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 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

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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), 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?

J

Jacktar
9:45 AM
Birmingham

Thanks Brianist
Yes they are all in the same and yes I've tried everything recommended but to no avail. As nothing has changed except the (still using the same gear as when I could get a signal) I Guess I'll just have to wait for the power-up as well.
I've also looked up my rooftop and it's a "TV 18 Element "
Hey btw didn't I see you in that movie "taxi driver"?

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Jacktar's 5 posts GB flag

Jacktar's: J's Freeview map J's terrain plot J's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Briantist

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

12:04 PM

Jacktar: LOL at the "Taxi Driver" comment, I haven't heard it in a while. I never seen being taken for Robert De Niro as anything other than a complement...

The *normal* reason for lack of D from is having a 'grouped' rather than '' aerial, but this will not be an issue after switch-over.

I'm a bit concerned, however, as you are predicted to have excellent already on all the multiplexes, but you may as well wait for the full service before you do anything to your aerial.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag

J

Jacktar
2:30 AM
Birmingham

Hey! "you looking at me?"
Brianist you are a lot more useful than Mr De Niro to a lot of folk on here. Thanks for the and keep up the good work m8.

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Jacktar's 5 posts GB flag

Jacktar's: J's Freeview map J's terrain plot J's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage

W

will

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

9:42 AM

Hi folks,

Wondering if people with the knowledge can shed some light.

I live in Rugby, so in theory I'm on the SC , using my old .

The Dave for me appears to drop out and come back at roughly the same times every day. Fine before about 9am, gone/really messy until about 7pm (iirc) when it comes back clear and strong.

Anybody know what this is about?

My first thought is that maybe something else on Mux C is given 'priority' during the day at the expense of Dave channel's strength. Of course, I'm not a pro so that's a guess :)

(My aerial hasn't been explicitly set up for digital but during the good periods it's just fine)

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Will.

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will's 51 posts GB flag

Briantist

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

11:04 AM

will: Hard to say without your full postcode. Please see Freeview intermittent interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag

S

Steve
7:52 PM
Birmingham

Hi, I've a friend who has lost Mux A.
It's fine in my area (around a mile down the road).
The postcode is B23 7LU

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Steve's 1 post GB flag

Steve's: S's Freeview map S's terrain plot S's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Briantist

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

7:57 PM

Steve: Please ask them to see Single frequency interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag

W

will

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

10:19 AM
Rugby

Hi ,

I'm at CV212QR. Some interesting thoughts on the link you sent. I wonder if something comes on during the day that interferes.

Or maybe I'm on the edge of the range and it switches between or something??

</guesswork>

:)

Cheers,
Will.

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will's 51 posts GB flag

will's: W's Freeview map W's terrain plot W's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Briantist

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

9:43 PM

will: Yes, you are just on the fringe of good from until , but this should really only effect your reception of multiplexes 2 and A.

With switchover quite close, 21 September 2011, when you will get a considerably better signal, you might want to wait until then, rather than spend money on your at this point.

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag

W

Will

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

10:45 PM
Rugby

- thanks for the assessment and advice, much appreciated!
Will.

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Will's 51 posts GB flag

Will's: W's Freeview map W's terrain plot W's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Page 48

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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