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 27/11/2023 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, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 35 others
COM5 ArqA	H max	C45 (666.0MHz)	433m	DTG-8	200,000W
	Smithsonian Channel, 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 Christmas, 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
	Quest Red +1, Classic Hits, 12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! christmas mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 83 Together TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 20 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?

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

4:43 PM

- ton Coldfield Transmitter works 19 and 21October 2010: transmitter work will take place between 04:00hrs 19th October and 17:00hrs 21 October. TV that will be disrupted: services - BBC1, BBC2, ITV and will be subject to short breaks and reduced Digital services - Mux1, Mux2, MuxA MuxB and MuxC will be subject to short breaks and reduced power [DUK] ton Coldfield Transmitter works: The to the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter in preparation for digital in 2011 is now largely complete and providing both analogue and Freeview digital TV to more than two million households. While some limited further work on the will be required over the coming months, the mast operator will be doing everything possible to keep disruption to a minimum. Any viewers experiencing reduced digital strength should note that Freeview services will be significantly boosted at switchover in September 2011. Digital UK apologises for any inconvenience caused. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 146,531 posts xx flag

L

Laurie
6:30 PM
Daventry

I have no at all. All working fine yesterday. Is this what is meant by 'reduced power'? NN11 area.

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Laurie's 3 posts GB flag

Laurie's: L's Freeview map L's terrain plot L's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Briantist

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

6:31 PM

Laurie: No, it isn't. And anyway, nothing is on "reduced ". I would see Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .

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Briantist's 38,902 posts GB flag

P

Phil K
11:31 AM
Leicester

Hi all,

I am located in Oadby, , and is my .

I can't seem to receive or groups (Mux D and HD ).

I have a setup that receives all the other groups normally, and I suspect my flat which was built pre-1998 may have a group B , but as C34 and C55 are only just outside Group B's usual range, this shouldn't make too much difference?

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Phil K's 1 post GB flag

Phil's: P's Freeview map P's terrain plot P's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Briantist

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

11:34 AM

Phil K: Well, yes a group B won't allow the though. Freeview reception - all about aerials | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .

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Briantist's 38,902 posts GB flag

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

6:33 PM

- Freeview BBC TV (One, Two, Three, CBBC, News) Weak from 10:45 today to 10:49 today [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 146,531 posts xx flag

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

6:34 PM

- Freeview BBC TV (One, Two, Three, CBBC, News) Weak from 10:45 today to 10:49 today [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 146,531 posts xx flag

D

D Holmes
7:29 PM
Uttoxeter

my question for you is I am located at ST14 5LT, I get all with strong strength but this site says I should also be able to receive the HD from Litchfield this is not correct nothing is received.
I will also point out that channel 5 from Litchfield is also good and strong. so what's the problem with HD

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D Holmes's 3 posts GB flag

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

R

Rob
7:47 PM
Burton-on-trent

Hi,

For the last week or so we've noticed very poor strength and on channel 41 from . I've checked for local and removed all other appliances. The problem seems much worse in the evening. This has never been a problem before, all other are full strength and quality. I've even tried turning the boiler off etc to elimate any specific interference. I live in on Trent and we're tuned to sutton coldfield.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Rob

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Rob's 2 posts GB flag

Rob's: R's Freeview map R's terrain plot R's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage

D

David

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

10:04 PM

Great Barr area, Birmingham. Like so many others, during the changes there was loss of some . When the main mast was restored to use, everything came back, and particularly during the freezing weather was absoluteley fine.

Now the weather has warmed up agin, and at least mux B and C are either unreceivable or very blocky. Clearly, around here there is always some co-channel probably from 100 miles away or more.

So far, so normal for freeview.

My big question is, following the September switch-over, when the main mast goes to 1MW , can I expect reception to come good or not?

My concern is that although the direct signal will obviously be hugely more powerful, so will all the other BBC transmitters, including whatever is causing the current co-channel interference. So here is a technical question I invite comments upon....can a more powerful signal discriminate better when the interfering channel is also more powerful ?

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David's 25 posts GB flag

Page 4

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.

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