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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 21/10/2024 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
Monday, 11 February 2013
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:35 PM

martyh: Well I look at this potential problem in various ways, and putting aside my sense of outrage that something has actually been sanctioned that is already known (or suspected) beforehand as having the potential to affect a mode of reception (Freeview) that by its very nature is already vulnerable to being interfered with by a number of things, including of course nature. (inversion effect etc)

That said, I feel that this issue is being somewhat over hyped to a certain extent by a number of well placed non-technical types (in the practical sense) but with the means to be extremely vocal, and this is causing many people to panic quite unnecessarily about this issue, although I do admittedly feel that anyone within a couple of hundred yards or so from one of these masts could well experience problems "if" the Freeview signal they receive is sitting at a lower than ideal level for reception, this automatically making the receivers tuner more vulnerable to interference from any RF sources nearby.

The whole thing is really a wait and see game, because when dealing with RF signals other than microwaves its quite impossible for anyone to accurately predict exactly what will happen as so many variables exist with peoples installations, coupled to the fact that its notoriously difficult to predict exactly what level of interference (if any) that viewers will suffer from if they reside anywhere near to a mast, as RF predictions, whether for reception or expected levels of interference, are up to a point educated guesswork unless on site tests are carried out.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:13 PM

martyh: On reading over my reply I feel that I should clarify part of a statement made, insomuch when I referred to non-technical types with the means to be extremely vocal, I was mainly meaning media types who consider themselves to be an authority on technical matters.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 12 February 2013
S
Steve Flynn
10:36 PM
Haslemere

Crystal Palace - answering my own question and asking another.
I replaced all internal cabling and fitted a new distribution amp and have restored my missing channels.

However although I now have good signals on BBC-A, D3+4 and BBC-B I don't get any signal at all from SDN, ArqA or ArqB multiplexes from Crystal Palace.

Digital UK tradeview does not show these channels as being available but they are listed here as being broadcast from CP at the same power as the other multiplexes. Why can't I receive them from CP? I can get them from Hannington but they are at a lower level and I am on the outer edge for good reception from there.

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Steve Flynn's 8 posts GB flag
Steve's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:41 PM

Steve Flynn: I think we covered this one when you made your posting before DSO. Haslemere relay transmitter is co-channel with Crystal Palace's COMs.

Not sure whether a phased array might help:

http://www.wrightsaerials….pdf

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
S
Steve Flynn
11:08 PM
Haslemere

Dave Lindsay: Thanks, I had forgotten about co-channel interference which in this case is 100% effective in the worst way. Predictions around DSO seemed to change on a daily basis so I wasn't sure what I would eventually get.

I don't think I want yet another aerial on my pole so phased array isn't an option. A local installer suggested switching my CP aerial to vertical but I may look at a better aerial for Hannington instead.

Thanks again, at least I know there is little I can do now.

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Steve Flynn's 8 posts GB flag
Steve's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:50 AM

Steve Flynn: At switchover we had a posting from someone off Grayswood Road who had lost access to Haslemere transmitter and therefore BBC South/ITV Meridian programming because of this. Understandably he wasn't happy because he wanted these regional services rather than the London ones. His location was on the fringes of the Haslemere transmitter and, evidently, its signal is no match at that location for Crystal Palace's.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
S
Steve Flynn
1:55 PM
Haslemere

Dave Lindsay: Maybe I should swap houses with the man from Grayswood :)

My Hannington aerial is Group E and I see that the transmitter is now listed as Group B. I think the theoretical difference in gain between otherwise similar B and E group aerials is about 2dB but would this make enough of a difference for those lower powered Mux's?

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Steve Flynn's 8 posts GB flag
Steve's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:30 PM

Steve Flynn: Interestingly, Hannington's four former analogue channels were not within a single third of the band Group, but semi-wideband Group E so I guess this might be how come your aerial is an E.

I'm not a professional, so can only give you theory. Here are some example gain curves:

Gain (curves), Again

An aerial's gain is simply at the expense of "loss" in other directions. So a higher gain aerial focuses the signal into a narrower beam. The gain of yagi aerials drops off on lower channels hence they are less directional on lower channels than on higher ones.

However, your amplifier will increase the amplitude of the signals. Getting a higher gain aerial doesn't necessarily improve matters as it has a narrower acceptance angle. As you are trying to pick it up at the bottom of a drop, having your aerial receiving on a finer beam isn't necessarily a better thing because the quality may suffer. You can increase the amplitude of a signal with an amplifier, but if you don't have the quality (digits in order) then you might as well pack up. See:

Television Aerial Boosters / Amplifiers, Splitters, Diplexers & Triplexers

What sort of reception of the Hannington COM channels do you get? If it is poor at times, is it strong but poor quality?

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
M
martyh
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:38 PM

jb38 re: '4G' reply - thanks.

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martyh's 25 posts GB flag
S
Steve Flynn
9:47 PM
Haslemere

Dave Lindsay: Reception varies, at present COM5 is pretty good with quality at 8-9 out of 10 but COM 4 & 6 are only at quality 1-2. Strength is around 7-8 on all.

The gain curves on your link seem to show that a B Group aerial would be a better bet but I guess I should check that my current aerial is giving the best it can first.

My amplifier is in circuit to diplex TV and FM as well as distribute to different rooms but I don't think it is causing any problems with too strong a signal - I bypassed it just to check.

link to this comment
Steve Flynn's 8 posts GB flag
Steve's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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