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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.

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.

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), 71 That’s 60s,

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 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others

COM5
ArqA
 H -0.2dB
C36 (594.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others

COM6
ArqB
 H -0.2dB
C48 (690.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 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, 4 July 2016
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:42 AM

John King: Thanks for the confirmation that you are indeed (as suspected) connected into a communal aerial system, something which somewhat simplifies the situation, insomuch that about the only thing anyone can do when connected into such a system is to verify that the jumper lead connecting their Freeview equipment into the wall socket (or otherwise) is in good condition, plus of course, that their TV or box is tuned into the mux channels used by the transmitting station that covers their area and not the odd mux from a station outwith same, not that this is likely to happen in your particular case, as alternative stations (Waltham and Belmont) are listed under the category of being either variable or poor.

Further advice available if required.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Monday, 11 July 2016
B
Bob Dye
4:26 PM

For about two months my two TVs have experienced very bad pixilation, clicking and sound breakup. I have checked with neighbours, and they are having the same problem. These are served by outdoor aerials which point to Sandy Heath. The issue starts occurring about midday and gradually gets worse till about 11pm-midnight. In extreme cases there is total loss of picture and sound with the corresponding notice "No Signal". The problem does not occur after around midnight through to early morning. We are located in Hitchin SG5.

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Bob Dye's 1 post GB flag
R
Richard Cooper
sentiment_satisfiedGold

4:52 PM
Norwich

Bob Dye: Hi, Bob. In early June, there were atmospheric conditions comprising a combination of high pressure and temperature inversion causing tropospheric scatter of UHF tv signals. The effect for viewers is that their Freeview televisions or set-top boxes were unable to decode the signal from their usual transmitter as a result of co-channel interference from another transmitter using the same frequencies. The result was pixelation, squeaks and/or breakup of sound, and, worst case scenario: total loss of picture and sound. Once we had arrived at mid-June, the country was once again experiencing low pressure conditions and no temperature inversions and so things returned to normal. There was high pressure at the end of last week which possibly could have caused you problems again. There is nothing that can be done about these tropospheric scatter effects other than to wait until lower pressure conditions prevail. One can, of course, study the weather forecasts so that one can see when low pressure areas are approaching. Richard, Norwich.

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Richard Cooper's 471 posts GB flag
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 19 July 2016
J
J. English
1:03 PM

I have freeview builtinto tv using a rooftop ariel. I have sound bot no picture on almost every channel apart fron bbc1 and2. Postcode Mk427HH

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J. English's 1 post GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:33 PM

J. English :

It is possible that the current warm weather is causing propogation problems. If so, there is no known cure apart from waiting foor the natural atmospheric effect to pass over.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
R
Richard Cooper
sentiment_satisfiedGold

2:55 PM
Norwich

J. English : Hi, J English. Digital UK is reporting, " a possible weak signal" from Sandy Heath today and so it is possible that some engineering works are currently taking place. Whether transmitter engineering or atmospherics it is simply a waiting game if your own installation is in 'A1' condition. Richard, Norwich.

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Richard Cooper's 471 posts GB flag
Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
John rye
7:19 PM

My post code is CB9 since an automatic new dvb service re-tune at the weekend BBC 2, ITV4, BBC HD and others have disappeared from my standard TV set menu, however my Freeview box services are all present and correct.
I have re-tuned the STANDARD set without success what is the problem?
Is it Sandy Heath?

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John rye's 1 post GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:57 PM

John rye: Your missing some muxes, so check that TV is actually locking on to that transmitter. And check signal strength - could be that the aerial lead to it has a problem - try swapping them over.

BBC4 HD if often at lower strength than ITV, but if your missing both, it cant be the transmitter - it either works, or it doesn't.

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Saturday, 30 July 2016
J
John King
5:22 PM

a quick thanks to jb38 as I was indeed having some problems from my digibox retuning to the wrong transmitter. when my reception of ch51 and ch52 is poor it sometimes retunes com4 and com5 to ch42 and ch45 (Tacolneston, perhaps).
I've retuned now (2 or 3 weeks ago) and keeping an eye in case it retunes again - but of course if the signal was good I wouldn't have the problem.

Quick update, I am in Peterborough (PE3), since early June my Com5 reception has been a couple of seconds of picture followed by longer gaps of no picture. Sometimes Com4 is affected too but the other muxes are fine.
But last week things changed ...and went on changing
Sunday was the same as it had been.
Monday, it was fine (except for occasional very small glitches)
Tuesday, the problem returned to com5.
Wednesday, occasional brief picture loss on com5 but the quiz shows on Challenge were watchable
after that ... virtually nothing on any of the com5 channels (so worse than before)

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John King's 3 posts GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:44 PM

John King: I'm in Peterborough as well, but on Waltham. Check the signal levels on all the muxes - Com 5 should be about the same as most of the others (Com7 is certainly weak).

The most likely problem is somewhere in your system - perhaps a frayed cable, loose join, etc. Cables can be odd, and a problem might mean a really strong mux is wiped out, but a much weaker one is OK. Simply changing the aerial lead isn't a bad idea - they are cheap, easy to change, and if there is no difference, then at least you know its not that.

If there is still a problem, then you'll have to check up the signal path - good luck!

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
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