menuMENU    UK Free TV logo Freeview

 

 

Click to see updates

Freeview Light on the Otford (Kent, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.321,0.199 or 51°19'16"N 0°11'55"Esa_postcodeTN14 5RS

 

The symbol shows the location of the Otford (Kent, England) transmitter which serves 1,400 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.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Otford (Kent, England) transmitter.

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
_______

Which Freeview channels does the Otford 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
 V max
C29 (538.0MHz)206mDTG-6W
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
 V max
C31 (554.0MHz)206mDTG-6W
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),

PSB3
BBCB
 V max
C37 (602.0MHz)206mDTG-6W
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

H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Are you trying to watch these 44 Freeview channels?

the effected channels
the effected channels
the effected channels
the effected channels

The Otford (Kent, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: 4seven, 5Action, 5STAR, 5USA, Al Jazeera Eng, Al Jazeera English, Blaze, Blaze +1, Challenge, Channel 5 +1, Dave, Dave ja vu, DMAX, Drama +1, E4 Extra, YAAAS!, Film4 +1, Food Network, GREAT! action, GREAT! movies, GREAT! romance mix, GREAT! romance, HGTV, HobbyMaker, ITV2 +1, ITV3 +1, ITV4 +1, ITVBe +1, Legend, PBS America, Quest +1, Quest Red, Really, Sky Mix, Sky News, Talking Pictures TV, TCC, That's 90s, That's TV 2, Together TV, TRUE CRIME, TRUE CRIME XTRA, W, Yesterday +1.

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 Otford transmitter?

regional news image
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 32km northwest (312°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
regional news image
ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 31km northwest (315°)
to ITV London region - 55 masts.

How will the Otford (Kent, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20122012-1321 Mar 2018
C/D EC/D EC/D EC/D E TA K T
C29BBCA
C31D3+4
C37BBCB
C53tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesBBCB
C57tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4
C60tv_offITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCA
C63BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 31W
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 6.2W

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. Otford 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
Saturday, 10 December 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:31 AM

OTFORD transmitter - Analogue BBC ONE Off Air from 12:44 yesterday to 14:30 yesterday BBC TWO Off Air from 12:44 yesterday to 14:30 yesterday [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Sunday, 11 December 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:29 AM

OTFORD transmitter - Analogue BBC ONE Off Air from 12:44 on 09 Dec to 14:30 on 09 Dec BBC TWO Off Air from 12:44 on 09 Dec to 14:30 on 09 Dec [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Thursday, 28 June 2012
A
Andy, otford
12:11 AM
Sevenoaks

I was watching Dave earlier tonight when I got signal interference, this got so bad I finally lost signal completely. I have retuned my tv and also performed a factory reset onit and still can't pick up the multiplex that dave etc is on,post code is TN14 5NJ. Any advice would get appreciated, I am using an aeriel on the roof with a booster in the loft

link to this comment
Andy, otford's 1 post GB flag
Andy,'s: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:37 AM

Andy, otford: You've posted on the page for the Otford transmitter. If your aerial is directed at it, then it's a wonder you ever received Dave anyway because it doesn't broadcast it. In which case you need to look at getting an aerial on Crystal Palace.

If your aerial points to Crystal Palace, then I suggest that it could be the Inversion effect in play. By retuning you have shot yourself in the foot because you will now not know when the effect has lifted and you will need to keep retuning until it comes back. Had you left it then you would have simply been able to select Dave.

For Dave you need to manually tune to UHF channel 22, if your receiver allows.

Otford transmitter is north east from you on Otford Mount. Aerials are vertical.

Crystal Palace is west north west from you and aerials are horizontal.

See this picture for a photo of aerials polarised horizontally and vertically:

http://farm5.static.flick….gif

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Friday, 21 December 2012
P
Phil
5:21 PM
Sevenoaks

I've read through the many comments and helpful info, but I'm still not clear. I've just moved to Otford, I have a transmitter nearby, I don't understand why I can't pick up all the digital only channels via Freeview. What do I have to do?

link to this comment
Phil's 2 posts GB flag
Phil's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:11 PM

Phil: On checking your location in relation to the Otford transmitter you appear to reside at only half a mile away from it, and although the transmitter is only rated at 6 watts at that distance it will appear as far more powerful and might be killing reception by overloading the tuner in whatever you are using.

Maybe you could indicate what type of aerial you are using plus the model of your TV or box you are using, but if you are using a roof top aerial then unplug it and try a short length of wire (about 4 feet or so) connected into the aerial socket and then carry out an auto tune.

If though you have access to a set top aerial then use that instead of the wire, but the point of this test is to provide a weaker signal for the receiver, because if it works in a fashion then an attenuator in line with the main aerial is required.


link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

6:22 PM

Phil: To receive all the available muxes on Freeview you need to receive signals directly from Crystal Palace. Use a group "A" aerial ( or a log periodic at your location) set for horizontal polarisation for reception of Crystal Palace. The Otford relay transmitter is only intended to be used by viewers who are unable to receive Crystal Palace directly. It only carries the PSB muxes, as part of the requirement for BBC/ITV/C4 to serve all populations over, say, 500 homes. Smaller communities came to be included towards the end of the analogue relay building program, most of these sites were converted to carry the three PSB muxes at digital switchover. The COM muxes do not transmit from these smaller sites as there is no legal requirement to do so, and the mux owners declined an invitation to serve more sites as transmission costs would have increased out of proportion to the number of extra viewers served.

link to this comment
KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:06 PM

Phil: On re reading your posting I feel that I misinterpreted what you were meaning insomuch that I thought that you could not receive anything at all, whereas KMJ obviously sussed out that your query was in relation to the number of stations missing rather than my initial interpretation, so please ignore the content of my reply.

Thanks / JB.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Thursday, 10 January 2013
P
Phil
5:30 PM
Sevenoaks

Many thanks for your replies. Yes, sorry for not being clear, I have just the basic channels but no digital, so will ask for my aerial to be pointed to Crystal Palace.

link to this comment
Phil's 2 posts GB flag
Phil's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 6 June 2016
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

11:32 AM

OTFORD transmitter - Possible service interruptions [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Select more comments
Page 4

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.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

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.

UK Free TV is here to help people. If you are rude or disrespectful all of your posts will be deleted and you will be banned.








Privacy policy: UK Free Privacy policy.