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Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.424,-0.076 or 51°25'26"N 0°4'32"Wsa_postcodeSE19 1UE

 

The symbol shows the location of the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter which serves 4,490,000 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 Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) mast?

Crystal Palace transmitter - Crystal Palace transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 07/10/2024 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 Crystal Palace 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
C23 (490.0MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) London, 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
C26 (514.0MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (London), 4 Channel 4 (SD) London ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 London ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (London), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C30- (545.8MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD London, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV London), 104 Channel 4 HD London 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
C25 (506.0MHz)314mDTG-8200,000W
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 max
C22 (482.0MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
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 max
C28- (529.8MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
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

LW
 H -10dB
C35 (586.0MHz)324mDTG-1220,000W
Channel icons
from 31st March 2014: 8 LONDON LIVE,

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Crystal Palace transmitter?

regional news image
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 12km north-northwest (335°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
regional news image
ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 11km north-northwest (345°)
to ITV London region - 55 masts.

Are there any self-help relays?

Charlton AthleticTransposerRedeveloped north stand Charlton Athletic Football Club130 homes
DeptfordTransposersouth-east London100 homes
GreenfordTransposer12 km N Heathrow Airport203 homes
HendonTransposerGraham Park estate50 homes
White CityTransposer9 km W central London80 homes

How will the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20122012-1321 Mar 2018
VHFA K TA K TA K TA K TW T
C1BBCtvwaves
C22ArqAArqA
C23ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCABBCA
C25SDNSDN
C26BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C28-ArqBArqB
C29LW
C30C4wavesC4wavesC4waves-BBCBBBCB
C33BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavescom7
C35com8
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off

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 4 Apr 12 and 18 Apr 12.

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

Analogue 1-4 1000kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 200kW
com7(-13.7dB) 43.1kW
com8(-14dB) 39.8kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*, LW(-17dB) 20kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Crystal Palace transmitter area

Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated-Rediffusion†
Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1992Thames†
Jul 1968-Feb 2004London Weekend Television♦
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Carlton†
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc♦
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. Crystal Palace 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
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:33 AM

Nick:

That information comes from NGW's Interleaved Frequencies analysis of what channels new multiplexes could potentially be launched on to reach the maximum amount of the Crystal Palace coverage area.

I'd be surprised if enough additional TV services were ready to launch by mid-2012 to require a second new multiplex - C29 (NEW7) would be preferred, but even that isn't ready to go at switchover. There's also a strong chance that the channel plan would have to be redone since the plan it was based on wasn't final.

The plans were made on the basis that while C42 is strictly outside Group A, many Group A aerials have usable gain at that frequency. It's not a sharp cut-off at C38. However, looking at some gain curves I think they're being optimistic: Gain (curves), Again (RG47SH)

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Saturday, 2 April 2011
K
kieran r
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

5:00 PM
Basingstoke

mike dimmick: i have used hannington i got fedup with the trees so i pointed my aerial to C.P i have problems with mux 1 and A i have re checed the tv the tv is fine my post code is RG23 8DS


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kieran r's 32 posts GB flag
kieran's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:00 PM
Reading

Kieran R: I really can't offer any other advice. The signal strength is either too low or the level of interference too high - probably both - for services from Crystal Palace to be reliable at the moment. It will vary over time, because the signal strength *does* vary with changes in weather conditions, including as the atmosphere warms in the morning and cools at night. This is taken into account in the predictions - it's why Digital UK give quite a conservative prediction to the general public, and why the trade view is expressed in probabilities.

Your options are to stick it out for about a year until Crystal Palace switches over (but you might not get mux A, C or D), put the aerial on a longer pole to see over the trees, move the aerial to a different point on the building to see around the trees, cut down or prune the trees, or get satellite or cable.

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
kieran r
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

7:29 PM

mike dimmik: i dont have trees in the way of C.P but i do on H.Tower im ment to be in a good signal aera

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kieran r's 32 posts GB flag
Sunday, 3 April 2011
B
Boo
6:49 PM

Have lost all channels in MUX A entirely on Freeview this week, postcode WD19 area, Watford. Have two boxes on different aerials. One aerial is in a loft, the other is exterior. Both on Crystal Palace transmitter. Have tried resetting both boxes but channels are still not found. Any ideas?

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Boo's 1 post GB flag
Monday, 4 April 2011
A
Anthony
11:43 AM

I have recently moved in to a property in N7 9SE and tried to set up Freeview HD using the built-in FreeviewHD tuner in my Sony KDL-46EX703U.

I autotuned the digital service and 108 Channels were found. All the standard channels are working fine, but when I browse to any HD channels the signal appears for a split second and goes, flickering in and out of view. What appears is a random image of green squares and so on.

The TV is connected to a communal roof arial and the cabling and arial seem sturdy and not obviously broken - as far as I can see.

Can anyone advise whether I am experiencing bad signal or perhaps the wrong arial etc?

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Anthony's 1 post GB flag
M
Mike Dimmick
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:26 PM

Anthony: Digital UK's predictor shows excellent reception is possible at that address. A check on the terrain shows that you might just be on the back side of a small hill, but it doesn't look like it's blocking the line-of-sight to the transmitter.

A few guesses. First, it's possible that you have too much signal. If signal strengths are generally shown at 90-100% on a Freeview HD box or TV, or over 60 dB, it can cause a problem called intermodulation or cross-modulation. This basically causes signals on adjacent channels to interfere with each other.

Alternatively, it could be that the system hasn't been set up to handle the HD service at this time. Communal systems have to amplify the signal a lot in order to then split the signal to several dwellings. This can be easier if each channel is filtered and then amplified separately - this gives much better results if the levels are different on different frequencies, but can lead to not getting some services at all if the system hasn't been designed to carry that channel.

Ask the building manager if the HD services are currently supported, and to have the levels adjusted so that they're in the right range.

If it is a problem of too much signal, you can also add an attenuator to the lead to reduce the signal levels. It's better to get them to sort it out, though.

You're not very far away from the transmitter, less than 15 km, and for some communal systems you can end up with direct signal pick-up in the TV and a delayed signal from the aerial system. On analogue TV this would cause ghosting. The HD services should be able to handle a delay caused by signals travelling up to 74 km further, though.

Communal systems will need to be adjusted again at switchover, to avoid problems with too much signal, and also due to channel changes. The public service multiplexes are all moving to former analogue channels, and the commercial multiplexes to the channels freed by the PSB muxes. The building management should be prepared for this. Property Managers - Home has information.

The switchover dates for the London region are expected to be announced this Thursday, and are expected to be before July 2012 (before the Olympics). (RG47SH)

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts GB flag
Saturday, 9 April 2011
Sunday, 10 April 2011
J
james
4:26 PM

hi there, recently had new aerial in our block, new points, top of the range cable. no problems before this change but not Mux 1 and Mux B channels are fluctuating wildly betwen 100 to 45 %, actually mux b just goes between 40-60% really fast, causing glitches every minute.

Avonline came and turned signal strength down a bit as it was high but this not resolved problem...

neighbour also has it.. these are best two answers so far on digitalspy, anyone agree?

It sounds like there is overloading somewhere in the amplifiers/distribution system (due to high power analogue still being transmitted from Crystal Palace). Check the analogue side of your TV (UHF channels 23, 26, 30 & 33). Do you see any strange patterning on the screen? If so, it's a sure sign there is signal overload. This could be "dazzling" the input side of your Freeview TV/box, and causing the break-up you're getting. Also check with neighbours and see if they have the same problem. If so, get the installers back and tell them to put the system right.


It's the signal quality that matters most, more than the signal level. If/when you get the installers to come back they need to adjust the RF gain so that the signal quality is stable and gives a high reading, on the most troublesome MUX. They should know about things like that, if they're competent.

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james's 1 post GB flag
Tuesday, 12 April 2011
J
John
2:29 AM

I note that Crystal Palace will transmit MUX New8 on ch 42 after switchover (out of group). Which channels will be transmitted on this mux? (ie what channels will I gain if I change to a wideband aerial?

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John's 2 posts GB 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.

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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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