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 04/11/2024 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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Thursday, 18 May 2017
S
StevensOnln111:19 AM
Dylan : I couldn't see from your posts which part of the country you're in, but in general, as you go further north you'll find bigger dishes installed as standard due to the satellite signals getting weaker as you get further away from the equator. Around the south coast a 30cm dish should be fine, once you get towards the Midlands 45cm dishes tend to be used, and in the North of England, Scotland and Ireland 65cm dishes are commonly used.
Channels from Germany are broadcast from a different satellite position (although do provide good coverage in the UK) and would require either a separate dish aligned to that position, a bigger dish with multiple LNB blocks aligned to different satellite positions along with a device to switch between them (or a separate box for each satellite position) or a motorised dish which can be steered between different satellite positions. Your Sky box will only work for UK channels, as it needs to receive signals from Sky in order to populate it with the channel listing, which is only broadcast from the UK satellite position. A Freesat box might work in non-Freesat mode, or you could use a generic free to air box which is more likely to support switching between different LNBs or automatically controling a motorised dish. I'd suggest talking to a satellite install with experience of installing systems for reception of multiple satellite positions if you decide to go down this route.
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Friday, 19 May 2017
MikeP
8:02 AM
Trowbridge
8:02 AM
Trowbridge
Dylan & StevensOnln1:
A 35cm dish is usually fine in Kent but may still suffer from problems in snow, etc. In London a 45 cm dish is better. That is usually OK up to about a line between Ipswich and Salisbury (the satellites are to the South East so the divide is not horizontal across the country), that is why I use a larger dish in West Wiltshire. Going further north and west, a 55cm dish is needed up to a line roughly between York and Stafford. Further north than that you need a 65cm dish but in Aberdeenshire and further north and west you need a 90cm dish. Dishes smaller than those suggested suffer exactly the problem you report. I did the original work on dish sizes and installation for the TV industry when I worked for a major TV rental company as a Senior Technical Training Manager, so I have some experience and knowledge that is relevant.
Be aware that the Planning Laws only allow two antennae, usually an aerial for terrestrial reception and a single dish for satellite reception. If you want to fit a further dish you must obtain planning permission from your local planning authority, see Planning Permission: Houses and buildings up to 15 metres high | Satellite,TV and radio antenna | Planning Portal for more details. If you are planning to fit an even larger dish, generally more than 90cm across, you will also need planning permission as is often the case in the Shetlands and further north.
The LNB, the block on the outer end of the arm in front of the curved dish, you can get good quality ones with 4 or 8 outlets that can feed several set top boxes. PVRs need two inputs so that you can record one channel whilst watching another. Always buy and fit the lowest noise figure and best quality LNB possible.
If you don't want to receive from other satellites in a different orbital position then it is rarely necessary to fit a further dish. The Astra satellites used by Sky and Freesat are at 28.2 East and 28.5 East, both being receievable with a single dish. There are many other satellites possible, such as those at 16.5 E and 19.2 E but they would require a different dish with planning permission.
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MikeP's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
D
Dylan 11:57 PM
Thank you for thr information.
So if I needed 2 dishes under 90cm for german and uk channels would that be ok without planning permission.
As we don't have a aerial at all expect for one in the loft .
I'd like to get a second dish for german tv and see if someone will remove the sky dish and replace with a 80cm dish as well as a 80 cm dish will that work I have a sat tuner built in my tv not freesat just a non epg kind .
I am located in Brixworth Northamptonshire .
Also if I were to get the German channels would the box show german epg or just now and next ?
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Saturday, 20 May 2017
MikeP
9:00 AM
Trowbridge
9:00 AM
Trowbridge
Dylan:
In such circumstances it is worth asking your local Planning Authority whether they would require you to seek formal planning consent to have two large dishes. The link I gave states that you do not need planning consent "if you are installing two antennas, one is not more than 100 centimetres in any linear dimension, and the other is not more than 60 centimetres in any linear dimension (not including any projecting feed element, reinforcing rim, mounting and brackets" so you cannot have two 90cm dishes without obtaining planning consent. I am assuming your live in a single occupancy property, either detached, semi-detached or terrace. Please read the whole of the relevant section on the Planning Portal to be sure you understand the legal requirements.
In Brixworth, you don't need an 80cm dish for Sky/Freesat, a 60cm will be sufficient as long as it is fitted with a good quality LNB, not a cheap one. The same is likely to be true for the satellites at 19.2E and 16.5E if they are the ones you want to use, but they are not normally available using a single dish unless you have a dual LNB mounting fitted that can be adjusted so that each of the LNBs can 'see' a different satellite. Note that you cannot combine satellite signals so you cannot join two cables to feed from two dishes into a single receiver input. They have to remain separate from the LNBs all the way to the receiver inputs.
You should check the User Manual for your satellite receiver about the EPG query, not knowing what make/model it is means that we cannot look it up for you but you should have the manual already.
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MikeP's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 16 July 2017
M
Mark2:31 PM
How can I receive Central TV in Northampton? As much as I like the Anglia region I feel little affinity from a local point of view with places like Norfolk and Essex. Places like Coventry and Leicester, just up the road from Northampton, never get a look in.
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Monday, 17 July 2017
MikeP
10:21 AM
10:21 AM
Mark:
If you provide a full post code that will bring up a series of links that will show which transmitters are receiveable at your specific location. From the one shown as 'digitaluk trade' you can see which are available and what regions they cover as well as how likely they are to be reliably received.
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Wednesday, 19 July 2017
I
Ian Fisher 1:06 PM
Cambridge
We are missing several Channels from the out put particularly UHF channels 48, 51 and 52 went of yesterday came back on early this morning and have now gone off again
My postcode is CB21 4SR
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Ian's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
Kevin McIntyre9:46 PM
Wisbech
We have lost all channels after the storm last night, are there any known issues? PE13 2JQ
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Kevin's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
S
StevensOnln110:58 PM
Kevin McIntyre: There are no faults showing for Sandy Heath (and if there was a problem there would be a lot of people complaining). It's far more likely that something has gone wrong with your aerial system. Start by checking for any loose or damaged cables or connections behind your TV, then work your way back towards the aerial as far as you can safely access.
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Sunday, 6 August 2017
M
MickO1:36 AM
Hasn't hit me in the eye, but how many TV channels should I look for when retuning?
Current retune shows 184.
Could the total channels be shown on the web pages. Thus making it easy to confirm missing channels/groups?
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