Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter
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The symbol shows the location of the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 920,000 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 Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) mast?
Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 25/11/2024 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)
Which Freeview channels does the Sandy Heath 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)
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Sandy Heath transmitter?
BBC Look East (West) 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Cambridge CB4 0WZ, 29km east-northeast (65°)
to BBC Cambridge region - 4 masts.
70% of BBC East (East) and BBC East (West) is shared output
ITV Anglia News 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Norwich NR1 3JG, 119km east-northeast (60°)
to ITV Anglia (West) region - 5 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Anglia (East)
How will the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1965-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 12 Feb 2020 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | K T | K T | W T | W T | ||||
| C6 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C21 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C24 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C27 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C31 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ||||||
| C32 | com7 | ||||||||
| C33 | SDN | ||||||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C35 | _local | ||||||||
| C36 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C39 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C43 | _local | ||||||||
| C48 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C51tv_off | SDN | ||||||||
| C52tv_off | ArqA | ||||||||
| 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 30 Mar 11 and 13 Apr 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 1000kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7.4dB) 180kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-7.7dB) 170kW | |
| com7 | (-13dB) 49.6kW | |
| com8 | (-13.1dB) 49.1kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-17dB) 20kW | |
| Analogue 5 | (-20dB) 10kW |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area
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Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Nigel: No, it won't be a transmission problem. Can you please see Freeview intermittent interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
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Tuesday, 22 February 2011
C
chris davies12:32 PM
Hi
I live in Luton LU2 and for the past week have been having problems with the BBC4 multiplex low signal yet there are no reports of problems
Chris
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M
Mike Dimmick12:47 PM
Reading
chris davies: losing Mux B would indicate the beginnings of a cable or aerial problem, as higher frequencies travel less well.
I'm not aware of any retuning events at other sites that could have affected reception of Mux B. There don't appear to have been any weather conditions that would cause signals to travel further than normal.
To be honest, I'd wait for switchover, which happens in about a month, and see how it works after that. Note that Multiplex D will move to C67 at switchover, with the same power level as Mux B now has, and will stay there until September. However, it will be using a different mode that requires about twice as much power for the same coverage area.
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Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Wayne Drury6:42 PM
I cant see any problems posted here, but the last 4-5wk and still currently we have lost all channels on Mux 2, A and D. Got them briefly back on Saturday 19/02, but again nothing. Its so bad had to revert to using CatchupTV on my MCE to watch anything.
Really concerned this is due to work preparing for the switchover, which is another 5 wks away. Who can we raise this with officially or is the price we pay for Free Service TV?
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Wayne Drury: No, this is not in any way "due to work preparing for the switchover".
I would suggest you look at the Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice - the deal is that you don't pay a subscription, but the responsibility for reception is down to you.
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chris davies7:23 PM
Hi Mike
Thanks, I thought much the same as you but wondered if there is an issue with low power on Mux b as I see no level drop at all on the other muliplexes. I wondered if anyone else had experienced this as I dont think all engineering work is reported.
chris
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Wayne Drury8:25 PM
Briantist, thanks for the response. I have check the reception link you provided back at Christmas when we had the same issue for just of 2wks.
Our Ariel is new as of 3 years ago specifically for Freeview in our house and has been working fine up until the last 6 months on/off loss of channels. The worst it has been has been since Nov2010 through until now.
As for weather affecting, the other day it was crystal clear blue sky in Northampton and still no channels on those MUX I mention.
I accept reception is down to us public, but from a logic point of view, when nothing has changed in house/Ariel and I loose channels for over weeks and the weather has been clear, dry, wet, mist (i.e. never the same) its hard to believe it all down to something magical in our house/ariel is the cause. Particulary when we are aware the transmitter is in the process of being upgraded.
Whats concerns me most is after going out and buying a Freeview HD TV ready for the switchover. We are now having these kind of issues with standard Freeview, what come back if any do I have when I end up with no channel post switchover? Who do we call on 1-Apr when/if we have no channels post a retune?
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Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Wayne Drury: The correct people to contact still is your aerial installer.
The transmission people are not responsible for anything other than providing the output at the specified levels and frequencies.
If you still have problems once switchover is complete, it is still down to you to ensure your reception works.
Your reception of Multiplex A (COM4/SDN) will not improve until 31st August 11, and Multiplex C (COM5/ARQA) will happen on 14th September 11.
Freeview HD will start on 13th April 11.
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Tim Newton9:15 PM
Are the current digital transmissions from Sandy Heath in the 2k or 8k mode?
Thanks. (TQ729075)
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