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Full Freeview on the Heathfield (East Sussex, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps50.976,0.229 or 50°58'34"N 0°13'45"Esa_postcodeTN21 0UG

 

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 04/11/2024 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 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C41 (634.0MHz)298mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) South East, 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
C44 (658.0MHz)298mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Meridian (East micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Meridian south coast), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C47 (682.0MHz)298mDTG-20,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South East, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South 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
C40 (626.0MHz)298mDTG-820,000W
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
C43 (650.0MHz)300mDTG-820,000W
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
C46 (674.0MHz)300mDTG-820,000W
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

DTG-8 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?

regional news image
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 17km north (6°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
regional news image
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?

1984-971997-981998-20122012-132013-182013-1719 Jul 2018
C/D EC/D EC/D EW TW TW TK T
C29_local_local_local_local
C40SDN
C41ArqBArqBArqBBBCA
C42SDNSDNSDN
C43ArqA
C44ArqAArqAArqAD3+4
C46ArqB
C47BBCBBBCBBBCBBBCB
C49tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C52tv_offBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCABBCA
C64ITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves
C67C4wavesC4wavesC4waves

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

Aug 1958-Jan 1992Southern Television
Jan 1982-Dec 1992Television South (TVS)
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Meridian
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. Heathfield 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.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

Radiation patterns withheld

Comments
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:25 PM

Briantist: SDN remains on C48- until 27th at 2kW (according to DUK).

It has never used C42+ which is what Tunbridge Wells used before switchover and up to 27th. The other five muxes are a SFN with TW now. SDN's SFN doesn't start until 27th.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
T
Tony
2:34 PM

Thanks Dave, am using Promax 4C on network here. Would I expect to see Ch48 about 10dB down on other mux's?
Absolutely nothing on Ch48, just noise floor :-(

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Tony's 4 posts GB flag
B
BH Viewer
2:37 PM

All seemed to be up and running OK this morning.
There were a couple of apparent momentary dropouts on D3&4 just before lunch.
SDN is OK on Ch48.

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BH Viewer's 6 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:41 PM

Tony: Yes, -10dB is the difference.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
T
Tony
2:52 PM

Thanks guys, must have some other internal network issue here. Def NO ch48 in the bedrooms of this hotel :-(

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Tony's 4 posts GB flag
M
Micky
3:13 PM

Thanks dave for your reply.. Dont get that though cause i had quest at 2 am this morning and now nothing on either channels.. But do understand that it wont change till the 27th.. However isnt this failse advertising as it clearly states channel 42 sdn is running on full power on the heathfield mast now!!! Thinks this should be removed and stated clearly with the truth!!

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Micky's 3 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:31 PM

Micky: This is an independent site, thus information listed is sourced from elsewhere. Mistakes can happen and I have pointed this out to Briantist who is the site's owner.

One of the problems you may have is that C47 and C49 are high power and therefore strong signals, and relatively speaking, C48 in the middle is weak. This marked difference could be the source of the problem as the high power signals could be acting to desensitise your receiver. That is it is "looking" at 48 with high power signals on adjacent channels.

This could be likened to your eyes densitising at night when bright light is shone in your direction. Car headlights coming towards you, for example, may reduce your ability to see the surroundings.

You "may" be able to reduce the level of all signals by using an attenuator inline with your aerial lead in order to increase the sensitivity of the receiver. I say "may" because in so doing you will be reducing C48, but at 2kW at only four or five miles away is still powerful so you may be able to find a sweet spot where it all works.

If you get a variable one (20dB) you can then adjust it whilst viewing the signal strength on C48. Give it a few seconds to adjust to any change you make. Then find where it is at its maximum.

Attenuators can be picked up from online sources such as eBay or Amazon for £3 or £4.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
M
Micky
5:21 PM

Ok im running on a adjuatable booster so i will try the gain on it.. If not i will jus have to wait till the 27th again. Fair anuf about it being a independent site.. Jus thought if it was advertised it would stop all the relevent quetions to this blog but cheers for all the info.. Much apriciated :)

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Micky's 3 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:39 PM

Micky: Generally speaking, most people shouldn't need a booster at such close proximity to the transmitter. I say generally speaking because I don't know whether there are local obstructions.

This was true before switchover when a set-top aerial may well have been sensitive enough at your location.

The main reason I would expect you to be using a booster is so as to distribute the signal to different outlets, although even then you may well have sufficient signal to split it.

As a matter of principle, I suggest that you only use a booster if it doesn't work without it and not the other way around. With digital reception, too high a signal level gives the same sort of effect as too little signal. That is the signal strength gets lower and when it is really high, the receiver becomes overwhelmed and shows "no signal".

So long as the quality is good at all times (no break-up) then you have the best picture you can get. If the strength is at 75% (for example) with good quality, then there is nothing to be gain from trying to push for 100% strength; only quality to be lost.

I'm not familiar with the Humaxes but I do know that some receivers have in-built boosters. Make sure that this is set to off.

If, having removed the booster, you find that C48 is still unavailable, then the solution "may" be attenuation, as I suggested above.

A set-top aerial should pick up less signal than your roof-top or fixed aerial (if you're using one). Or try a piece of wire about 12 to 18 inches long inserted into the inner part of the aerial socket. These may be temporary fixes to restore Quest etc until 27th, if nothing better can be found.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
R
Richard Kernick
8:06 PM

Living in Ridgewood, Uckfield on the heathfield transmitter, re-tuned tonight but still cannot get freeview hd channels.

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Richard Kernick's 1 post GB flag
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