Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 52.600,-1.835 or 52°36'1"N 1°50'5"W |  | B75 5JJ |
The symbol shows the location of the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter which serves 1,870,000 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 Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) mast?
Sutton Coldfield transmitter - Sutton Coldfield 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
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Sutton Coldfield 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
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter?
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 15km south-southwest (200°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
ITV Central News 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 15km south-southwest (201°)
to ITV Central (West) region - 65 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (East)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Burton (shobnall) | Transposer | 1 km W Burton-on-Trent | 60 homes |
| Coalville | Transposer | 18 km NW Leicester | 600 homes |
| Solihull | Transposer | Land Rover building | 400 homes |
How will the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 7 Mar 2018 | ||||
| VHF | B E T | B E T | B E T | B E K T | W T | ||||
| C4 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C33 | com7 | ||||||||
| C35 | com8 | ||||||||
| C36 | LOCAL2 | ||||||||
| C39 | +ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C40 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C42 | SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C43 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C45 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C46 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C48 | _local | ||||||||
| C50tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ||||||
| C51tv_off | LB | ||||||||
| 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 7 Sep 11 and 21 Sep 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 1000kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 200kW | |
| com7 | (-10.5dB) 89.2kW | |
| com8 | (-10.7dB) 86kW | |
| LB | (-20dB) 10kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-21dB) 8kW |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sutton Coldfield transmitter area
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Saturday, 21 December 2013
K
KEVIN GARDINER4:08 PM
Stourbridge
Dave Lindsey, could you read my two posts about my HD reception from Sutton Coldfield on page 103. I would be most grateful for your advice as to what may be going on, and if possible, how to cure it.
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KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
MikeP
8:25 PM
8:25 PM
Kevin Gardener:
With regard to why many people who may have access to HD services don''t actually use them is a matter of audience/viewer inertia. Most non-specialist viewers are only interested in the programme *content* and are not concerned about how that content is delivered. As the vast majority of viewers what entertainment in its several forms they do not want to be bothered with whether it is available in SD or HD - just that it is as enjoyable as they expect. How that enjoyment is delivered is mainly of interest to technofiles, but the broadcasters (BBC, ITV, Sky, etc) keep on about also being on HD that some don't even care as they can enjoy it on the programme they are currently watching even if that is not an HD service!
To try to encourage the non-technical viewer to watch in HD when it is available (not all programmes are made in HD) the providers like Sky and Freeview try to get the receivers to display the HD version in the most advantageous position, so BBC1 (for example) is on Sky 101 and Freeview 101 and that may be in SD if the receiving equipment is not HD capable (or the Sky subscription does not include the HD premium) or it is in HD if that is available.
So figures about how many viewed in SD or HD are often misleading as rthey fail to take account of viewer inertia and preference. .
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M
MikeB9:39 PM
MikeP: I suspect that inertia might be another word for 'forgetfulness'. There must be many people who will have watched 'Strictly' tonight on BBC1, because thats what they normally watch it on.
Yes, they have a nice new HD equiped TV, but they cant remember the channel number, etc.
Of course, you have to remember that 'Strictly' looks pretty good even on my CRT, because its filmed in HD, and watching it in SD isn't a massive disappointment, so there isn't so much of a visual prompt.
I suspect that younger viewers are already watching HD by default, but older viewers are more likely to stick with SD out of habit.
Most HD PVR's will prompt the viewer if they want to record in HD if the HD alternative exists, but not everyone uses those functions.
There are also certainly customers I've come across who connected up the Freeview TV to an HD box, but kept the old scart (with or without the HDMI), which meant that the feed from the box is still SD. It was only last year that Panasonic changed its default imput settings to automatically start from the HDMI's - before then it went to AV1/2 as you scrolled through the sources - which means that a fair number of people are hitting source, and find an SD imput from an HD box, and thinking thats it.
The good news is that we all live and learn, and gradually watching in HD will be standard, not only becuase of the equipment, but because of the mindset.
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K
KEVIN GARDINER10:11 PM
Stourbridge
yes i agree with you Mike P about the viewing figures. However, they do show one thing clearly, in that the case for switching to HD has not yet been won. It's ok for the BBC etc and Ofcom wanting to push the HD format, but do the British public actually want it? Like you point out, most seem to quite happy watching standard Freeview as long as they get a interference free picture and sound on their tv. And most folk want quality television programmes over a quantity of channels that most don't want to watch .The of the main reasons for the push towards HD is to be ahead of the competition in the field of digital technology. However, the HD format won't be the U.K. standard till 2018, yet in the meamtime, the BBC are, and have been busy trying out test field recordings of a newer even more superior format called 4K. That's 8 mega pixel resolution.The BBC have already commented on the format and have said although it's a great format to record in, it would be far too expensive to convert for transmission. if this is the case, why are they bothering with it? perhaps, one day they will create a codec suitable to compress the data stream enough to transmit it, or if not, convert it down enough to carry the stream via cable when the guaranteed data stream via cable is 100mb or more nationwide in around 2030 or before. I think by 2030 terrestrial television will discontinue and we will all receiver our tv programmes via cable or satellite.
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KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
MikeB10:49 PM
KEVIN GARDINER: The HD format is pretty much standard as far as the market is concerned (and 2018 is a long way off!), even in the OLED technology. 4K is far from being commercially broadcast, and as one commentator pointed out recently, streaming just one 4K movie will cost you 40gb of bandwidth, so it will be interesting to see how that goes, considering the state of bandwidth generally.
If I show customers a better picture, they'll want it, if its at the right price etc. Since its at the right price, and standard (or easily upgradable), HD will grow substantually over the next year or two to the tipping point. Think of when the first DVD players came out, both in terms of market penetration, cost, etc. Is there anyone who would prefer to watch now on video rather than DVD? DVD didn't need to be sold on the whole, it just needed to be cheap enough.
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M
MikeB11:18 PM
KEVIN GARDINER: I had a quick check on Curry's website to see just how many TV's they had which just had a Freeview tuner (my employer tend to stock fewer lower end and own brand TV's, which are more likely to just have a DVB tuner - only 11 out of 147 have just a DVB tuner, of all sizes).
For 32in and over, out of 192 from Currys, just 16 were DVB, the rest were T2. Below 32in, the DVB equiped ones made up the majority, but these are often sold on price, and were from makes that were not generally known. For peoples main rooms,at the very least, HD will be standard.
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Sunday, 22 December 2013
P
Paul K2:09 PM
Nuneaton
Since the launch of the additional HD channels (COM 7) on the 10th Dec, I am now struggling to get a decent signal for the original set of HD channels (PSB3/BBCB).
Although COM7 (channel 33) is broadcasting at less than 1/20th of the power compared to PSB3 (channel 40), I am receiving a signal strength of 42%, but now the PSB3 signal has dropped from between 42% - 50% down to only 27% and suffering constant breakups/freezing.
My aerial is situated in the loft (not ideal I know, but it has always worked fine) and pointed at Sutton Coldfield transmitter. It is connected to a Humax Fox HDR-T2. My tv only has SD tuner but full HD panel, so I can't compare the signal levels between the two.
Additionally the SD channels are also now very poor. Ironically I am now alble to pick up slightly more stable SD and HD channels from the Waltham transmitter, which normally is way too low a signal (with aerial still pointed at Sutton Coldfield).
I know the usual advice is to check the aerial, cables, etc., but this sort of thing happens everytime any engineering work takes place at Sutton Coldfield, then if I'm lucky, a few weeks later the signal improves for a few months without any issues, all without me checking/changing anything in my setup.
From other peoples posts, it does affect many people (and around the country with other transmitters at the same time also), not just me, so it can't just be down to our individual setups.
Anyone have any suggestions as to why the received signal levels differ so much?
I am seriously thinking of giving up on Terrestrial Freeview altogether, it's been very poorly implemented in my opinion. It's looking like Freesat is the only option to get a constantly usable signal.
P.S. My postcode is CV10 9RH
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Paul's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
P
Paul K11:49 AM
Update to my previous post.
I can only receive HD for BBC Four, BBC News, Al Jazeera.
All other HD broadcasts are showing zero signal level for both Sutton Coldfield and Waltham transmitters.
What's going on?
Xmas tv is going to be fuzzy SD only by the looks of it!
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Sunday, 29 December 2013
B
Bruce12:27 PM
Swadlincote
I am having a issue trying to get HD ie channels 33 and 40 i have a max output of 80 on my dvb-t finder but still no luck. any suggestions my Post code is DE110UB
| link to this comment |
Bruce's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb381:48 PM
Bruce: What brand / model number of TV or box are you using? as whatever you are using has to be fitted with a DVB-T2 tuner and not DVB-T.
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