Full Freeview on the Heathfield (East Sussex, England) transmitter
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The symbol shows the location of the Heathfield (East Sussex, England) transmitter which serves 170,000 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 Heathfield (East Sussex, England) mast?
Heathfield transmitter - Heathfield transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 22/04/2024 Pixelation or flickering 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Heathfield (East Sussex, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which Freeview channels does the Heathfield 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The Heathfield (East Sussex, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Heathfield transmitter?
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 17km north (6°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
ITV Meridian News 0.7m homes 2.7%
from Maidstone ME14 5NZ, 41km north-northeast (31°)
to ITV Meridian (East) region - 36 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with all of Meridian plus Oxford
How will the Heathfield (East Sussex, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-17 | 19 Jul 2018 | |||
| C/D E | C/D E | C/D E | W T | W T | W T | K T | |||
| C29 | _local | _local | _local | _local | |||||
| C40 | SDN | ||||||||
| C41 | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | BBCA | |||||
| C42 | SDN | SDN | SDN | ||||||
| C43 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C44 | ArqA | ArqA | ArqA | D3+4 | |||||
| C46 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C47 | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | |||||
| C49tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
| C52tv_off | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | BBCA | |||
| C64 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ||||||
| C67 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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 30 May 12 and 13 Jun 12.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 100kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 20kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2* | (-18dB) 1.6kW | |
| Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-20dB) 1000W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Heathfield transmitter area
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Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?
Radiation patterns withheldSaturday, 30 June 2012
K
kaz11:05 AM
Eastbourne
Okay, now the final retune has taken place, and my mother's TV still can't pick up channel 44 (ArqA), although she has now got channel 42 (Mux A / SDN).
Does anyone know of any valid reason for a rooftop aerial on a bungalow on a hill in Eastbourne to NOT pick up just channel 44? I'm pretty sure it's not an HD channel, which would have been a valid reason as she doesn't have an HD tuner, but even manual attempts to tune it in fail - the TV just continues to search as if channel 44 has nothing on it :(
Thanks for any help.
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kaz's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
kaz: It could be that your mother has a Group C/D aerial which was the type usually installed in the days of four-channel analogue, particularly before digital came along during the previous decade.
Group C/D is the top third of the band of channels used for TV. 41, 42 and 44 (and 47[HD]) are in the middle band, which is Group B. PSB1 and PSB2 are on channels where B and C/D overlap.
Refer to this page for channel numbers of each Group:
Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial
(I haven't directed you to that page to read all the wordy explanation!)
Aerials are sensitive outside of their Groups to a degree. They don't receive "nothing" outside of group.
Further down that page is a graph with some gain curves. The green one is C/D and you can see that it slopes downwards. The gain is the sensitivity or the amount it can "hear" signals. This is just an example curve of one particular aerial to illustrate the point.
With this in mind, I suggest that you compare signal strengths of each UHF channel on the same device. Signal strength meters vary between receivers, so don't compare between different ones (only compare different multiplexes on the same receiver).
Digital reception requires the signal level to be above a threshold level. If it is, then it will work.
So it could be that the level of C44 is just below that which the receiver needs to show a picture. Depending on its design, it may indicate signal level when you manually tune. (Some receivers give more clues than others.)
Compare the levels of BBC One (C52) and ITV1 (C49) with those of the two COM channels you have which are ITV3 (C42) and Yesterday (C41). If the latter two are markedly lower then perhaps it is a C/D aerial.
If you can see that the tip of the aerial is green, then this indicates that it is a C/D one.
Do these checks with the receiver in question connected directly to the aerial socket (and not via the Sky box). If there is a wall socket with an aerial fly lead from that to the receiver, then try swapping it. Maybe you have one that you can try.
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J
jb384:18 PM
kaz: As well as everything mentioned by Dave Lindsay I would like if you could clarify on one point and confirm on the second.
Number one being that although a manual tune on Ch44 didn't actually pick up anything did you see any indication of a signal showing on the strength bar "immediately" after you entered Ch44 in the box? the point being that on practically all devices this is a true indication of whether or not any signal is there or not irrespective of the level necessary to resolve a signal, this only coming into force once you press scan or search.
The second point being, have you visually verified that your mothers aerial is actually facing 352 degrees for Heathfield and is mounted horizontally? my only reason for asking being I noticed you mention in an earlier posting that Ch40 from Bexhill was picked up, and as its located at 69 degrees from your mothers location that's not terribly far off an aerials minimum reception point "if" its correctly aligned for Heathfield.
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kaz: I had a look on Streetview at the road of the postcode associated with your postings.
I can see the distant horizon inbetween the bungalows to the east.
The Streetview photographs are dated April 2009, so they were before switchover and therefore pre-date the existance of the Bexhill transmitter, as it was only introduced at switchover.
At that location, the Bexhill and Hastings transmitters are in the same direction (to within one degree). Most of the bungalows on the right (as you enter the close) and some on the left and those at the end have their aerials vertical and directed at Hastings.
A terrain plot suggests that there is line of sight to the Hastings and Bexhill transmitters (so nothing in the way). Because I can see the horizon, I can well believe it.
jb38 has suggested that the aerial could be directed to Bexhill, which in view of the fact that it is has only been in service for a few weeks isn't likely.
So if the aerial is vertical and pointing at what might appear to be Bexhill, it is actually pointing at Hastings (owing to the fact that they are in the same direction).
The view in the direction of Heathfield doesn't look quite as good (I, of course, am only giving my opinion based on the Streetview photos). There are some trees behind the end bungalows that in the photos don't have any leaves on and these "could" be reducing the signal from Heathfield. Perhaps replacing the out of group aerial (if it is so) may make C44 available.
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kaz, jb38: I eat my words!
The new Bexhill transmitter, which is located on the roof of the Hastings Direct building, is horizontally polarised and not vertically so as I assumed.
The downside is that it only carries Public Service (PSB) channels, so will probably only be used where a full service transmitter is not receiveable.
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J
jb389:29 PM
Dave Lindsay / Kaz: I wasn't quite so much suggesting that Kaz's mothers aerial was pointing at Bexhill, but more the case that the picking up of any channel from it at all could suggest that the aerial in question which is supposedly facing Heathfield? was possibly out of alignment for picking up the latter, as something has to be wrong when Ch44 from Heathfields 20Kw transmitter located 12 miles away is not being picked up when Ch40 from Bexhills 400 watt transmitter @ 9 miles away is, especially when both stations are transmitting on the same horizontal polarity which generally gives a more positive null point at right angles to an incoming signal, the null point (or not too far off being) referred to should be facing towards Bexhill if the aerial was properly aligned for Heathfield.
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K
kaz9:40 PM
Eastbourne
Thanks everyone! I'll be going round there tomorrow again, so I'll have to check whether there's any sign of a signal. As for the aerial, it seems (to me) to be pointing more-or-less directly at Heathfield. Anyway, looking at the aerial and then looking at the map on this website leads me to believe it's aimed very well. I will also have to check for green bits on it - shame I don't have any binoculars!
I'll be back tomorrow, and hopefully the conundrum will eventually be solved :)
| link to this comment |
kaz's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
jb38: I see your point, although the satellite image shows quite a few trees, some of which could be a problem in the direction of Heathfield whereas in the direction of Bexhill it looks clear. So when you take into account the fact that it is a bungalow and therefore the aerial is lower than a house, would this not have some effect?
Also, one side of the close, which appears to be a little lower, is on Hastings and the other (slightly higher) is mainly on Heathfield. Some of those at the far (dead) end, which appears from the Streetview photographs to be a little higher than the rest, are on Hastings, presumably owing to the trees behind them.
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Sunday, 1 July 2012
J
jb384:15 PM
Dave Lindsay: Yes, I am sure that the trees will most likely be causing a problem as indeed they can do if roughly in line with any signal path, but with regards to the actual height of the aerial being a contributory factor to the problem, I feel that any improvement to the situation is much more likely to be achieved by repositioning of the aerial rather than increasing its height, as the philosophy of "the higher the better" is something that exclusively applies to an aerial used for transmission purposes and not one used for reception when in a problem area, as in many cases the reverse is frequently found to apply by in some cases being able to take advantage of a "stable" reflection.
It will be interesting to find out the result of Kaz's tests, as I likewise suspected that Ch44 is maybe just lagging slightly behind the other muxes at a level not quite good enough to resolve a picture, although the manual tune "without scanning" would instantly reveal if that is the case or not, as if it is and the signal is seen to be of a reasonably stable nature then dependant on exactly what level its sitting at its possible that by giving the signal a mild boost it may lift it enough to enable a picture to be received, albeit this normally being an alien action when a 20Kw transmitter is located at only 12 miles away.
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Monday, 2 July 2012
K
kaz10:43 AM
Eastbourne
Well, not much to report really I'm afraid. No sign of any colours on the aerial at all, and the TV manual tuning just lets you choose where to start the search, then wanders off either up or down until it finds something it doesn't already have.
One peculiarity though, on Friday/Saturday they actually had both Challenge AND ITV3 available for several minutes - but then they went all nasty (pixelated and blocky, video and/or audio suddenly seizing up for many seconds at a time), and the TV insisted both channels needed retuning. (Not at the same time of course, just the one they were actually trying to watch at that moment.) Yesterday there was no sign of Challenge again. Mind you, Freesat from Sky apparently has Challenge for free, which Freesat doesn't, so as she's planning to cancel the Sky subscription and use her box and card for FsFs I guess she doesn't need to worry too much about whether she can pick up Challenge through the aerial. Presumably ITV3 is also available through FsFs, which will at least save the cost of having someone go up on the roof to fiddle with or replace the existing aerial.
It's most peculiar though, and certainly it would be better to get the Freeview working normally. Digital TV isn't all it's cracked up to be - hardly surprising with something forced on us by the government - at least with analogue you'd get a slightly snowy picture, but could still watch tv. With digital you get pixel-blocks, beeps, and error messages.
It probably IS the trees, and if she does pay for someone to sort it out they may well end up pointing it towards Hastings, even though the local channels are wrong. It would still be better than all this messing around.
Thanks to all of you for your advice, and we may be stopping to think about it but we've not given up yet ;)
| link to this comment |
kaz's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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