Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"W |  | SG19 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.
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter._______
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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Saturday, 26 March 2011
C
Craig7:51 AM
Northampton
When DSO phase one happens on March 30th will the BBC Freeview channels be turned up to full power, or will we have to wait until the April phase 2 date to see the full power turned up?
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Craig's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Adam B- I am actually a Bedford 'Hatter'. I was just looking at Alan's postcode location and forgot to remove it.
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M
Mike Dimmick3:38 PM
Reading
Craig: At DSO day 1, the BBC A multiplex launches at full power. I believe this is true at all sites, even where a temporary channel is used.
The BBC A multiplex takes over the frequency of BBC Two (analogue), so you must retune your Freeview box even if you already have perfect reception of Multiplex 1. The current low-power Multiplex 1 will stop transmitting. You should do a complete first-time installation to clear the existing BBC channel information.
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Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 28 March 2011
A
Andy Maltby8:27 AM
Cambridge
CB23 2SP
Wide band Labgear aerial mounted on 20' mast on gable end of bungalow.
Occasional brief loss of sound. Is this likely to improve with increased transmission power from Sandy Heath?
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Andy's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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Mike Dimmick5:58 PM
Andy Maltby: I think there's a reasonable chance that any problems you're currently having are caused by too much signal rather than too little. I've plugged the numbers into Megalithia's Field Strength Calculator, which suggests that with a 10dBd aerial and 10m of downlead, you could be getting up to 78-80 dBuV of signal on the digital multiplexes, and well over 100 dBuV on analogue. The recommended levels are 45-65 dBuV for digital (some say 45-60) and 60-80 dBuV for analogue.
Field Strength Calculator - you're 13.7km away.
At switchover, the PSB multiplexes could be up to 92-93 dBuV. Past switchovers, e.g. Mendip, have shown that high digital signal levels cause more problems than the old analogue signal levels did. You may experience more problems after switchover than you had before.
If you have any amplifiers, you should remove them. You will probably need to add an attenuator to bring the levels into spec. (RG47SH)
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Tuesday, 29 March 2011
H
Hertfordshaz9:55 AM
Hi
When will we actually see an increase in power - tomorrow or when it is all finished at the end of the year?
Also, what time will things change around tomorrow?
Ta
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Mike Dimmick4:36 PM
Reading
Hertfordshaz: You will see increased power on BBC channels tomorrow, and on the Multiplex 2 channels listed above on the 13th of April.
ArqB (Multiplex D) reaches full power on 14 September, ArqA (Multiplex C) on 23 November, and SDN (Mux A) some time in 2012 after Hemel Hempstead switches over. You need to retune on each date, and also on 31 August when SDN moves out of the way of a change at Sutton Coldfield.
The main transmitter will be off-air from shortly after midnight to around 6am on both days. It's recommended to retune after 6am to ensure all changes are final.
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Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
KMJ,Derby5:10 PM
Hertfordshaz: The easy bit first, services are expected back on air at Sandy Heath by 6am. The schedule for channel changes and power increases is rather complicated though.(1) Mux BBCA (C27) launches at high power on 30th March 2011 for switchover step1.... (2)Switchover step2 on 13th April 2011 will give Mux D3+4 on C24 and Mux HD on C21+ both at high power. Mux ArqB will be on C67 in 8k mode with temporary reduced power working....(3)On 31st August 2011 low power MuxA changes frequency to C31....(4)On 14th September 2011 Mux ArqB changes frequency to C48 at high power and MuxC transfers to temporary frequency C67...(5)On 23rd November 2011 MuxC/ArqA changes frequency to C52 at high power and 8k mode...During 2012 (dates tba) MuxA/SDN will change to 8k mode on C51 at high power. A power increase is also shown for the PSB muxes suggesting that initially the high power signals will be at (slightly) reduced power until switchover is completed in other regions.
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Wednesday, 30 March 2011
C
Charlie12:10 AM
I have a loft mounted Group-A aerial pointing directly at Sandy Heath Tx (aligned with a compass) from Cambridge, distance is 30km.
Currently the analogue TV receives all the main channels, including Channel 5, with excellent picture quality.
However with a TVonics MD-252 freeview box there is no reception of any digital channels.
As I understand it currently Analogue Ch5 is on C39 @ 10kW (-20dB), and the nearest digital signal is MuxC on C40 @ 20kW (-17dB).
Is this correct? - if so I'm confused why the TVonics box can't see at least MuxC as I would have thought that the 3dB difference in power between would more than compensate for the roll-off on a Group-A aerial between C39 & C40.
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Charlie: You will not be able to receive the commercial multiplexes with a group A aerial after switchover, and loft aerials are unsuitable for reliable Freeview reception.
You have two weeks to sort out a wideband rooftop aerial.
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