Full Freeview on the Sudbury (Suffolk, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 52.005,0.786 or 52°0'17"N 0°47'8"E |  | CO10 5NG |
The symbol shows the location of the Sudbury (Suffolk, England) transmitter which serves 440,000 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 Sudbury (Suffolk, England) mast?
Sudbury transmitter - Sudbury transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 18/11/2024 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)
The Sudbury (Suffolk, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which Freeview channels does the Sudbury 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)
The Sudbury (Suffolk, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Sudbury transmitter?
BBC Look East (East) 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Norwich NR2 1BH, 77km north-northeast (24°)
to BBC East region - 27 masts.
70% of BBC East (East) and BBC East (West) is shared output
ITV Anglia News 0.8m homes 3.2%
from NORWICH NR1 3JG, 78km north-northeast (24°)
to ITV Anglia (East) region - 26 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Anglia (West)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Felixstowe West | Transposer | 1000 homes +1000 or more homes due to expansion of affected area? | |
| Witham | Transposer | 14 km NE Chelmsford. | 118 homes |
How will the Sudbury (Suffolk, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 1 Aug 2018 | |||||
| B E T | B E T | B E T | E T | K T | |||||
| C29 | SDN | ||||||||
| C31 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C35 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C37 | ArqB | ||||||||
| C41 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C44 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C47 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C51tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ||||||
| C56tv_off | ArqB | ||||||||
| C58tv_off | SDN | ||||||||
| C60tv_off | -ArqA |
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 6 Jul 11 and 20 Jul 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 250kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-4dB) 100kW | |
| Analogue 5 | (-7dB) 50kW | |
| Mux 2* | (-14.9dB) 8.1kW | |
| Mux B* | (-15.2dB) 7.5kW | |
| Mux 1* | (-15.5dB) 7kW | |
| Mux A* | (-17dB) 5kW | |
| Mux C* | (-22.2dB) 1.5kW | |
| Mux D* | (-23.6dB) 1.1kW |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sudbury transmitter area
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Monday, 9 December 2013
M
Michael12:41 PM
David W: As you see above from the multiplex listings above, Sudbury is not scheduled to broadcast com7 - you'd have to pick it up from another transmitter - see: Freeview HD extended service from 2014 (com7) | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
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D
David W4:55 PM
Michael: That's what I was originally assuming.
But I've been told differently today but a few people...hence the confusion.
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David W: There never was any chance of Sudbury getting COM7.
Please see the Ofcom "bid" document
http://stakeholders.ofcom….pdf
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Tuesday, 10 December 2013
M
Mrs A Hemmings4:11 PM
What has happened to my signal. I see there was maintenance in October. Well since then our signal has been poor for our little wall mounted tv in the kitchen. It used to be fine now we are having to move the aerial all over the place to obtain a signal at all. Whatever you did, please undo it.
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What a letdown..didn't realise I wouldn't be getting only BBC 3 HD from Sudbury glad to have the new channels via Sky, I learnt to always expect disappoint first from Freeview in Chelmsford, where I live Sudbury is the only option.
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Sunday, 15 December 2013
G
Gareth5:18 AM
Ipswich
Am I reading the initial plans displayed on the initial part of this page correctly - i.e. Sudbury may get com7 and 8 at some point after 2014? There is little or no option for me as I live in Hadleigh (Suffolk, not Essex). Tacolneston doesn't quite cover central Hadleigh (and it would be an incredible reach anyway, it's right on the edge of theoretical coverage).
It's not the most massive loss, BBC4 HD is really the only channel I would like. BBC3 HD has been up and running perfectly since it should have been.
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Gareth's: mapG's Freeview map terrainG's terrain plot wavesG's frequency data G's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Gareth: Due to the proximity of this transmitter to others in France, Belgium and Holland, Ofcom has not been able to get clearance for the provision of services on the Sudbury Mast.
It is not expected that such clearance will be granted before 2018.
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G
Gareth11:34 AM
Ipswich
Thanks for the reply - oh well. I suppose that's why we've got the 1,001-ft mast at Mendlesham doing nothing apart from mobile services and rubbish local radio? Seems such a waste.
Obviously I know that you and your sources know what you're talking about, but it still seems strange that Sudbury would interfere with the close continent when, for example, Belmont won't. I suppose that's just the key distance further west?
It is ironic that Sudbury could interfere with France and Belgium but it has a few black spots in Sudbury itself (as I'm sure you're aware, the transmitter isn't really that close to Sudbury) and indeed Ipswich, which is ~10 miles away. If you approach Ipswich from the West (Sudbury) then most people approaching the town centre on London and Hadleigh road have their Yagi aerials vertically mounted and pointed at the Bramford (Bullen Lane) relay - which almost implausibly, is actually a Tacolneston relay. Some people furthey into town from the west, and out of town closer to the coast actually have theirs pointing at the minor relay on top of the AXA building in Ipswich, or the Felixtowe relay.
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Gareth's: mapG's Freeview map terrainG's terrain plot wavesG's frequency data G's Freeview Detailed Coverage
G
Gareth11:37 AM
Ipswich
Sorry, I didn't mean Belmont, I meant a north-London transmitter which I used to try to pick up aaaages ago, I can't remember its name now.
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Gareth's: mapG's Freeview map terrainG's terrain plot wavesG's frequency data G's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Gareth: The only "near" transmitter that is going to have COM7/COM8 service is Bluebell hill
Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) Full Freeview transmitter | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
And it has a very, very low power output.
It's not just a question of "interfere with France and Belgium", but also the matter of their incoming signals rendering reception impossible, at last most of the time.
The digital services are at lower power levels than the old analogue ones, so there is much more efficient use of frequencies, but you can't do these things without international co-ordination.
It is worth remembering that East Anglia is flat, and a large part sea-level reclaimed land. Great signal carrying territory.
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