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 25/11/2024 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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Thursday, 24 May 2012
J
jb384:30 PM
Lisa: On back tracking through the postings made over the last few days and NOT seeing your name mentioned did actually make me wonder as to whether or not your problem had magically rectified itself, however the content of your latest posting has somewhat answered this.
Anyway, with regards to your idea of contacting someone connected to the switch over scheme for purposes of making a complaint, obviously what you decide to do is entirely your own decision, however I would advise against taking such action as its almost a foregone conclusion that any reply that you may receive from whoever will put the reason for your difficulties firmly down to some aspect concerning your installation come equipment that you are using.
That said, and without going over too much old ground, but your problem is simply because that you are not receiving two of the three commercial muxes which are transmitting on Ch's 48 - 51 - 52, insomuch that you ARE picking up programmes on ArqA Ch52 like (11) Pick TV or (19) Dave, but not though any that's on ArqB Ch48 such as (12) Yesterday / (24) ITV4, a similar situation applying with SDN Ch51 that (10) ITV3 or (38) Quest is on.
So getting back to the test I suggested you try by manually tuning in mux Ch48 as well as Ch51 and this being where you had mentioned about the bandwidth being requested, can I take it that you did select 8Mhz "before" pressing scan? as if you did not or had selected 7Mhz then nothing would be picked up. If though you did select 8Mhz and nothing was received then I would like you to select (11) Pick TV and check what the signal level / quality is indicated as being, as I still suspect that the signal is there but sitting just under the level that your tuner can operate on, Ch52 possibly having the slight power edge over Ch48 & Ch51 and that's why you can receive it.
There is of course another and much simpler way that you could determine the cause of your problem, that being to try and borrow another TV but not a Samsung brand, as most Samsungs do not have sensitive tuners.
Also, have you checked with any neighbours to find out if they experience similar problems to yourself with reception of either ITV3 or Yesterday? as only these two are required for testing as they represent the two muxes, but though if they can pick these channels up then have a look up at their roof to make sure that their aerial is pointing in the same direction as your own.
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Friday, 25 May 2012
M
Matt9:44 AM
jb38: My devices im using are...
Samsung Syncmaster 2333HD
LG42LD450
Panasonic DMR-EZ57V
PHILIPS HDT8520
If its a case of needing 'ANOTHER' new ariel i wont bother, instead ill sell everything apart from my LG42LD450 TV, stop paying my TV license, then start to use the internet to stream TV and Films on my laptop and LG42LD450 TV, great way to beat the man!
Everytime you do a switchover somthing new goes wrong, we get in touch to try solve the problem but are basicaly told its our fault and we'll need to spend more and more. You know last time i had a problem i phoned the Freeview helpline only to be told all my equipment were the wrong ones and there was nothing they could do! (despite the fact all my equipment is modern and previously had all the stations) lol
I feel so so sorry for the old people out there who are stuck with no channels and struggle to even learn the very basics of how to use a freeview box, they wouldnt have clue what anyone talks about on here (if they could even work out how to get here)
The whole things a complicated f**k up!
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M
Matt9:59 AM
jb38: Ps im not able to pick up anything from Tacelston either, just tried the manual tuning on Tacelstone muxes.
Funny how you say that they "PREDICT" that Tacelston gives off more power than Sandyheath. Spend more money on having my ariel messed around with yet again only to be no better off i bet. lol
Or id pay to have my ariel looked at and problem go away........untill you do another switchover and it all goes wrong yet again.
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S
Stephen P10:29 AM
Matt you seem to be "blessed" with two equal strength signals; both with a * for risk of multipath effects.
Are you redirecting your aerial for Tacolneston?
The switchover is nearly over so you should now or soon be able to get a final solution!
Freesat is good.
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J
jb3812:24 PM
Matt: Have you as yet checked where your aerial is facing towards? although I do have to say that irrespective of where it might be facing that "if" when you selected to manually tune in Tacolnestons BBC1 on mux Ch55 and you didn't see the signal strength being indicated "as soon as" you entered 55 into the box (no need to scan) then that's bad news, as using that procedure effectively turns your TV into an RF sniffer by-passing the cut off threshold that stops a picture being received under a certain signal level, generally known as the "digital cliff".
The aspect that makes it bad news being, that even if the aerial you are using is in the wrong grouping then as far as this sort of test is concerned it makes no difference, and indeed in many cases it doesn't either if its not a test!, as a person will "still" receive a signal but just at a level that's somewhat less than it would be if using an aerial in the correct grouping, although if you do have a group that caters for Sandy then that's at the better end of "incorrect" than it would be if it catered for Tacolneston and you were trying to receive Sandy, as differences are much greater when an aerial is too short for the frequency being received.
I do have to say though, that when problem's are experienced when using an out of group aerial that its usually always because that the reduced level is resulting in the signal hovering around, or even dipping under, the cut off threshold I referred to, but its not by any means a "black and white" case that an out of group aerial will not receive something as there are always shades in between, as it all depends on the level of signal that a person receives.
By the way, I did have a look at the terrain predictor for between yourself and both transmitters involved and didn't actually see any obstructions being indicated, of course not that this really goes for anything, as a person could reside behind either the Sherwood Forrest or a few tower blocks and it would still show a clear line of sight, as terrain predictors take no account of anything other than of a natural hill nature.
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M
Matt5:42 PM
jb38: I just discoverd im picking up stations from 27 and 24 only, there is NO signal 'quality' for 21, however there is about 50% signal 'strength' for 21.
Also theres no strength or quality for all the others you mentioned, only 27 and 24 have 10/10 full signal quality, with Signal strength about 50 to 75%
My ariel is facinggg....that way! *points* i dont know, its facing the same way as everyone else on my street, was Sandyheath last i knew.
Stephen p: Ill have a new ariel or Freesat if you pay for it? lol
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S
Stephen P6:26 PM
Matt 21 is on an offset frequency which some boxes cannot cope with but I don't know which.
And unless your aerial is new it is probably NOT suited to receive C48/50/51 as highest previously used was 31
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Saturday, 26 May 2012
J
jb3812:31 AM
Matt: The reason you are receiving Ch21 with no quality being indicated is because that the LG42LD450 you have is an "HD Ready" TV with a DVB-T tuner fitted and NOT an DVB-T2 type which is necessary for HD reception. In other words the screen is capable of producing an HD image but from an external HD source.
However your Philips PVR is capable of receiving an HD signal, and so if you couple that into your LG using an HDMI lead and with the aerial going directly into the Philips, then what type of reception do you get on that?
Try a manual tuning test on the Philips using the same procedure as was done on the LG.
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J
jb3812:39 AM
Matt: Meant also to include, that you should check the software version that's installed in your Philips as it should be 7.21, this having been "over air" downloaded on 20.06.2011.
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L
Lisa8:32 AM
Thanks jb38 for your latest post.
Yes, you are correct in saying that I did select 8MHz before pressing the scan option on both CH48 + CH51 but still got the message no channels memorised.
I dont wish to sound thick, but I could not find any menu options to tell me what the signal level/quality of my Pick TV (11) was, so what Ive done is another factory re-set and tried to manually tune Ch11 when I typed in 11 it came up as 219500KHz and again a bandwidth of either 7MHz or 8MHz (dont know whether this helps you out or not or is the answer you were looking for?). For whatever reason my TV does not appear to let me manually store channels now, and after pressing scan on CH11 I once again got the message saying no channels memorised, however, I have now got it back again through the auto store option, so no long term disaster.
Re: your other suggestions unfortunately it is not practical or convenient for me to try and borrow another TV as I do not have access to one.
I have checked the aerial on my roof and it does appear to be pointing the same way as a number of others down my road, however, most of my immediate neighbours have satellite dishes (Sky or whatever) and I would not feel comfortable knocking on the door of someone down the road who I dont know, to ask the question, so again unfortunately, I am unable to establish whether any of the other residents in my road are having the same problem sorry.
I appreciate your honesty and as you have said in your posting, I too am sure that whoever would want to place the blame on my equipment, installation etc. but in my mind at least, this argument is weakened if not voided, by the fact that I DID previously have access to all these channels prior to May 9th I havent done or changed anything my end but THEY have. Ironically, I can still get such rubbish as BCC Parliament which I would never watch in a million years! yawn, yawn. ;-) Pity I couldnt have lost that instead of the numerous channels that I watched regularly oh well, thats progress I suppose (or NOT as the case may be).
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