Full Freeview on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 51.324,0.520 or 51°19'25"N 0°31'13"E |  | ME5 9RD |
The symbol shows the location of the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter which serves 200,000 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 Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter._______
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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Bluebell Hill 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Bluebell Hill transmitter?
BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 28km southwest (219°)
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.
ITV Meridian News 0.7m homes 2.7%
from Maidstone ME14 5NZ, 5km south-southeast (156°)
to ITV Meridian (East) region - 36 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with all of Meridian plus Oxford
How will the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2012 | 2012-13 | 19 Jul 2018 | |||||
| E | E | E | W T | W T | |||||
| C21 | _local | ||||||||
| C28 | _local | ||||||||
| C32 | com7 | ||||||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C39 | +ArqA | ||||||||
| C40 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | +BBCB | SDN | ||||
| C43 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | ArqA | ||||
| C45 | SDN | BBCB | |||||||
| C46 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | ArqB | ||||
| C54tv_off | ArqB | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | COM8tv_off | ||||||||
| C65 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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 13 Jun 12 and 27 Jun 12.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 30kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-1.8dB) 20kW | |
| com8 | (-7.8dB) 5kW | |
| com7 | (-8.1dB) 4.7kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-10dB) 3kW | |
| Mux 2*, Mux A* | (-11.8dB) 2kW |
Local transmitter maps
Bluebell Hill Freeview Bluebell Hill DAB Bluebell Hill TV region BBC South East Meridian (East micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Bluebell Hill transmitter area
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Sunday, 8 July 2018
P
Philip2:01 PM
The signal on both DAB radio and Freeview TV channels have been terrible over the last few weeks with the high barometric pressure which we have enjoyed this summer. I have a narrow band aerial which my local installer said would improve reception, but it has not. He also added a band pass filter in the down lead which he said would improve adjacent channel interference.
Disappointed that Digital TV is not more resilient, at least in the old analogue days you might get snow or lines but at least you still received something.
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Transmitter engineering
9:03 PM
9:03 PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:02 on 05 Jul to 03:48 on 05 Jul, BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 14:56 yesterday to 18:15 yesterday, HD Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:02 on 05 Jul to 03:48 on 05 Jul. [BBC]
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Monday, 9 July 2018
Transmitter engineering
6:03 AM
6:03 AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 14:56 on 07 Jul to 18:15 on 07 Jul, BBC Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:02 on 05 Jul to 03:48 on 05 Jul, HD Digital TV Off Air; DSO related from 00:02 on 05 Jul to 03:48 on 05 Jul. [BBC]
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Tuesday, 10 July 2018
Transmitter engineering
6:03 AM
6:03 AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 14:56 on 07 Jul to 18:15 on 07 Jul. [BBC]
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Friday, 13 July 2018
M
Mike Weatherley11:39 AM
Philip, you're quite right about the high pressure weather conditions destroying the T.V. signal from Bluebell Hill. I've said the same, here myself, recently (asking if anyone else had the same problem), but got a rather snotty reply from someone (an engineer?) who asked why people complain about the signal reception instead of getting new T.V.s or aerials (at extra cost & fitting charge of course). He even tried to blame the periodic loss of the digital T.V. signal (usually in hot weather at this time of year) on "...rainwater getting into the aerial lead on your roof and then taking days to dry out again..." which was a complete red herring. And since we've had a recurrence of the problem recently in North Kent - in the absence of any rain for the last month - that explanation can be seen to have been a load of cobblers. I actually notice it worst if the sky is clear (perversely) ie no clouds, in the evening when the Sun has just set. And since I'm directly east of Bluebell Hill, I'm wondering if the Sun's radiation directly *behind* the transmitter is swamping/disrupting the relatively weaker T.V. signal with electromagnetic 'noise'. At least, as a trained scientist, that's my current theory. And yes Philip, you're right: we never did have this problem before T.V. went digital!
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MikeP
3:42 PM
3:42 PM
Mike Weatherly:
Please also note that this weather effect does not just affect reception from Bluebell Hill but can affect any transmitter signals across the country. It all depends on the way the atmosphere is carrying the signals and how some are able to travel further than intended because of the weather.
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Saturday, 14 July 2018
B
Bertmay12:28 PM
Does anyone exactly know what is being changed at Bluebell Hill this coming week, on the 19th?
The message comes up every time we turn the TV's on, a "Retune is required", all quite ominous in tone.
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K
Ken Collyer12:35 PM
I notice that after the re-tune on 19th there is no provision for COM7 or Com8. What will happen to the stations that are broadcast on these frequencies after 19th, and when exactly does the move happen. At midnight (00.01) or some unknown time during the day.
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J
js3:19 PM
Bertmay: Full details here:
Coverage Checker - Detailed View
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J
js3:27 PM
Ken Collyer: The data hasn't been updated Full data here:
Coverage Checker - Detailed View
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