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 04/12/2023 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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Tuesday, 19 April 2011
D
d shannon8:10 PM
there seams to be a reduction on the sandy heath transmitter over the last 2 to 3 weeks, and my digital signals are playing up really badly since the switch off.
how long is this going to last for
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d shannon: A reduction? The signals are considerably stronger (they have gone from 20kW to 180kW).
If you are having problem you probably have overloaded your system.
If you have a booster or amplifier, remove it, this will clear any problems.
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Dominic: As above, some people will be unable to receive ArqB until 14 Sept 2011.
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Jack: The higher power signals will probably hold better against induction interference from 2 stroke engines, but better aerial positioning can also deal with this, as well as using satellite-grade coaxial cable to connect to the aerial.
Yes, you will probably have to wait for 14th September.
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Wednesday, 20 April 2011
J
JohnB12:00 PM
Peterborough
In the six mux lists of channels transmitted there is no mention of ESPN, SkySp1 or SkySp2 being transmitted. I can actually receive ESPN, why is it not in the lists? Could you also confirm if SkySp1/2 are being transmitted, but as BTVision suggest I possibly need a booster to pick them up.
These channels are not listed on the Waltham transmitter either and BTVision say I will receive them from there as the transmitter is closer.
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JohnB's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
JohnB: this site is about free tv, subscription channels are not shown. ESPN is on SDN, Sky Sports 1&2 are on ArQB (or Mux B pre-switchover).
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M
Mike Dimmick12:51 PM
JohnB: The transmitter being closer or further away often has little to do with it, because the transmitters have different power levels. Once switchover completes you have three options: Belmont, which transmits Yorkshire/Lincolnshire regional programmes, Waltham, which broadcasts East Midlands, and Sandy Heath which broadcasts East programmes. Of those, Sandy Heath is the most powerful for ArqB, then Belmont, then Waltham.
The Sky Sports channels should still appear in a Freeview box's programme guide, at channels 41 and 42, even though they're scrambled. It's possible that your box has tuned in a weak version of Mux D from another transmitter, because that multiplex is on a higher frequency than Sandy Heath at the other nearby transmitters. Try deleting all the channels carried by ArqB and then manually tuning C67.
Once you've got Sky Sports 1 and 2 in the EPG, check the reception of other channels on ArqB, such as ITV4, Film4 and Yesterday, to see if Sky Sports will be reliable.
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P
peteroz3:54 PM
Regarding BBC HD I am grateful to chris for raising the issue of the signal continually switching from 1080i to 1080p. This only seems to happen on Preview and I thought it must be a problem with my Sony Bravia. Is this a transmission problem?
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peteroz: No, it is not a transmission problem, it is a receiver problem. Please contact Sony for an firmware upgrade.
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M
Martin7:47 PM
Bedford
I moved during the digital switchover from 9.5 miles from Sandy Heath to 9.9 miles as the crow flies.
I now find that I've gained a much better quality BBC4 but lost Film4 and a number of other channels altogether.
I see from your excellent site that some channels have 'excellent' power and some are 'very low'. Any ideas when the 'very low' ones will strengthen?
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Martin's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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