Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"W |  | SG19 2NH |
The symbol shows the location of the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 920,000 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 Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) mast?
Sandy Heath transmitter - Sandy Heath transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 29/05/2023 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
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)
Which Freeview channels does the Sandy Heath 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 Sandy Heath transmitter?
BBC Look East (West) 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Cambridge CB4 0WZ, 29km east-northeast (66°)
to BBC Cambridge region - 4 masts.
70% of BBC East (East) and BBC East (West) is shared output
ITV Anglia News 1.0m homes 3.7%
from Norwich NR1 3JG, 119km east-northeast (60°)
to ITV Anglia (West) region - 5 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 80% evening news is shared with Anglia (East)
How will the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| 1965-80s | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 12 Feb 2020 | ||||
| VHF | A K T | K T | K T | W T | W T | ||||
| C6 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C21 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C24 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C27 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C31 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ||||||
| C32 | com7 | ||||||||
| C33 | SDN | ||||||||
| C34 | com8 | ||||||||
| C35 | _local | ||||||||
| C36 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C39 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C43 | _local | ||||||||
| C48 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C51tv_off | SDN | ||||||||
| C52tv_off | ArqA | ||||||||
| 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 30 Mar 11 and 13 Apr 11.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 1000kW | |
| BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-7.4dB) 180kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB | (-7.7dB) 170kW | |
| com7 | (-13dB) 49.6kW | |
| com8 | (-13.1dB) 49.1kW | |
| Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D* | (-17dB) 20kW | |
| Analogue 5 | (-20dB) 10kW |
Local transmitter maps
Sandy Heath Freeview Sandy Heath DAB Sandy Heath TV region BBC Cambridge Anglia (West micro region)Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area
|
|
Monday, 7 December 2015
M
MikeB11:29 PM
Coach: 90% signal is too high. We really need a full postcode (just put into a reply and all the links will come up automatically), but if your getting that with an internal aerial (inside the roof or a portable one?), then your getting a very strong signal (do you have a booster?), since your about 30 miles from the transmitter.
You havn't given a make/model for the TV either - that helps, because some tuners are more sensitive than others. However, just becuase a TV is the same brand, its doesn't mean that the tuner will be exactly the same. And if the signal is slightly too high, remember that the level can slightly change from day to day, something I've found out myself with my HD box.
I suspect an attenuator is a good bet. Really cheap, and just brings the strength down so that there is no breakup. maplin do them, and a variable one kight be fine, and just bring things down so that the TV can cope. have a loom again at the page I linked to.
| link to this comment |
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Coach: Some useful comments from MikeP.
For reception problems encountered by relations at NN1 5BT, I took notes of which channels ran OK, which pixellated/dropped out and which didn't load on re-tune at all.
I put that info into a spreadsheet, and pasted in Briantist's info on which MUX each channel was transmitted in, the frequency (MHz) and power (W).
I'd recommend anyone do that.
In the case of NN1 5BT, when I reordered by wattage, they received everything transmitted at 180,000 W on PSB1/2/3 but everything at lower power had problems.
However COM5 is not that much lower in wattage at 170,000 W.
When I reordered by MHz it became clear there were issues with COM5 on 722.0 MHz suggesting a 4G 800 MHz problem.
Solution: low signal strength, probable 4G interference, masthead booster with 4G filter required.
| link to this comment |
C
Coach9:21 PM
Cambridge
MikeB: Thanks MikeB. My post code is CB25 0PA and the tv is Samsung. Bought a attenuator and all ok for now. Find it hard to believe i have high signal considering distance and internal aerial. I do have a booster however which acts as a distribution box. Thanks for your assistance. By the way Maplins don't sell too many out of Cambridge shop which suggests strong signal not an issue in the area.
| link to this comment |
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
C
Coach10:21 PM
MikeB: Still having break up on Channel 4 hd. What i have noticed is that signal strength fluctuates unlike the channels which are ok. Could it be the tv?
| link to this comment |
Thursday, 10 December 2015
J
jb3812:02 AM
Coach: Channel 4HD is broadcast by the PSB3 multiplex, as are channels (45) Film+1 / 101 to 105 / (123) CBBC HD, are these channels also being affected?
| link to this comment |
Monday, 11 January 2016
W
Waspattack11:08 PM
Cambridge
I've noticed a drop in signal power over the last few weeks. All MUXs which used to be about 70/80 power are now down at about 25. The quality is still at 100 and have no problem with the channels but the real issue is that MUX channel 32 which includes BBC4 is now at zero and won't pick up.
Postcode CB22 5DT External aerial on roof/chimney breast. Booster/splitter in loft then leading to a Humax in the living room.
External ground view of aerial seems to be fine. The only idea I have is that we have had some wood fires recently, would this cause an issue with tar coating?
Any other ideas?
| link to this comment |
Thursday, 21 January 2016
Transmitter engineering
4:31 AM
4:31 AM
SANDY HEATH transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 22:53 yesterday to 01:40 today. [BBC]
| link to this comment |
M
malcolm day9:04 PM
Picture breaking down onall channels all day 21st jan 2016 are there any problems
Thank you
Malcolm day
Post code pe38 9tq
| link to this comment |
Friday, 22 January 2016
Transmitter engineering
4:31 AM
4:31 AM
SANDY HEATH transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 22:53 on 20 Jan to 01:40 yesterday. [BBC]
| link to this comment |
Select more comments
Your comment please