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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Saturday, 16 March 2019
H
hardy5:05 PM
Brian. If you have a loft aerial it can be quite sensitive to where it is positioned in the loft as it is affected by water tanks wiring and thickness of walls and roofs . The theoretical best direction can be disturbed too . Its quite possible that some channels are affected more than others . To add to your problem TV cards in PCs can be affected by interference from the PC . Again only certain channels may be affected.
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Wednesday, 10 April 2019
D
david mitchell10:10 PM
Following a day when my tv suffered a load of weak/no signal messages on all channels (from Sandy Heath Transmitter) I now have all channels back with the exception of channels 55 and 56 (multiplex com 7 & 8. Therefore unable to receive BBC 4HD and BBC News HD plus other lesser used broadcasters.
Has Sandy Heath now stopped transmitting these channels and when will I be able to receive the missing TV stations, Note I've checked all connections, re tuned etc.
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S
StevensOnln110:45 PM
david mitchell: Digital UK show COM7 & COM8 as being available from Sandy Heath until at least 2020. Retuning was a bad idea as you've now deleted the tuning data for these multiplexes which were previously tuned correctly. If you've had a recent issue with weak signal then you may well have a fault somewhere in your aerial system, with COM7 & COM8 being the worst affected due to them being broadcast at much lower power. If you provide a full postcode we can see the predicted signal strength at your location, which may help someone offer further advice.
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Tuesday, 30 April 2019
I
Ian7:13 AM
Hello this isn't realated to Sandy Heath but it is my region.
My Freesat box has 100% quality and 76% Signal strength but last night the channel yesterday and Drama and a few others kept dropping out and saying no signal and as far as I know there was no weather problems.
I've had issues with heavy rain before but never when it's perfectly clear.
What is the issue with my freesat?
Kind regards.
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S
StevensOnln19:13 AM
Ian: Have you checked for any loose or damaged cables or connections behind your TV and Freesat box? Check for any signs of damage to the cables between your box and dish (as far as you can safely access).
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Thursday, 2 May 2019
H
Hardy11:32 AM
Ian it can be that your dish has shifted slightly . It still may read "strong signal " if it is picking up the wrong satellite . Also It can be the LNB (signal head) going bad and generating "noise".
Note this site is intended for freeview queries .
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Tuesday, 14 May 2019
S
Stephen Hopps5:12 PM
Hi,
I have lost all com7 and com8 channels from Sandy Heath, anyone else? I have been getting good reception from Sandy Heath for over 10 years but now no com7 or com8 on any Freeview device in my home.
Postcode is PE14 7EZ. I already know that this is not the nearest / best transmitter but has been solid for over 10 years now. What has changed recently?
Thanks.
StevensOnln1:
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Stephen's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 15 May 2019
C
Chris.SE8:00 AM
Stephen Hopps:
As you may be aware (you had a retune event summer last year) as part of the 700Mhz clearance, multiplexes are changing UHF channel. Part of this change involves COMs 7&8 becoming SFNs (Single frequency Networks) meaning Transmitters share the same uhf channel. Unfortunately this means some locations will be getting interference from one of them. It's also possible that this may vary due to weather conditions - there's a large High pressure system present at the moment which means some UHF signals can travel further than normal causing interference.
As you already know Sandy Heath is not the best transmitter but especially for COMs 7&8 at your location. Presumably you want Anglia region rather than Yorkshire. If you look at DigitalUK's coverage checker for your postcode Digital UK - Coverage checker (put your postcode in the box, ensure Detailed view is ticked & click Go - or click the link at the bottom of your posts - digitaluk trade) then you can see that it's also going to get worse later this year and early next year with further changes taking place around the country as well as some at Sandy Heath.
Belmont should give you the most reliable reception of all Muxes BUT this is Yorkshire region.
If you continue to want Anglia then Tacolneston may give you good coverage over all the multiplexes being predicted as only slightly worse on some (BBCA & D3&4) than Sandy Heath.
Changing transmitter will obviously require a shift in Aerial position and depending on whether you have a Group A or T/Wideband aerial may need an aerial change to Group T/Wideband.
If you don't have Cable or Satellite, you may be eligible for help with a new aerial, see Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview
HTH.
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C
Chris.SE8:23 AM
Stephen Hopps:
Perhaps should have mentioned that Tacolneston may give you slightly different regional news for Anglia (you'll need to check the latest situation).
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Monday, 20 May 2019
S
Stephen hopps3:25 PM
Any thanks for the replies, i'll look into getting the aerial re-positioned. I'm guessing a tv signal booster would have little or no effect?
Thanks again
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