that page in case they may help.


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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Monday, 23 September 2019
N
nobody
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

11:59 AM

Chris.SE: Caldbeck Scotland, which is co-located with Caldbeck, has BBC B on UHF channel 21 and looks almost as good as Caldbeck from the given postcode - it's running at half the power of the Caldbeck BBC B.

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nobody's 47 posts US flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:15 PM

nobody:

Indeed that is the case, but as Ian Haddow didn't mention BBC Scotland I decided I would not confuse matters. If it's an aerial issue UHF C21 will likely be affected in a similar way.

One thing I didn't mention though which shouldn't be overlooked when transmitters move to groups of channels never previously used for broadcast is that people should check that they don't have any recorders or other "boxes" that have RF outputs that were set in/near the channels now being used by the transmitter.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 24 December 2019
G
Gary Johnson
2:22 PM

Can you tell me what aerial group is required for the Caldbeck Transmitter.
Thank you

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Gary Johnson's 1 post GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:34 PM

Gary Johnson:

It would be best to use a Group T (wide band) aerial to s=ensure you can receice all the transmissions now and in the future.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
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