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 17/06/2024 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 |
Local transmitter maps
Sandy Heath Freeview Sandy Heath DAB Sandy Heath TV region BBC Cambridge Anglia (West micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area
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Monday, 27 May 2024
Transmitter engineering
10:47 AM
10:47 AM
Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 27/05/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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Saturday, 1 June 2024
M
Mark11:33 AM
I live in NN12 slightly NW of Towcester, the reception since Com 2 went has been utterly appalling and shows NO signs of any improvement whatsoever, I'm sure the advice would be to stream instead, HOW??? Due to my location my internet speed is 1.5 mps this will NEVER be improved either, why oh why is there no booster for areas on the extreme edge of range. We all pay a license fee to why are some treated as second class citizens, DO SOMETHING!
Another thing I've noticed is that EVERY weekend starting Friday evening reception is almost lost until the Monday. What on earth is going on
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C
Chris.SE5:35 PM
Mark:
This isn't the broadcaster's website so we can't do "anything", but neither can the broadcasters.
(Note - your reception might be affected by the Planned Engineering, see the post before yours).
This is an independent technical help-site and we may be able to help check if your reception could be improved, whether you may be subject to any interference, or even possibly give some comment about broadband.
HOWEVER, we need a full postcode. Reception predictors do not work on partial postcodes, and in your part of NN12 there can be an odd patch where reception might be poorer due to the terrain, but many parts should be good reception from Sandy Heath despite your distance from it.
Apart from the full postcode, the following information would be helpful -
Where is your aerial located, on a roof/chimney, in a loft etc.?
Considering your general location, is it pointing roughly due E with its rods (or squashed Xs) horizontal and does it look intact?
How old is it roughly? Do you know what type it is?
Do you have a masthead amp, or any other pre-amp/splitter to feed more than one TV/box?
Are there any tall trees on the line-of-sight to the transmitter?
Not sure what you mean by "since Com 2 went". All 6 main multiplexes are still being transmitted from all main transmitters. There isn't a COM2, there's a PSB2/D3&4 carrying ITV, Ch4 & Ch5 and some of their sister channels.
Which specific TV channels are you especially having problems with?
Can you check in your TV Tuning section for Signal Strength and Quality figures for each of the multiplexes and post those.
Sandy Heath's UHF channels are C27, C24, C21, C33, C36, & C48 that's in multiplex order -
BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6
If you can normally get the Local multiplex from Madingley, it's on C35 but I would think that highly unlikely.
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Sunday, 2 June 2024
P
paulJ2:46 PM
Ely
Maybe Mark will give more precision on his channels/muxes impacted,
but COM 5 (eg food network) , for the duration of yesterday/ 1st was unwatchable, in Ely compared to all the other muxes, even though they all showed similar strength and quality though (on both panasonic tv & humax box)
Today COM5 is fine, as remain others
It is as though, for maintenance, they had cut back the bitrate to introduce both pixellation and audio distortion.
COM5 has been bad for most evening this past week >10pm , but this is the first time I see this throughout the day.
[
aerial (in loft) currently has a look angle of about 200 degrees, and calculation yesterday suggested 220 would be more accurate, but I don't see that such an error could be responsible for just com5 ., yagi type aerial maybe 15 elements
]
Regards, Paul (posted mutltiple times before)
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paulJ's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 3 June 2024
C
Chris.SE1:16 AM
paulJ:
Hi again. 222 degrees is supposedly the precise angle for your postcode. It depends a bit on what may be on your line-of sight or within the beamwidth of the aerial (especially locally), as to whether 200 degrees rather than 220 makes much difference. It can make a difference to each multiplex, and there won't necessarily be an optimal position for all multiplexes, sometimes you have to have a compromise, especially with an aerial in a loft as very local parts of the structure or it contents can make a difference. Experiment.!
Did you ever get the free filter from Restore TV?
As for you COM5 issues, reasons could be various. They maybe doing things with the encoding, it could have been weather briefly but then I would have expected other COM5 channels to be affected. if it were weather. Went to have a look at whether I could glean any information on bitrates affecting Food Network. Nothing conclusive I'm afraid and nothing specific for the 1st June for Sandy Heath anyway.
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Transmitter engineering
5:09 AM
5:09 AM
Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 03/06/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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Transmitter engineering
5:09 AM
5:09 AM
Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 03/06/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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P
paulJ10:24 AM
Ely
Chris.
I now rang restoretv and they are sending some 4G/5g filters - I'll report back
They gave me number for freeview information service too 03456 505050
which I may try to see if they can provide details on what maintenance sandy heath does regularly which might impact COM5/c36 more than others.
Yagi aerial, 10yr old, for which I can't see any specific manufacturer identity , may have been optimal for previous channel range up to c69,
perhaps a ubiquitous log36 aerial would give massive improvement ?
Thanks, Paul
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paulJ's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE11:14 PM
paulJ:
I wouldn't waste your money on calling the "Freeview Information service". They don't have a clue about anything technical. They are monkeys reading from computer scripts!
I have been highly critical of them in the past and no doubt will continue to be so when they are unable to get detailed technical information.
This Planned engineering works | Freeview is what they will look at.
If you used to get COMs 7&8 when they were operational then you may have a wideband.
These days, since 700MHz Clearance, the optimal aerial is a Group K (it cuts off anything above C48 - potential mobile cell interference). A log periodic will give you the flattest response BUT considering your distance from the transmitter and being in a loft, I would try this one -
https://www.blake-uk.com/56-element-log-periodic-group-k-aerial-new-double-element-design.html
and you'll need an F-connector for the aerial end.
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Monday, 17 June 2024
Transmitter engineering
11:05 AM
11:05 AM
Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 17/06/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]
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