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 04/11/2024 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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Wednesday, 4 November 2020
N
nick5:44 PM
Chris.SE:
Hi Chris, thanks for your interest, in my query about Sutton Coldfield and HGTV, I was hoping that the reshuffle of channel numbers today would have sorted it, but it hasn't. Still picking up nothing on com6 , ch39+.....its not even the highest frequency of the Coms I can get. Do you happen to know the meaning and significance on COM6, ch39+ of the '+' ? I'm wondering if that's got anything to do with it. ..tomorrow I'll tweak the aerial a bit.
Dunno what else to do...Regards, Nick
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Thursday, 5 November 2020
C
Chris.SE1:34 AM
nick:
Hi. The + indicates a frequency offset for the channel (as does a - ). It's a 167kHz offset. It has absolutely no effect on any equipment that complies with the relevant specifications for Freeview, they will tune correctly.
If you have some unusual equipment, maybe eg. a "non-compliant" PC Card, where you might have to tune it to the precise frequency - in this case 618.167MHz for C39, it shouldn't otherwise present any problems.
Actually, C39(+) is the lowest frequency used at Sutton Coldfield, except for the local multiplex L-BRM on C36 (only 1kW beaming N). It's also on C48 10kW beaming SW. All the multiplexes are C43, C46, C40+, C42, C45, C39+, C55, C36/C48 that's in the order PSBs1-3, COMs 4-7 and Local L-BRM.
Excluding COM7 and the Local muxes, all 6 main muxes are 200kW.
Essentially, you shouldn't have any problem with COM6 if the others are ok.
Have a look in your tuning section for something like Signal Strength, may be in Manual Tuning, see what signal Strength and Quality you are getting for each multiplex - make a note.
Check for water ingress in your aerial connections and coax. Also check any wall-plates or flyleads. Broken or corroded connections etc can affect just one multiplex and not others (due to electrical standing waves that get created in the cable).
If you think your aerial may have shifted in the wind, put your postcode and house into the boxes on Platform management | Freeview and you'll find the bearing of the transmitter at your location. It'll also give you the predicted reception.
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C
Chris.SE4:31 AM
nick:
Without knowing your postcode to look at your predicted reception, the only other thing I can add at this time is that there is likely to be some "Tropospheric Ducting" around for the next few days which might affect your reception. See Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | RTIS for a simplistic explanation.
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Wednesday, 11 November 2020
K
Ken Marchant1:28 PM
Stafford
Hi,
Post code ST18 9TW (Great Bridgeford, Stafford).
We use Freeview and all of the channels we use are 100% strength and the signal is very good.
We want to watch Sony Christmas movies (Channel 51) bur we cannot get this because the signal strength on C36 is shown as 6%. Why is this, and can it be boosted?
Thank you.
Ken Marchant.
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Ken's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
S
StevensOnln13:12 PM
Ken Marchant: Sony Christmas Movies is carried on the local TV multiplex, which is mostly directed towards Birmingham and the surrounding areas. 6% is a very low signal level (matching the prediction of the Freeview detailed coverage checker) and as you already have 100% strength on the main multiplexes, any attempt to boost the signal is likely to result in the signal lever becoming too high for the main multiplexes which could result in the loss of other channels.
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C
Chris.SE3:53 PM
Ken Marchant:
Sony Movies Christmas (a seasonal rename of Sony Movies Classic) is transmitted on Local Multiplexes. Sony chose to move a number of their channels to Local multiplexes over a year ago. (See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are on which multiplex).
Local multiplexes are only transmitted from a limited number of transmitters serving large urban centres of population and the signals are generally beamed to those areas at a lower power, but the transmission mode helps improve coverage (but it reduces bandwidth - space for the number of channels).
Transmitter powers (of all multiplexes) are set to try and give the best coverage of the areas they serve under normal conditions, without causing interference to other transmitters that have to use the frequencies.
Sutton Coldfield has 2 frequencies for the Local multiplex (most only have one!), C48 at 10kW which is beamed SW (towards Birmingham) and C36 at 1kW beamed N to cover Lichfield and surrounding districts.
Unfortunately you are slightly too far to the west as well as some distance away and if you are on the Stafford side of your locale, reception may not be as good. The Freeview Detailed Coverage Checker predicts some very variable reception of the Local multiplex for you as a consequence, whilst still giving very good reception of the main multiplexes. You may find reception of the Local multiplex varies maybe throughout the day or is quite weather dependent.
Whilst you have 6% Signal strength, it's the Quality figure that's a lot more important, if that is 0%, then you are probably wasting time and money trying to do anything about it (too much interference on the channel - but do check you haven't got any equipment with RF outputs such as older VCRs, game Consoles etc. that are set anywhere near C36. If you have, try resetting to C60 or above).
If you don't have 0% Quality, whilst you could try boosting the signal with an amplifier, as you have 100% signal on the other multiplexes, you are in danger of having too much signal for the other multiplexes which could cause front end overload and reduced sensitivity, as well as pixellation and/or sound breakup.
If you choose to try that option you should use one that has variable gain or use a variable attenuator between the amplifier and TV set to help ensure that you can reduce the signal to prevent overload - which of course might mean you still don't have a satisfactory signal for the local multiplex!
I'd suggest that you monitor your signal on C36 and if the Quality figure is reasonable (as well as maybe a slightly better Signal strength) for a reasonable amount of time, it may be worth a go, but I'm doubtful.
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Saturday, 26 December 2020
T
T mills9:42 AM
Coventry
Why are we constantly getting signal interference the picture keeps breaking up so nights can't understand a word they are saying pixels flashing everywhere I live at cv3 5nl and my mother has the same problem she lives at cv3 6pf this started a two a month ago this happens most day now
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T's: ...
C
Chris.SE2:44 PM
T mills:
Whilst you are well within the coverage area, you aren't in the best of locations for really good reception especially of the COM multiplexes. Your mother is better located and should have good reception except for COM7 where it'll probably be variable. Which channels are you having problems with?
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are on which multiplex. Check that other channels on the same multiplex(es) as the ones you have a problem with have the same issues.
Have you changed anything in your installations?
Neither Freeview nor the BBC are reporting any current transmitter problems and there's currently no Planned Engineering listed. There was Planned Engineering back in November with "Possible weak signal" and if you retuned or your set auto-retuned when you have no signal or badly pixellated pictures (never a good idea as it often clears correct tuning) it's possible you might have got tuned to another transmitter with poorer signals as several can be received in your area (but not as well as Sutton Coldfield).
So it's worth checking in your TV's tuning section that you are tuned to the correct UHF channels for Sutton Coldfield. All the multiplexes are C43, C46, C40+, C42, C45, C39+, C55, C36/C48 that's in the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2, BBCB HD/PSB3, SDN/COM4, ArqA/COM5, ArqB/COM6, COM7 and Local L-BRM.
Any aerial or cable degradation will also affect reception (not necessarily always affecting all multiplexes) so I would check that your aerial seems intact and pointing in the correct direction - bearing 317/8 degrees (~NW) and that your downlead looks undamaged (especially if it is old, and not flapping in the wind). Also check all your coax plugs, connections, flyleads etc, unplug connectors check for corrosion or other problems and reconnect them. Flyleads are a common problem, try swapping/changing them. See what signal strengths and quality you are getting for the multiplexes (groups of channels) shown in your TV's tuning section.
Problematic connections, water ingress etc. can seem to affect reception of just an individual or several multiplexes.
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Wednesday, 13 January 2021
M
Mike8:52 PM
13/01/2021....tonight and yesterday there is no BBC4 HD AND NOW BBC NEWS HD....is there any reason for this ?
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C
Chris.SE10:47 PM
Mike:
Sutton Coldfield is currently listed for Planned Engineering with "Possible weak signal" so it's quite likely this may be the cause of the problem you are seeing.
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