menuMENU    UK Free TV logo Freeview

 

 

Click to see updates

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

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.600,-1.835 or 52°36'1"N 1°50'5"Wsa_postcodeB75 5JJ

 

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
_______

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
Saturday, 24 September 2011
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:20 PM

P Cairns: Just out of curiosity, when you say that you lost ESPN etc due to the Bromsgrove transmitter, where were you receiving your signal from before? as I cant quite see the connection between Bromsgrove and and you losing these programmes, unless that is you have carried out a re-scan and its Bromsgrove you have picked up.

If this is whats happened, then all you would require to do is to manually tune in the station you previously used, more than one indicating as being possible, so maybe you could mention the station previously used.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
J
John Allen
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

7:39 PM

What has happened to ESPN from Sutton Coldfield?

link to this comment
John Allen's 53 posts GB flag
Sunday, 25 September 2011
S
Stuart
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:26 AM
Stourbridge

Hi, recently i have been retuning boxes for friends who are not technically minded, or who are elderly! have noticed the following from Sutton Coldfield!

Com 1 & 2 always show excellent signal strength & quality, however Com 4, 5 & 6 show anything from good to poor sihnal strength & quality!

As they are all broadcasting at 200,000W is there any reason for this?

link to this comment
Stuart's 34 posts GB flag
Stuart's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
D
Danny C
12:09 PM

I had 83 channels on friday (23/09) night, all of which were working fine. I woke up on saturday morning and hardly any of them had signal. i did a retune and have now been left with 10 channels, all of which are unwatchable.

Absolute nightmare!

Could this be down to the switchover or is it likely to be hardware failure somewhere?

link to this comment
Danny C's 1 post GB flag
N
nam
12:42 PM

in worcester,postcode WR4, CH43 (bbc)and C46 (itv) are both showing signal strength of 51% and quality of 100%.

CH40 which is the HD mux is showing strength of 50% and quality of 50%.

the rest of the channels are showing strength of anything between 40-50% with quality of between 30-50%

with the exception of CH43 and CH46 there is no way the other channels are working at maximum power, even though this very page says they are.



link to this comment
nam's 1 post GB flag
B
Billy
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

2:18 PM

Who knows guys, assuming signal is going out in every direction and certain channels not higher on transmitter than others, have to remember, if you have wideband or groups aerial, lower channels though being lower frequency and so should be more robust, the aerials have their highest gain further up the frequency.
For me in the loft, awful dip, hill in way, 39 is the one I have most issue and lower signal on, having said that, just about to check others, cause gets confusing what is on what.

My cousin informs me of something like extras channels as well, lives in Nuneaton on Sutton trans, so clear that lot of cross overs and goodness only knows what, a lot of trial and error.

I'm using a 22 Element Log Periodic with variable mast head amp, came with it, at max 25 db.

Being so close, the box despite I'm convinced, with aerial out at back at time, has assumed presidency with the Allesley Park Transmitter putting in the BBC channels and so on.

42 and 46 from Sutton seem the best, in fact figures obtained from tests in loft are as follows:

Ch 39 Sig Strength 80% best, varies, can be 65% Quality 100 max, has tendency to dart around at times.

Ch 42 SS 80% and Quality 100
Ch 43 SS 95% max and Quality 100
Ch 45 SS 80% and Quality 100
Ch 46 SS 95% and Quality 100.

I could be that because of this and Allesley Park at 100 over 100, the amp is a little too high, hence sometimes often picture break up, glitch etc on channel 39.

link to this comment
Billy's 50 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:54 PM

nam: Reception in Worcester can be very variable, with significant changes in what's possible changing over relatively short distances, however The Wrekin is indicated as about the best for WR4 area's (Shire business Park used for a test) with Larke Stoke and Ridge Hill coming about even seconds, these latter two offering consistently good (in theory) reception over the PSB multiplexes, the remaining three Muxes not!!

Ridge Hill though is the only station presently offering reception over four multiplexes, although this tapers off in March 2012 when once again only three are indicated as good, the remainder variable until later on in 2012 when all six are shown as possible.

In other words, I would say that nothing could really be guaranteed in the Worcester area, as in my opinion its an area where aerials really do have to be positioned on a building for best reception, as rule books don't really apply in these type of circumstances, experimentation being the order of the day!


link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Monday, 26 September 2011
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

9:43 AM

SUTTON COLDFIELD transmitter - Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: no analogue TV, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
M
M Rawson
9:42 PM
Stourbridge

Like several other posts I have lost a variety of channels over the weekend. In my case it is the channel 46 set ie ITV, C4, c5 etc. On my second set (built in box bought this year) I have lost everything just collections of coloured squares. This happened post switchover following a retune. Neither manual or auto tunes help.


Signal did improve at stage one on 7th, however lost significant number of channels on 21st and situation has deteriorated further when tried retuning at the weekend.
I live in Kinver use the Sutton transmitter, with an extended rooftop aerial.

link to this comment
M Rawson's 4 posts GB flag
M's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Stuart O.
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

11:28 PM
Wrexham

Like I asked recently:
Over time, is it possible for your TV or box's tuner to get damaged with 100% Strength and 100% Quality always receivable on some of your channels?

Brian talks about how you can overload your TV and set-top box tuner with too high a signal but he never says anything about damage.
So I put 2 and 2 together and quite reasonably assumed that a prolonged exposure to very high strong signals on a tuner of a TV or set-top box could eventually result in tuner damage. After all, the word 'overload' in the normal sense suggests that a prolonged period of power overload can result in component damage.

So if component damage is not possible, I'd like to know what prevents component damage.
So I would like Brian's view on this.
Thanks.

link to this comment
Stuart O.'s 156 posts GB flag
Stuart's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S'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.