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.
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 14/10/2024 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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Tuesday, 21 July 2015
C
Colin Gibbs12:13 PM
Corby
Last night (i.e. 20th. July 2015) we ended up with blank screens on BBC1 & 2, plus severe pixelation on several oothers. But this morning, during a check-through, all seemed OK. Thank you. We only wish Freeview gave a clear message if the fault lay with themselves - otherwise one spends the evening checking & rechecking aerial cables & plugs. And the BBC News channel does seemed to have turned up elsewhere than the usual 130 channel. We live in NN18 8PT, with a loft aerial. (using Youview via TalkTalk). Now I know this opportunity exists, I shall report any further change.
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Colin's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 6 August 2015
D
David 4:10 PM
Getting blocks on my screen on all hd channels you should boost your transmitter up .
I have a perfect aerial on my roof and my neighbours have the same issue so do my mates at the other side of town so it's you that's at fault so soft it out ...
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Dave Lindsay
7:30 PM
7:30 PM
David : This is a website independent of any broadcaster. It would be useful to know the name of the town as others may be experiencing the same problem and then we know whether this is related to one locality. It is possible that a fault could affect one side of a transmitter, which is why location is important.
If you are referring to the main HD multiplex, PSB3 aka "BBC B" -- which carries HD variants of BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, CBBC, ITV and Channel 4 -- then I'm sure that the BBC will be very interested to hear of a widespread issue. If this is due to a fault at the transmitter, only once notified can they move to fix it.
BBC - About us - Help Receiving TV and Radio
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Saturday, 22 August 2015
M
Mr Harris6:56 AM
Tv signal non existent in central Northampton.
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Thursday, 27 August 2015
M
Mr workingford2:06 PM
Hello I've been having problems with the bbc channels they keep droping out and I've tried everything to fix this could you please give my some advice I would be most greatful best regards .Mr workingford.
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D
Danielle2:11 PM
Hey in MK WE'RE CURRENTLY HAVING ISSUES WITH OUR RECEPTION BLOCKS AND SOUND KEEPS CUTTING OUT.
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W
Wendy5:42 PM
Hello I'm new to this I'm wondering what type of aerial I should get for the Milton Keynes area .
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Friday, 28 August 2015
M
MikeP7:39 AM
Wendy:
The best aerial to have installed is a log-periodic type that will enable you to receive all the available channels for the foreseeable future. That should be mounted externally at or a little above your roof level, on a chimney perhaps, and aimed at the Sandy Heath transmitter. As you haven't given a post code we cannot determine the compass direction it should be aimed at for best reception.
I note from the map on this page that some parts of Milton Keynes are poorly served from Sandy Heath transmitter because of the hills and valleys. Areas such as Bradwell, Broughton and Lathwell are 'hidden' from the transmitter.
Note that there is no such thing as a 'digital aerial', all TV aerials are capable of receiving Freeview TV signals.
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Saturday, 29 August 2015
P
Peter Snellgrove Hawkins 11:40 AM
What is the compass bearing to Sandy Hill from cb58sx?
I can't get bbc and all else pixelates.
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N
NJ 12:14 PM
Wisbech
Since the last Sandy Heath retune a few days ago, channel 48 has a strong signal but very poor quality. All other channels report both good signal and quality. My post code is PE13 2EG.
Please note, I have just received a card indicating that G4 transmitters are being activated in my area, but given the frequency of channel 48, it seems unlikely that this is a GSM4 is the problem as I would have expected the interference to be confined to higher up the TV band.
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NJ's: mapN's Freeview map terrainN's terrain plot wavesN's frequency data N's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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