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

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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
Sunday, 9 October 2011
B
Billy
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

12:11 PM

Jack:
Yes, same here, but assumed was cause in loft and behind the big hill in Allesley Park, hmm, weird.
I did testing, aerial only and was two joins in it, f connector sorts, so assumed maybe 1 db loss for each and so aerial then would be about 4 to 5 db gain only.
Best I got was around 30% to 35% on signal strength, red, even though using old black and white portable tv, can tell.
Next I tried, or maybe before that actually, anyway, tried a 13 db amp, so down 10 db gain on what I was using.
At first was 70% instead of 80%, but then id go up to 80%.

Weird, shows how strong and robust it is, or so you might think, tests carried out on channel 39.
One more in the 40's is okay, the other one not.

I am getting interference from stuff turned on and off as well etc.

I do not understand it though, assumed was hill, cause can be sitting there and if it plays up more than just a quick glitch, pixels going for a split second, I check the signals.

I see still 100% mostly on the quality.
However the signal strength has now dropped to 30% red, then might mess about, up and down, as if some van going up hill inbetween signal, lol, or grrrr, as case may be.
Then back up again and even 95% now, go figure.

So conclusion:
See, I assumed, only me would be affected by this, so hard for me to help.
Unless, unless you are also in similar boat, meaning aerial in loft and obstacles in the ways etc.
But it is weird as to why, unless badly affected by weather and guess satellite not matter at what symbol rate 2/3 or 3/4 or 5/6, but seems in this mode, terrestrial, it does, meaning though less channels, perhaps 16 Qam, was better, now got 64 Qam, not so.

Otherwise I'm baffled as to what is going on with some of you, as to why, like me, but I have in loft and hill, if you don't, are having signals falling away, similar to myself and then coming back again etc.

link to this comment
Billy's 50 posts GB flag
J
jack
2:24 PM

Billy (and others)

I'm using a 64 element wideband aerial with a 21dB mains amp. Everything worked until last week so its not hills. (Unless there was a volocano eruption I havn't heard about in Sutton.)

Nothing at my end has changed.

I'm monitoring using a Humax HDR-Fox T2 and the power on these channels is clearly 30% of what it was before last week. IE rubbish.

HOWEVER to see the bouncing around you have to go to the signal detection section in the Menu/settings options on the Humax at which point you can see its constantly all over the place.

I think the main level/quality bars must be averaged and dont show rapid changes shorter than a few seconds.

There is also now interference from planes and household equipment as Billy mentioned which again I didnt get before last week.

I notice this page still says engineering work without dates "over the next week" can someone clarify - once again please?

Is this last weeks engineering work or are they doing more next week?

link to this comment
jack's 1 post GB flag
D
David
4:12 PM

Any idea why my Philips HDD/DVD recorder (DVDR7260H) has stopped finding all channels that appear to be on PSB1 and PSB2? It knows what and where they should be in the channel listing, but just doesn't 'find' them anymore, no matter how many times I retune. The other channels are ok.

I live in the west of Derby and get most of my channels from Sutton Coldfield, plus BBC East Midlands from the Derby relay. My tv receives all the channels totally fine.

link to this comment
David's 13 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:47 PM

David: You should be aware that this is a known defect in these boxes but which only ever really affected BBC channels, this problem being in existence even prior to any transmission changes made at switchover, so switchover isn't the issue, however I have since heard that some owners of these devices are finding that ITV channels have now failed as well, this being backed up by what you have reported.

To my knowledge no solution to the problem has been found as yet, although should anyone know anything to the contrary I would certainly like to know about it, as I am aware that some 7260H models suffering from this problem having been lying in two separate workshops for a considerable time now, with Philips being less than helpful to say the least, the preset channel memory being suspected as having developed a fault, but with spares (tuner) not being readily available because of the devices age.

Philips did publish (on their website) a few software updates to allegedly overcome some of the other problems that these recorders suffer from, however it certainly had no effect on this particular one.

By the way the software they published was to enable a software upgrade CD to be burnt, the file being a ZIP format type to enable an ISO file to be extracted and burnt.

Models applicable being DVDR 7250H 05 / 31 / 58 and the DVDR 7260H 05 / 31 / 58.

There could of course be another reason all together for your problem, but it sounds suspiciously like another case of the aforementioned.


link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

5:56 PM

jack: First, it is a bit difficult to provide ongoing constructive help when it isn't possible to backtrack through someone's previous posts. If when you post you could you make sure the 'Save my details' box is checked, at the bottom of the posting box, also that your email is not different each time, you should only need to put it in once if Save my details is checked - other posters such as me cannot get to see it, and also don't delete any cookies for this site.

The Engineering work is NOT on Digital TV, it is on FM Radio, and I can only assume it is on the Antenna which is why TV is "Liable to Interuption". An update for next week hasn't been provided by Digital UK yet, but you can check yourself -

Digital UK - Planned Engineering Works
and select the "Planned Engineering Works by Region" tab and click on Central.

The power at Sutton Coldfield has increased to 200Kw since DSO, that's a 14dB or so increase. Brian has already suggested to you that you may have too strong a signal.
I am led to believe that the Humax HDR-Fox T2 is an extremely sensitive receiver, there are reports of people in Oxford picking up Crystal Palace (London) which is only on 20Kw.
From the description of you aerial/booster you are extremely likely to be suffering gross overload. Any DTR that is suffering overload will not give reliable or correct signal strength or quality reports and reading will go all over the place with the slightest change eg. an aircraft giving a reflection. When you know you have a good signal strength or quality low/zero/poor etc are a clear indicator of overload.

If your booster has variable gain turn it right down until you get acceptable results, or try removing it from circuit and see what the results are.
One thing is for sure, with an aerial in the loft and a hill in the way getting consistent results is going to be very tricky.
Do a full reset/autoscan with the aerial unplugged to clear all the previous settings/channels, and then with the booster turned down or removed to a MANUAL tune (UHF channel numbers at the top of this page).

PS. If you enter your postcode in the box on the top RHS of the page, a set of links to the right of your post will appear where you/we can check various information about reception.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 251 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

6:01 PM

Billy: please see my post to jack about overload, you may find it helpful.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 251 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

6:07 PM

M Rawson: Which channels are you getting on both sets without the booster?
The figures for C46 were they with the booster or without?
When you say it all worked prior to DSO "albeit not brilliantly" could you provide some detail, explain.
If you put your postcode in the box Top RHS the page we may have a better idea of what signals you may be getting.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 251 posts GB flag
Monday, 10 October 2011
J
jack
12:27 PM
Birmingham

Thank you Chris
To follow my posts look for jack. I'm the only one in this thread. I dont use email anymore I got sick of the spam so I get a random address when I do anything sorry.
I can see no information on "save my details" What does it save and where? Who has access?

We dont have hills or loft aerial that was someone else.

I removed the amp and get no signal on anything. Less than 25% power I guess

With the amp I get a reasonable signal about 50% power indicated on the othe (MUXES ?) but the two I listed above are still all over the place. eg any BBC channel is unwatchable.

postcode B34 6TA


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jack's 1 post GB flag
jack's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
B
Billy
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:13 PM

Hi Jack, yes it was me, loft and hill in way.

Does not sound like over load then, if only doubling power percentage on box and without only 25%.

Yet you claim had okay before switchover, interesting.

Yes Chris, mentioned it many times myself, the mess digital has caused with the overloads and no doubt many a cowboy con aerial fixer out there has taken advantage, before and after digital switchover.

Makes me wonder about your aerial now Jack, how old, cable used and what percentages were before switch over, are you for 100% sure on sutton's muxes only and any weather, winds and rain, may have affected and gotten into aerial.
How big it is, might have moved, depends on installer, if professional enough job.
Have any way using, trying one in the loft on the amp, or another amp, do have another aerial, experimenting.
Any neighbours, can have a word with, pick their brains, they having trouble, was it okay before, what signal they getting.
So on.
Other than that, not sure what to suggest.

I don't mind, but we don't know each other, meaning might not like it, lol, but love tinkering, so unless I came around, saw it and tried things out, have 2 or 3 aerials, one a wide band like 18 element yagi, normal type on most houses.

Remember I'm 17.4 miles from Sutton Transmitter and found on log periodic, 22 element, rated at 7.5 db gain, with cable and two joins in got 35% tops, with 13db gain amp, about 70 to 80% signal strength, in loft, massive hill in way etc.

So massively robust, I'd say, meaning if I can pick up outside Waltham 42 miles away, if I lived, line of sight, not in a dip, reckon with same 13 db amp, could be some 30 to 40 miles from Sutton, and get it easily.

But, as you have said, not overload, maybe cable or aerial, most strange, any way checking connections etc, trying different leads into box, whatever.


link to this comment
Billy's 50 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
J
jack
1:55 PM

Before last week all channels were fine
Yes its Sutton.

Unfortunately my neighbour chucked freeview in the bin before the switchover - he couldnt get a decent signal and wasnt prepared to pay more to get one. My other neighbours are OAP's so I'm not going there!

This week all BBC channels have significantly reduced power ( 3 bars or 30% on the Humax) These were at 5 bars like all the rest before last week.

The other (MUXES?) are between 50-60% still.
It still only the BBC ones giving trouble.

If it was cables or plugs all of them would be at fault.

IF it was anything at all at my end - all of them would have problems.

I saw little or no increase in power after switchover at all but all channels worked reliably so I didnt care.

Last week they did work
This week we have no BBC channels

Nothing changed here.
It seems pretty clear cut to me.

Yesterday I spent 2 hours on the roof moving the aerial back and forth - ended up putting it back where it was installed by the engineer.

conclusion
They have reduced the power - it no longer works.
If they worked on the aerials they left something loose or missing.
If they worked on the transmitters their readings are wrong or they deliberately reduced power.

Who do I sue? Anyone have a phone number I can shout at? Would screaming loudly on the BBC web site have any effect?

We now have a whole bunch of the best TV channels we can't watch. And whats worse - the kids aren't happy.

Who exactly transmits from Sutton -

I'm open to suggestions here but lets not run round in circles anymore.

(If any of that sounds ungrateful I dont mean it to be - I'm just exhasperated)



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jack's 1 post GB flag
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