Full Freeview on the Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter

Brian Butterworth first published this on 1st May 2004 at 08:20 - UK Free TV

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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 29/05/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels

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.

Mux	H/V	Frequency	Height	Mode	Watts
PSB1 BBCA	H max	C43 (650.0MHz)	433m	DTG-	200,000W
	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, 250 BBC Red Button, plus 18 others
PSB2 D3+4	H max	C46 (674.0MHz)	433m	DTG-	200,000W
	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, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Central west),
PSB3 BBCB	H max	C40+ (626.2MHz)	433m	DTG-	200,000W
	56 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD (England no regional news), 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, 109 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others 66 TBN UK,
COM4 SDN	H max	C42 (642.0MHz)	433m	DTG-8	200,000W
	20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! movies action, 46 Channel 5 +1, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 CBS Reality, 74 Dave ja vu, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 89 ITV4 +1, 203 CITV, 208 Pop Player, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, plus 15 others
COM5 ArqA	H max	C45 (666.0MHz)	433m	DTG-8	200,000W
	11 Sky Arts, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 pick, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 57 Smithsonian Channel, 60 Drama +1, 70 Quest +1, 75 Yesterday +1, 83 Together TV, 233 Sky News, plus 9 others
COM6 ArqB	H max	C39+ (618.2MHz)	433m	DTG-8	200,000W
	12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 71 Quest Red +1, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 88 Classic Hits, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 19 others
LB	H -13dB	C48 (690.0MHz)	433m	DTG-12	10,000W
	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?

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	BBCtv_waves
C33						com7
C35						com8
C36						LOCAL2
C39					+ArqB	ArqB
C40		BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	+BBCB	BBCB
C42					SDN	SDN
C43		ITV_waves	ITV_waves	ITV_waves	BBCA	BBCA
C45					ArqA	ArqA
C46		BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	D3+4	D3+4
C48						_local
C50_{tv_off}		C4_waves	C4_waves	C4_waves
C51_{tv_off}						LB
C55_{tv_off}						com7_{tv_off}
C56_{tv_off}						COM8_{tv_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

Local transmitter maps

Sutton Coldfield Freeview Sutton Coldfield DAB Sutton Coldfield TV region BBC West Midlands Central (West micro region)

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sutton Coldfield transmitter area

Feb 1956-Jul 1968	Associated TeleVision†
Feb 1956-Jul 1968	Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981	Associated TeleVision
Jan 1982-Feb 2004	Central Independent Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014	ITV plc

Feb 1983-Dec 1992	TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010	GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014	ITV 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.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

J

Jm F

_{sentiment_satisfied}Silver

10:20 PM

Hi Therese,
Need to clarify what equipment you're using - would equate to or (i.e. not , which is received via an ).
If you have a Freesat box and are getting pixellation, it could be the dish alignment, a dodgy LNB, trees / leaves limiting the "view" of the satellite, or a dodgy . The strength & indicators (hidden in the menu somewhere) would give some clue if you could advise what they're indicating.
If you're using Freeview and an aerial, will need more details for your location (postcode).

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Jm F's 141 posts

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

4:35 AM

- BBC ONE Weak from 00:39 on 08 Jun to 02:07 on 08 Jun [BBC] Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: TV (analogue) Possible weak signal, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 140,744 posts

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

4:35 AM

- BBC ONE Weak from 00:39 on 08 Jun to 02:07 on 08 Jun [BBC] Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: TV (analogue) Possible weak signal, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 140,744 posts

Stuart O.

_{sentiment_satisfied}Silver

8:29 PM
Wrexham

I've mentioned before that I live in a flat and the communal is pointing to . In my , I have a tv set top aerial connected to an that receives excellent signals from , and .

For some strange reason, I have never been able to get a decent from having an outdoor aerial fitted in the loft yet I can get great pictures from a set-top aerial!
Why is this?

I have tried in turn 10, 32 and 48 element aerials. Using an amplifier makes the picture worse. I am using good grade coax so why is such a little indoor aerial capable of giving better results than an outdoor aerial?
It's got me baffled!

I wanted to use an outdoor aerial in the loft instead of the set-top type because that aerial is mounted on top of some boxes to give it more height and improved which doesn't look and feel all that great or safe and an outdoor type would look better and thought it would further improve reception but this has not been the case.

Would anyone be able to tell me why I am experiencing such unexpected results?

to have an answer soon.
Thanks,
Stuart.

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Stuart O.'s 156 posts

M

Mike Dimmick

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

11:55 PM

Therese: If you had reliable before , the most likely explanation is that you now have too much signal. If you have a or , you should remove it. If not, or removing it doesn't, try adding an attenuator.

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Mike Dimmick's 2,486 posts

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

12:40 PM

- Freeview BBC TV (Four, , Parliament, 3... Weak from 10:45 today BBC Digital TV (One, Two, Three, , News) Weak Signal from 10:45 today [BBC] Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: TV () Possible weak signal, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 140,744 posts

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

12:40 PM

- Freeview BBC TV (Four, , Parliament, 3... Weak from 10:45 today BBC Digital TV (One, Two, Three, , News) Weak Signal from 10:45 today [BBC] Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: TV () Possible weak signal, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 140,744 posts

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

1:30 PM

- Freeview BBC TV (Four, , Parliament, 3... Weak from 10:45 today to 11:18 today BBC Digital TV (One, Two, Three, , News) Weak Signal from 10:45 today to 11:18 today [BBC] Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: TV () Possible weak signal, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

link to this comment

Transmitter engineering's 140,744 posts

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

1:30 PM

- Freeview BBC TV (Four, , Parliament, 3... Weak from 10:45 today to 11:18 today BBC Digital TV (One, Two, Three, , News) Weak Signal from 10:45 today to 11:18 today [BBC] Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: TV () Possible weak signal, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 140,744 posts

Transmitter engineering

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Owner

6:33 PM

- Freeview BBC TV (Four, , Parliament, 3... Weak from 10:45 today to 11:18 today BBC Digital TV (One, Two, Three, , News) Weak Signal from 10:45 today to 11:18 today BBC ONE Weak Signal from 17:40 today [BBC] Over the next week Sutton Coldfield main transmitter: TV (analogue) Possible weak signal, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 140,744 posts

Page 76

Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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