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 25/09/2023 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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Sunday, 3 July 2016
J
John King11:50 AM
thank you.
It is a communal ariel - which only the housing association owning the building have access to.
I did report a problem to them when this started 4 weeks ago but that was in response to it getting a lot worse and losing all reception for a couple of days (the ariel seems to get a problem and lose all reception every month or 2 - which seems unusual to me)
I don't really know the neighbours, some don't stay that long, many use satelite
(I did try changing the fly lead though didn't use any shielded)
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R
Richard Cooper4:38 PM
Norwich
John King: Hi, John. Your Housing Association has the obligation to ensure that you have access to public service broadcasting. It is responsible for ensuring that the communal aerial system is working effectively, although I would imagine that it subcontracts the work out to a local aerial contractor, in the same way that Broadland Housing Association does here in Norwich, where I live. We are fortunate that I have a personal relationship wit the managing director of our communal aerial subcontractor and so he goes out of his way to ensure I don't experience any reception problems. Don't forget that Housing Associations have official complaints procedures that you can follow if you are dissatisfied with any of the services which you pay for in your service charge. Richard, Norwich.
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Richard's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 4 July 2016
J
jb3812:42 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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Monday, 11 July 2016
B
Bob Dye4:26 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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Richard Cooper4:52 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's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 18 July 2016
Transmitter engineering
9:09 AM
9:09 AM
SANDY HEATH transmitter - Possible weak signal [DUK]
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Tuesday, 19 July 2016
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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MikeP
1:33 PM
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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Richard Cooper2:55 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's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
John rye7:19 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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