menuMENU    UK Free TV logo Freeview

 

 

Click to see updates

Full Freeview on the Waltham (Leicestershire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.801,-0.801 or 52°48'4"N 0°48'5"Wsa_postcodeLE14 4AJ

 

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
_______

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
Saturday, 15 June 2013
D
David Shaw
10:51 AM

I live in Derby(DE24). Since the recent work carried out on the Waltham transmitter, we have experienced very intermittent reception on all BBC channels (pixelation occuring on a random basis, starting anywhere between a few seconds and a few minutes from switching on and sometimes making the picture unwatchable). This only occurs with our upstairs TV, which uses a separate digital tuner since it only has an analogue tuner - the downstairs (digital) TV and DVD tuners works fine. I have tried retuning (Full Scan Replace Existing Services) and this makes no difference. Any advice would be welcome.

link to this comment
David Shaw's 4 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:03 PM

David Shaw: If you have a Sky box connected into your aerial system then that could perhaps be a factor.

Confirm that it is tuned to Waltham on UHF channel 49, by viewing the signal strength screen whilst on BBC One. Other possibilities may be the Derby relay transmitter on C48 and Sutton Coldfield on C43.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
N
Nick
1:11 PM

David Shaw:
I too have the exactly the same issues. Would like to know who is responsible for the fact I no longer have a tv service since changes made a couple of weeks ago!?

link to this comment
Nick's 1 post GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

4:09 PM

CC40: Now its known that the tuner in question is a 290e stick and that the frequency has been manually tuned in then obviously the usual reason for the symptom as described in my previous reply will not (or should not) be applicable in this case.

However tuner stick problems are notoriously difficult to diagnose by the fact they are not being used with standard hardware / software combinations such as used in dedicated Freeview devices, and the difficulty you are experiencing has to be caused by something having changed in your system during what I assume was the retune you carried out when Waltham's BBC dropped down to Ch49, because as mentioned in my previous reply the technical aspects of the actual ITV transmission has not changed in any way except possibly for minor changes in its reception strength.

And on the subject of signal strength, what you have reported could suggest that you are located in a high signal strength area or alternatively might be using a booster in line? if you are then I would temporarily try by-passing it so as to reduce the signal going into the tuner, because should it be a little too high on Ch54 this can result in intermittent signal blanking on ITV and other programmes on the same mux.

Another test you could try is to temporarily remove the HD stick just in case the two sticks are pulling the USB sockets power supply down by the current being drawn by them, as although your system might well have previously been working perfectly OK should the signal now being received on Ch54 be a little "over the top" then this would have more of an effect if the stick was operating at a slightly reduced voltage, as indeed any tuner would.

Other than these things mentioned I cant really think on any other reasons for your problem other than going through all the settings on the PC associated with the tuner. (Ch49 be) 

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
C
CC40
6:12 PM

Hi jb38, I've put a 20db variable attenuator on the aerial and reduced the signal strength, but the issues stay the same. Also my USB tuners attach to their own USB socket on the motherboard with Windows not complaining about power problems on the USB lines. I'm going to just wait and hope that someone fixes the Waltham signal in the next week or so for 'other' types of tuners. Many thanks for your assistance.

link to this comment
CC40's 4 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:44 PM

CC40: You are obviously well organised! but thanks for the update on these two points and especially on the issue of signal strength, because as you may already know the symptoms of a slightly over powerful signal is almost identical to that of one on the weak side thats hovering around the receivers lower cut off threshold.

As far as your ITV problem is concerned, I dont wish to appear as a prophet of doom but the work going on at Waltham should in no way be connected with this difficulty you are experiencing as there isn't really anything wrong with its signal apart from the fact of it suffering from unannounced reductions, although please note that Waltham "is" officially liable to suffer from spells of interruption to its service for the week starting this Monday.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Sunday, 16 June 2013
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:28 AM

CC40: Just as a final on this, I was thinking again about your tuner problem and purely for elimination purposes I would appreciate if you could try one final test, that being to see what happens when you enter and attempt to tune in 737.6Mhz, insomuch that if you do manage to tune in and store the content of this mux channel then select ITV1 does the procedure of notching up a channel then down again still resolve a picture or not?

The reason for this request is by having further investigated other possible reasons for this problem it still comes back to the tuner having difficulty latching onto a previously stored channel that happens to have a negative offset on its mux frequency even although it initially managed to tune it in, as these two actions are not exactly the same by the fact that selecting the channel requires the tuner to switch at high speed whereas during tuning its a slower process.


link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
D
David Shaw
11:56 AM

Regarding the problems I referred to yesterday: I have just tried a Manual Scan on Channel 49 and now have a fine (non-pixelated) picture on all of the BBC channels - apart from BBC1 (!). I noticed this morning that we had completely lost the picture on some ITV channels but again a Manual Scan on the appropriate channel (54) brought the pictures back. So the advice provided by UK Digital to try a Manual Scan if the "Full Scan - Replace Existing Services" doesn't work is obviously something well worth trying!

link to this comment
David Shaw's 4 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:58 AM

David Shaw: So bring up the signal strength screen and see which UHF channel it is tuned to. Perhaps it's BBC One West Midlands on C43 from Sutton Coldfield, and previously all your BBC services were on that channel which is why you had poor reception.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
D
Dominic Payer
1:38 PM
Nottingham

CC40: Note that WMC by default scans at intervals for new channels and you may be tuning inadvertently to PSB2 from Belmont on 506MHz. Check all your sources and disable any on 506MHz.

The background scan can be disabled:

Set the HKLMSOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionMedia CenterServiceBackgroundScannerPeriodicScanEnabled key to 0.

link to this comment
Dominic Payer's 20 posts GB flag
Dominic's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Select more comments

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.

UK Free TV is here to help people. If you are rude or disrespectful all of your posts will be deleted and you will be banned.








Privacy policy: UK Free Privacy policy.