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 05/06/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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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
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Friday, 11 October 2013
J
john7:12 PM
Well guys thanks for your advice but since my aerial goes straight to my humax now not through any boosters first the picture is stable and good at the most by the way it wasent a booster it was a masthead amplifier under the aerial outside what the areal was plugged in to was the power supply for it we will just see how it goes now
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john8:58 PM
Update wachting england game through TV tuner on HD bit error level rate going through the roof hence picture break up bad
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jb389:10 PM
john: With reference to the masthead amplifier and power supply for same, if your signal is not now going through the booster or amplifier, both titles meaning the same thing, then how did you manage to bypass the mast head amplifier if it was mounted on the aerial pole? the reason for asking being, that by-passing the power unit has the effect of turning the mast head amplifier into an attenuator.
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john10:11 PM
All I've done is disconeted the power supply in my property which powers the masthead amplifier I've not touched the masthead on the pole
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jb3811:43 PM
john: I somewhat suspected thats what you had done, which as said in my reply means that the signal is now attempting to pass thought an unpowered amplifier stage and which rather than amplifying is now acting like a high level attenuator thereby making the situation worse, therefore I would advise you to power up the booster again.
The other point being, that use the Humax as a guide as far as signal strength / quality indications are concerned rather than the TV as Humax boxes are more in line with the reality of the situation, 80% strength / 100% quality representing a good strong signal whereas most TV's give a somewhat exaggerated indication of the signal level.
Although I do not feel that this applies anyway, at least not at 30 miles away from the transmitter, but if you can find time you should drop in a Maplins and purchase a variable signal attenuator and insert it in line with the mast head amplifier / power unit output that feeds into the humax or TV and see if this makes any difference, albeit I doubt if it will as I stick by my previous statements as to the most likely reason for your problem.
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Saturday, 12 October 2013
J
john8:55 AM
Just put power supply back on like you have just said and things have gone back to how they hence problems and signals gone even lower still humax now in the 20% region as 75% last time booster on file was100% now around 50%iI think I am going to have to get some one out to have a look also I thinking about getting sky or virgin TV much more reliable than freeview
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jb389:12 AM
john: Yes, but did you check the signal strength / quality level immediately before you powered up the booster again? because where erratic reception is involved its essential that an "immediately before and after" checking procedure is involved otherwise any tests carried out are not really valid.
By the way, what markings are printed on the power unit referred to?
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john9:48 AM
Yes I did check the signal before and after just as a matter of interest if the supply power has gone faulty for some reason could you use just a originally TV booster to power the mast head amplifier the markings on the power unit say antiference p1200 230v-50hz basically
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jb3811:40 AM
john: No, because its a signal separator as well as being a power supply, the other point being that if it was faulty then the signal level would be exactly the same whether it was powered or not, the fact that there is a difference strongly suggesting that its perfectly OK.
If you were located in an upstairs flat then I would have been interested in the the result if you managed to borrow a set top aerial and connected that into the Humax's aerial input socket whilst it was sitting on a BBC channel, because considering the fact that your aerial might only be around 10 feet or so above an upstairs window level then "if" an overly strong signal was being received then a picture of sorts would be seen.
That said, its a pity that you cannot access the mast head amplifier as it might actually be defective and especially if water has gained access onto its internal PCB, the effect of creating all sorts of odd problems when powered.
However, the fact still remains that the direction your aerial is facing flies in the face of everyone else around you, and although "some" aerial installers are inclined to "go with the flow" and erect a new aerial facing the same direction as everyone else's, the fact of the sheer numbers thats seen facing Waltham is most likely because that the local installers are aware that it provides the best reception.
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john7:31 PM
Thanks for all your advice and help guys but I have got an aerial books coming round a week on Tuesday I told him what was happening and he also said it could be the mast head amplifier as well I will let you all no what was done when he has been and sorted it out cheers guys
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