menuMENU    UK Free TV logo Freeview

 

 

Click to see updates

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
Tuesday, 7 July 2015
F
Fran
10:08 AM
Cambridge

For the last few months, intermittent loss of reception of BBC channels only. Based in Cambridge, roof aerial. Channel 27 stations affected on two Freeview TVs (Sony Bravias). Signal strength is 100%, signal quality <10 - 20%. Have tried turning off various appliances to check for local interference, no change. Usually experience channel interference early morning, late at night, (including yesterday and this morning) but not every day. All other channels are fine.

Can you advise / help?

link to this comment
Fran's 2 posts GB flag
Fran's: mapF's Freeview map terrainF's terrain plot wavesF's frequency data F's Freeview Detailed Coverage
H
Hovey
6:00 PM

Fran YOU should cut the tv wire it maid my tv picture so much better .

link to this comment
Hovey's 1 post GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:43 PM

Fran: Your 100% signal strength is a bit of a giveaway. Your signal strength is far too high. Search 'Too Much of a good thing' on this site for more info.

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
F
Fran
10:21 PM
Cambridge

Thanks for that - have ordered attenuators to try.

Fran

link to this comment
Fran's 2 posts GB flag
Fran's: mapF's Freeview map terrainF's terrain plot wavesF's frequency data F's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 20 July 2015
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

10:30 AM

SANDY HEATH transmitter - MainPossible weak signal [DUK]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Tuesday, 21 July 2015
C
Colin Gibbs
12:13 PM
Corby

Last night (i.e. 20th. July 2015) we ended up with blank screens on BBC1 & 2, plus severe pixelation on several oothers. But this morning, during a check-through, all seemed OK. Thank you. We only wish Freeview gave a clear message if the fault lay with themselves - otherwise one spends the evening checking & rechecking aerial cables & plugs. And the BBC News channel does seemed to have turned up elsewhere than the usual 130 channel. We live in NN18 8PT, with a loft aerial. (using Youview via TalkTalk). Now I know this opportunity exists, I shall report any further change.

link to this comment
Colin Gibbs's 1 post GB flag
Colin's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 6 August 2015
D
David
4:10 PM

Getting blocks on my screen on all hd channels you should boost your transmitter up .
I have a perfect aerial on my roof and my neighbours have the same issue so do my mates at the other side of town so it's you that's at fault so soft it out ...

link to this comment
David's 1 post GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:30 PM

David : This is a website independent of any broadcaster. It would be useful to know the name of the town as others may be experiencing the same problem and then we know whether this is related to one locality. It is possible that a fault could affect one side of a transmitter, which is why location is important.

If you are referring to the main HD multiplex, PSB3 aka "BBC B" -- which carries HD variants of BBC One, BBC Two, BBC Three, CBBC, ITV and Channel 4 -- then I'm sure that the BBC will be very interested to hear of a widespread issue. If this is due to a fault at the transmitter, only once notified can they move to fix it.

BBC - About us - Help Receiving TV and Radio

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Saturday, 22 August 2015
M
Mr Harris
6:56 AM

Tv signal non existent in central Northampton.

link to this comment
Mr Harris's 1 post GB flag
Thursday, 27 August 2015
M
Mr workingford
2:06 PM

Hello I've been having problems with the bbc channels they keep droping out and I've tried everything to fix this could you please give my some advice I would be most greatful best regards .Mr workingford.

link to this comment
Mr workingford's 1 post GB flag
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.