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Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"Wsa_postcodeSG19 2NH

 

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 22/04/2024 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 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C27 (522.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Cambridge, 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
C24 (498.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Anglia (West 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 (Anglia east),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C21+ (474.2MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Cambridge, 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 -0.2dB
C33 (570.0MHz)291mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H -0.2dB
C36 (594.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H -0.2dB
C48 (690.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 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)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Sandy Heath transmitter?

regional news image
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
regional news image
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?

1965-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-1312 Feb 2020
VHFA K TK TK TW TW T
C6ITVwaves
C21C4wavesC4wavesC4waves+BBCBBBCB
C24ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C27BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C31BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves
C32com7
C33SDN
C34com8
C35_local
C36ArqA
C39C5wavesC5waves
C43_local
C48ArqBArqB
C51tv_offSDN
C52tv_offArqA
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_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

Oct 1959-Feb 2004Anglia Television
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.

Comments
Monday, 12 November 2012
B
Bryan
2:00 PM

Hello - We live within about Half a Mile of the Sandy Heath Transmitter - I can see it out of the window looming over us all - & we have a couple of TVs with In Built Freeview. Is there anyone out there familar with the implications of the new 4G Service for those in close proximity to this Transmitter - in view of all the comments in the Press about Interference/Loss of Freeview Channel Access etc. & if this is likely to arise - & what is to be done in practice?

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Bryan's 1 post GB flag
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

7:37 PM

Bryan: The most likely scenario for problems from 4G signals is a weak Freeview signal being received in an area with a strong 4G signal. If the Freeview signal is then amplified with no steps being taken to reduce the level of the 4G signal the viewer will end up with a super strong 4G signal which is likely to overload the tuner. The problem is worse for viewers receiving C60 or C59 as filtering becomes more difficult. I don't know where the nearest 4G antenna will be in relation to your location, but as you are close to Sandy Heath, so unlikely to have any amplification and receiving frequencies away from those to be used for 4G you will probably have no problems to contend with.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:16 PM

Bryan: In addition to the response from KMJ,Derby, 4G signals will be vertically polarised. Your Sandy Heath aerial is horizontal so this is another factor which makes you even more less likely to be susceptible to problems with 4G interference.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Thursday, 15 November 2012
D
dave macready
9:11 PM

How come ALLL the channnels on my Sony TV, Toshiba and Panansonic HD recorders were missing this morning 15nov and I had toi do a re tune of each device to restore them please?

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dave macready's 7 posts GB flag
Saturday, 8 December 2012
C
Carl
1:01 PM

Hi Bryan
Newmarket CB8
Just moved in,cannot receive BBC channels,can receive ITV channels in one room,but tv in lounge receives them all but reception breaks into blocks occasionally particually at night.
outside aerial but it is different from neighbors,no reflector as in your picture on your web page.

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Carl's 2 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:25 PM

Carl: Log periodics don't have a reflector. Is it one of those?

Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 8 January 2013
P
PJB
11:44 PM

Any suggestions please?
Switched room 1 to HD PVR & TV and now seeing break up on various channels. Have an amp inline in th aerial feed that serves these 2 boxes, and a second (SD) PVR in another room. Only other thing is that the old TV was not on aerial as it was analogue only. Could the extra device (or the cable In place) be an issue,
Am testing removing the aerial cable for PVR to TV to see what happens, we mostly time shift, so it's not a big deal.

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PJB's 1 post GB flag
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:17 AM

PJB : Well its not really easy to advise on this without having knowledge of your location or at least one from nearby such as a shop, as the signal levels expected at your location cannot be assessed, but try a test with the aerial by-passing the in line amp and going either straight into the PVR or the TV, giving an update on results.

Although by being unable to assess the signal levels expected at wherever you might be located complicates the issue.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 11 January 2013
P
Peter
7:40 PM

My Mum and Dad live in Langford and do not get channel 10, ITV3, or Quest channel 38. The ariel is a digital one and situated in the loft. Is the ariel in the loft to blame?

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Peter's 3 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:54 PM

Peter: They should try a manual scan of UHF channel 51 if there is a manual tune function. Having entered the channel number, but before pressing the button to scan, wait and see what the strength and quality on that channel is, if it gives such readings.

On the basis that they are only 5 miles from the transmitter they wouldn't be expected to have an issue.

The main possible thing could be too high a signal level:

Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | Digital switchover | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
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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.

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