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Full Freeview on the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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The symbol shows the location of the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter which serves 770,000 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 Waltham (Leicestershire, England) mast?

Waltham transmitter - Waltham transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 04/11/2024 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 Waltham 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
C32 (562.0MHz)442mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) East Midlands, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 17 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C34 (578.0MHz)442mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (East micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) Midlands ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 Midlands ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Central west), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C35 (586.0MHz)442mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD East Midlands, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Central West), 104 Channel 4 HD Midlands 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 -3dB
C29 (538.0MHz)442mDTG-825,000W
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 -3dB
C37 (602.0MHz)449mDTG-825,000W
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 -3dB
C31 (554.0MHz)449mDTG-825,000W
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

LNG
 H -10dB
C41 (634.0MHz)442mDTG-125,000W
Channel icons
from 27th May 2014: 7 Notts TV,

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 Waltham transmitter?

regional news image
BBC East Midlands Today 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Nottingham NG2 4UU, 28km northwest (306°)
to BBC East Midlands region - 17 masts.
regional news image
ITV Central News 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 83km west-southwest (244°)
to ITV Central (East) region - 17 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (West)

Are there any self-help relays?

BraunstoneTransposer5 km SW Leicester city centre170 homes

How will the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20112011-132013-182013-174 Mar 2020
C/D EEEWW TW TW T
C26LNGLNG
C29SDNSDNSDNSDN
C31com7com7
C32BBCA
C34D3+4
C35C5wavesC5wavesBBCB
C37com8com8
C41_local
C49tv_off BBCABBCA
C54tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offArqAArqAArqACOM8tv_off
C57tv_offArqBArqBArqB
C58tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBCBBBCBBBCB
C61ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCA
C64BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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 17 Aug 11 and 31 Aug 11.

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

Analogue 1-5 250kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 50kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-10dB) 25kW
com8(-12.7dB) 13.4kW
com7(-13.9dB) 10.2kW
Mux 1*(-14dB) 10kW
Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*(-14.9dB) 8kW
Mux C*, Mux D*, LNG(-17dB) 5kW

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

Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision†
Feb 1956-Jul 1968Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Associated TeleVision
Jan 1982-Feb 2004Central Independent 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. Waltham 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
Monday, 5 November 2012
K
KR
9:57 PM

I've looked at a few TVs.
The one where I am missing channels says Signal Strength 100%.
Downstairs I'm getting quality 100%, strength around 92%
My PVR shows strength around 70, quality 100%

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KR's 9 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:47 PM

KR: Well I feel that the receiver displaying the 100% signal strength has a somewhat over enthusiastic indicator system, unless that is you are located in a "hot spot" for reception as places like that do exist, and are using a Humax box, as these devices have a more accurate indicator system by far over most other equipment, and likewise if its indication a 100% signal then it is!

But though the proof of the pudding, so to say, is by connecting the TV in questions aerial feed directly onto the actual aerials downlead that would normally be connected into the SLX, then viewing the channels for about 15 minutes or so to assess if anything has changed.

You have to remember though that Waltham still has ongoing work taking place and which does cause disturbance to reception, with myself having temporarily tuned my Waltham PVR to Belmont because of this to avoid the aforementioned problems spoiling recordings.

I would be interested to know the model numbers of your TV / PVR, this to enable an assessment of the signal measurement accuracy, as although unaware of the PVR model you have its indications are more in line with what would be expected from a Humax device "if" receiving the same level of signal as the TV's involved, i.e: all fed from the SLX.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
K
KR
4:35 PM

No problem. My PVR is indeed a humax , Fox T2 HDR. This has duplicate channels, but no missing ones.
Plugged into that is a LG 670T showing 100/92%. Seems OK.
The one I'm missing channels on is a 5yr old Sony KDLD3000. Missing channels, and some with very low signal and breakups.
I will try messing about with a direct connection over the weekend. I can't go banging around up in the loft on week nights once the kids are in bed or I'll wake them up, and the wife would kill me!

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KR's 9 posts GB flag
K
KR
4:37 PM

to clarify on the KDLD3000 this reports some channels as 100%, with good reception. Others are ~30% and breaking up, some channels are missing.

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KR's 9 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 7 November 2012
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:22 PM

KR: The thing with digital reception is that there is a lower threshold above which the picture resolves*. There is an upper threshold over which receivers are overloaded (with too high a signal level).

* This assumes a good quality signal. If a poor quality signal (i.e. effectively the digits that make up the picture are corrupted) is received, even if the magnitude is within the window between the lower and upper thresholds, then the picture will be poor or non-existant.


And so, theoretically, the target is to have the signal somewhere within the window such that natural variances in level (e.g. caused by the weather) don't result in it dropping below the lower threshold or pushing it above the upper one.

Running at almost the top of the window provides no benefit from a picture quality point of view over running it mid-window, for example. The only downside is that it might go OTT which causes break-up which is largely the same effect as caused by too little a signal. Oh, and of course your wife won't be happy either.


The manual for the Philex SLx6 distribution amplifier is here:

http://www.philex.com/ass….pdf

Under the "Troubleshooting" heading it mention that too much signal can be problematic for digital reception. However, it doesn't, apparently, offer any adjustment on its amplification level (which is +12dB per output) which is surely required!

I'm not an aerial professional, just a technical bod. However, if the signal coming out of your aerial (and being fed into the amp) is at a suitable level, then the six output feeds are +12dB up. There are obviously losses in the downleads, but unless you live in a mansion where there are long runs to the outlets, then I don't think that they will anywhere near cancel out this increase.


The strength meters on receivers are nowhere near scientific measurements and therefore vary between models. Using the same receiver on different outlets provides for a more accurate comparison. The Humax box is a good model to use for testing purposes.

A 100% (or anywhere near) strength may be verging on the top of the window of acceptability. Therefore a lower reading may be better.

As jb38 says, it is worth bypassing the amp by connecting the feed from the aerial directly to each room feed in-turn.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:52 PM

KR: Thanks for the update re your PVR, and which I have to say suggests to me that your signal is not "over the top" so to say, as I suspect that your problem is simply caused by the signal being received suffering from glitches which are possibly being caused by trees somewhere along the signal path.

Sony receiver circuitry is not on a par with Humax devices, the latter capable of displaying a reasonably trouble free picture when fed from a less than desirable signal where others devices (eg: Sony to name but one) would be struggling.

I do admit though, that in situations where a signal "is" on the high side the Humax can cope with this to a level that would block reception on other equipment, and so the test suggested of feeding the aerial directly into the problem TV's feed still applies, and although I very much doubt if this action will rectify the problem you refer to its still worth a try.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 9 November 2012
Ian
sentiment_satisfiedGold

10:15 PM
Hinckley

Having a problem with the EPG on my MEOS TV it sometimes shows "no information" on some stations, but at other times the EPG works OK.
There is no rime or reason as to when it dose this, dose anyone have any idea what is causing this???

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Ian's 497 posts GB flag
Ian's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 11 November 2012
S
Sam
1:54 PM

We have 2 set top boxes with older TV's and these have not been working properly since around 19.09.12, most of the time there is no signal other times v.bad pixellation, they had worked perfectly for the last year since swithover in our area, apparantly we receive from the Waltham transmitter. No amount of retuning etc solves the problems. A new TV works fine in each of these sockets, any idea why now the problems with the set top boxes?

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Sam's 4 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:29 PM

Sam: With queries of a nature such as yours a person has to provide their location, this in the form of a post code or one from nearby, as its impossible to check the signal levels expected in your area without this knowledge.

However some older boxes cannot operate with the new transmission standards that came into being when stations switched to high powered operation, and so its possible that this is the reason for your problem if a new TV was found to work OK when connected into the aerial point that was previously used by the boxes.

Maybe you could indicated the model numbers of the boxes in question.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
S
Sam
6:26 PM
Uttoxeter

Thanks jb38 for your response. The 2 boxes are Bush BU10FVZS1 MMB89202813 only actually bought August 2012 from Argos and an Argos special DV3T Digital Set Top Box CDVB51N Home Retail Group Mk9 2NW bought August 2011. The latter one did work brilliantly since our switchover in ?August 2011 till Sept 12, the Bush has only worked on and off since purchase, more off than on. We have an outside aerial plus a booster box in the loft. My post code is ST14 8LJ. Hope you can help.

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Sam's 4 posts GB flag
Sam's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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