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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 25/03/2024 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, 7 December 2015
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:29 PM

Coach: 90% signal is too high. We really need a full postcode (just put into a reply and all the links will come up automatically), but if your getting that with an internal aerial (inside the roof or a portable one?), then your getting a very strong signal (do you have a booster?), since your about 30 miles from the transmitter.

You havn't given a make/model for the TV either - that helps, because some tuners are more sensitive than others. However, just becuase a TV is the same brand, its doesn't mean that the tuner will be exactly the same. And if the signal is slightly too high, remember that the level can slightly change from day to day, something I've found out myself with my HD box.

I suspect an attenuator is a good bet. Really cheap, and just brings the strength down so that there is no breakup. maplin do them, and a variable one kight be fine, and just bring things down so that the TV can cope. have a loom again at the page I linked to.

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
R
Richard
6:38 PM
Northampton

Coach: Some useful comments from MikeP.

For reception problems encountered by relations at NN1 5BT, I took notes of which channels ran OK, which pixellated/dropped out and which didn't load on re-tune at all.

I put that info into a spreadsheet, and pasted in Briantist's info on which MUX each channel was transmitted in, the frequency (MHz) and power (W).

I'd recommend anyone do that.

In the case of NN1 5BT, when I reordered by wattage, they received everything transmitted at 180,000 W on PSB1/2/3 but everything at lower power had problems.

However COM5 is not that much lower in wattage at 170,000 W.

When I reordered by MHz it became clear there were issues with COM5 on 722.0 MHz suggesting a 4G 800 MHz problem.

Solution: low signal strength, probable 4G interference, masthead booster with 4G filter required.

link to this comment
Richard's 1 post GB flag
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Coach
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:21 PM
Cambridge

MikeB: Thanks MikeB. My post code is CB25 0PA and the tv is Samsung. Bought a attenuator and all ok for now. Find it hard to believe i have high signal considering distance and internal aerial. I do have a booster however which acts as a distribution box. Thanks for your assistance. By the way Maplins don't sell too many out of Cambridge shop which suggests strong signal not an issue in the area.

link to this comment
Coach's 33 posts GB flag
Coach's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
C
Coach
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

10:21 PM

MikeB: Still having break up on Channel 4 hd. What i have noticed is that signal strength fluctuates unlike the channels which are ok. Could it be the tv?

link to this comment
Coach's 33 posts GB flag
Thursday, 10 December 2015
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:02 AM

Coach: Channel 4HD is broadcast by the PSB3 multiplex, as are channels (45) Film+1 / 101 to 105 / (123) CBBC HD, are these channels also being affected?

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
C
Coach
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

7:21 AM

jb38: yes they are. Thanks.

link to this comment
Coach's 33 posts GB flag
Monday, 11 January 2016
W
Waspattack
11:08 PM
Cambridge

I've noticed a drop in signal power over the last few weeks. All MUXs which used to be about 70/80 power are now down at about 25. The quality is still at 100 and have no problem with the channels but the real issue is that MUX channel 32 which includes BBC4 is now at zero and won't pick up.

Postcode CB22 5DT External aerial on roof/chimney breast. Booster/splitter in loft then leading to a Humax in the living room.

External ground view of aerial seems to be fine. The only idea I have is that we have had some wood fires recently, would this cause an issue with tar coating?

Any other ideas?

link to this comment
Waspattack's 2 posts GB flag
Waspattack's: mapW's Freeview map terrainW's terrain plot wavesW's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 21 January 2016
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:31 AM

SANDY HEATH transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 22:53 yesterday to 01:40 today. [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
M
malcolm day
9:04 PM

Picture breaking down onall channels all day 21st jan 2016 are there any problems
Thank you
Malcolm day
Post code pe38 9tq

link to this comment
malcolm day's 1 post GB flag
Friday, 22 January 2016
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:31 AM

SANDY HEATH transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 22:53 on 20 Jan to 01:40 yesterday. [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
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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.

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