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 15/04/2024 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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Friday, 22 April 2011
D
Derek Dodsworth1:31 PM
Since latest stage of switch over at Sandy Heath signal on channel 67 has dropped to poor (other channels still good). Affected broadcasts (Yesterday, Film4, ITV4 etc) could not be received because my tv was retuned as advised. These broadcasts could still be seen on freeview+ boxes as they were not retuned but the signal strength was showing weak with poor quality.
Phoned help line but advice to remove signal amplifier resulted in no signal at all but a broken amplifier which had to be repaired to get any signal (but still no channel 67). Assistance during second call was rather poor in customer care values, he was more keen on tell than ask. Rescans were of no use.
Had to work out the solution myself. Reroute the uhf signal through a further amplifer. Frequent advice that a stronger signal is being blanked out by amplifiers does not seem logical, what about circuit Automatic Gain Control (AGC). Postcode PE28.
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T
Tony Healy3:01 PM
Rushden
Hi,Since the change over at Sandy Heath, I am receiving 100% signal and quality on all channels,but channel 50-53 HD 100% on signal, but only 50% on quality. Please explain why this is.My post code NN10 8ND.
Thank you.
Regards.
Tony Healy.
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Tony's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 23 April 2011
D
David2:30 AM
Colchester
Sandy ch21
I get HD Channels clear, signal 95 Quality 100, Has anyone else noticed only standard Audio ...Should be seeing Dolby D 2ch or 5ch depending which HD channel.
Can someone please confirm NO DOLBY on HD SANDY
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David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
David: There is no Dolby Digital on Freeview HD, due to the provision of Audio Description.
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Derek Dodsworth: You will simply have to wait until September 2011 for the signal to be increased in power.
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J
JohnB6:17 PM
Peterborough
Mike Dimmick and Briantist
Thanks for all you help. I've given up on Sandy Heath till Sept'11. Switched aerial to Waltham and now get 104 channels. Think missing Mux D though. Just pleased to get my sport back.
Plenty enit!!
I'll still monitor this site though.
I've read somewhere boosters amplify the interference and can make things worse, is that right?
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JohnB's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 24 April 2011
JohnB: Yes, that is correct, amplifiers usually make things worse for digital reception.
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ray bayes6:27 PM
perhaps a silly question but is the freeview signal in kettering running at maximum power now that analogue has been totally switched off... is the picture quality at maximum aswell.....my freeview picture quality is very good but even more quality is always welcome.
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