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Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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The symbol shows the location of the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter which serves 1,870,000 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 Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) mast?

Sutton Coldfield transmitter - Sutton Coldfield 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
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Which Freeview channels does the Sutton Coldfield 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
C43 (650.0MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) West Midlands, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 19 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C46 (674.0MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (West 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),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C40+ (626.2MHz)433mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD West 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 max
C42 (642.0MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
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 max
C45 (666.0MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
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 max
C39+ (618.2MHz)433mDTG-8200,000W
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

LB
 H -13dB
C48 (690.0MHz)433mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
from 31st October 2014: 7 Big Centre 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 Sutton Coldfield transmitter?

regional news image
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 15km south-southwest (200°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
regional news image
ITV Central News 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 15km south-southwest (201°)
to ITV Central (West) region - 65 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (East)

Are there any self-help relays?

Burton (shobnall)Transposer1 km W Burton-on-Trent60 homes
CoalvilleTransposer18 km NW Leicester600 homes
SolihullTransposerLand Rover building400 homes

How will the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20112011-137 Mar 2018
VHFB E TB E TB E TB E K TW T
C4BBCtvwaves
C33com7
C35com8
C36LOCAL2
C39+ArqBArqB
C40BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves+BBCBBBCB
C42SDNSDN
C43ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCABBCA
C45ArqAArqA
C46BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C48_local
C50tv_offC4wavesC4wavesC4waves
C51tv_offLB
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 7 Sep 11 and 21 Sep 11.

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

Analogue 1-4 1000kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 200kW
com7(-10.5dB) 89.2kW
com8(-10.7dB) 86kW
LB(-20dB) 10kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-21dB) 8kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sutton Coldfield 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. Sutton Coldfield 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, 10 January 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:43 PM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - ton Coldfield Transmitter works 19 and 21October 2010: Engineering transmitter work will take place between 04:00hrs 19th October and 17:00hrs 21 October. TV services that will be disrupted: Analogue services - BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4 will be subject to short breaks and reduced power Digital services - Mux1, Mux2, MuxA MuxB and MuxC will be subject to short breaks and reduced power [DUK] ton Coldfield Transmitter works: The upgrade to the Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter in preparation for digital switchover in 2011 is now largely complete and providing both analogue and Freeview digital TV to more than two million households. While some limited further work on the mast will be required over the coming months, the mast operator will be doing everything possible to keep disruption to a minimum. Any viewers experiencing reduced digital signal strength should note that Freeview services will be significantly boosted at switchover in September 2011. Digital UK apologises for any inconvenience caused. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
L
Laurie
6:30 PM
Daventry

I have no freeview signal at all. All working fine yesterday. Is this what is meant by 'reduced power'? NN11 area.

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Laurie's 3 posts GB flag
Laurie's: mapL's Freeview map terrainL's terrain plot wavesL's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

6:31 PM

Laurie: No, it isn't. And anyway, nothing is on "reduced power". I would see Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .

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Briantist's 38,915 posts GB flag
Thursday, 13 January 2011
P
Phil K
11:31 AM
Leicester

Hi all,

I am located in Oadby, Leicester, and Sutton Coldfield is my transmitter.

I can't seem to receive C34 or C55 groups (Mux D and HD Channels).

I have a Freeview HD setup that receives all the other groups normally, and I suspect my flat which was built pre-1998 may have a group B aerial, but as C34 and C55 are only just outside Group B's usual range, this shouldn't make too much difference?

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Phil K's 1 post GB flag
Phil's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

6:33 PM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - Freeview BBC Digital TV (One, Two, Three, CBBC, News) Weak Signal from 10:45 today to 10:49 today [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

6:34 PM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - Freeview BBC Digital TV (One, Two, Three, CBBC, News) Weak Signal from 10:45 today to 10:49 today [BBC]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
D
D Holmes
7:29 PM
Uttoxeter

Briantist my question for you is I am located at ST14 5LT, I get all digital channels with strong signal strength but this site says I should also be able to receive the HD from Litchfield this is not correct nothing is received.
I will also point out that channel 5 analogue from Litchfield is also good and strong. so what's the problem with HD

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D Holmes's 3 posts GB flag
D's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
R
Rob
7:47 PM
Burton-on-trent

Hi,

For the last week or so we've noticed very poor signal strength and quality on channel 41 from Sutton Coldfield. I've checked for local interference and removed all other appliances. The problem seems much worse in the evening. This has never been a problem before, all other channels are full strength and quality. I've even tried turning the boiler off etc to elimate any frequency specific interference. I live in Burton on Trent and we're tuned to sutton coldfield.

Any ideas?

Cheers

Rob

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Rob's 2 posts GB flag
Rob's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
D
David
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

10:04 PM

Great Barr area, Birmingham. Like so many others, during the Sutton Coldfield mast changes there was loss of some channels. When the main mast was restored to use, everything came back, and particularly during the freezing weather reception was absoluteley fine.

Now the weather has warmed up agin, and at least mux B and C are either unreceivable or very blocky. Clearly, around here there is always some co-channel interference probably from 100 miles away or more.

So far, so normal for freeview.

My big question is, following the September switch-over, when the main mast goes to 1MW power, can I expect reception to come good or not?

My concern is that although the direct signal will obviously be hugely more powerful, so will all the other BBC transmitters, including whatever is causing the current co-channel interference. So here is a technical question I invite comments upon....can a more powerful signal discriminate better when the interfering channel is also more powerful ?

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David's 25 posts GB flag
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