Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 52.600,-1.835 or 52°36'1"N 1°50'5"W |  | B75 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 22/04/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
_______
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 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.
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?
BBC Midlands Today 2.9m homes 10.9%
from Birmingham B1 1RF, 15km south-southwest (200°)
to BBC West Midlands region - 66 masts.
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) | Transposer | 1 km W Burton-on-Trent | 60 homes |
| Coalville | Transposer | 18 km NW Leicester | 600 homes |
| Solihull | Transposer | Land Rover building | 400 homes |
How will the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1950s-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 7 Mar 2018 | ||||
| VHF | B E T | B E T | B E T | B E K T | W T | ||||
| C4 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C33 | com7 | ||||||||
| C35 | com8 | ||||||||
| C36 | LOCAL2 | ||||||||
| C39 | +ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C40 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C42 | SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C43 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C45 | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C46 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C48 | _local | ||||||||
| C50tv_off | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | ||||||
| C51tv_off | LB | ||||||||
| 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 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
|
|
Sunday, 27 March 2011
L
Lyn12:39 PM
Kidderminster
We live in Kidderminster. Last November we bought a Humax PVR, upgraded the aerial on the roof and tuned in to Sutton Coalfied transmitter. Everything was great until a couple of weeks ago when we started to lose channels. Now can't get BBC4, ITV 4,FILM 4 and random others. Have retuned the box several times and the amount of channels its picking up has dropped significantly.
| link to this comment |
Lyn's: mapL's Freeview map terrainL's terrain plot wavesL's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage
K
KMJ,Derby4:07 PM
Roy Trubshaw:The problem seems to be single frequency interference on C44+ causing loss of Mux2 from Sutton Coldfield.If there was a transmitter problem there would be dozens of complaints about loss of ITV1! Make sure all cables and connectors are in good order.Do you have any amplification on the aerial? If there is, analogue ITV1 0n C43 could be overloading your tuner.Otherwise try moving the receiver, turn off other equipment, disconnect any HDMI cables etc. Regarding Mux2 reception from The Wrekin, the signal will increase in strength when MuxD3+4 begins on 20th April 2011. This might prove to be a more robust signal despite coming from behind the aerial.
| link to this comment |
Monday, 28 March 2011
R
Roy Trubshaw8:53 PM
Wolverhampton
KMJ Thank you. I'd probably agree with you, but until Wed/Thur last week there were no problems whatsoever with any of the MUXes from Sutton. As I write tonight (28th) signal quality on Ch44+ is varying between 75% to 100% and signal strength is the same. (Just in time for Law and Order UK! 8-) ).
Not looking forward to April, as the Wrekin signal will swamp Sutton for a while. Time to invest in an aerial rotator!
Roy
| link to this comment |
Roy's: mapR's Freeview map terrainR's terrain plot wavesR's frequency data R's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
A
Adrian2:51 PM
Solihull
Hi
For some reason i have lost all digital and analogue tv. Tried installing a few times to no avail. This has only happened a few days ago. Prior all tv's in house worked fine. I am still getting sky without a problem thankfully. Am aware of some work being done at Sutton. Should I have lost all the above???. If problem is due to works, when will I be back on again?, have you got any suggestions? Thanks
| link to this comment |
Adrian's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
Mike Dimmick3:43 PM
Reading
Adrian: Digital UK report that services are 'liable to interruption' this week. I'm afraid that this is all the information that they give out - we're not privy to exactly when things are being interrupted.
Most likely they're transferring services to a new set of transmitter equipment at ground level. I believe all work on the mast itself is now complete.
It's unlikely that they will be working overtime, so services will probably be back on this evening.
| link to this comment |
Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 31 March 2011
D
David Luckman1:40 PM
Burton-on-trent
Hi Have just bought TV with built in Freeview HD Tuner. Can not get any HD channels. Post code DE15 0AT, I believe I have a grid type aerial, receive signals from Sutton, Channel 5 analogue is perfect
| link to this comment |
David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris5:35 PM
David Luckman. I don't believe Sutton Coldfield will have any HD channels available until digital switchover in September. Andy comments above that there are HD transmissions from Lichfield, maybe the signal is not strong enough to reach you.
| link to this comment |
M
Mike Dimmick5:44 PM
Reading
David Luckman: The HD transmissions are on a lower frequency, C34, than most Group B aerials support. It appears that Scalpcliff Hill is blocking line-of-sight, but Digital UK still predicts a useful signal for some reason. It's possible that careful siting of a Group B Yagi-type aerial might give better results than the grid-type.
Grid-type aerials aren't recommended for digital reception although the reason escapes me for the moment. I think it's simply that they don't give much gain. That's fine for watching analogue at 1000 kW, not so good for a 4 kW HD multiplex.
Don't go overboard with a replacement aerial, the high-power DTT multiplexes will be 17 dB louder than the low-power HD multiplex, which is actually larger than the width of the recommended range of signal strength (45 to 60 dBuV).
| link to this comment |
Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 2 April 2011
K
KMJ,Derby3:55 PM
David Luckman: The digital UK postcode checker gives a prediction for Bole Hill and Emley Moor at your location after switchover. I can't help wondering if at present you may be receiving enough signal from Nottingham/Kimberley on C34 (analogue Channel Five) from behind the aerial to block the low power HD signal from Lichfield as you appear to have a good line of sight to the North. It might be worth waiting until 13th April 2011, when analogue signals are switched off at Kimberley, then having another look for the HD Mux.Also check for VCR or Sky boxes with the RF modulator set around C34.
| link to this comment |
Monday, 4 April 2011
A
Alan T10:39 PM
Rugby
Hello,
Have lost digital signal since Friday (I also experienced long outages in the previous week, but these were due to "engineering work"). Analogue is extremely snowy as well.
Roof mounted High Gain, wideband aerial (300 deg bearing), CV21 1PH.
| link to this comment |
Alan's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Select more comments
Your comment please