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

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

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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 15/04/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels

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.

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),
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 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)	433m	DTG-8	200,000W
	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)	433m	DTG-8	200,000W
	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)	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?

MikeP

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

4:32 PM

StevensOnln1:

Thanks for that info, I was going by the data gives at the top of the page, so that's now out of date.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag

C

Charles Herwin
5:44 PM
Birmingham

B295PN. Weoley Castle area.
External Rooftop aimed at , 15m 7mm coax feed.
Televes H45 Spectrum analyser set.

All 200kW transmissions good at 68 to 70dBuV
Also Ch48 (not listed as Sutton Coldfield freq): 52dBuV MER 28dB, pic steady-Made in Birmingham & Sony chs.
Chs 33, 35 & 51 (listed as Sutton Coldfield freq with lower ): whatsoever (background noise 17dBuV).
Chs 55 & 56 (not currently listed as Sutton Coldfield freqs) no lock, 55dBuV & 45dBuV with strong slope (higher end of 8mhz bandwidth 8-10dB weaker).
So since the last changes there's no of BBC 4 HD or BBC News HD any longer.

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Charles Herwin's 2 posts US flag

Charles's: C's Freeview map C's terrain plot C's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage

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StevensOnln1

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

6:50 PM

Charles Herwin: What type of do you have? If it's a Group B rather than then it may be less effective at receiving UHF 55 & 56. is predicted to be good for all multiplexes at your postcode according to the UK checker.

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StevensOnln1's 3,619 posts GB flag

C

Charles Herwin
1:26 AM
Birmingham

Yes, that could well be the reason for the unusual slope on the high , I now realise that are using Ch 38, 55 & 56 instead the ones listed on this page.
Having moved here recently I've yet to get up to the chimney stack, but when I do I'll be sure to have a aerial ready to replace it. I can always fit a filter if I get problems when the band starts being used for mobiles. Thanks for your.

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Charles Herwin's 2 posts US flag

Charles's: C's Freeview map C's terrain plot C's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage

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robert moore
12:48 PM

telly works fine on its own but as soon as i ad my new hd dvd recorder all and sound brake up making it impossible to watch had recorder replaced makes no difference what could be the problem my position is gl556sr fed from

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robert moore's 1 post GB flag

M

MikeB

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

1:57 PM

robert moore: I checked that postcode (if you put your postcode into the site, it will automatically bring up all sort of useful information, rather than having to trawl for it),

and your 55km from . Coverage Checker - Detailed View

Thats OK - its the same distance I am from mine. But you need to check a couple of things.

1) Is the PVR tuned to the same as the TV?

If it not, then the might be too poor to use. So make sure its tuned to Sutton Coldfield.

2) Whats signal strength like on both?

Your PVR and TV have slightly different tuners - and so might react differently to the same signal strength. Your system might be just on the threshold of failing, but the TV is OK, whereas the PVR isn't as sensitive, and wont pick up stuff at all.

Or (and this might be more likely if its a Humax), the tuner is slightly more sensitive than the TV, and thats why your getting breakup. If the signal strength is 80% plus, search for the page 'too much of a good thing'.

And check cables and connections - it might be as simple as that.

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag

I

Ian Allcock
8:01 AM
Doncaster

Robert Moore are you using a through lead to connect the signal from your recorder to TV ?

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Ian Allcock's 2 posts GB flag

Ian's: I's Freeview map I's terrain plot I's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage

MikeP

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

12:54 PM

Robert Moore:

I don't know that model, but does it have an RF modulator? Even if it has i=one but is not used, if it is set to a used by your preferred it can cause unwanted effects on your pictures. So check whether is has an RF modulator and if so what frequency it is set to use. If that is in the range beow 700 MHz, then adjust the RF modulator frequency upwards. Note that not all devices have a modulator these days, using HDMI instead.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag

R

Richard
7:44 PM

Is this page out of date ???

Now pick up 746 MHz and 756 MHz. (to get Channel 4 HD etc.....)
586 MHz has gone.??

Or I'm picking up some other .

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Richard's 1 post GB flag

V

Vic
5:08 PM
Birmingham

Will I be able to receive HD from on an indoor in B47 5NR

Hollywood Nr Wythall

Thank you

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Vic's 1 post GB flag

Vic's: V's Freeview map V's terrain plot V's frequency data V's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Page 291

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.

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