Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter
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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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Wednesday, 22 November 2017
M
MR D Langstone4:52 PM
The aerial is a HG10 high rain LTE digital installed 11.5.17 there is a wolsey LTE WFAW425 4 output F connector which is fully screened part No 370562. We loose signal on channel 15 film 4 & channel 20 drama at times the screen goes blank and occasional the TV goes to the old bbc 2 .The aerial is on a 15 foot mast On the chimney 12 ft above ground
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MikeP
5:55 PM
5:55 PM
Mr D. Langstone:
Please provide a full post code so that we can identify which transmitter you should be using and what the reception conditions are like.
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Wednesday, 13 December 2017
C
C Jones9:48 AM
I live in Hertford and have used Sandy Heath for past 30 yrs but this is now becoming a joke.I do not have line of sight to Crystal Palace or Hertford re-transmitter (behind a hill) and have upgraded my aerial. My current problem started last Friday when I lost all FREEVIEW channels but total reception has been an ongoing issue for past 12/18 mnths. Usually good on fine days but quality issues at other times. By Mon having complained to FREEVIEW, all channels came up late PM. Tue PM only had BBC 1/2 all others popping on audio and picture pixleated. . Signal strength on channels is usually 100% but Quality bounces between 0% and 100%. Is this not an issue to raise with BBC for a reduction in licence fee or are we expected to go on for 3/4 mnths with some/no channels?
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M
MikeB10:36 AM
C Jones: Think about it - Sandy Heath is used by 920k homes - so if its had problems for the past 12-18 months, dont you think other people might have pointed that out by now?
Since the transmitter is in the same place, on the same channels, and the weather is no more or less variable than it has always been, that leaves your own system - which consists of a piece of cable just 6mm wide and is subject to the worst of the weather.
You can complain to Freeview, etc all you like, but 99% of the time, when someone says they have a long term reception problem, and complains about their licence fee (as they often do), its THEIR system at fault.
BTW - 100% strength is far too high, and results in a worse picture, not better. Since you havn't given a postcode, we have no idea where you are in relation to the transmitter, but its a fair bet that you'd normally have fine recption, but your system has been failing for about 18 months.
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D
D. Meader5:23 PM
[Duly inhibited by MikeB's response today re the 920k Sandy Heath users ...]
Has anybody other than me made you aware of a drop in the Quality of ArqB/Ch48
in the CB4 area in the last few weeks. This is totally specific to that Mux.
Signal strength is a little down at ~35%, say, but the quality is NONE/POOR according
to my set whereas it used to be VERY GOOD.
The Aerial is an indoor, unamplified, W type, through an AT800 4G filter.
Has somebody erected a notch filter in my line of sight do you know ?
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M
MikeB11:24 PM
D. Meader: I'm not trying to inhibite anyone, but if you look at any time people complain about a long term problem, they always seem to blame the transmitter, the BBC, 4G, or strange changes that nobody else has observed.
The most likely explaination is that its their system, but they will swear blind its not, even when they post the same problem for months on end.
Moving onto your particular problem:
a) put your postcode into the site - it will bring up lots of data, and will allow people to see what sort of signal you should get
b) Check the connections - if people lose a mux, something has changed, and its usually a dodgy lead or connection - its not alwasy the weakest that goes either. Changing the lead is a cheap easy way of at least eliminating one possible issue.
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Thursday, 14 December 2017
C
C Jones7:04 PM
MikeB: Just for your information, I have a relative who lives in view of Sandy Heath Transmitter and when I have an issue, we talk about what his reception is like. Although he does not get total quality drop out (as at last weekend) he does also see pixilation primarily on E4 and More4 at the same time.
I think rather than coming back aggressive to a comment, it may be worth asking for more information. As an example: Have you had your equipment checked recently (Cable/Aerial)? The answer here would be YES.
So, there does seem to be issues over the last year which have recently got worse. My relative is also on a similar setup (TV picks up better than YouView box) but we both have different equipment as you can imagine. Earlier this year when there was reception problems FREEVIEW suggested it was down to 4G installation they came, checked my aerial and advised it had no issues and new 4G aerials were not the problem. The issue, as usual was clearing up each evening and the Low signal strength' message disappeared. My aerial has never had issues until recent times. Are you suggesting that our two aerials are failing at exactly same time? Your comment on 100% makes no sense to me please explain and what is the difference between strength' and quality'. Also, when replying, I would be grateful if, as you intimate you speak for the transmitter, you could provide me with the contact details of the senior manager. Thank you
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M
MikeB10:30 PM
C Jones: If your relative can actually see the transmitter, then their signal is going to be very powerful, (perhaps too powerful) hence the possible problems with reception. 100% Quality is great, but too much strength is bad - your tuner is essentially being shouted at, and goes deaf. 75% is pretty much perfect.
Your right that you do have an issue, but your issue does not have to be the same as someone else's. Again, there are 290k households served by that transmitter - so even if 99.9% of those households have a perfect picture, there are still a fair number who do not. And they do not have to be all for the same reason.
However, as you can see from StevensOnIn1's frequent answer about checking cables, the most likely problem is your system. Yes, you've had your aerial checked recently, but since you are losing signal, something must be wrong with it, since the transmitter hasn't varied in any way.
There could be other causes, such as interference from electrical equipment nearby, but start with the most obvious. If you've lost signal, thats because the system has stopped working in some way, and a loose connection or broken wire is the most likely.
Sorry if I did sound a bit exasperated, but there have been so many people insisting on pretty anything being the cause of the problem other than their system that its a bit frustrating.
BTW - if you put your postcode into the site, it will show all sorts of useful information, inclkuding the sort of signal your supposed to get.
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Friday, 15 December 2017
C
C Jones4:58 PM
MikeB: OK. 0900 today 80% low signal and 20% no signal. 1600 all channels strong on both BT Freeview box and TV? So, I've commissioned a full survey on Monday and am aware that with the sell off of more FREEVIEW bands to mobile networks Hertford is one of the areas where access to the service will become less in the future so something I will address with my MP. I'll respond further on Monday when I know more.
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M
MikeB10:22 PM
C Jones: getting a proper survey sounds like a good idea - there could be various reasons for that change (single source interference?), but without a systematic check, you can't narrow it down.
The change in frequencies Upcoming Freeview transmitter changes 2017 to 2019 should not make any difference ultimately to your services - I suspect that since the bulk of people's equipment self tunes and updates anyway, most wont notice any difference at all. And its very unlikely that the powers that be are likely to think reducing the services people get is a good idea, so things will probably just get shuffled around.
The frequency selloff isn't a big deal to consumers - T2 tuners are much more efficient, so you can get more channels (in HD as well) on less 'space'. And since we all have mobiles, we all want to use that extra space.
The only people who will have problems will be those that need a new aerial, but realistically, older aerials will gradually be replaced naturally anyway, and those that are left over can get a replacement free of charge.
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