Full Freeview on the Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, England) transmitter
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The symbol shows the location of the Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, England) transmitter which serves 96,000 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 Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, England) mast?
Whitehawk Hill transmitter - Whitehawk Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 16/09/2024 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)
The Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, 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 Whitehawk Hill 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)
The Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, 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 Whitehawk Hill transmitter?
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 43km northeast (36°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
ITV Meridian News 0.9m homes 3.6%
from Whiteley PO15 7AD, 80km west (274°)
to ITV Meridian (South Coast) region - 39 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with all of Meridian plus Oxford
How will the Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 16 Oct 2019 | ||||
| VHF | C/D E | E | E | C/D E T | W T | ||||
| C2 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C34 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C35 | C5waves | C5waves | D3+4 | ||||||
| C36 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C40 | _local | ||||||||
| C48 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C51tv_off | BBCB | ||||||||
| C53tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | D3+4 | |||||
| C54tv_off | LBN | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | ArqA | ||||||||
| C57tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | SDN | SDN | ||||
| C60tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | -BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C63 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves |
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 7 Mar 12 and 21 Mar 12.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 10kW | |
| Analogue 5 | (-3dB) 5kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-4dB) 4kW | |
| Mux B* | (-10dB) 1000W | |
| Mux 2*, Mux C*, Mux D*, LBN | (-14dB) 400W | |
| Mux 1*, Mux A* | (-17dB) 200W |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Whitehawk Hill transmitter area
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Wednesday, 28 March 2012
This is all really helpful. I'm very grateful for all the responses.
I don't think it's interference since it never appeared pre-DSO on any channel but now appears constantly on all channels.
I'm fairly certain I can rule out cable and satellite - we don't have either in the block. But it is possible that some flats may be using internal aerials, not the shared aerial.
We live at ground level tucked away behind quite a lot of concrete so I'm doubtful that an internal aerial would work for us, but if all else fails I will try this!
The flats affected and unaffected are distributed throughout the height of the building.
I've arranged to try my TV in one of the unaffected flats tonight.
And failing that I've booked a professional installer to come round and advise.
I'll let you all know how I get on!
Thanks again.
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Simon's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb388:06 PM
Jim: Just as a small addition, the point I was really getting at is, that anyone who resides as close as 1 mile or so from a 4Kw transmitter would virtually have to be located in a cellar not to be able to obtain some form of reception on their TV or box using a piece of wire as short as 8" or so pushed into the aerial socket, (middle of!) then the device re-tuned with this installed.
However, it will be interesting to hear the outcome of the installers visit.
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Just to feedback on progress so far:
I took my TV round to my neighbours flat this evening and plugged it into the same aerial outlet that he has been using successfully since DSO.
My TV worked fine!
However I also tried a secondard aerial outlet in his flat (in a different part of his flat and not normally used) and my TV displayed the same picture and sound breakup that I suffer in my own flat.
So my working theory is that the signal from the common aerial on top of the block might be split and sent via more than one distribution amplifiers around the building. At least one distribution amplifier is being saturated by the strong signal and then transmits a distorted (though strong) signal onwards around the flat. The amplifier in question may then only serve certain outlets in certain flats.
Problem is, for most people (including the managing agents) this sort of stuff seems like rocket science.
Jim: off to try sticking an 8" length of copper wire into the middle of the aerial input socket on my TV to determine whether my well-shielded ground floor flat counts as a virtual cellar or not!
Thanks again for all the replies. You are keeping me sane!
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Simon's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb389:51 PM
Simon: Another little point to consider based on what you have now found out, being that if it transpires that your flat is indeed fed from a twin distribution system, then going back to the issue of you having mentioned that the variable booster made the situation worse automatically means that you have to now have to consider that the possible reason for this was because that actual distribution amplifier was suffering from an element of input overloading instability resulting in it distributing a low quality signal, this being why no amount of reducing by you would clear it as its not you its overloading. Not saying that is is though, but its something to consider.
I haven't actually seen you mention it yet, but in situations like this you should always carry out frequent signal strength / quality checks so that you know what is happening, especially to the most important element of the signal, its quality!
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Friday, 30 March 2012
I owe you an update! In brief:
- installers came and measured the signal from the aerial outlet socket in my flat; it is strong but the signal to noise ratio is low - I don't the exact stats.
- apparently the distribution ampliefier is "old" and the cabling throughout the buidling is a "tapped" system - i.e. one cable runs throughout the building and has branches to each flat, rather than individual cables to each flat.
So I conclude that it is the distribution amplifier being overloaded by the strong freeview signal. They're going to look at replacing the amplifier.
In the meantime, I decided I would put the "8 inches of copper wire" claim to the test. And sure as you know, 8 inches of copper wire gives me a beautiful signal - despite the several meters of concrete between the TV and the outside world.
Now I'm worried what the 4kW from Whitehawk Hill is doing to my brain!
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Simon's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb388:50 PM
Simon: Thanks for this latest update and with the content of being very informative, insomuch that it somewhat confirms that the signal being fed into your flat is indeed of low quality hence the comment made about the signal to noise ratio, and why no amount of you reducing the signal helped the situation.
Regarding the copper wire test, this might have seemed on the face of it as being a bit amateurish, but RF signals of a non-microwave nature have up to a point a mind of their own and do not act in the same way as some of these matter of fact black and white statements sometimes seen made about them would suggest, as well as the fact that they act differently again in situations where lower frequency ranges are involved, this being why its so difficult to predict exactly what they will do, but though with you being so close to the 4 Kw transmitting station such as your are I knew through years of experience in the field of RF engineering that it would be difficult to stop a signal from reaching you except if you were located in something like a Faraday cage, such as is used for testing emergency radio beacons without them being picked by monitoring equipment, the cellar purely referred to for simplicity.
Anyway maybe you could further update on the progress of, or otherwise, regarding the distribution amp.
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Saturday, 31 March 2012
R
Richard Davis11:04 AM
Simon: Glad to hear that you've made progress with your problem. Don't worry about the 4kW of digital (or a total of 24kW if you add all the six multiplexes together)- the old analogue service had four channels of 10kW plus one of 5kW (Ch 5), giving a total of 45kW, so you're being subjected to less RF energy now than you were before!
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Monday, 2 April 2012
A
A12:48 PM
Brighton
What does ArqB mean? I know that it is COM6.
The transmission power is 4000W. Is this constant or does it drop, say in the early hours of the morning?
Thanks
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A's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
A: "ArqB" is an abbreviation for "Arqiva B" which is the name of COM6 multiplex. Arqiva is the name of the company that owns and runs all of the transmitters. It has two multiplexes, hence the A and B suffixes.
For a full list of services by multiplex, see DMOL Post-DSO Multiplex Channel Allocations
The transmission power does not vary by time. The days of God Save the Queen being played and then the transmitter being taken off of the air are gone.
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Thursday, 5 April 2012
G
geoff11:42 AM
Note the FECs listed for COM4 and COM5 at the top of the page appear to differ from reality.
I can't tune these multiplexes with FEC 2/3, I can with 3/4.
I'm 2.4Km WNW of Whitehawk Hill with clear line of sight using a portable aerial, so it seems likely I'm getting the right transmitter.
Linux users may find the following useful for the scan utility from dvb-apps.
user@machine:~$ cat /usr/share/dvb/dvb-t/uk-WhitehawkHill-post-DSO
# UK, Whitehawk Hill
# Hand-edited 20120405 g77
# T freq bw fec_hi fec_lo mod transmission-mode guard-interval hierarchy
# PSB1
T 785800000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
# PSB2
T 730000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
# PSB3 (HD untested)
# T 714000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM256 8k 1/32 NONE
# COM4 note FEC 3/4
T 762000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
# COM5 note FEC 3/4
T 754000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
# COM6
T 690000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
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