Full Freeview on the Tacolneston (Norfolk, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 52.518,1.139 or 52°31'6"N 1°8'22"E |  | NR16 1DW |
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 04/11/2024 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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Wednesday, 2 August 2017
C
Christopher Webber1:50 AM
Hi StevensOnin1,
Thanks for the explanation, the table is somewhat misleading as the date is 2018 but like you say it shows the mux allocation post 700mhz clearance.
If there are no changes to the basic 6 muxes post 2020 then that means Freeview viewers will see a huge drop in HD channels, with COM7 and COM8 disappearing we will loose BBC News HD, BBC4 HD, 4Seven HD (not concerned with C4+1HD, QVC HD, RT HD or Cbeebies HD) they are a waste of precious bandwidth already :)
There will be no capacity on BBCB for those channels in HD and that is shocking,
Looks like the whole DSO has been a huge con, imo as Freeview will essentially be not fit for purpose and people will be forced to get Sky or Virgin just to get HD :(
Looks like the DSO was just a huge con to get the TX's enabled for 4G & 5G at taxpayers expense.
I am seriously considering cancelling my TV license and just subscribing to Netflix :)
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S
StevensOnln19:43 AM
Christopher Webber: I didn't say there will never be a change to DVB-T2, I said that none had been announced yet. It is widely expected that it will happen eventually and that PSB channels will switch to HD only output. Both the government and BBC have said in the past that this is the plan long term (and switching BBCA/PSB1 to DVB-T2 will provide more than enough bandwidth for all BBC channels to be available in HD from every transmitter). No one will be forced to switch to Sky or Virgin. I'm not sure how DSO was a con when everyone is now able to receive far more channels than the 4 or 5 that were available with analogue and there wasn't even any suggestion of HD being available on Freeview when DSO was first announced. DSO was not undertaken at tax payers expense, it was paid for by the many millions of pounds that were raised when the 800MHz band was auctioned to the mobile networks (leaving a large surplus) and the many millions more that will be raised from the 700MHz auction will pay for the 700MHz clearance, including providing new aerials for those who need them. The date shown on the table appears to be based on when the frequency changes are due to take place at that transmitter, not the date the the frequency clearance program will be completed.
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Thursday, 3 August 2017
C
Christopher Webber3:33 PM
By the time Freeview finally gets plenty of HD content Netflix and other services will be offering 16K or 8K at minimum lol, even Youtubers are shooting in 8K and uploading in 4K (using Red cameras @ $35,000 each lol) - LinusTechTips being a prime example.
Long term there is no way Freeview will ever have the capacity to support 4K let alone 8K, this is why I think the DSO has been a con, now the 800 and 700mhz bands are being sold it just leaves the 600mhz band, even at QAM256, even with all 6 muxes transmitting at that rate, it only equates to 240MB/s maximum for all channels and radio services.
I think Freeview will eventually cease and all TV will be IPTV, probably within 20 years, it's inevitable, but during this time so many households had to upgrade aerials, TV's, set-top boxes, once to get DVB-T with so-called HD ready and again to get DVB-T2 so-called FullHD
To me it seems like it's been a con, but I'm a grumpy old git who dislikes parting with my hard-earned money !
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Friday, 4 August 2017
MikeP
10:50 AM
Winchester
10:50 AM
Winchester
Christopher Wbber:
The uk UHF TV frequencies will range from 450 MHz to 699 MHz after the 700 MHz changes so a lot more space than you suggest. That encompasses Band 4 but in the future Band 5 is being sold off to the mobile operators, etc.
Many rural areas still get attrocious broadband speeds. Where I used to live the maximum quoted is 1.25 mbps which is far too slow for streaming anything let alone TV services. So don't think that 'everyone' can get the USO of 10 mbps for many years to come.
I don't think all TV services will use the full bandwidth available with 256QAM and radio services do not need anything like as much as TV does.
'HD Ready' only refers to the screen being able to display at 1080P, Freeview HD refers to eqwuipment that can both receive and display HD services. 'HD Ready' cannot receive the signals and decode them into sound and picturte.
DSO was not a 'con' in my view.
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MikeP's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
MikeB12:04 PM
Peterborough
MikeP: Agreed.
The idea that suddenly 8k/16k will be available is laughable - the sets dont yet exist, and even cinema screens are 4K. And since DVD boxsets are still the most popular in stores, I can't see SD vanishing instantly. HD could be standard on Freeview within 3 years if the govt could get its act together - the market is mostly there.
If DSO is such a failure, why is it so popular?
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MikeB's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 7 August 2017
T
Tricia11:28 AM
Melton Constable
NR24 2RL, Tacolneston
Although the coverage map indicates otherwise, in my village, Edgefield, COM7 cannot usually be received due to extremely weak/no signal. COM8 however, is usually fine.
Any suggestions as to why this might be?
Thanks in advance.
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Tricia's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 8 August 2017
MikeP
10:32 AM
Hastings
10:32 AM
Hastings
Tricia:
What type of aerial are you using? The main channels from Tacolneston are on 55, 59, 50, 42, 45 and 39. COM7 is on 31 while COM8 is on 37. It could be that your aerial, though probably of a Group C/D type, may not be good at receiving channel 31, it's right down at the bottom end of the band.
One possible sollution is to have your aerial changed to a log-periodic type which will cover all the channels you should receive and will be suitable for the foreseeable future.
Hope that helps?
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MikeP's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 14 August 2017
C
Christopher Webber6:23 AM
MikeB said:
If DSO is such a failure, why is it so popular?
I never claimed the DSO was a failure, I stated, that in my opinion, it was a con and is most likely antiquated and at pretty much full capacity already :)
as MikeP stated, eventually all that will remain will be the 600mhz band,
It will never support enough bandwidth going forward as 4K is now emerging (4K tv's are everywhere, Sky offer UHD and so do BT, Netflix etc)
Of course the DSO was not a failure, it was never going to be because millions still rely on basic FTA TV and the fact that the system changed to digital meant everyone had to either:
1. replace their aerial
2. replace their TV
3. purchase a digital set-top box
4 (or even all of the above)
5. subscribe to Sky/Virgin
Any, or even a few of the above had to be implemented by EVERYONE just to get the basic FTA channels, that's like saying the government bans petrol and diesel, forces everyone to get an electric car conversion and then claim electric cars are a huge success #lol
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Friday, 18 August 2017
C
Christopher Webber3:30 PM
Quite telling MikeB has no rebuttal for my post :) Only joking!
Another point I wish to make: why did the BBC not adopt encryption at the DSO, which would of course killed all tv license evasion? I find that incredibly strange, the cost of encryption against the cost of outsourcing tv licenses to capita would surely have made more sense? I am not technically minded, but even I can see that encryption would have put a stop to any kind of license evasion overnight, this would have saved the BBC millions a year in contracts with capita.
I am literally at a loss to explain the BBC's decision to make all STB's 'dumb', if Sky can use NLD and have watertight encryption, then why cannot the BBC implement the same?
As I have stated so many times before, the DSO was/is a con, the BBC could have made license evasion impossible, yet here we are 8 years later with Freeview which is open to easy license evasion, full to capacity and pretty much dead in the water moving forward with bandwidth limitations and frequency limitations.
Correct me if I am wrong, but it still appears that the DSO was a con, can anyone explain the thinking behind these decisions?
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M
MikeB10:21 PM
Peterborough
Christopher Webber:
Actually, MikeB has been on holiday for the last week, and hasn't been able to reply...
Firstly - how exactly has DSO been a con or isn't fit for purpose? You get far more channels, many in HD, even on a light transmitter, then you would have done on analogue. On a main transmitter, you get loads more, and again, often in HD. And all you would need is a digital receiver, which can be had for 20, or even better, and HD one, which is less than forty.
And rather than mobile phone companies getting something for nothing (and if you have a mobile phone, its likely your using those frequencies), they paid big bucks for the spectrum to the government. And Freeview can work perfectly fine without them. And will do so even better once there is a full move to T2 tuners, which could be done in the next three years with no problem.
Steve had explained the situation regarding Com 7 & 8, but its unlikely anyone will lose any actual channels - there will likely be a solution. I certainly cannot see how anyone would be happy with losing HD channels - there would be an outcry.
As for 4K - the format was demoed by NHK as a 'live' transmission only in 2007. There was a test transmission to a conference in Holland from London in 2008, but it was only 2012 that the format really began to come together as a viable consumer technology (that was the year that the minimum number of pixels in a UHD display was agreed , and the BBC showed it off that year for the Olympics. So again, 4K wasn't really a thing when DSO was agreed, or even finished.
Encryption at DSO? Seriously?
A) there were million of DVT tuners out there (which is why they didn't just go to DVB-T2 either) , which was why they could carry out DSO in the first place, which were totally incapable of any encryption.
B) Read Brianist's article about Greg Dyke and the role the BBC played in the rebirth of digital TV after the collapse of ITV's effort. Popular misconceptions 3: looking back at DG Greg Dyke
As Dyke points out -
'Opponents of the licence fee always argue that once everyone can get pay television the licence fee as a means of funding the BBC will be unnecessary... Freeview makes it very hard for any Government to try to make the BBC a pay-television service. The more Freeview boxes out there, the harder it will be to switch the BBC to a subscription service since most of the boxes can't be adapted for pay TV.'
Its not a bug, its a feature.
c) Iplayer was launched in Dec 2007 in beta. Digital switchover didn't start until 2007, and lasted until 2012. Which is when Netflix UK was launched.
In fact TV licence evasion is relatively low, in percentage terms (the vast majority of households have TV's, and the vast majority of those use BBC services, so its fairly simple), and its pretty efficient to collect. Costs can be cut by not even having a paper licence - mines been a PDF for at least 3 years, its paid by DD, and when I moved house, it was really easy to do online.
And when the BBC launched Iplayer (which blazed a trail for everyone else), there really was no online only service, and even by the end of switchover, the bulk of people just watched (and still do) the bulk of viewing via terrestial TV. So encryption was a solution in search of a problem. Its more difficult now, but frankly, the vast majority of people still have TV's, so its fairly clear if people havn't paid, and the bulk of evaders are caught.
The BBC isn't Sky. Sky has its own box to stop people stealing its content, etc. If you want live football from them, you have to pay for it. And if your a pub, if you dare to use a Euro box (cheaper), if they find out, they will seek not just to get cash off you, they will get your licence taken away. Thats why they have a Sky box (like BT as well), and that costs - Brianist reckoned in an article as much as 25% of revenue - costs that ultimately are paid by the subscriber.
Look for Brianists articles on the future of the BBC, etc - he covers the logical of the 'Beebbox'. And there isn't one. We've seen all the arguments, and they are technologically, economically and socially insane. And try encyption with radio - how is that even going to work?
That does not mean that the BBC cannot police its content - its doing just that. Its already started with the app for BBC radio (you have to sign in and have an account), and there is no reason why you ultimately couldn't do that for Iplayer generally.
I think you've decided that DSO was a 'con', and see everything in that light. In reality, I dont think your aware of the technical and economic realities that DSO faced, and how they've been overcome. And you've become obsessed with licence evasion, looking for a technical solution that wasn't and still isn't really needed. You need to look at the archive.
DSO worked, and did so because people liked what it did before switchover. The people who complain about how much better it was in the old days forget that they probably only had 4 channels, all in SD, and if they get a rubbish signal now, then they probably had a rubbish signal before - they have just forgotten that. But now they have a lot more options to deal with that.
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MikeB's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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