Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.424,-0.076 or 51°25'26"N 0°4'32"W |  | SE19 1UE |
The symbol shows the location of the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter which serves 4,490,000 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 Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) mast?
Crystal Palace transmitter - Crystal Palace transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 05/06/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
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 Freeview channels does the Crystal Palace 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.
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 Crystal Palace transmitter?
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 11km north-northwest (334°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 11km north-northwest (345°)
to ITV London region - 55 masts.
Are there any self-help relays?
| Charlton Athletic | Transposer | Redeveloped north stand Charlton Athletic Football Club | 130 homes |
| Deptford | Transposer | south-east London | 100 homes |
| Greenford | Transposer | 12 km N Heathrow Airport | 203 homes |
| Hendon | Transposer | Graham Park estate | 50 homes |
| White City | Transposer | 9 km W central London | 80 homes |
How will the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 21 Mar 2018 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | A K T | A K T | A K T | W T | ||||
| C1 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C22 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C23 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C25 | SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C26 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C28 | -ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C29 | LW | ||||||||
| C30 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | -BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C33 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | com7 | |||||
| C35 | com8 | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | COM8tv_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 4 Apr 12 and 18 Apr 12.
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 | (-13.7dB) 43.1kW | |
| com8 | (-14dB) 39.8kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*, LW | (-17dB) 20kW |
Local transmitter maps
Crystal Palace Freeview Crystal Palace DAB Crystal Palace TV region BBC London LondonWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Crystal Palace transmitter area
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Saturday, 2 November 2013
L
LouiseB4:56 PM
MikeB: I don't see how a loft aerials cables etc could have corroded because of the storm when they are all internal. I might look into replacing the cabling though as some of it must be 30 years old - as is the aerial. When having a quick look at it all when I turned the aerial to Bluebell Hill, all the cable seemed fine, with no lose connections. None of the cabling is recessed into walls etc. which makes it easy to check. Still doesn't quite connect (in my brain at least) as to why it got worse after the storm.
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C
Chris5:18 PM
Hi, I have a similar problem as mentioned by LouiseB, very weak signals over the last few weeks, and literally can't even find any channel today.
I am using a sony tv, and previous posts suggests to reset it to France, this didn't help.
I live in a new built with tv and sat sockets on the wall. I have tried tuning with both sockets but no luck. I live near Paddington. Post code is W2 1AJ. Would love to hear if anyone has got a similar problem.
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M
MikeB7:39 PM
LouiseB: A loft aerial shouldn't get water into the cabling, nor should it be damaged by a storm, yet that would seem to be the case. However, it might be a matter of coincidence, with the near final loss of signal coming at the same time as the storm.
The way in which your signal has degraded (and your only 7km from Blubell Hill, so you should have too much signal, if anything) points to a cause other than the transmitter, which is generally fine. Even though R & T Investigations reports weak signal from Bluebell Hill today, its only for less than two hours, and of course that signal is almost certainly stronger than the pre-switchover signal.
Your setup is thirty years old, and although one of the pros here can give us the kind of timescale that coax does last, a frayed cable, gradually falling, might result in exactly the loss of signal that you've experienced.
As a test, see if you can find an old portable aerial. They are normally rubbish, but your so close to the transmitter, that might be fine. Point it roughly due south, and see what happens. If you get a decent signal, then you know that its something to do with the wiring or aerial.
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M
MikeB8:01 PM
Chris: Firstly, only Sony PVR's were hit by the EPG problem (I know, I own one!), but your TV has no need to be reset to France. Also ignore the sat. (F fitting) socket - its only for Freesat/Sky, and completely incompatable with your Sony. A modern Sony (unless its a W5810) only has Freview, and so you looing for the classic push-in aerial socket.
Your only 11.5km from Crystal Palace (which is on a bearing of 146 degrees) and just 3km from Kensal Town (278 dgrees). Sony's have a nice sensitive tuner, but also pretty solid. In other words, you should have no problem getting a decent signal.
Looking at Google maps, your in a nice tall new building as well, which makes me wonder about something. Check whether the lead from your socket up to the aerial (probably via some sort of distribution system) is connected properly! Its a new build, and not everything gets spotted in the snagging....
OK - the other way to check (and to at least get you some sort of signal) - get a cheap portable aerial (again, normally rubbish, but your close to transmitter, up high, etc). It might be all that you need. If it works fine, then go and shout to whoever you need to shout to, to get things fixed! If nothing else, you could always get a cheap Freesat tuner (just £49.95 for a Manhattan) and use that with the sta. socket, but there is no reason why that should work either!
Let us know how you get on.
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J
jb389:05 PM
LouiseB: I would second MikeB's suggestion with regards to trying a test using a set top aerial for the purpose of finding out exactly what is received, because unless you reside in some horrendously screened location its nearly impossible "not" to receive a signal of sorts from a 20Kw transmitter at a distance of only 4 miles away.
The other point I wondered about being, have you as yet made any enquiries with a neighbour or anyone else nearby to find out if they are being similarly affected? because much as many are loath about having to do this, and I fully appreciate that in many cases with good reason! but it can sometimes save on the inconvenience of needlessly carrying out a series checks in situations where a reception problem, and the possible cause of, is actually widespread in the area thereby being outwith a viewers control.
I am not saying that it definitely applies in your situation, but in cases where a preliminary investigation has not turned up anything obvious then its always the best policy to verify if the problem is confined to your own installation, or possibly not as the case may be!
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C
Chris9:57 PM
London
MikeB: Many thanks for the help. My TV is actually quite new, just under 3 years, so I would imagine (hope) its not the problem with my TV as well.
But one thing I want to point out is that I have been using the SAT socket for the last 2 yrs, with a coax to fibre optic cable. I had all the channels including HD. Don't ask me why I used that, I really have no idea.
With the recent problems, I bought a coax cable to plug into the TV socket, it did have slightly better SD signal for the last few days, no signal for HD though. But today the signals completely gone.
Its possibly some problem with the aerial or the lead from the aerial to socket, which I think I should call the building manager. I think this would be the cost-free option for me, so let me give it a try first.
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NICK ADSL UK
10:36 PM
10:36 PM
JB i always go round my estate to make sure everyone's broadband is up to par
overall most of the 200 residents think i do well in keeping them up to date in a field of technical knowledge they don't know very well' but that's the risk i take to be a leader' as i cant stand by when people just sit in silence and suffer
for me I go out and fix it for free and lead
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LouiseB: You don't have line-of-sight to the transmitter. The effect is that there are spots where one or more signals (frequency/ies) is/are good and where one or more aren't so good. The objective is to site the aerial where all are good.
Because (apparently) an object has changed that is in the path of the signal, one or more signals have changed. This is not an unusual effect - both that the change has caused a change in reception and that not all frequencies are affected to the same degree.
The irony is that if you go to the science department of the Academy, they should be able to explan what might have happened!
The point I alluded to in the first paragraph is that radio waves (signals) travel in straight lines. You can't "see" the source (Crystal Palace) because there is high ground in the way. Consequently, you are relying on the waves bending around the obstruction, which is the brow of the hill.
Different frequencies bend differently - that is they scatter differently. The result is that in the "shadow" of the hill there are spots where one or more is good and others aren't so. Thus, in the shadow there are less places where good reception can be had on all channels.
Now, if you understand that, consider the effect that a building might have. It might be a bit like the brow of the hill, as far as effect on the signal goes; it might affect one or more frequencies and others get away pretty much unscathed.
In your case you may have both these effects together (as far as Crystal Palace goes at least). The more of this that you have, generally speaking (even the professionals say all of this is a black art), the more you could have issues.
The point is that the (apparent) change in the building has resulted in a change to the signal.
The rain on the building perhaps changes how the building affects the signal. For example, maybe it reflects it in a way that acts more to your detriment.
What you might do is try moving the aerial along the loft to see if there is a spot that gives better reception.
The reason aerials are put on rooftops is because that is the place where the clearest view can be had, where there is the least chance of objects being in the way. This goes hand in hand with trying to reduce the degree to which signals being received have been bent and therefore scattered by objects.
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J
jb3811:52 PM
LouiseB : Another point I omitted to add being, that coax cable used purely for indoor purposes does not really deteriorate as such over the years, however terminations made on, and especially in loft type situations, can suffer from copper oxidisation due to the slight inherent dampness found in some lofts of the older variety, and so next time you are in same pull off the termination box cover and re-tighten the two coax retaining screws.
That said, although as aforementioned coax used for indoor purposes does not deteriorate, but though when its of the age group referred to its very unlikely to be of the quality standard of that found on most non-satellite types available nowadays, and so if its easily accessed it would possibly (but not guaranteed) be of benefit signal strength wise if it was replaced.
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Sunday, 3 November 2013
L
LouiseB5:00 PM
Dave Lindsay:
Thanks for that. I understand how the building may/has affected my reception from crystal palace, even though the part of that building where my aerial faces (the "top end" closest to the hospital) is currently being pulled down, so that could also be contributing to my problems. I've learnt a lot of things since posting on here yesterday, regarding frequencies and aerial groups etc. so I have a lot of things to consider and work on.
I will try that test with a set top aerial for Bluebell Hill as soon as I can borrow one.
jb38: I get what you are saying and I will check all the connectors for deterioration etc. I will also look into replacing the coaxial cable with a higher graded (and better shielded) one. Depending on costs I may replace the lot, aerial included.
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