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.
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter._______
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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Friday, 3 January 2014
J
jb386:48 PM
kevin gardiner: With regards to your HD reception problem, although you may well have purchased an attenuator and with the result of having partially improved the situation, but considering the fact that you do appear to have a clear line-of-sight (excluding trees or man made objects) with Brierley Hill (@ 1.7 miles / 330°) and also Sutton Coldfield (@ 15.6 miles / 47°) the RF level on your Samsungs tuner could still be a little too high for the decoder to operate correctly on HD, Samsung and LG tuners being particularly intolerant to overloading in this mode over that of many other devices, myself having witnessed situations where although SD was operating quite normally HD reception was virtually non existent due to the signal being a tad on the high side.
The other aspect about the aforementioned being, that the strength / quality readings indicated by a TV or box cannot be relied on as being in any way accurate, as the measuring circuitry only indicates the part of the signal that's not corrupted by overloading hence readings always tend to be low, sometimes with the quality being almost zero.
A couple of points I would like to know being, (1) what was the attenuation rating on the reducer you purchased?, and (2) as you reside in an area with an abundance of trees does your aerial face into any of them? as foliage can cause problems with HD reception much more so than on SD.
Finally, to get a rough idea of your signal level in your area can you receive anything using either a set top aerial or alternatively a short piece of wire (6 feet or so) coupled into the TV's aerial socket?
I am not saying that any of the aforementioned is the reason for your problem, but it has to be kept in mind.
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Sunday, 5 January 2014
K
KEVIN GARDINER4:06 PM
Stourbridge
JB38,I have read what you outline regards to my Freeview HD reception problem. And taking everything into account, and taking note of the readings I get both from Brierley Hill and Sutton Coldfield, this is what I got. Set top antenna on top of wardrobe in front bedroom facing BH, signal strength 62% and data loss variable 120 - 220 bits. When I manually tune in BH using the roof top antenna pointed at SC, I get a side signal strength of 82% and the data loss 120 - 220 the same as indoor set top antenna . .Even though the roof antenna is 12 feet higher , the data loss readings are the same, so I can only conclude that the signal is being reflected or partially blocked by the roofs of the houses opposite to my house.
However, the signal/ data results are somewhat revealing from SC. The readings that I get are signal strength of 95% and data loss of 640 - 880 bits for the psbc3 multiplex, and for the new com8 multiplex ,I get 62% signal strength and data loss of 240 - 400. From this data we can conclude that you may be right in your theory that the HD tuner in my Samsung tv is being overloaded, hence it's inability to then process all the data properly, resulting in a high data loss level.
With regards to my location, I do seem to have roof tops effecting my HD reception from BH, and a slight likelihood of reception problems of HD due to a row of garden trees some 200 yards away in line with SC on conclusion, i'm thinking of trying to resolve my reception problem by replacing my group E antenna with a LOG PERIODIC (as it has no gain) thus reducing any antenna gain that I have from the group E , then place the log periodic on a 12 foot pole strapped to the chimney, making it 40 foot above ground level, to try and gain extra height to avoid the trees.Hopefully, with an antenna change and placing it an extra 12 higher than my present set-up, I;m sure it will greatly decrease my data loss problem. I live in hope.
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KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb389:04 PM
KEVIN GARDINER: Sorry for the delay in replying but I was taking time to digest all said your detailed report before I replied.
It would appear to be the case that nothing you do results in an error free signal, and which as was previously mentioned could (but not definitely) be caused by receiving an excessively high signal level therefore this requires attenuating, preferably by using a variable gain type attenuator of the type seen on the link.
However, although I also feel that your bedroom positioned set top antenna is inviting quality errors into the signal you could use it for test purposes, being, by selecting a channel on the TV and then leaving it sitting on its signal test screen, this then followed by positioning the aerial low down near to the floor level to reduce the signal pick up properties followed by "slowly" rotating the aerial to see what effect it has (if any) on the bit error rate, with this being irrespective of what the strength may indicate no matter how low it might be, giving an update on the results.
On the subject of your location, tree foliage can be a menace to digital signals and especially if HD is involved, and although I fully endorse your idea of using a Log periodic aerial (DM log being ideal in your situation) you should initially position it lower down rather than at the top of the mast as this does not always achieve the results expected.
Online FM DAB TV Aerial sales
TV Aerial Attenuator Variable 0-20Db Freeview Digital | eBay
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Tuesday, 21 January 2014
M
Matthew11:33 PM
Hinckley
Hi,
I am once again baffled on how to solve our reception problems.
We use a wideband aeriel mounted in the loft (unable to put outside) this has been in the loft for many years providing reasonable reception, even after DSO the TV reported 70% signal on the SD channels. HD channels are ok but with a really high reported bit error rate. This is for the summer time.
However this winter, I think due to atmospheric pressure the signal has greatly reduced to the point where it breaks up to make it unwatchable. Couple this with the fact that there seems to be an increasing amount of trains (next to a train track) that go past seem to also affect the signal and a busy road.
Also making me confused is that the BBC multiplex on C43 has inferior reception to the other channels. I would have thought it would be worst at C46?
Is there anything I can do?
I have a couple of ferrite cores on the cable that go immediatly in and out of the distribution amp, will these do more bad that good? These were added in the hope of reducing the error on the HD channels but had no effect.
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Matthew's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Matthew: I can't answer your question about whether the ferrite cores are doing any good or not (I'm not an installer), but I couldn't help notice that a lot (possibly most) aerials at your postcode point towards Waltham. This suggests that there is something which makes reception from Sutton Coldfield difficult.
It appears that the terrain blocks line-of-sight:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
I also wonder if the industrial units adjacent to Clarendon Park may be an issue. Streetview photos, which were taken in May 2009, show an empty piece of land with a "to let" sign whereas satellite images show a large building on the site.
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Wednesday, 22 January 2014
Matthew: Silly question: I note in previous postings you make mention of reception of some signals from Lichfield. If the aerial was aligned for best reception of channels from both transmitting stations have you tried re-aligning it solely for Sutton Coldfield?
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M
Matthew8:45 PM
Dave Lindsay: Thanks for the reply.
I have been informed that the building near the park has been there at least a couple of years, this may or may not affect my signal but is not something I can do anything about.
After DSO the aerial was adjusted to the correct position. It was pointed to Lichfield at the time as they were doing HD tests if I remember.
After going into the loft and adjusting the aerial this time I have been able to restore the signal levels to what they were previously. I can only conclude that the coax which is not secured had moved. So reception has been restored.
I have been reading posts from Kevin Gardiner, I seem to be experiencing a similar effect as to what Kevin is reporting. I also have a Samsung TV.
My SD channels are between 70-80% signal with 0 bit error rate.
My HD channels are:
C40+ (626.2MHz) bit error rate 1100-1180 out of 2000, signal strength jumping from 84-88%
C33 (570.0MHz) bit error rate 740-840 out of 2000, signal strength jumping from 88-92%
As my normal SD signal strength is between 70-80% signal I dont see value in using an attenuator and dont suspect that the television is being overloaded. However I may be wrong?
I thought I would add this information to hep both me and Kevin, for me this remains unsolved.
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K
KEVIN GARDINER10:48 PM
Stourbridge
Just thought that you may like to know this. I made a few test sample recordings in HD from the new Hd multiplex on frequency channel 33. It turns out that the data streams have a rather low bit rate. A recording of a programme I already have in my archive with a bit rate of over 8.000 kb was being transmitted at just over 4,000kbs on BBC 4 Hd. Not only is the low bit rate being applied to BBC4 Hd, but all the other channels on this multiplex are low bit rated also. Anyone else noticed this? And if so, why are they transmitting programmes at 50% data stream?
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KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
KEVIN GARDINER: It could be possible you are recording a programme that was not available in HD and is being just transmitted in MPEG4?
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Thursday, 30 January 2014
K
KEVIN GARDINER4:17 PM
Stourbridge
Today, I did my usual channel re-scan and noticed that Aljazeera news have two channels on standard Freeview. One news channel in English on channel 83 and on in Arabic on channel 84. However, the Arabic version of the channel is only available from Sutton Coldfield and not from the local re-lay to me Brierley Hill. I wonder if it's the same case elsewhere, i.e., only available from the main transmitters?
On another matter, the local tv channel that is going to be broadcasting on frequency channel 51, channel 8 on standard Freeview, is not going to start broadcasting, at the earliest , till this coming Easter, that being April ,or as late as June from what I've read.
| link to this comment |
KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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