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 14/10/2024 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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Friday, 22 July 2022
N
nick10:05 PM
Chris SE
Just come across your comments, thanks.
I think the mux on C31 is probaly the worst of the lot, though all are affected at times. When I lose BBC and ITV I have tried the HD mux, which does not work either.
I am talking about all my aerials. When one loses signal, so do the rest. I am wondering if a log periodic would be better, we have plenty of signal strength for one.
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Saturday, 23 July 2022
C
Chris.SE5:26 PM
nick:
If you are feeling like experimenting, then certainly a log periodic would be worth trying as it will have less sidelobes and rejection from the rear is better, beamwidth is also generally narrower. There's quite a few appearing now in recent times, so they are getting more popular.
There's a bit of tropo around at present (BBC & Freeview have warnings) and certainly last weekend ish during some of the hot weather continental reception was coming in on parts of the east coast.
As you undoubtedly know, LPs will have a flatter response over the band which could give a bit more gain on the lower channels but less at the top depending on what you choose and compared to what you currently have.
With your previous experimenting etc., you'd know what sort of gain you have with your current setup and therefore what sort of LP to choose. There's quite a few "K" group LPs around now as well (Blake are making some, as well as others). "K" group is the "new" wideband now that COM7 has gone, there's nothing above C48 (except Mobile as and when it appears!).
Whilst wideband ones are still available, I get the impression that stocks of same are "winding down" in favour of K group, unless you have a filter (or can get a free one from restoretv.uk because there's a new mobile mast near you), K group is worth considering to help being a bit more future-proof from possible mobile interference.
Search carefully as there are many which are quite sensibly priced, there are a number where rip-off prices are being charged for things which aren't special. It depends on what sort you want to go for and where you buy from!
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Monday, 5 September 2022
M
Mike H6:01 PM
Woodbridge
My location IP12 1JJ
I have been having picture break up for several weeks now. TV in one room seems O.K. Another is faulty most of the time. In attempting to fault find I observed that neither TV is receiving Ch 47 ! Is that a known problem with the Sudbury transmitter?
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Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Every evening I briefly lose tv signal (using sudbury transmitter). I receive a message on screen "no or poor signal". After about 30 seconds the signal returns. My post code is CO9 4LN. Any thoughts?
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david's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE10:29 PM
Mike H:
UHF channel C47 is the PSB3/BBCB HD multiplex. Your sets need to have an HD/T2 tuner to receive it.. Do your sets have T2 tuners - have you ever had the HD channels eg.on EPG LCNs 101-105 ?
Now unfortunately there's some factors which together don't help with good reception in your postcode although reception is quite variable across the postcode. Even though there is a Relay transmitter in Woodbridge with only the 3 PSB multiplexes even reception of that can be variable depending on where you are, predicted reception from Sudbury - the nearest main transmitter is also "variable" but probably the "best bet" for all 6 multiplexes. So a good quality aerial installation will be essential for the best chance of good reception.
Sudbury has been listed for Planned Engineering the last couple of weeks with "Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels" which if reception is poor could mean no signal (Do NOT retune).
The other factor is Current Weather conditions - Tropospheric Ducting - causing interference from more distant transmitters in Europe or the UK. This can be very variable and is usually short term at any instant but conditions have been persisting for several days, different parts of the UK are being affected at different time (East Anglia can be quite vulnerable). Not all multiplexes will be affected at the same time or at all.
Both Freeview and the BBC have issued warnings about short term interference to reception.
Check that your aerial is still pointing in the correct direction which should be ~250 degrees (that's almost WSW) with the rods (or squashed Xs) horizontal. Make sure the downlead isn't flapping in the wind and just check your coax connections behind the TV etc.
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C
Chris.SE10:40 PM
david crowdell:
As mentioned in my reply to Mike H, you have the combination of Planned Engineering and the Current Weather Conditions. Even though your aren't too far from the transmitter, from what you've described the interference from Tropospheric Ducting sounds like the most likely problem.
However, worth checking your aerial is still pointing correctly, for you it should be bearing 96 degrees (6 degrees S of due E) with the rods (or squashed Xs) horizontal. Also check your downlead and coax connections.
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Sunday, 2 October 2022
N
nick11:09 PM
Chris SE. Thank you for your comments. I thought log periodic only came in wideband form, and that was also why they existed. I have experimented with one I reconstructed which was found in a skip, and found the perfomance at least matched that of a triboom yagi.
I see that the elements are spaced at different measurements, thus also having some of the director /reflector attributes of a yagi.
I test my aerials only 6ft above ground, and assume that at height their differences in performance will remain the same.
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Friday, 7 October 2022
M
Mike H9:48 PM
Chris.SE:
Thanks for your comment. The problem eventually came down to an HDMI lead between the Freeview Box and the TV. For some reason the T.V. was not reporting the resolution so the Freeview box reverted to non-HD !!
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Saturday, 8 October 2022
C
Chris.SE2:15 AM
Mike H:
Glad you've managed to find and fix the problem. Also worth noting, HDMI leads should be kept as far away as possible from aerial coax and flyleads as HDMI has been known to cause interference although this was more common with C55, but has been know to affect a broader spectrum of frequencies.
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Sunday, 9 October 2022
C
Chris.SE9:28 PM
nick:
Some manufacturers have been making "grouped" Log Periodics for a little while. Blake had been doing a Group A one for some time.(London - Crystal Palace is the largest Group A region). Once it was obvious that the two temporary muxes COMs 7&8 were not going to be around once the centre frequencies were auctioned, it was a given that Group K was going to be the "new wideband". Aerials that rejected anything above C48 would help with any problems rejecting mobile signals that may cause interference issues to Freeview. Log Periodics have the advantage of an almost flat response across the band.
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