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

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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 25/03/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


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

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C43 (650.0MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
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)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
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),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C40+ (626.2MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
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

COM4
SDN
 H max
C42 (642.0MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C45 (666.0MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C39+ (618.2MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

LB
 H -13dB
C48 (690.0MHz)433mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
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?

regional news image
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 15km south-southwest (200°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
regional news image
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)Transposer1 km W Burton-on-Trent60 homes
CoalvilleTransposer18 km NW Leicester600 homes
SolihullTransposerLand Rover building400 homes

How will the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-137 Mar 2018
VHFB E TB E TB E TB E K TW T
C4BBCtvwaves
C33com7
C35com8
C36LOCAL2
C39+ArqBArqB
C40BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves+BBCBBBCB
C42SDNSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCABBCA
C45ArqAArqA
C46BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C48_local
C50tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4waves
C51tv_offLB
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_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

Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision†
Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Associated TeleVision
Jan 1982-Feb 2004Central Independent Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV 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.

Comments
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
K
KEVIN GARDINER
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

2:57 PM
Stourbridge

I've recently read a technical release about the roll out of the new com7 multiplex. The following information refers to the transmitters which have switched on the new multiplex and have made changes to their ERP.
OXFORD: CH 31. 17.4KW UPTO 16.38KW.
RIDGE HILL: CH32. 6.3KW UPTO 10.54KW.
SUTTON COLDFIELD. CH33: 81.3KW UPTO 89.2KW.
WALTHAM; CH31. 8.7KW UPTO 10.6KW.

link to this comment
KEVIN GARDINER's 68 posts GB flag
KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
KEVIN GARDINER
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:10 PM
Stourbridge

SANDY HEATH: CH32. 43.7KW UPTO 49.5KW.
TALCOLNESTON: CH 31. 22.4KW UPTO 27.4KW.
WINTER HILL: CH 31. 24KW UPTO 25.7KW.
CRYSTAL PALACE: CH33. 36.3KW UPTO 43.09KW.
BLUEBELL HILL: CH 32. 3.7KW UPTO 4KW.
HANNINGTON: CH32. 29.5KW UPTO 36.7KW.
ROWBRIGDE HP: CH31. 23.4KW UPTO 24.4KW.
BLACKHILL: CH32. 39.8KW UPTO 42.8KW.
CRAIGKELLY: CH33. 9.3KW UPTO 10.84KW.
BILSDALE: CH31. 17.8KW UPTO 18.48KW.
PONTOP PIKE: CH 33. 33.9KW DOWN TO 33.84KW.
DIVIS: CH33. 10.5KW UPTO 12.4KW.
WENVOE CARDIFF: CH31. 40.7KW UPTO 46.9KW.
BELMONT: CH33. 33.9KW UPTO 37.14KW.
EMLEY MOOR: CH32. 50.1KW UPTO 54.82KW.

Hope that this data will be of use to you Brain.

link to this comment
KEVIN GARDINER's 68 posts GB flag
KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 10 April 2014
K
KEVIN GARDINER
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:15 AM
Stourbridge

It seems that the projected Erp of the new com 7 multiplex was somewhat under estimated prior to the launch date, and even the start date Erp's of the main transmitters were way out compared to actual erp that was being transmitted, if you look at the table above.Therefore, I'm wondering whether the local tv multiplexes are transmitting higher Erp's than is stated? I'm currently receiving the local tv multiplex on ch51 from SC and the signal strength is 85%. And the signal strength from all the other standard multiplexes is 92% except the com 7 multiplex which is 47%. Now the com 7's erp is 89.2kw, which is just under half that of the full powered multiplexes, so I'm thinking that the local tv multiplex may indeed be somewhat higher than we think it is.

link to this comment
KEVIN GARDINER's 68 posts GB flag
KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
K
KEVIN GARDINER
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

1:11 PM
Stourbridge

I performed a regular re-tune today , which I do every few weeks to see if anything new is on or has a test card etc prior to launch. And today a new radio station Is on air today on standard free view. prior to launch without an EPG, the station was in test mode and couldn't be picked up without specialist equipment etc. The station has come out of test mode, and the new station is BBC RADIO WM on Freeview channel 722 in mono sound. The station is on the main BBC multiplex PSB1.

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KEVIN GARDINER's 68 posts GB flag
KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
KEVIN GARDINER
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:18 PM
Stourbridge

Thanks for the link about the local radio in the UK regions Brain. Very informative. Have you read my two messages concerning the ERP of the com 7 multiplex? It seems that the projected ERP, even prior to launch, was way under estimated compared to the actual ERP transmitted on the launch dates. The ERP Of com 7 has since been increased to higher ERP'S and some have been slightly lowered, but most have had an increase. If the reported ERP'S are accurate and in operation currently, then the com 7 multiplex ERP'S on this site can be altered accordingly.

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KEVIN GARDINER's 68 posts GB flag
KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 24 May 2014
P
Pete D
9:54 AM

Remember back over twelve months ago when someone transmitted something weird overnight & wiped out all the Sony RDR-HXD870,890 freeview recorders. (Blank screens strange epg? WELL ITS HAPPENED AGAIN My two sony hadr drive dvd recorders have been rendered useless as I presume have others across the country connected to main transmitters (I am on Sutton Coldfield) they did correct this problem eventually could you please get the powers that be to do the same again.

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Pete D's 8 posts GB flag
P
Pete D
9:58 AM

I have just recalled my old posts & last happened in July 2013.On a Saturday same as this time & it was corrected the next day. Sometimes lessons are NOT learned.

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Pete D's 8 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 28 May 2014
K
KEVIN GARDINER
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:31 PM
Stourbridge

I checked the technical specs of my HD tv today and found that the bit rate loss that I get on the main BBC HD multiplex has changed. My roof top antenna is pointed to Sutton Coldfield and the main multiplex has always given me a data loss reading of 700 to 800 bits. The new HD multiplex com7 is broadcasting at just under half the power of the BBC HD multiplex at 89kw ,and gives me a data loss reading of around 400 bits. The signal strength of the BBC multiplex is over 90%, but the data loss has dropped dramatically down from a constant 700 - 800 bits down to 40- 200 bits. The fact that the data loss of the low powered multiplex has stayed constant at 400 bits, and the BBC multiplex data loss has dropped dramatically, can only be that they may be in test mode, and have possibly altered the configuration to make the BBC HD signal more robust for areas where the terrain has plentiful of buildings or hills etc. Has anyone heard anything about this at all? Maybe Brian has an idea??

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KEVIN GARDINER's 68 posts GB flag
KEVIN's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 7 June 2014
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:32 AM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Off Air from 22:50 yesterday to 22:50 yesterday. FM: Radio 1 FM Weak Signal from 08:49 on 05 Jun to 08:58 on 05 Jun. [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
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