Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter

Brian Butterworth first published this on 1st May 2004 at 08:20 - UK Free TV

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

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name

_______

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.

Mux	H/V	Frequency	Height	Mode	Watts
PSB1 BBCA	H max	C43 (650.0MHz)	433m	DTG-	200,000W
	1 BBC One (SD) West Midlands, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 19 others
PSB2 D3+4	H max	C46 (674.0MHz)	433m	DTG-	200,000W
	3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (West micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) Midlands ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 Midlands ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Central west), 71 That’s 60s,
PSB3 BBCB	H max	C40+ (626.2MHz)	433m	DTG-	200,000W
	46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD West Midlands, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Central West), 104 Channel 4 HD Midlands ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others 66 TBN UK,
COM4 SDN	H max	C42 (642.0MHz)	433m	DTG-8	200,000W
	20 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others
COM5 ArqA	H max	C45 (666.0MHz)	433m	DTG-8	200,000W
	11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others
COM6 ArqB	H max	C39+ (618.2MHz)	433m	DTG-8	200,000W
	12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others
LB	H -13dB	C48 (690.0MHz)	433m	DTG-12	10,000W
	from 31st October 2014: 7 Big Centre TV,

DTG-8 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	BBCtv_waves
C33						com7
C35						com8
C36						LOCAL2
C39					+ArqB	ArqB
C40		BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	+BBCB	BBCB
C42					SDN	SDN
C43		ITV_waves	ITV_waves	ITV_waves	BBCA	BBCA
C45					ArqA	ArqA
C46		BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	D3+4	D3+4
C48						_local
C50_{tv_off}		C4_waves	C4_waves	C4_waves
C51_{tv_off}						LB
C55_{tv_off}						com7_{tv_off}
C56_{tv_off}						COM8_{tv_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

Local transmitter maps

Sutton Coldfield Freeview Sutton Coldfield DAB Sutton Coldfield AM/FM Sutton Coldfield TV region BBC West Midlands Central (West micro region)

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sutton Coldfield transmitter area

Feb 1956-Jul 1968	Associated TeleVision†
Feb 1956-Jul 1968	Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981	Associated TeleVision
Jan 1982-Feb 2004	Central Independent Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014	ITV plc

Feb 1983-Dec 1992	TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010	GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014	ITV Daybreak•

• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Sutton Coldfield was not an original Channel 3 VHF 405-line mast: the historical information shown is the details of the company responsible for the transmitter when it began transmitting Channel 3.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

G

Gordon
5:51 PM

Fred:

You are not the only one with this problem.
As far as I am aware the M/plexs 40 / 55 /56 now transmit using T2 transmission technology and if you have an older model TV which only has the T1 tuner then you will be unable to receive the 31 or so now transmitted in T2 (mostly HD channels).
Also, if your / is of the old grouped C/D type it will probably not be able to receive these channnels either and you will need to replace it with a '' or a group 'E' aerial.

So, you may have a TV problem, an aerial type problem, or both.

link to this comment

Gordon's 1 post GB flag

N

ntscuser
4:01 PM

has always been Group B so there's no reason why anyone would be using a Group C/D .

link to this comment

ntscuser's 7 posts GB flag

MikeP

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

9:29 PM

Ntcuser:

There are many changes in the pipleine and one is to move multiplexes down the spectrum. In addition, there are two temporary multiplexes, COM 7 and COM8, which are broadcast on 55 and 56, so is no longer only a Group B service. To get those viewers need the ability to receive those channels that are in the Group C/D range so they need a aerial as a Groupd B is not able to get all the channles and neither is a Group C/D aerial. The best solution is a wideband type or a log-periodic that can get all the current channels as well as those planned for the next several years.

.

link to this comment

MikeP's 3,056 posts PT flag

S

Sean
2:22 PM

I know same both and Birmingham problem TV Freeview Failed FreeSports Channel 64 been lost service center didn't work properly by Aerial both Television and Box last old Freeview Sony DVD Recorder nothing show like FreeSports Channel 64 is unavailable until further information please what's happening because my Freeview Sony DVD Recorder can fixed Aerial view missed one program. I don't understand cannot believed properly need important things live stream.

link to this comment

Sean's 1 post GB flag

S

StevensOnln1

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

4:21 PM

Sean : I'm struggling to understand your post, but I think you're having a problem receiving FreeSports on ? Have you checked for any loose or damaged cables or connections behind your TV? Please provide a full postcode so that we can see which transmitters you're able to receive, where you are in relation to them and your predicted coverage etc.

link to this comment

StevensOnln1's 3,672 posts GB flag

D

David Smith
7:34 AM
Derby

Over the last few days I have been experiencing problems from the on both Sky News and Dave. The signal keeps breaking up. My postcode is DE65 6DW.

link to this comment

David Smith's 3 posts GB flag

David's: D's Freeview map D's terrain plot D's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage

S

StevensOnln1

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

9:08 AM

David Smith: Have you checked for any loose or damaged cables or connections behind your TV? You should be getting a strong at your postcode, so there is most likely a fault or some sort of at your end.

link to this comment

StevensOnln1's 3,672 posts GB flag

J

Joanne Ness
9:44 PM

Hi. I am struggling with C4, ITV and C5 signal. I have retuned x4 times but the is intermittent and shows the message weak or . Please!

link to this comment

Joanne Ness's 1 post GB flag

S

StevensOnln1

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

10:41 PM

Joanne Ness: Stop retuning, it will never fix a weak as you're just deleting your correctly tuned and searching for them again. Have you checked for any loose or damaged cables or connections behind your TV? Please provide a full postcode so that we can see which you're using and where you are in relation to it.

link to this comment

StevensOnln1's 3,672 posts GB flag

J

James
11:33 AM

are moving some on Monday 13th
Some Channel 4 channels are moving positions on Freeview on Monday 13 May 2019 | Freeview

Does anyone know if the frequencies are changing or is it just the LCN changing?

I ask because I have no access to my box at the moment, but if it's just the LCN changing I can fudge my PVR to keep recording until I get home.

But I suspect I'm out of luck...?

link to this comment

James's 2 posts GB flag

Page 206

Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

UK Free TV is here to help people. If you are rude or disrespectful all of your posts will be deleted and you will be banned.
Your comments
Your name
Your email
Your site or @twitter
Email me updates
Save my details

Privacy policy: UK Free Privacy policy.