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Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"Wsa_postcodeSG19 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 30/09/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C27 (522.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Cambridge, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 16 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C24 (498.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Anglia (West micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Anglia east), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C21+ (474.2MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Cambridge, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 H -0.2dB
C33 (570.0MHz)291mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
20 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others

COM5
ArqA
 H -0.2dB
C36 (594.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others

COM6
ArqB
 H -0.2dB
C48 (690.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

DTG-8 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?

regional news image
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
regional news image
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?

1965-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-1312 Feb 2020
VHFA K TK TK TW TW T
C6ITVwaves
C21C4wavesC4wavesC4waves+BBCBBBCB
C24ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C27BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C31BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves
C32com7
C33SDN
C34com8
C35_local
C36ArqA
C39C5wavesC5waves
C43_local
C48ArqBArqB
C51tv_offSDN
C52tv_offArqA
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_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

Oct 1959-Feb 2004Anglia Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only.

Comments
Wednesday, 22 March 2023
S
Steve Cook
7:59 PM

Quick update.

Looked at aerial and it's up and pointing in the same direction as next door neighbours.

I also checked 2 other tvs in the house that have not been retuned and they are both showing errors on tv lots of channels that used present are now showing errors.

Rebooted booster but still making no difference.

Any other ideas?

Thanks
SC

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Steve Cook's 2 posts GB flag
Thursday, 23 March 2023
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:55 AM

Steve Cook:

What sort of make/model booster is it and where is it located? Is it a splitter as well?
If it is an amp/splitter that is readily accessible does it have coax plugs in and out?

Can you couple the aerial input lead direct to one TV set feed using a straight coax coupler (similar to one of these - PHILEX Coax Coupler - Plastic 2 Pack - Philex Electronics Ltd )
Probably get one from a local ironmonger or hardware or tv shop if you haven't got one.
Power off the booster when you do so (in case it's giving out interference)
Does that improve the situation?

Did you get/should have got a postcard from www.restoretv.uk ?
It's possible that you may have a new/upgraded mobile phone mast nearby that's now causing you interference problems especially if you've seen an improvement when bypassing the booster/splitter.
If that's the case you should get a free filter from restoretv.uk

A filter should be fitted between the aerial and the input to the amp/splitter, NOT after it.
Visit that website for information. Click on Contact us and give them a call on 0808-1313-800
explain that you are now getting interference problems.

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Chris.SE's 4,327 posts GB flag
Sunday, 14 May 2023
L
Lee purser
10:08 AM

Hi,
not receiving ch24, returned and it's completely gone
itv ch4 etc. Any one else on limbury/ luton area ?
Are there problems with yhe sandy transmitter ?

Regards

Lee

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Lee purser's 1 post GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:26 PM

Lee purser:

As noted at the top of the page, the transmitter is currently listed for Planned Engineering, other that that is could be current weather conditions.
There's some significant "Tropospheric Ducting" affecting differing parts of the UK very randomly.
Do NOT retune.

These conditions cause signals from distant transmitters in Europe or the UK to travel further and result in interference to your wanted signals. This doesn't always affect all multiplexes at the same time and may not affect all viewers. It can last seconds, minutes or for longer. There is little you can do except wait until conditions improve - or try watching online etc.

If you did retune when you had badly pixellated pictures or no signal (whatever the cause and never advised if you were correctly tuned) this usually just clears your correct tuning. You'll then have to retune again which you may have to try several times as you won't know when signals will be normal.

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Chris.SE's 4,327 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 16 May 2023
K
Kathy
10:03 AM

Hi, I have had little or no tv signal for 7 days now.. at best there's just constant pixilation but mostly every 30 seconds black no signal screen. Initially freeview page stated engineering works began on the Chrystal palace transmitter commenced May 8th.. now it has changed to commencing May 15th but there is no information regarding as to when it is expected to be rectified. Does anyone know?
Many Thanks

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Kathy's 3 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 1 August 2023
G
Glen
7:15 PM

Dose anyone know if sandy heath is still transmitting the pop tv channel, according to Freeview they are but when it changed channel a week or so ago I can't seem to get it back, I have 3 different boxes and none pick it up however much I retune them.

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Glen's 1 post GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:20 PM

Glen: Pop is carried on the local TV multiplex, which is not broadcast from Sandy Heath but is broadcast from the Madingley transmitter which is in the same direct as Sandy Heath for viewers in Cambridge. If you can receive a local TV station on Freeview channel 7 or 8 then you should also receive Pop on 206, Tiny Pop on 207 and Pop Max on 208.

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StevensOnln1's 3,663 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 2 August 2023
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:45 AM

Glen:

With the changes on July 19th, all 3 Pop channels are now carried on the Local multiplex as mentioned by StevensOnln1.

The Local multiplex is beamed in an easterly direction from the Madingley transmitter (towards Cambridge). Unless you fall within that area you won't receive them unless you are quite close to the transmitter. Try a manual tune on UHF channel C35 for the Madingley Local mux as autotunes can sometimes miss weaker signals.

There is a Pop Player which moved with the changes to LCN212 and is carried on the SDN multiplex but it's a streamed service, so you need a Smart TV. Before it moved you could choose a selection of Pop shows, but LCN212 now seems to be "Pop Kids" (unless it changes at different times of day.

However, the Pop Player accessible via LCN100 on Freeview Play (Smart) TVs gives you a whole variety of choices but your "smart" device needs HbbTV functionality to access LCN100 (if your set has it make sure it's turned on in the TV settings).
Now you may also be able to access this Pop Player via you set's App menu - via "Explore Freeview Play" and it doesn't need HbbTV! or even load the App separately from your set's App store.

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Chris.SE's 4,327 posts GB flag
Sunday, 13 August 2023
P
paul
12:56 PM

sandy heath com5/c36 seems particular pixelated unwatchable 13/08/23.(12th too)

are there no details on what specific engineering work is happening on Sandy Heath (per previous post) or how long this will last.

Atmosphere problems can obviously impact reception too, so detailed information would help customers identify cause.

just seems unprofessional not to provide/link details

Paul

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paul's 10 posts GB flag
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