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Full Freeview on the Nottingham (Nottinghamshire, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps52.987,-1.252 or 52°59'11"N 1°15'8"Wsa_postcodeNG16 2SU

 

The symbol shows the location of the Nottingham (Nottinghamshire, England) transmitter which serves 74,000 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.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Nottingham (Nottinghamshire, England) transmitter.

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
_______

Which Freeview channels does the Nottingham 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
 V max
C27 (522.0MHz)175mDTG-400W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) East Midlands, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 17 others

PSB2
D3+4
 V max
C24 (498.0MHz)175mDTG-400W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Central (East 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
 V max
C21+ (474.2MHz)175mDTG-400W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD East 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
 V max
C33 (570.0MHz)175mDTG-8400W
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
 V max
C36 (594.0MHz)175mDTG-8400W
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
 V max
C48 (690.0MHz)175mDTG-8400W
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

LNG
 V -6dB
C44 (658.0MHz)175mDTG-12100W
Channel icons
from 27th May 2014: 7 Notts 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)

The Nottingham (Nottinghamshire, England) mast is a public service broadcasting (PSB) transmitter, it does not provide these commercial (COM) channels: .

If you want to watch these channels, your aerial must point to one of the 80 Full service Freeview transmitters. For more information see the will there ever be more services on the Freeview Light transmitters? page.

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Nottingham transmitter?

regional news image
BBC East Midlands Today 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Nottingham NG2 4UU, 9km east-southeast (117°)
to BBC East Midlands region - 17 masts.
regional news image
ITV Central News 0.9m homes 3.4%
from Birmingham B1 2JT, 72km southwest (218°)
to ITV Central (East) region - 17 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Central (West)

How will the Nottingham (Nottinghamshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1984-971997-981998-20112011-134 Mar 2020
A K TA K TA K TW TW T
C21BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves+BBCBBBCB
C24ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C27BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C31C4wavesC4wavesC4waves
C33SDN
C34C5wavesC5waves
C36ArqA
C44_local
C48ArqBArqB
C50tv_offLNG
C51tv_offSDN
C52tv_offArqA

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 1-5 2kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 400W
LNG(-13dB) 100W
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 40W

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Nottingham 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. Nottingham 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, 27 June 2022
T
Ted Slater
2:16 PM

After some very helpful input some months ago, I am still struggling to receive a decent (useable) signal on CH48 from the Nottingham transmitter. I had previously answered a number of questions on the strength/quality of the signal on all the Nottingham channels but had run into some issues relating to the status of the feed cable.

I apologise for the delay in getting back to you but this problem is now resolved and the integrity of that feed has been confirmed. I am receiving a reasonable level of signal on CH48 (averaging 8/9) but the signal quality is only 1/2. All other channels are providing perfectly useable signals. Do you have any suggestions as to what I should consider next please?

Loft mounted aerial at 75m elevation, 5km from the transmitter.

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Ted Slater's 15 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:56 PM

Ted Slater:

Hi Ted. Just been having a recap on those previous posts. if you recall you did some quality and strength measurements with the aerial direct to the TV for each multiplexes UHF channel.
Results in this post https://ukfree.tv/extras/…2782 all other equipment out of circuit and switched off. The results showed this decrease in quality and strength with increasing UHF channel !

I did mention at the time about doing the same but with just the filter in circuit. Could you do that and post the figures please.
Depending on results, that will hopefully give me a clue about the next possible check.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Friday, 22 July 2022
T
Ted Slater
11:29 AM
Nottingham

Chris.SE: Apologies for the delays in getting bach to you - the number of stairs between the aerial and the television always seem a bit daunting!

I have re-run the strength/quality figures as requested with the filter and the amplifier in and out of the system. As far as the simplistic tv measurement capabilities are reporting, the filter makes no difference to the values either with the amp or not.

The amplifier is, however, essential:

Raw aerial figures with amp
CH Str Qual Str Qual
21 2 0 10 10
24 4 4 10 10
27 3 4 10 10
33 2 0 9 10
36 3 1 9 8
48 2 0 5 3

I hope this may shed some light on the possible problems. Thanks again

Ted

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Ted Slater's 15 posts GB flag
Ted's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 23 July 2022
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:25 PM

Ted Slater:

Hello Ted. Hmm. I come back to a remark I made to an earlier post about the strength dropping with increasing channel number (and therefore increasing frequency) and that pattern exists without the distribution amp/splitter and you've confirmed that the filter is making no difference to the figures.
This would seem to suggest that it's not interference, but some issue with the aerial end. As the aerial is in the loft, then water ingress isn't a likely cause either.

The thing I notice with this last set of results is that the strength is now lower than a comparable set of figures a while ago, and we've just had a period of extremely hot weather where metal joints are most likely going to be affected. As much as it might have seemed unlikely, I'm thinking it's some fault with the aerial, either the connector box to the dipole itself, or if there's a balun, to the balun or balun to dipole or the balun itself.

You say this is a 10 element aerial, roughly how old? Is it a "conract" type with a small metal grid on the back or does it have a few rods as a reflector?
If you know what it is, or it's gain that'd be helpful. But I'm coming to the conclusion, especially if stairs are an issue, that it would be simpler to just replace the aerial.

You don't need anything elaborate considering your proximity to the transmitter etc. so expensive large multi-element aerials are not needed, but maybe something with just slightly better gain than what you have at present. There are quite a few reasonable "K" group aerial about, but as you have a filter a "T"/Wideband would probably do.

What more can you tell us about the existing aerial? (And the amount of space in the loft where it is?).

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Sunday, 24 July 2022
T
Ted Slater
12:31 PM
Nottingham

Chris.SE:

Thanks.

It is clearly a fall-off of signal with increasing frequency but I hadn't considered the aerial as suspect - largely because, as you say, it is well protected and undisturbed. I will however go in and inspect it and the connections.

I estimate it is around 15 years old - probably a Philex or similar as it was bought from Maplins. It has rod reflectors. I will let you know if there is any additional information on it when I get to it.

It is pointing out through a roof that is boarded and slate covered with no felt or insulation (1910 house). There is around a clear metre front and back.

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Ted Slater's 15 posts GB flag
Ted's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
T
Ted Slater
1:11 PM
Nottingham

Chris.SE:

Well, no point in procrastinating. I've just been to look at the aerial and I can see nothing physically wrong with it on a visual inspection. I have photos of the aerial and of the connection box but can't see a way of sharing them with you here. The cable termination looks solid and clean as expected.

There are no obvious maker's marks on it so I can't help any further on that score. In case I have misled you, there are 10 'X' shaped directors, a short solid stub and a two loop dipole. There are 4 reflector rods each side.

If there are any other basic checks I can make on it, please let me know. It certainly doesn't look as though it needs replacing!

Ted

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Ted Slater's 15 posts GB flag
Ted's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:57 PM

Ted Slater:

Unfortunately there is no way of sharing pictures here. In the past people have uploaded to a site where a link can be provided, or found a picture of something identical and given the link to that. I've found this one which sounds almost identical, Part Number 27884D4 -
SLx 4G 48 Element Digital TV Aerial - Philex Electronics Ltd

If you click on the image it shows an enlarged picture.
This user guide for the "kit" version, I don't know how similar yours was -
https://pdg.cef.co.uk/dow….pdf

Are you able to see how the connections are actually connected to the dipole, nuts and bolts or rivets etc.?
What is the loop resistance to the aerial measured from the connection that would go to the splitter?


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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Monday, 25 July 2022
T
Ted Slater
9:38 AM
Nottingham

Chris.SE:

Yes, that is the same basic aerial - the version I have, because of its age, doesn't have the inbuilt 4G filter. The one I'm using was supplied by the project (Televes 404401).

I have checked all the connections. The cable terminates on a balun pcb which is capacitively coupled (through the pcb varnish layer) to the dipole. The cable from the aerial to the splitter is only two metres long so, although I have checked end to end continuity, the loop resistance is well below my measuring capacity.

Whilst up there I also checked the aerial alignment both vertically and horizontally to verify that it is pointing to the Nottingham relay, based on the published latitude and longitude.

You can see why I'm getting exasperated.

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Ted Slater's 15 posts GB flag
Ted's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
T
Ted Slater
11:29 AM
Nottingham

Chris.SE:

And just to be absolutely clear, because of the capacitive coupling, there is no DC loop circuit from the cable end through the dipole. The pcb is screwed down to the ends of the dipole loops with self-threading screws.

Ted

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Ted Slater's 15 posts GB flag
Ted's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 26 July 2022
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:02 AM

Ted Slater:

Frustration is probably an understatement.
As the aerial has a balun, I'm glad there's no loop resistance, at least no short circuits!
With only a 2m length of cable, I would guess it's pretty obvious to check that it's not been crushed at any time which could affect its performance.

Now, in such circumstances, one has to question the (not so?) obvious. As you've checked the cable from the splitter to the TV and done those other measurements, one is left with suspicions about the aerial (especially as we both I guess, are out of other ideas).

Lofts are subject to extremes of temperature and at times there could also be condensation. Different metals in contact with one another can also have reactions over long periods of time.
So although the connections may "look" ok, I'd be inclined to unscrew everything that can be - including the dipole to balun. Make sure everything is spotlessly clean, very carefully use meths to clean contact areas only, maybe use a cotton bud, don't want to upset any varnish!
When re-assembling pay special attention to the braid clamping screws making contact with the PCB and the braid with the PCB if there is copper under it.

I really can't think of anything else at present, this has to be a really odd one.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
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