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Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"Wsa_postcodeSG19 2NH

 

The symbol shows the location of the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 920,000 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 Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) mast?

Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 25/03/2024 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 Sandy Heath 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
C27 (522.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Cambridge, 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
 H max
C24 (498.0MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Anglia (West 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 (Anglia east),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C21+ (474.2MHz)291mDTG-180,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD Cambridge, 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
 H -0.2dB
C33 (570.0MHz)291mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H -0.2dB
C36 (594.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H -0.2dB
C48 (690.0MHz)289mDTG-8170,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 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)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Sandy Heath transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Look East (West) 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Cambridge CB4 0WZ, 29km east-northeast (65°)
to BBC Cambridge region - 4 masts.
70% of BBC East (East) and BBC East (West) is shared output
regional news image
ITV Anglia News 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Norwich NR1 3JG, 119km east-northeast (60°)
to ITV Anglia (West) region - 5 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Anglia (East)

How will the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1965-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-1312 Feb 2020
VHFA K TK TK TW TW T
C6ITVwaves
C21C4wavesC4wavesC4waves+BBCBBBCB
C24ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C27BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C31BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves
C32com7
C33SDN
C34com8
C35_local
C36ArqA
C39C5wavesC5waves
C43_local
C48ArqBArqB
C51tv_offSDN
C52tv_offArqA
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off

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 Mar 11 and 13 Apr 11.

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

Analogue 1-4 1000kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7.4dB) 180kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-7.7dB) 170kW
com7(-13dB) 49.6kW
com8(-13.1dB) 49.1kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 20kW
Analogue 5(-20dB) 10kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area

Oct 1959-Feb 2004Anglia 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.

Comments
Wednesday, 18 January 2023
I
Ian Leslie Jackson
1:09 PM

I am currently having pixalation problems and have been loosing all dvb channels all weekend. Are you aware of this? My Panasonic TV is only 6 months old

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Ian Leslie Jackson's 12 posts US flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

4:06 PM

Ian Leslie Jackson:

As you haven't given a full postcode, we can't check your predicted reception and there's always the possibility that weather conditions might affect it if you are in a marginal area.
There are currently no reported faults for Sandy Heath and it's not currently listed for Planned Engineering.

Check that your aerial looks intact and is still pointing in the correct direction and that the downlead is secure and not flapping in the wind. Check all your coax connections behind the TV etc.
Have you altered/changed anything about with your equipment recently? Do you have any distribution amp/splitter etc.?

You are never advised to retune when you have no signal or badly pixellated pictures as this usually just clears the correct tuning. So whilst signal is steady, try a manual retune on Sandy Heath's UHF channels to ensure you are correctly tuned.
Post back with a full postcode if you are still having problems.


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Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
Friday, 10 February 2023
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

11:08 AM

Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 06/02/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts GB flag
Monday, 13 February 2023
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

5:07 AM

Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 13/02/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts GB flag
H
Hater4life
9:56 PM

Terrible transmitter have nothing but issues.

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Hater4life's 1 post GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:30 PM

Hater4life: Rather than assuming that the transmitter is at fault (if it was hundreds of people would be complaining) have you done any investigation into whether something at your end might be causing whatever issue you are having? Simple things like checking and unplugging/reconnecting cables can often help track down the cause. Another thing to check is whether a new or upgraded 4G/5G mast might be causing interference - put your postcode into the checker on https://restoretv.uk/ and they'll send you a free filter if interference is predicted.

If none of that helps, let us know your full postcode so that we can see the predicted signal strength at your location.

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StevensOnln1's 3,606 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:36 PM

Hater4life:

If you provide a full postcode, we might be able to offer some constructive advice or comment.
However, suggest you read the post about Planned Engineering just before yours.
Taken from the official list -
Planned engineering works by region
Region Transmitter Name Main/Relay Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 13/02/2023
Anglia Sandy Heath Main Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels

Apart from which, current weather conditions currently accompanying the high pressure will not be helping, for a simplistic explanation, see -
https://www.bbc.co.uk/rec…sure
This tends to happen more in summer, but can occur at other times.



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Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
Monday, 20 February 2023
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

5:08 AM

Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 20/02/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 28 February 2023
D
David Brown
5:57 PM
St. Neots

what is the signal strength in Stonely, PE19 5EG? How much antenna gain do I need for good reception please?

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David Brown's 1 post GB flag
David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:26 PM

David Brown:

You are about 20km from Sandy Heath, compass bearing 150 degrees (that's almost SSE) and the rods (or squashed Xs) should be horizontal.

Considering the transmitter powers used at Sandy (182/170kw PSB/COM multiplexes) you should have very good reception, and a medium gain aerial used externally would probably be adequate if good quality double screened coax is used feeding just one set (and not an excessive cable run!).

I'd think about something like 28 to 36 element K Group Log periodic types (yes grouped log-periodics are now made!).
Eg. something like the Blake BLA-LP28K if you have an unobstructed line-of-sight view, but check what your neighbours are using or get specialist advice from an installer that knows your area well.
(Details from Blake's website https://www.blake-uk.com/…tml)

Whilst Group T/Wideband aerials would do, they give no protection to mobile interference if you should get a mast near you and you'd probably need to add a filter.


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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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