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Full Freeview on the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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 25/11/2024 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 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C40- (625.8MHz)263mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) East, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 16 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C43- (649.8MHz)263mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Anglia (East micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Anglia east), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C46 (674.0MHz)263mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD East, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South 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)263mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
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)246mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
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)246mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
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

LNR
 H -10dB
C32 (562.0MHz)263mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
7 Mustard,

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 Tacolneston transmitter?

regional news image
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
regional news image
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 YarmouthTransposer1 km S town centre30 homes
Lowestoft (2)TransposerRotterdam Rd125 homes

How will the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-132013-182013-1717 Jul 2018
VHFC/D EC/D EC/D EEE TW TW T
C3BBCtvwaves
C31com7com7
C32_local
C37com8com8
C39 +ArqB+ArqBArqB
C40BBCA
C42SDNSDNSDNSDN
C43D3+4
C45ArqAArqAArqAArqA
C46BBCB
C50tv_off BBCBBBCB
C52tv_offC5wavesC5waves
C55tv_offBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves-BBCA-BBCA-BBCAcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off
C57tv_offLNRLNR
C59tv_offITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves-D3+4-D3+4-D3+4
C62BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCB
C65C4wavesC4wavesC4waves

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

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Tacolneston transmitter area

Oct 1959-Feb 2004Anglia 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. Tacolneston 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
Sunday, 8 January 2017
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

4:36 PM

Mardler:

Transmitter problems are very rare and are normally dealt with quite speedily by Arqiva. Plus any such problem will normally affect all viewers who receive from that transmitter, not just one or two.

My fifty plus years experience show the opposite to yours as transmitter faults are rare. However, there are regular maintenance visits to them and during such it is not uncommon for there to be either reduced power operation or sometimes outages to protect the staff from extreme levels of RF radiation when they are close to the aerials.

In fact, there are more problems due to aerial systems at the reception end as they are generally poorly maintained - if at all.



link to this comment
MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:02 PM

MikeP: Mike, I totally agree - this statement:

'If the transmission is dropping and/or s/s is low on only some channels it's the transmitter, atmospherics, nearby interference or user aerial system- in that order.'

would seem to be the exact opposite of the reality of people asking questions on this site. Just trawl through the posts which ask about reception, and automatically assume that there is a problem with the transmitter, and demand that the BBC/Government/'them' do something about it, often accompanied by the phrase 'I pay my licence fee!'

When you ask the essential questions: 'what is the signal strength, have you checked with neighbours', and have you checked that all the wires are OK and not loose', your surprised at the lack of feedback, which is possibly largely explained by people checking out the rear of the TV and discovering that the aerial lead has fallen out of the back.

Discounting possible high pressure system problems (which do occur occasionally), when you check the actual status of the transmitter, its usually fine. Yes, there are delays in updating the information sometimes, where a rash of questions about reception lose predate a warning, but most of the time, the transmitter is fine. Even if its on lower power for a short period, that power level is still generally higher than pre-digital switchover levels.

Its strange that people automatically assume that a transmitter is at fault, even though it may serve many thousands of households and has generally backup systems, but discount totally that their system, which ultimately is linked together by wiring just 6mm wide, has plenty of joins in it, may have been installed by the biggest bodgers on the planet, and has an aerial which might be in place for decades battered by all the weather can throw at it should be totally fine. Its a TV Occams Razor.






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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 10 January 2017
H
hardy
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

7:05 PM

The point is high pressure reception can DECREASE the apparent amount of signal received. The local and interfering signals do not necessarily add . Sometimes because interference looks like electrical noise the total signal appears smaller . (technically called reduced signal to noise ratio) At other times the same atmospheric condition that lifts distant signals will kill the local signal.
Note I have an academic qualification in telecommunications . Do not work for any tv service so am not part of the transmitter workers "conspiracy"

link to this comment
hardy's 137 posts GB flag
Thursday, 12 January 2017
H
Hilary Woodward
10:03 PM

Once again (12th January 2017) a message, "no or weak signal". I've lived here nearly 20 years, (about 13 miles NW of Tacolneston) but only over the last year have experienced this problem, with increasing frequency. Why should I need to re-tune my TV seemingly every few days? It is an absolute pain, and a joke when there are supposedly no reported problems with the Tacolneston transmitter.

link to this comment
Hilary Woodward's 4 posts GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:25 PM

Hilary Woodward: 'It is an absolute pain, and a joke when there are supposedly no reported problems with the Tacolneston transmitter.'

Since there ISN'T a problem with the transmitter, there is only one alternative - your system!

I must admit to slightly be in despair - a whole rash of people have reported 'no signal', and insisted that it must be the transmitter, even though all information says its fine.

Both Mike P and myself have continually said the same thing about its most likely the householders system, and still the same questions come in, again and again.


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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Friday, 13 January 2017
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

4:26 PM

Hillary Woodward:

Further to that said by MikeB, I strongly suggest that you make some investigations first. Check what the reported signal strength is for all the available multiplexes and then report them here. Secondly, check that all the connections in your aerial system are in good condition and the plugs fully inserted. Thirdly, check that your aerial has not moved or been damaged.

Finally, help us to help you by giving your full post code so that we can check what the reception and transmission conditions are for your location.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 18 January 2017
H
hardy
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

9:36 AM

I notice that very many houses in North Norfolk still have the old group CD aerials . Fine for the basic BBC and ITV channels but anything else such as Dave channel will not be received well.

Note today and most of this week atmospheric pressure is high so interference WILL be quite likely . Which can seem like a problem with Tacolston . BUt Tacolston is actually working fine. I would suggest a wideband aerial is best for Nw of Tacolston as it will cover the present channels and also be ok when the channel frequencies are changed next year.

link to this comment
hardy's 137 posts GB flag
H
hardy
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

11:06 AM

People should not retune during a period of poor reception they may well tune into say Sudbury instead of Tacolneston . Then when reception actually goes back to normal they will loose some channels because they wont still be tuned to Tacolneston!

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hardy's 137 posts GB flag
Thursday, 19 January 2017
S
Susan
8:13 PM

Hi, we lost all BBC channels around lunchtime.My daughter is severely autistic and relies on routine to get through the day. Not being able to watch cbeebies has made this evening very stressful! My aerial is in the loft and has not been moved. I have tried different aerial leads and a different digital recorder, nothing works! Cannot think what to do! When I check the transmission, it says there is nothing wrong. We are just North East of Dereham.
Perplexed! Could it be high pressure?

link to this comment
Susan's 1 post GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:38 PM

Susan: Since the transmitter seems to be fine, its almost certainly a problem with your system, possibly a duff cable, frayed connection, etc.

In the meantime, you can stream via Iplayer.

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
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Your comment please
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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