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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
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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, 13 January 2013
V
Vick
10:20 AM
Birmingham

I've got back all the channels. There is still some signal problems. It might be due to the weather.

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Vick's 2 posts GB flag
Vick's: mapV's Freeview map terrainV's terrain plot wavesV's frequency data V's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 21 January 2013
J
John Payne
8:16 AM

No tv picture at all today is it due to weather

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John Payne's 1 post GB flag
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
B
bored now
2:13 PM

appaling reception on 5* (30) and pick (11) for 2 weeks or more now
random quality all over the place on a number of channels
signal levels dont seem affected
nothing to do with weather I watched
no snow wind or rain att and its all over the place again today



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bored now's 2 posts GB flag
Saturday, 2 February 2013
B
bored now
3:27 PM
Birmingham

B34 6TW

Some change since previous post:

Signal quality on MUX39 now 10% Power 25%

All other muxes between 35% and 46% power all quality at 100%

Alternate cable run tried (we have it permanent plumbed in now) and other household box tried with very similar readings (Humax PVR's)

Attempt to use an amp raising power to 60-70% on all muxes keeps quality at 100% but quality on mux 39 (618Mhz)
causes power to go to 50% and quality zero
(Suggesting very poor xmit quality of signal in first place)

Same symptoms using rooftop, loft, and indoor RLPA-(amplified) aerials (i.e. no better signal from outside than indoor - perhaps 1-2% flickering at a pinch)

No issues at all over xmas - and of course olympics were perfect on every channel. must be coincidence .... once again.





























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bored now's 2 posts GB flag
bored's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 3 February 2013
S
Sid
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

11:02 AM
Worcester

I think they have been messing around with the power levels since sometime in January on ch39 & ch40 from Sutton in the Midlands. Wenvo in South Wales has moved one of its multiplexes to 39+ in between Suttons ch39 & ch40.
Both these transmitters are high power main ones for their respective regions.
Most of Suttons power is directed southerly to cover Birmingham/West Midlands and down into Worcestershire and Wenvo has a lot of its power pointed north.

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Sid's 33 posts GB flag
Sid's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 8 February 2013
N
Nick
12:47 PM
Halesowen

Me too. Channel 39 all over the place. Intensity average 75% all the time but quality dips from 80% to 1%. All other Muxes are 95% on both intensity and signel. Even got up on a ladder to reposition aerail but no change ?

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Nick's 3 posts GB flag
Nick's: mapN's Freeview map terrainN's terrain plot wavesN's frequency data N's Freeview Detailed Coverage
N
Nick
5:34 PM
Halesowen

Nick: hmmm increased mast height by 1 metre, Signal not 100% but now all channels returned. Channel 39 still not brilliant but at least its there. White knuckles from adding to my pole off a ladder though :-o

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Nick's 3 posts GB flag
Nick's: mapN's Freeview map terrainN's terrain plot wavesN's frequency data N's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 26 March 2013
Watt
6:01 PM
Warwick

I have a strange problem! I'm on the edge of the Sutton Coldfield coverage area (CV35) but have what seems to be a perfectly good signal from a Group B aerial on the chimney and a distribution amplifier.
One of the amp outputs feeds a Humax HDR-FOX-T2 PRV with a Philips flat screen HD-Ready TV daisy chained off it.
For the last 4 months or so, I have been getting picture freezes and breakups while watching the TV via the Humax (connected by HDMI) and when recording stuff on the Humax. This can affect all channels but is mainly on channels from the COM5 and COM6 muxes. When this happens, the Humax reports an adequate signal strength, but dire signal quality. However, if I switch to the TV's tuner and watch the same channels on that, the picture is perfectly ok - and the Philips reports that the qulaity is "excellent"!
I assumed that this must indicate a problem with the Humax. However, I've just had that replaced and the problem is still there - worse if anything!
Where do I go from here?

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Watt's 12 posts GB flag
Watt's: mapW's Freeview map terrainW's terrain plot wavesW's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 28 March 2013
I
ian from notts
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

8:10 AM
Nottingham

Watt- do the recorder and the tv show the signals as being on the same frequency ?
the humax may find and store a rogue signal from a different transmitter, resulting in poor quality

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ian from notts's 253 posts GB flag
ian's: mapI's Freeview map terrainI's terrain plot wavesI's frequency data I's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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