Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.424,-0.076 or 51°25'26"N 0°4'32"W |  | SE19 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 25/11/2024 Screen may go black on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
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 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.
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?
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 12km north-northwest (335°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
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 Athletic | Transposer | Redeveloped north stand Charlton Athletic Football Club | 130 homes |
| Deptford | Transposer | south-east London | 100 homes |
| Greenford | Transposer | 12 km N Heathrow Airport | 203 homes |
| Hendon | Transposer | Graham Park estate | 50 homes |
| White City | Transposer | 9 km W central London | 80 homes |
How will the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 21 Mar 2018 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | W T | ||||
| C1 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C22 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C23 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C25 | SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C26 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C28 | -ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C29 | LW | ||||||||
| C30 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | -BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C33 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | com7 | |||||
| C35 | com8 | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | COM8tv_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 |
Local transmitter maps
Crystal Palace Freeview Crystal Palace DAB Crystal Palace AM/FM Crystal Palace TV region BBC London LondonWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Crystal Palace transmitter area
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Monday, 19 December 2011
P
Paul Camp11:52 AM
Potters Bar
I have been receiving Freeview HD channels quite well ( Sometimes bad Quality) but these last few days there is No HD Channels why o why does the BBC keep advertising something which is not very good
I am in south Herts EN6 4AT
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Paul's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Paul Camp: Please can you see Single frequency interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice ?
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Paul Camp: Crystal Palace is one of the few exceptions as the vast majority of pre-switchover digital transmitters do not carry HD services. It has been shoehorned in on Ch31 which is also being used by Sandy Heath for a low-power multiplex.
Thus, the service area (footprint if you like) of the Crystal Palace HD service is not as great as that of the other digital channels from that same station. The standard definition multiplexes are at a power of 20kW and the HD one is at 10kW.
It may be that you are suffering from interference from Sandy Heath's service and/or the weaker Crystal Palace HD service. The thing with reception of digital services is that they either they work or they don't work with a small area inbetween where it's iffy. The difference in the TV picture on analogue will be a slight decrease in quality of picture.
As it's only six months to go before switchover, there is probably little point in making any change to your aerial/cabling because it will be rectified then.
If you can't get the Crystal Palace HD multiplex on Ch31 (or it's iffy), then it might be worth manually tuning to Ch21 which is the full power (post-switchover) HD multiplex from Sandy Heath or try Ch47 which is Sudbury's HD multiplex (it has also switched). This is clearly a bodge because your aerial doesn't point in the direction of those transmitters (and hence may be subject to poor/no reception), but it might work more reliably than Crystal Palace.
If your receiver allows, you might be able to keep the HD services from other transmitters in your 800s allowing you to switch between them. I know it's not ideal, but it's probably better than not at all.
Bear in mind that the service from Crystal Palace might come back. Whatever changes (e.g. atmospheric) have occured to prevent you from receiving could go back to how they were.
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Jimmy: You may not have Freeview HD, please see What does "Full HD Ready" actually mean? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
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P
Phil Waller9:19 PM
Orpington
As of yesterday afternoon everything came back to life! So ia. Happy again. I can't wait for the Orpington transmitter to switch over!! I can see it from my house!!
Orpington has suffered for years. I actually think its a miracle that your can get a decent signal from Crystal Palace at all considering the topology in the line of site! Many hils and shallow valleys..
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Phil's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 20 December 2011
A
Alec12:48 PM
London
Lot of questions and good answers but none specific to mine..
At times i get choppy signal quality and low/no signal from some channels at random.. sometimes it depnds on interference from PC/PS3 which i can do nothing about.. i.e. it is not possible for me to move either tv/pc/ps3.. (is there anything i can buy/use to block the interference?)
However, even when those are switched off I do get variable/no signal from an array of channels now and again..
I'm 10miles NW from the crystal palace transmitter, at times I recieved HD channels, even though they were choppy.. I have rescanned on a nice sunny day without any intereference and it has not found the HD and other channels, such as pick tv again..
I'm not sure about the situation with the antenna.. it looks like it's the most basic one and was fitted about 3 years ago, I'm not sure if it's worth changing to a wideband highgain antenna yet or if the cable plays a role? i did notice last year on a previous TV i had that post-heavy rain there was water coming out from the cable into the TV antenna input, there doesn't seem to be any damage although some errosion from the female output-TV cable..
I'm not sure if I should get a professional to review it but dont want to be ripped off and suspect the situation may become clearer post-DSO, although I'd like to know for sure before hand so I can start planning new antenna/cable etc..
Sorry for the long essay but I've trailed the net and asked for advice from a number of sources and could not find anything conclusive..
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Alec's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
nick(Microsoft mvp)
1:30 PM
1:30 PM
don't forget that the Ariel leads like QED reference models can cause drop outs for those that live in marginal areas of the country
I myself have just upgraded my lead and cant any longer get my hd channels from crystal palace but the channels i do receive which is all of them are in a much superior quality my Ariel lead being part made of silver
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Alec: I'm not an aerial installer myself, but I will offer you my thoughts.
If water has got into the cable once, then it can do again. It is also likely that the water has damaged the cable as it obviously ran along its length.
Maybe the cable has been blowing in the wind and chafing against a roof tile, flashing or gutter, perhaps blown by the wind. Once it's worn a hole in it, that's it and it should be replaced (taking care to install it such that the same thing won't happen again).
At 10 miles with line of sight you shouldn't have any issues, even before switchover. This terrain tool shows that you do have line of sight with the transmitter, *but this doesn't take into account obstructions such as buildings and trees*:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
Below the picture of the ground between you and the transmitter, if you click on the link "View map of area..." this will show you a line between you and the transmitter. Clearly there is an approximation as I've taken your postcode (which will be a number of properties) and converted it to a OS grid reference.
On that map, if you switch to satellite view (or hybrid) you can see that the line passes close to Burghley Tower. You may or may not have that in your way (depending on your exact location). Some neighbours may have difficulty (and therefore larger aerials) because of this (or you may also be in the shadow).
As a matter of principle though, I would have the cable replaced. If you have a friend or family member who might be able to do it for you, then have a look at ATV Sheffield which has loads of information on this and they sell it mail order as well:
Satellite, Television, FM, DAB, Aerial, Coaxial Cable, Plugs, Sockets, Connectors & Leads
If it turns out, having replaced the cable, that the reception isn't too good, then you can always look at your options for replacement of aerial (particularly if you can get someone who you know to do it).
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P
Paul Camp3:20 PM
Potters Bar
Thanks Dave
I suspected something like your Answer as all other Freeview reception is perfect
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Paul's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 26 December 2011
J
John7:01 PM
Hello
I am in Crawley with my aerial pointing at Crystal Palace and I currently only get analogue BBC1, BBC2, ITV, and CH4.
I wanted to make some preparations pre the switch over this holiday but by using a borrowed Freesat box I find that am receiving no digital signals at all. The Digital TV website says that there will be no signal until the actual switchover date ! Is this true ? It doesnt seem correct to me.
Regards
John
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