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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Friday, 27 January 2017
Adrian: If your getting 'no signal', it means just that. And the most likely cause is your aerial system. Check at the point where the signal splits - could be a duff powered splitter, etc.
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Saturday, 28 January 2017
N
NJ7:17 PM
MikeB: the no signal can also indicate co channel interference. Sets that have a menu option which shows bot h bit error rate and signal strength provides more information. Maybe showing a strong signal with very poor BER . . In my location high pressure or fog results in the loss of the signal from the BBC mux, with other channels unaffected. This I assume is due to co- channel interference.
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NJ: Yes, it could a lot of things, but the reality is (if you look back through the feedback after this problem has come up) that the most likely explaination is a break somewhere in the system. If thats not the case, then at least thats something to tick off the list.
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Sunday, 29 January 2017
N
NJ2:04 AM
MikeB: no signal on all channels would indicate a signal path problem. Lost of all channels on one mux either indicates a transmitter problem or interference on that particular carrier frequency. This could be a multipath phasing problem or co-channel interference. In my case, over the same period, I am reasonable sure that the problem is co-channel interference.
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MikeP
5:18 PM
5:18 PM
NJ:
Loss of signal on one multiplex can also indicate a frequency selective fault in the aerial system, usually poor connections or corrosion of a plug or socket.
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Tuesday, 31 January 2017
J
Julian8:36 PM
Dunstable
MikeB: Ever since the introduction of digital and when ever the weather is poor the signal from Sandy Heath breaks up We have tried the Oxford transmitter , same effect. However having only just started to look at BBC 4 we noticed the signal doesn't break up Signal strength is 82 to 84% on all channels including BBC4 yet they break up. We have to retune the tv every time we want to watch ,say, 5USA,Really and others even then with 82% signal they will still break up. Our post code is LU6 2AY. We have a booster attached that has not sovled the probelm. is there an answer
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Julian's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Julian: At 82%, I'm not surprised they break up!
Firstly, DigitalUK thinks you should eb perfect for Oxford, so use that. Next, look at your signal strength - the BBC4 mus is relatively low powered compared with BBC1, etc, yet your still getting over 80% signal. Thats far too high. And of course there is no need to retune, although its worth checking which transmitter your actually using.
And rather than solving your problem, the booster has almost certainly made it far worse. Tune into Oxford or Sandy heath (depending which way your aerial points), bypass or remove your booster and look at your signal strength - 75% should be perfect on the main muxes.
Look at this page - Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you
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Friday, 3 February 2017
D
DC3:57 AM
The EPG transmitted from Sandy Heath includes data for the frequency 626000 kHz.
Here's an extract of the XML for those who, like me, are interested in that sort of stuff..
<tv>
<channel id="9018_32794_32858" originalNetworkId="9018" transportStreamId="32794" programId="32858">
<display-name>That's Cambridge</display-name>
<delivery type="DVB-T" frequency="626000" bandwidth="8"/>
</channel>
<channel id="9018_32794_33280" originalNetworkId="9018" transportStreamId="32794" programId="33280">
<display-name>Kix</display-name>
<delivery type="DVB-T" frequency="626000" bandwidth="8"/>
</channel>
<channel id="9018_32794_33344" originalNetworkId="9018" transportStreamId="32794" programId="33344">
<display-name>True Crime</display-name>
<delivery type="DVB-T" frequency="626000" bandwidth="8"/>
</channel>
<channel id="9018_32794_33408" originalNetworkId="9018" transportStreamId="32794" programId="33408">
<display-name>True Movies</display-name>
<delivery type="DVB-T" frequency="626000" bandwidth="8"/>
</channel>
</tv>
626000 kHz translates to channel C40, and this page (ukfree.tv/extras/searchfrequency/40) tells me that Sandy Heath transmitter does not use C40.
I'm not exactly devastated that I can't receive That's Cambridge, Kix, True Crime, and True Movies (logical channels 7, 127, 60, and 74 respectively) as three of the four are on DVB-S regardless, but why would they appear in the Sandy Heath EPG?
Alternative question: If C40 _is_ transmitted from Sandy Heath, even at low power, should it not appear on this page? (ukfree.tv/transmitters/tv/Sandy_Heath)
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S
StevensOnln112:48 PM
DC: The Cambridge local multiplex which contains the services you listed is broadcast from the Madingley transmitter in Cambridge which used to broadcast Channel 5 analogue and is able to be received by the majority of aerials in Cambridge which are pointed at Sandy Heath.
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D
DC2:38 PM
StevensOnln1: I am in Milton Keynes, so I think it is highly unlikely that I am picking this up from the Madingley transmitter.
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