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Full Freeview on the Tunbridge Wells (Kent, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps51.173,0.297 or 51°10'22"N 0°17'51"Esa_postcodeTN11 0NB

 

The symbol shows the location of the Tunbridge Wells (Kent, England) transmitter which serves 53,000 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.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Tunbridge Wells (Kent, England) transmitter.

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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Which Freeview channels does the Tunbridge Wells 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
 V max
C41 (634.0MHz)174mDTG-4,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) South 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
 V max
C44 (658.0MHz)174mDTG-4,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Meridian (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 (Meridian south coast), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 V max
C47 (682.0MHz)174mDTG-4,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South 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
 V max
C29 (538.0MHz)174mDTG-84,000W
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
 V max
C31 (554.0MHz)174mDTG-84,000W
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
 V max
C37 (602.0MHz)174mDTG-84,000W
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

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

The Tunbridge Wells (Kent, 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 Tunbridge Wells transmitter?

regional news image
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 5km south-southwest (205°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
regional news image
ITV Meridian News 0.7m homes 2.7%
from Maidstone ME14 5NZ, 21km northeast (53°)
to ITV Meridian (East) region - 36 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with all of Meridian plus Oxford

How will the Tunbridge Wells (Kent, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20122012-132013-182013-1719 Jul 2018
B E TB E TB E TB E TB E TB E TK T
C29SDN
C31ArqA
C37C5wavesC5wavesArqB
C39_local
C41ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesArqBArqBArqBBBCA
C42SDN+SDN+SDN
C44BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesArqAArqAArqAD3+4
C47C4wavesC4wavesC4wavesBBCBBBCBBBCBBBCB
C49tv_offD3+4D3+4D3+4
C51tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves_local_local_local
C52tv_offBBCABBCABBCA

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 30 May 12 and 13 Jun 12.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

Analogue 1-4 10kW
Analogue 5, SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-4dB) 4kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-20dB) 100W

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Tunbridge Wells transmitter area

Aug 1958-Jan 1992Southern Television
Jan 1982-Dec 1992Television South (TVS)
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Meridian
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. Tunbridge Wells 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?

Radiation patterns withheld

Comments
Monday, 19 March 2012
S
simon miller
8:59 AM

I have just purchased a freeview digital TV and have autotuned. Aerial is directed towards Tunbridge Wells aerial. BBC 1,2,3 and various others (Dave etc) are good but signal is very weak on ALL ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5.
Will the situation improve after the digital switchover at end of May, early June or am I looking at a new aerial?
Many thanks

link to this comment
simon miller's 1 post GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:33 AM

Simon Miller: It should improve come switchover.

Tunbridge Wells is traditionally a "Group B" transmitter. That means it uses frequencies in Group B which is roughly the middle third of the band used for television.

Consequently, Group B aerials are likely to have been fitted. They are aerials that are much more sensitive around Group B frequencies.

Unfortunately, some of the pre-switchover digital channels are outside of Group B, them being higher. This means that your aerial (if it's Group B) won't "hear" these as well. The affected multiplexes are Mux 1, Mux 2 and Mux D; see the top of the page for the services that these carry.

After switchover, all multiplexes will use Group B frequencies. So I would not replace the aerial because the current one should work OK from 13th June.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Sunday, 25 March 2012
J
John McCann
9:03 PM

I posted some months ago about the decision whether to stay with the Eastbourne Transmitter or go to Tunbridge Wells at switchover date. I had thought of staying as-is. However, during th last two weeks, I am having increasing pixellation and complete loss of reception on BBC 1 and 2 ( Freeview)I am OK on Freesat. Is there a current problem I am not aware of? I have retuned etc and BBC has always been the best of my channel reception until now?? Both Eastbourne and T. Wells are in a fairly straight line from me, although T. Wells is much nearer. I chose Eastbourne 3 yrs ago on advice of ariel erector as I could not receive Freeview from the northern transmitters at Bluebell Hill etc...

link to this comment
John McCann's 13 posts GB flag
J
John McCann
9:06 PM
Tonbridge

SORRY SORRY SORRY !!!!

My last message should say Heathfield NOT Eastbourne.

Bugger!

link to this comment
John McCann's 13 posts GB flag
John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Melvin Rainbow
11:53 PM
Tunbridge Wells

Mux 1 channels have been unwatchable for weeks, you start to watch a program and then have to boot-up iPlayer to finish the program. Channels disappear completely with message "no signal".
I can actually see the Tunbridge Wells transmitter from the roof where my aerial is located, it is in direct line of site.
There cannot be many people left with analogue televisions so why not put the rest of us out of our misery and turn the signal up just a little so that we can watch what we are paying for. Many thanks, Melvin Rainbow

link to this comment
Melvin Rainbow's 1 post GB flag
Melvin's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:56 PM

John McCann: If your problem has only started occurred during the last two weeks or so then do not do anything, as numerous people are suffering from the effects of a wave of high pressure that is affecting reception across a large part of the country, and which is causing distant transmitters to be received which are clashing with local channels.

Needless to say its really a case of waiting until the situation reverts to normal, as its something that has always happened at times although only having caused poor picture quality when affecting analogue with wavy lines or patterns appearing on the screen, whereas on digital it can block reception or stages between.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Monday, 26 March 2012
K
KMJ,Derby
sentiment_satisfiedGold

1:00 AM

Melvin Rainbow: If I could add to what jb38 said above, it seems likely that Mux BBCA from Midhurst is coming in that little bit stronger with the result that your local signal drops out. Did the problem begin on 29th February, by any chance?

link to this comment
KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag
Thursday, 29 March 2012
J
John McCann
5:02 PM
Tonbridge

Thanks for the comments guys. If it is atmospheric, then I can wait. I'll just switch to Freesat for a while. Probably means loadsa grief from "The Management" as I am changing from the norm and she does not like change. Apparently the atmospherics are something I should be able to control!!!

link to this comment
John McCann's 13 posts GB flag
John's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
J
John Bates
11:03 AM

Why the delay in bringing the T/Wells transmitter to FULL POWER(?) after 13th JUNE its not as if there has been insufficient "LEAD IN!"

link to this comment
John Bates's 2 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:24 PM

John Bates: It is SDN (ITV3 etc) that will remain on low power until 27th June. It is on C42 which is presently used by Dover until it switches on that date.

I conclude that the likely answer to your question is due to Dover using the same channel.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 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.

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