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 04/11/2024 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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Sunday, 27 May 2012
S
Stephen P1:45 PM
+ http://www.argos.co.uk/st….htm
Lisa - any of these.
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J
jb382:21 PM
Lisa: Well, its really the case that most people do not realise that when they select a channel and it doesn't appear that in 99.9% of the time its not because their TV or box has lost it, but only because that the signal has dipped under the reception threshold of their particular device, this level varying from TV to TV and box to box, but with me having unfortunately to say that Samsung tuners are not particularly sparkling in this respect.
As far as the booster is concerned, have a look in the Argos book page 650 and item 7 @ £11.99, as that should be ideal for your set up by it being a variable type offering a range of 0-20db, the higher end being somewhat excessive but at least it can be set to give best performance without being over the top on the main BBC & ITV channels, as if its adjusted too high you might see these two channels start to break up in the same way as they would on a weak signal, this being another misleading symptom when dealing with digital reception.
The only other alternative you have to this is upgrading your aerial, although I hardly think that the cost would be justified considering that you are receiving programmes on an adjacent channel perfectly OK, this as aforementioned an indication that the missing channels are just under the level and no more.
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R
Rob P7:11 PM
Bury St. Edmunds
Hi, anyone out there that can help. Woke up Saturday morning to watch channel 4 racing and nothing. Tried other channels and found no ITV1, ITV2 no channel 5. Have done all manual/auto re-tunes, checked frequency levels and noticed that channel 24 is completely off the radar. Have a wideband aerial as I live in the Mildenhall area. Have a HD/freeview ready Sony Bravia and this is the first time after multiple re-tunes that I cannot receive aforementioned channels. Have spoken to other people in the area experiencing similar problems and the local satellite/aerial provider commented that they had received a large number of calls from locals of reception problems.
Any suggestions?
Rob (any ideas will be greatly appreciated)
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Rob's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
L
Lisa10:23 PM
Many thanks jb38 and Stephen P - I'd already bought the black SLX1P Booster (up to 20dB range which I think is the one you suggested jb38) after my last posting this afternoon and managed to get a new one off eBay for just £5.00, so got a good deal there. :-)
Hopefully it will arrive by mid-week and I can try it out - will let you know how I get on.
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J
jb3811:26 PM
Lisa: Yes, please do, and I would suggest that you initially set it at about 20% above zero whilst on one of the muxes that although seen in the EPG programme guide is not showing a picture, then if necessary "slowly" advance it in stages with pauses between, until the picture comes on.
This of course said on the basis of you NOT having carried out any further re-tunes since these channels dropped out again.
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Monday, 28 May 2012
S
Stephen P12:19 AM
RobP - The gaudy stuff at top of page confirms C24 as the "mux" giving you trouble, and if as you say others having the same best guess is that it is interference due to all the hot weather.
Suggest you talk to a local ae man.
If you are using an ampifier, try without it.
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Rob P7:04 AM
Bury St. Edmunds
Stephen.P,
Many thanks for your troubleshooting. Will talk to local sat centre today.
Cheers Rob.P
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Rob's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 29 May 2012
B
Bob5:11 PM
Hi Rob
Yes, there was a "Lift" on at the weekend, this is going to be much more of a problem on Digital that Analogue, as with the later, there is a gradual appearance of horrizontal lines, before the picture vanishes - with digital, there is no such warning - just "No signal" . IT would help, if the program providers announced BEFORE it happens, say between progs, that there is a likelyhood of interfearence due to the weather - but as ever, no warning at all!
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E
ErwinH8:55 PM
Hitchin
Progress report from Hitchin .
On 18th May jb, you advised that I buy a 0 20db variable attenuator* to restore channel 51, which had been lost from our amplified communal aerial in the 9th May retune. Although I could receive all channels perfectly using an old indoor aerial I prefer to use the communal system so I am pleased to say that this has done the trick. It is difficult to say just what the required level of attenuation is, I presume that this is a log scale, but it could be close to the 10db that you suggested.
Curiously, channel 52 is still very poor, the highest frequency channel at 722MHz, but I never watch this. Some more information that may be relevant: our communal aerial is situated at the end of the block and I am in the middle at about 20m distance. However this is 20m of 40-year-old coax that may have deteriorated somewhat with time.
Anyway, thank you for taking the trouble to advise on my minor difficulty jb, it is much appreciated.
*0 20db variable attenuator, total £4.74 (std p&p) from Amazon via Electro Supplies Ltd.
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ErwinH's: mapE's Freeview map terrainE's terrain plot wavesE's frequency data E's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 30 May 2012
J
jb389:36 AM
ErwinH: Many thanks for your update on the situation and pleased to see that it was of a positive nature, insomuch that the attenuator had the desired effect resulting in your problem being cured for less than £5.00.
As far as Ch52 is concerned, its really a case of whether or not that particular channel is being received in your area at the same strength as Ch51 as its not by any means the case that all individual muxes always are, and although you have mentioned that you never watch the programmes on that channel anyway, but if you wanted to know the reason for it being weaker then a further test using the set top aerial would reveal this, and done simply by carrying out a strength check on Ch51 then likewise on Ch52 and comparing the results, as should Ch52 be the same as Ch51 then the lower strength level when picked up via the communal aerial is *liable* to be caused by a slight deficiency in either the actual aerial used by the communal system or alternatively the distribution amplifiers connected to same, possibly by them requiring a very slight adjustment.
*liable* was qualified as a set top aerial test is not necessarily 100% accurate by the fact that if you tried it near to where the communal aerial is positioned then the results might well have changed, something that always has to be kept in mind when experimenting with aerials and positions of.
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