Full Freeview on the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmitter
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The symbol shows the location of the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmitter which serves 330,000 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 Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) mast?
Tacolneston transmitter - Tacolneston transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 22/04/2024 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 Tacolneston 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 Tacolneston transmitter?
BBC Look East (East) 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Norwich NR2 1BH, 16km northeast (37°)
to BBC East region - 27 masts.
70% of BBC East (East) and BBC East (West) is shared output
ITV Anglia News 0.8m homes 3.2%
from NORWICH NR1 3JG, 16km northeast (38°)
to ITV Anglia (East) region - 26 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Anglia (West)
Are there any self-help relays?
| Gt Yarmouth | Transposer | 1 km S town centre | 30 homes |
| Lowestoft (2) | Transposer | Rotterdam Rd | 125 homes |
How will the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-17 | 17 Jul 2018 | ||
| VHF | C/D E | C/D E | C/D E | E | E T | W T | W T | ||
| C3 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C31 | com7 | com7 | |||||||
| C32 | _local | ||||||||
| C37 | com8 | com8 | |||||||
| C39 | +ArqB | +ArqB | ArqB | ||||||
| C40 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C42 | SDN | SDN | SDN | SDN | |||||
| C43 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C45 | ArqA | ArqA | ArqA | ArqA | |||||
| C46 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C50tv_off | BBCB | BBCB | |||||||
| C52tv_off | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C55tv_off | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | -BBCA | -BBCA | -BBCA | com7tv_off | ||
| C56tv_off | COM8tv_off | ||||||||
| C57tv_off | LNR | LNR | |||||||
| C59tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | -D3+4 | -D3+4 | -D3+4 | |||
| C62 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCB | |||||
| C65 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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 9 Nov 11 and 23 Nov 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 250kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-4dB) 100kW | |
| com7 | (-9.6dB) 27.4kW | |
| com8 | (-10.2dB) 24kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, LNR | (-14dB) 10kW | |
| Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-17dB) 5kW | |
| Analogue 5 | (-18dB) 4kW |
Local transmitter maps
Tacolneston Freeview Tacolneston DAB Tacolneston TV region BBC East Anglia (East micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Tacolneston transmitter area
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Saturday, 27 October 2012
J
John Nottage8:18 AM
I'm in Southwold with my aerial looking at Tacolneston. I could also receive Aldeburgh. When Mobile 4G starts, even with a filter, could there be reception problems on Mux D3&4 on Ch59? (I'm very close to the water tower which is covered in Mobile Tx aerials!) If so, is there a system available whereby I could have 2 aerials pointing to Tacolneston & Aldeburgh, with some sort of aerial combiner mixing the signals so my receivers could be tuned into the strongest?
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J
John Nottage8:36 AM
Sorry. I've found the answer elsewhere on your excellent website. I would need a channel 36 diplexer.
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John Nottage: Chances of interference will be lower as you aerial is horizontally polarised whereas 4G mobile signals will be vertically polarised.
Even if the mobile operators are going to be allowed to get away with supplying only one filter to each affected household, would it not be cheaper for you to buy additional filters? Or fit your filter at the aerial, before the feed is split to different rooms?
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Thursday, 1 November 2012
M
Martin Engwell1:52 PM
Thetford
I live just outside Thetford and my TV aerial is in the loft and directed to Tacolneston. I regularly get 'blocky' interference when we have windy weather and have put this down to the presence of a very large eucalyptus tree in our neighbours garden which is directly aligned with the Tacolneston mast. Putting the aerial on the roof would not overcome the interference caused by the tree. Currently we are experiencing severe interference and loss of signal and I assume that this even poorer performance is due to the engineering work at Tacolneston right now. I am within range to the Thetford relay transmitter and the line of sight would be away from the offending tree. I could live with the reduced service if I got a reliable signal; so would it be worth realigning my aerial?
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Martin's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Martin Engwell2:16 PM
Thetford
Further to my comment and question, it seems that I may be better off realigning to the Sudbury mast as this is the next best signal and requires the same type of aerial (horizontal). The Thetford mast would require a vertically polarised aerial. My question remains, should I realign my aerial (to Sudbury)?
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Martin's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Martin Engwell: Thetford only carries Public Service (PSB) channels. It also uses Group A channels so a Group C/D or Group E aerial for Tacolneston won't really be suited to Thetford.
You say that putting the aerial on the roof won't overcome the interference caused by the tree. The signal outside will be stronger than in the loft, as it is higher up and doesn't have the roof tiles in the way.
I write here in general terms, as a non-professional.
For lots of information on reception, see A.T.V (Aerials And Television) TV Aerial, DAB Aerial, FM Aerial.
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Martin Engwell: You may end up no better off with Sudbury as with Thetford as the prediction is that you will likely only be able to receive its PSBs.
Of Sudbury's COMs, C56 and C58 are used by Waltham. C60 isn't used by Waltham, although it is used by Oxford and Belmont (which are further away). The prediction for it is "poor".
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Monday, 5 November 2012
D
David Parr8:58 AM
Brandon
I have phoned Digital UK but got little satisfaction. My postcode is IP27 0HQ. Signals from Tacolneston, Norfolk. They are now non-existent. Been getting worse & worse since 3 weeks ago. I now have had no reception at all since 2nd November. Both Freeview & BT Box, Not one programme at all. My home system is correct, I have had it checked. Not picking up the signal from Sandy Heath either. What have the engineers done at Tacolneston? Damn disgrace.
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David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 9 November 2012
M
Martin Engwell1:55 PM
Thetford
Martin Engwell: Thank you, Dave Lindsay, for your helpful comments. I am currently suffering from very poor reception due, presumably to the engineering works at Tacolneston, and the reportedly low power output. I wonder, therefore, why it is that the BBC channels are most affected and the ITVchannels hardly at all. Another anomoly is that an old Philips small screen TV maintains a good reception but my much newer Samsung TVs suffer massively. Are the latter likely to be more sensitive to poor signal strength? In fairness, the latter do have a slightly longer cable run.
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Martin's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Martin Engwell: There are 101 reasons why the picture on one multiplex is affected and not on another.
Digital reception is more an "all or nothing" system rather than analogue whose picture varies relative to the signal.
Take signal level for example. There is a threshold over which the signal level must be in order for a receiver to resolve a picture. Providing that the quality is good, then the picture will be exactly the same as if the signal strength were higher (but not above being too high such that it overwhelms the receiver).
Thus, a reduction in strength will not have any effect on the picture unless the reduction is greater than the amount that the level was above the threshold.
A reduction in strength with an analogue picture is likely to have some degree of detriment to its quality but may still be watchable.
Because the quality of a digital picture isn't analogous to signal strength, then the effect (or lack of) on the picture is therefore not necessarily the same as that on the signal.
So you could perhaps find that if you used the appropriate test gear that the signal level on all channels has changed but that this has only adversely affected the resolution of the pictures on the BBC mux.
Another factor is that not all channels will be exactly the same. As they propagate they will be reduced and refracted to different degrees.
It is possible that they are using the reserve antenna which is further down the mast and as such the path or line between it and you may be different and importantly there may be other objects that are affecting your reception that wouldn't otherwise do.
I said that there are 101 reasons; these are just a few possibilities. The length of the aerial cable and differences in the receivers are two others.
I'm not a professional, but I would certainly not dismiss mounting the aerial outside as then the signal will not be reduced and refracted by the roof which might be helpful. The professionals do say that reception is a black art, so "common sense" of increased height doesn't always pay off.
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