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Full Freeview on the Whitehawk Hill (Brighton and Hove, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps50.825,-0.113 or 50°49'29"N 0°6'47"Wsa_postcodeBN2 5EL

 

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 09/12/2024 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 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 V max
C48- (689.8MHz)171mDTG-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
C35 (586.0MHz)171mDTG-4,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Meridian (South Coast 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
C36 (594.0MHz)171mDTG-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
C33 (570.0MHz)164mDTG-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
C57 (762.0MHz)171mDTG-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
C32 (562.0MHz)171mDTG-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

LBN
 V -10dB
C40 (626.0MHz)171mDTG-12400W
Channel icons
from 8th July 2014: 7 Latest 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)

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?

regional news image
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 43km northeast (36°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
regional news image
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-80s1984-971997-981998-20122012-1316 Oct 2019
VHFC/D EEEC/D E TW T
C2BBCtvwaves
C34ArqA
C35C5wavesC5wavesD3+4
C36BBCB
C40_local
C48ArqBArqB
C51tv_offBBCB
C53tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4wavesD3+4
C54tv_offLBN
C56tv_offArqA
C57tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesSDNSDN
C60tv_offITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves-BBCABBCA
C63BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves

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

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. Whitehawk Hill 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
Sunday, 26 April 2015
A
anon
1:34 PM

Dave.Thank you.That LBN figure has a red graphic included. What does that represent?Is the whole diagram a general diagram. I could not find a UK reference to LBN in Google? I assume that transmitters will have their own characteristics, and, therefore, vary.Clicking on LBN does not lead to whatever LBN signifies.

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anon's 19 posts US flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:14 PM

anon: The red graphic indicates the magnitude of radiation in each direction. If it had been omnidirectional (the same in all 360 degrees) then it would have been circular, for example.

At 290 to 295 degrees, the signal is at its full effective power (400W). Between 280 and 285, and 300 and 305 it is -2dB, so the power is 2dB down from (less than) 400W. Decibels (dBs) are logarithmic and not linear. For every -3dB the power halves. For example, between 310 and 315 degrees the power is 6dB down which equates to 100W.

"LBN" is what this website uses to mean "Local Brighton" multiplex. Digital UK refers to it as "L-BTN".

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 6 May 2015
J
Jim
9:33 AM
Hove

BN3 4PL
Aerial on roof pointing at Whitehawk transmitter
Have followed Freeview reset procedure. No signal reported on BBC1 or BBC2. Can get BBC1 HD and BBC2 HD on 101, and 102. Can't receive any BBC4 or BBC radio channels.
Have tried partial scan, by inserting aerial after 50%. Signal picked up BBC1 and BBC2 on channels 1 and 2 but reception very poor.
Any advice please.

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Jim's 1 post GB flag
Jim's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:43 AM

Jim: BBC standard definition TV and radio are carried on PSB1 multiplex. Whitehawk broadcasts this on UHF channel 60, which is the highest and the closest to 4G services in the 800MHz band which may be operating in your area, these occupying channel 61 upwards. Therefore, it's worth seeing if 800MHz 4G has started by ringing at800.

at800 is the company set-up by the mobile operators and tasked with alleviation of reception issues:

Contact us | Advice or general enquiries | at800

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
B
Bob
11:23 PM

Currently in process of obtaining equipment prices for a new wall mounted aerial removing the existing from the stack on our bungalow.
I'm told Brightons Whitehawk hill is a better transmitter than Rowbridge I.o.Wight which the current aerial faces and on nice sunny days loose the signal some digital channels, one in particular is channel 64.

I've also read that the Diy sold aerial cable in not very good quality.
Any suggestions on type of aerial and cable welcome will look back in for responses if any. I'm in Worthing.

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Bob's 1 post GB flag
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:40 AM

Bob: Digital broadcasts are transmitted in multiplexes ("muxes"), each of which is a single signal which carries multiple services. E.g. PSB1 multiplex carries all BBC standard definition TV and radio. Digital UK publishes a full list of Freeview services including multiplex they are carried on here:


Digital UK Industry - Channel listings


As this is a reception issue, it's therefore more relevant to talk in terms of multiplex. So logical channel number (LCN) 64 is carried on COM6 (or Arq B) multiplex.

The PSB (Public Service Broadcaster) channels have the same coverage as the former four-channel analogues. COM4, COM5 and COM6 are available from 81 of the larger transmitters.

Rowridge is unique as far as a main station goes as it broadcasts with vertical polarisation (as well as horizontal polarisation). From April 2012 COM4, COM5 and COM6 began broadcasting with a power of 50kW horizontally and 200kW vertically. The PSBs are 200kW horizontally and vertically. Thus, you might find that vertical polarisation solves your problem.

DIY aerials tend to be widebands. All of Rowridge's channels are Group A, as they were for analogue. Thus, aerials installed for former four-channel analogue should generally be suitable for all reception of all channels. Wideband yagi aerials aren't as good on Group A channels so a Group A aerial should be used. See:

Rowridge Transmitter

While log periodics are usually wideband, to the best of my knowledge there's one exception; this one made by Vision:

V20A2 20 Element Log Periodic Group A Aerial ? Vision Products - Powerful Products. Easy Installation. Excellent Value

There's another point to be aware of and that is the new quasi-national HD muxes, COM7 and COM8. Rowridge carries these horizontally only and Whitehawk doesn't carry them at all. So if you can get them from Rowridge then switching to vertical polarisation will forfeit any chance of reliable reception of them.

Rowridge broadcasts BBC South and ITV Meridian (South Coast). Whitehawk carries BBC South East and ITV Meridian (South Coast). So choice of transmitter dictates BBC region but not ITV region.

The transmission power of Whitehawk effectively increased at switchover. The Findon relay had a considerable boost in power but only carries PSB channels, it being a relay of Rowridge.

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

1:04 AM

Bob: I should add that in order to understand Digital UK's list and its multiplexes:

PSB1 = BBC A
PSB2 = D3&4
PSB3 = BBC B
COM4 = SDN
COM5 = Arq A
COM6 = Arq B

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

10:04 AM

Bob : In addition to, but apart from that said by Dave Lindsay, the question of which is the best station to use for reception is entirely dependant on your location within the Worthing area, as wide variations were found in DUK's predictions for reception between a couple of post codes used for test purposes, Whitehawk Hill being far in a way best for reception in the DN14 area, whereas not in the DN11 areas, none of the stations predicting good reception in that area with the exception of Rowridges PSB channels on vertical polarity.

Therefore, I suggest that the best policy would be to enter your post code into the reception predictor referred to and study the results. (Link for below)

Another point to note regarding aerials, as you are intending to mount the aerial on a wall bracket, then be aware that not all aerials lend themselves to being mounted on such brackets close to a wall, this being where log periodic aerials score, as they, in most cases can, and of course are ideal for reception of the channels used by Whitehawk Hill, (excl Vision V20 A2 20) that is should you reside anywhere in, or near to the BN14 area.


Digital UK - Coverage checker






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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 14 July 2015
K
Ken
5:13 AM

Isn't channel 54 from the the Saltdean transmitter?

I can't receive any of the LBN channels?

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Ken's 4 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:58 AM

Ken: No, as although Mux C54 is used by both Whitehawk Hill and the Saltdean relay, they do not serve the same purpose, C54 (LBN) on Whitehawk Hill being a local "commercial" Mux beamed towards the Brighton area, whereas C54 on the Saltdean transmitter is one of the three PSB (only) transmitters used by that Freeview "light" relay station, i.e: does not transmit commercial (only) programmes.

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jb38's 7,179 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.

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.

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