Full Freeview on the The Wrekin (Telford and Wrekin, England) transmitter
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The symbol shows the location of the The Wrekin (Telford and Wrekin, England) transmitter which serves 280,000 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 The Wrekin (Telford and Wrekin, England) mast?
The Wrekin transmitter - The Wrekin 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The The Wrekin (Telford and Wrekin, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which Freeview channels does the The Wrekin 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
The The Wrekin (Telford and Wrekin, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .
If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the The Wrekin transmitter?
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 49km east-southeast (116°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
ITV Central News 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 49km east-southeast (116°)
to ITV Central (West) region - 65 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (East)
How will the The Wrekin (Telford and Wrekin, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 27 Feb 2018 | |||||
| A K T | A K T | A K T | W T | K T | |||||
| C23 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C26 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C29 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ||||||
| C30 | -BBCB | BBCB | |||||||
| C33 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | ||||||
| C35 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C41 | +SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C44 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C47 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C48 | _local | _local | |||||||
| C51tv_off | _local |
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 6 Apr 11 and 20 Apr 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-5 | 100kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7dB) 20kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-10dB) 10kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B* | (-17dB) 2kW | |
| Mux C*, Mux D* | (-20dB) 1000W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the The Wrekin transmitter area
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Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?
Radiation patterns withheldSunday, 2 October 2011
S
Steve P8:14 PM
Wrexham
Peter/Lee - are your neighbours getting same?
If using amplifiers/boosters try without.
Are you finding channels when you retune, but not getting signal, or not finding anything?
Peter - what happens when you switch the sets around?
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Steve's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 3 October 2011
A
Andy1:40 PM
Wigan
Lee i think you might have possible blocking from the emley moor signals as they are on ch's 41/44/47/ same as the wrekin now.
When i saw the frequencies i thought there's going to be reception problems.
I receive the wrekin perfectly here 58 miles from it on a log 40 10 ft off the ground as the aerial is low down it can't see the emley signals ,The rotable traix aerial on the roof also works but the ArqA mux quality varies.
Andy
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Andy's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 6 October 2011
P
Paul11:53 PM
Bridgnorth
Will they ever increase the power on the 3 commercial multiplexes to maximum?
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Paul's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 7 October 2011
E
Ed3:22 AM
Stourbridge
I'm having slight problems with intermittant picture freezing / blocking, which occurs every 15 minutes or so on some channels and lasts 2 or 3 seconds. The stations on channels 23, 26, 30 (HD) appear to be fine. I'm not sure about the stations on channel 41 as I don't watch these ones much. But I've noticed this intermittent freezing on stations on channels 44 and 47, like Sky News and Yesterday.
I live in Stourbridge (DY8) postcode. Ideally I would tune into the Brierley Hill transmitter. Unfortunately, I live on the side of a hill. Some houses at the top of my road are tuned to Brierley Hill, one aerial points to Ridge Hill, others (including mine) point to The Wrekin 23 miles away. The aerial guy advised me to keep it tuned to The Wrekin due to possible interference from the hill and nearby trees that are in line with the Brierley Hill transmitter.
In January 2011 I had installed a new TV aerial, new omni-directional radio aerial, new cabling, dual TV and radio wall sockets in 4 rooms. The TV aerial is mains-powered using a 12v "Fringe Electronics" power supply that was fitted by the same company that fitted the aerial and cables. It appears that the signals from the TV and omni aerials come down the same cable and the signals are split at the sockets.
My TV, dvd player, dvd recorder, blu-ray player, Sony VTX-D800U STB and Icecrypt T2200 STB are all connected to a 6-way extension socket which includes mains filter. I retuned both my boxes and TV after 28 September switchover. Amazingly, when the Sony box was scanning for new channels, the scan halted at about channel 50 as it had already located 200 channels. So the aerial can certainly pick up duplicate stations from Brierley Hill and maybe elsewhere.
What could be causing the intermittent freezing problem? Will The Wrekin signal improve or get stronger in the future? Will an RF filter fitted to my STB or mains aerial amplifier help?
Sometimes when I listen to Jazz FM on my DAB radio, which is plugged into one of the
sockets served by the TV and omni aerials, I hear an occasional (once a hour) break in the sound that lasts a few seconds. Is this connected to the TV problem?
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Ed's: mapE's Freeview map terrainE's terrain plot wavesE's frequency data E's Freeview Detailed Coverage
S
Steve P10:08 AM
It may be that your amplifier is set too high!
UK digital TV reception predictor
Note the * warning of multipath reception effects.
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J
jb384:41 PM
Ed: I realise that you are using The Wrekin for reception, but have you ever tried the massively more powerful Sutton Coldfield? especially since high power operation started.
Although its only at 17 miles away I appreciate that @ 33 degrees it "might" possibly suffer from the same problem as Brierley Hill @ 51 degrees, but because of Sutton Coldfield's power it could still possibly be a slightly better bet for reception.
I would be inclined to try a test using the Sony box, by first of all blanking out anything stored by scanning without the aerial being connected, then after re-connecting carry out a manual tune on Mux Ch45 (equiv of Wrekins Mux Ch44), then if anything is received carry out another manual tune on Mux Ch39 (= to Wrekins Mux Ch47)
Your aerial will obviously be out as The Wrekin is at 313 degrees compared to Suttons 51, but it would give a rough idea of whether or not its possible to pick it up, as the trade reception predictor does indicate Sutton Coldfield as being receivable at your location.
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Saturday, 8 October 2011
E
Ed11:00 AM
Stourbridge
Thank you Steve P and jb38 for your replies.
I erased the services list from my Icecrypt box and looked at the signal received on channels 45 and 39. The level kept on flashing between 0% and 30% for strength and 0% and 2% quality. The hill where I live is about 95 degrees to my house and so the Sutton Coldfield (51 deg) transmitter is likely to be more affected by this than Brierley Hill (33 deg).
On The Icecrypt box gave a fairly steady 73% strength and 2% quality on Brierley Hill's channel 55 but constantly flashed between 0% & 60% strength on 59.
Yesterday I bought a TVI RF Filter from Maplins - badged as "Moonraker" but the same as the "AKD" / "Garex" ones. I couldn't fit it between my aerial and amplifier as recommended as doing so stopped the amplifier from working (the red LED didn't come on) but it also blocked the radio signals that I need for my hifi tuner. I plugged it in immediately before the Sony box, which then feeds to the Icecrypt box, which then feeds to the TV.
Last night I watched a whole episode of "The World At War" on Yesterday and bits of Sky News and it not freeze at all. I'm hoping this cures the problem permanently. If not, I think I will just have to live with the occasional glitch on some channels.
| link to this comment |
Ed's: mapE's Freeview map terrainE's terrain plot wavesE's frequency data E's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb385:32 PM
Ed: Yes, its just as well that you noticed the warning light, because as far as DC voltage is concerned it represents a direct short circuit and which if left for any length of time could have damaged the power supply.
Of course, these type of filters as you will probably know only restricts a certain type of lower frequency direct radiation interference anyway, e.g: motors used in hedge trimmers / sewing machines / food mixers / hair driers etc, and even in the higher end of the filters cut off range, possibly involving problems like spurious emissions from taxi radio's etc, they aren't really that effective either. Mains borne interference originating from the aforementioned type of devices is a much more commonly experienced problem, this showing up far more if any signal received is already of an unstable nature, and although you do have filtered power strip this in reality is only of limited effectiveness.
A good way though to detect main borne interference is with the aid of a small portable radio capable of long wave reception (e.g: Radio 4 198Khz) you simply tune it to a blank spot, leaving the volume at a reasonable level, then place it near to a power socket, if any mains borne interference occurs it will sound as a crackle on the radio.
I feel though that the problem is simply caused by you suffering from fluctuating reception levels, this whereby the cut off threshold (known as digital cliff) is being broached every now and again resulting in partial drop out, this manifesting itself as picture freeze.
One thing I will say is, that in these type of cases a large high gain (and highly directional) aerial does not help the situation as its aerial position that's much more important, with this not necessarily meaning as high as possible on one spot, and so a much smaller aerial (amplified log periodic ideal) carefully positioned can in many cases give superior results, something I have proven many times to various people albeit I am an RF equipment engineer and not an aerial installer. Of course in practical terms this is only really feasible to carry out by an enthusiast owner of the equipment, as the job is quite time consuming.
I noticed that on Brierley a reception change is forecast for Mux Ch's 50 / 59 / 55 sometime during 2012, but unfortunately this being for the worse, so its a pity that Sutton Coldfield at its 200Kw compared to Brierley's 2Kw still cant produce a stable signal.
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Thursday, 13 October 2011
Paul: The commercial multiplex are now at their maximum level, which is half the power of the PSB ones.
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Wednesday, 2 November 2011
G
Graham9:39 AM
Walsall
I have a loft mounted wideband aerial with properly screened lead and masthead amplifier. My signal comes from the Wrekin and is generally around 90 / 95% strength and good quality. Most channels are received perfectly. However, since the final retune last month, I get dropouts every 5 or 10 mins lasting a second or two only and only on channel 44C/Yesterday/Film 4 it seems. BBC and ITV / The 5 channels are all perfect. Anyone got any ideas ? Thanks
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Graham's: mapG's Freeview map terrainG's terrain plot wavesG's frequency data G's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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