Freeview transmissions on Sutton Coldfield

Mux	Effective power level	Rating	Mode	Watts
1		Maximum	16QAM-2k 18Mb/s MPEG2	8,000
	1 BBC One (West Midlands), 2 BBC Two (England), 7 BBC Three, 70 CBBC Channel, 80 BBC News, 105 BBC Red Button, on C41+ (634.2MHz)
2		Low	64QAM-2k 24Mb/s MPEG2	8,000
	3 ITV1 (Central West), 4 Channel 4, 5 FIVE, 6 ITV2, 13 Channel 4+1, 14 More4, 28 E4, 33 ITV2+1, 100 Teletext, 102 Rabbit, 106 Direct Gov, 107 Gay Rabbit, 728 Heart, on C44+ (658.2MHz)
A		Low	64QAM-2k 24Mb/s MPEG2	8,000
	10 ITV3, 16 QVC, 20 Virgin 1, 23 Bid TV, 30 FIVER, 31 FIVE USA, 38 Quest, 39 SuperCasino, 72 CITV, 84 CNN International, 88 Teachers' TV, 101 Teletext Holidays, 103 Teletext Casino, 104 1-2-1 Dating, 109 MOBILIZER, 307 TOPUP Stream 1, 308 TOPUP Stream 2, 309 TOPUP Stream 3, 712 Smash Hits! Radio, on C47+ (682.2MHz)
B		Maximum	16QAM-2k 18Mb/s MPEG2	8,000
	0 Community, 0 BBCi 302, 9 BBC Four, 71 CBeebies, 81 BBC Parliament, 105 BBC Interactive text, 301 BBCi 301, 303 BBC Sport Interactive, 700 BBC Radio 1, 701 1Xtra BBC, 702 BBC Radio 2, 703 BBC Radio 3, 704 BBC Radio 4, 705 BBC Radio 5 Live, 706 BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra, 707 BBC Radio 6 Music, 708 BBC Radio 7, 709 BBC Asian Network, 710 BBC World Service, on C51+ (714.2MHz)
C		Maximum	16QAM-2k 18Mb/s MPEG2	8,000
	0 Sky Sports News, 11 Sky3, 19 Dave, 25 Dave ja vu, 29 E4+1, 37 price-drop tv, 41 Ideal Extra, 44 Sky 3+1, 82 Sky News, 108 Sky Text, 723 talkSPORT, 725 Premier Christian Radio, 727 Absolute Radio, on C52+ (722.2MHz)
D		Maximum	16QAM-2k 18Mb/s MPEG2	8,000
	12 Yesterday, 15 Film4, 18 4Music, 21 VIVA, 22 Ideal World, 24 ITV4, 43 Gems TV, 45 Lottery Xtra, 85 Russia Today, 89 Al Jazeera English, 711 The Hits radio, 713 Kiss radio, 714 Heat Radio, 715 Magic radio, 716 Q radio, 718 Smooth radio, 722 Kerrang! radio, 36 Create and Craft, on C55 (746.0MHz)

To receive Freeview from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter you will require an aerial of group E/W positioned horizontally. This transmitter is 398 metres above sea-level, and transmits at 8,000 watts.

Full list of Freeview transmitters.

Self-help relays

Self-help relays are transmitters that are not owned by the broadcasting and transmission companies, but by the local users. An active deflector (AD) re-transmits the analogue broadcasts on the same frequencies as the original broadcasts, while a transposer (T) transmits the received broadcasts on different frequencies.

Relay name	Type	Location	Notes
BURTON (SHOBNALL)	T	1 km W Burton-on-Trent	60 homes
COALVILLE	T	18 km NW Leicester	600 homes
SOLIHULL	T	Land Rover building	400 homes

Transmission frequencies

Before Sunday 15th November 1998

C40	C43	C46	C50
BBC TWO	ITV1	BBC One	C4

Sunday 15th November 1998 to Wednesday 6th April 2011

C40	C41+	C43	C44+	C46	C47+	C50	C51+	C52+	C55*
BBC TWO	Mux 1	ITV1	Mux 2	BBC One	Mux A	C4	Mux B	Mux C	Mux D

After Wednesday 20th April 2011¶

C29*	C42	C43	C45	C46	C49	C50	C51
Mux NEW8	Mux SDN	Mux BBCA	Mux ArqA	Mux D3+4	Mux ArqB	Mux BBCB	Mux NEW7

¶ NOTE: At Sutton Coldfield, the SDN (ch42) and Arqiva A (ch45) multiplexes will launch at 20kW ERP initially and adopt their final power later in 2011.

Colour bands denote aerial groups: Red:A Yellow:B Green:C/D Brown:E Grey:K Black:Wideband

Notes

'Out of group' frequencies are marked with a star. Analogue power output 1,000,000 Watts, post switchover average digital multiplex output will be 150,000 Watts.

To receive signals from this transmitter, the aerial must be mounted for horizontal polarization - the elements going from left to right.

Before switchover, the public service broadcasting multiplexes were 1, 2 and B; afterwards they were first PSB1, 2 and 3 but now called BBCA, D3+4 and BBCB. The commercial multiplexes A, C and D had initial post-switchover names COM4, 5 and 6; now they are SDN, ArqA and ArqB. At switchover BBCA, ArqA and ArqB will switch from 16QAM to 64QAM mode transmission, so five multiplexes will transmit in the 64QAM (2/3) 8k mode. BBCB is used for Freeview HD (DVB-T2, 256QAM), and has a pre-switchover service on selected main transmitters.

Upgrade to Wideband aerial requried to watch all Freeview channels during dual running of analogue and digital television. After switchover, you will have needed to upgrade to a Wideband aerial to receive some or all digital television services.

Comparison of analogue and digital signal levels

Analogue 1-4
	1000kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB
	200kW (-7dB)
Mux1*, Mux2*, MuxA*, MuxB*, MuxC*, MuxD*
	8kW (-21dB)
*-pre digital switchover (DSO). Decibel values compare to strongest signal value.

itv1 - Sutton Coldfield transmitter area*

Date	Incumbent ITV company
17th Feb 1956 to July 1968	Associated TeleVision (weekdays only)
18th Feb 1956 to July 1968	Associated British Corporation (weekends)
July 1968 to 31st Dec 1981	Associated TeleVision
1st Jan 1982 to date	Central Independent Television
1st Feb 1983 to 31st Dec 1992	TV-am (breakfast)
1st Jan 1993 to date	GMTV (breakfast)
Note	For digital switchover this region is now known as Central West.

* The Sutton Coldfield transmitter was not an original ITV VHF 405-line transmitter: the historical information shown above includes the details of the company reponsible for the Sutton Coldfield transmitter when it began transmission.

405-line VHF black and white TV

From the Sutton Coldfield transmitter, BBC One was broadcast on VHF C4. In the United Kingdom, 405-line television was used from 1936-39 and 1946 until 1982-85.

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