Freeview: Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) Full Freeview transmitter
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Full Freeview on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter

Google StreetviewGoogle mapBing mapGoogle Earth52.130,-0.242 or 52°7'47"N 0°14'33"WSG19 2NH

4G at 800MHz (at800) Freeview reception issues

Tests now show that SOME households that use masthead amplifiers (and some communal aerial systems) AND are in poor signal areas AND that are very close to a 4G phone mast MAY have their Freeview service disturbed: C21: BBCB
See Expecting 4G interference? Tests now show that you have a one in 300 chance.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter. Click to recheck

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The symbol shows the location of the Sandy Heath (Central Bedfordshire, England) transmitter which serves 920,000 homes.

Other maps:Sandy Heath DABSandy Heath AM/FMSandy Heath regionBBC CambridgeAnglia (West micro region)

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

Radiation patterns withheld

What do the colours on the map mean?

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.


List by multiplex|List by channel number|List by channel name|See terrain plot

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.

MuxAerial positionFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 horizontal -0.5dB
C27 (522.0MHz)291m64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
180,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One Cambridge, 2 BBC Two England, 7 BBC Three, 9 BBC Four, 70 CBBC Channel, 71 CBeebies, 80 BBC News, 81 BBC Parliament, 301 BBC Red Button 1, plus 12 others

PSB2
D3+4
 horizontal -0.5dB
C24 (498.0MHz)291m64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
180,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV (Anglia (West micro region)), 4 Channel 4 South ads, 5 Channel 5 Part Network ads, 6 ITV 2, 13 Channel 4+1 South ads, 14 More 4, 28 E4, 33 ITV +1 (Anglia east),

PSB3
BBCB
 horizontal -0.5dB
C21+ (474.2MHz)291m256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s DVB-T2 MPEG4
180,000W
Channel icons
101 BBC One HD (England no regional news), 102 BBC Two HD (England), 103 ITV HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South ads, 303 BBC Red Button HD, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 horizontal -0.7dB
C51 (714.0MHz)291m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
170,000W
Channel icons
10 ITV 3, 20 G.O.L.D. (not free), 25 Dave ja vu, 26 Home (not free), 27 ITV 2 +1, 30 5*, 31 5USA, 34 ESPN UK (not free), 38 Quest, 39 The Zone, 44 Channel 5 +1, 72 CITV, plus 21 others

COM5
ArqA
 horizontal -0.7dB
C52 (722.0MHz)289m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
170,000W
Channel icons
11 PICK TV, 12 Dave, 17 Really, 29 E4+1, 32 Movie Mix, 46 Challenge, 48 Food Network, 82 Sky News, 87 Community Channel, 302 BBC Red Button 2, plus 9 others

COM6
ArqB
 horizontal -0.7dB
C48 (690.0MHz)289m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
170,000W
Channel icons
15 Film 4, 18 4Music, 19 Yesterday, 21 VIVA, 24 ITV 4, 41 Sky Sports 1 (not free), 42 Sky Sports 2 (not free), 47 4seven, 83 Al Jazeera English, 85 RT English , plus 22 others



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
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
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?

years1965~851984-971997-981998-20112011-132013-182013-18
aerial groupVHFA KKWWWW
C6ITV
C21C4C4C4+BBCB+BBCB+BBCB
C24ITVITVITVD3+4D3+4D3+4
C27BBC2BBC2BBC2BBCABBCABBCA
600C31BBC1BBC1BBC1
C32com7
C34com8
C39C5C5
C40+C
C42-1
C43+Alocal
C45-2
C46+D
C48ArqBArqBArqB
700C51SDNSDNSDN
C52ArqAArqAArqA
800C67B

orange background for multiplexes names moregreen background for transmission frequencieslilac background for power levels in watts800MHz band: 4G mobile to start in 2013700MHz band: possible 4G in 2019 more600MHz band: new or moved digital TV services more
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W
Italics for analogue, digital switchover was Wednesdays 30th March and 13th April 2011.

  • Ofcom have projected that a local television service for Bedford including Sandy could use an Interleaved Frequency on the Sandy Heath transmitter using C43
  • COM7, COM8 projected for 2013-16.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

Analogue 1-4 1000kW
com7, com8(-7dB) 200kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7.4dB) 180kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB(-7.7dB) 170kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 20kW
Analogue 5(-20dB) 10kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sandy Heath transmitter area

Oct 1959-Feb 2004Anglia Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only.


Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom

firstFirst comments prevEarlier comments  ◊  Later commentsnext Latest commentslast

Your comments are always welcome. Please use the form below to add your thoughts or questions to this page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

D
Dawn Bonham
Friday 27 January 2012 2:49PM
Why is it that I am unable to receive certain Freeview channels in Northampton NN3 that friends living in Wootton NN4 take for granted? Why? When considering BT Vision - out of the 72 Freeview channels available, there are apparently 53 channels I can't get. It does make Digital TV look a bit of a joke ! How can I progress ?
Dave Lindsay
Friday 27 January 2012 3:02PM
Dawn Bonham: Around 8% of the population can only get the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) services because the commercial broadcasters don't wish to install transmitters to cover them.

However, I'm not convinced that this affects you as there are no small transmitters in your area that only carry the PSBs.

In order to give a more precise answer, an exact location is required. As too is the transmitter from which you are receiving your signal. If the transmitter is unknown, then the direction of the aerial along with the location should allow it to be worked out.

If it is the commercial channels that you are missing, then perhaps you are receiving from Oxford transmitter. I say this because its commercial services are on low power until 18th April. This is so as to avoid interference with another transmitter that has yet to switch over to digital and is therefore using the same frequencies until then.
H
Harry
Thursday 2 February 2012 3:00AM Harlow
hi we live in Harlow at CM187PB, we currently receive our signal from sandy Heath ( cambs & beds) , we have all channels available from sandy Heath apart from the COM4/SDN channels.. will we be able to receive these channels in the future as we have near maximum signals on all other muxes
Dave Lindsay
Thursday 2 February 2012 10:40AM
Harry: SDN will go up to full power on 9th May.
Briantist
Friday 3 February 2012 6:55AM
Harry : Apologies, the database flag for SDN being on low power had been removed by accident. I have restored the information, see above.
T
Tim Newton
Friday 3 February 2012 11:15AM Bury St. Edmunds
A couple of odd questions about your transmitter coverage maps:

(1)
Is it possible to convert the r,g,b values of your google map overlays back into signal levels in dBm?

(2)
Are the google map overlays scaled the same way for each transmitter; ie does the same shade of green always represent the same signal level irrespective of which transmitter coverage map I am viewing?

Any help always appreciated.
Tim.
Briantist
Friday 3 February 2012 2:36PM
Tim Newton: (1) Yes it is possible.

(2) For details of the colours see www.ukfree.tv link icon New transmitter overlay maps - coming soon | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice they are the same on all pages.
Dave Lindsay
Tuesday 28 February 2012 9:57PM
Briantist: According to Digital UK Tradeview and Ofcom licences document V7, SDN will move to C51 on 9th May, and not 18th April as previously advised.
Briantist
Wednesday 29 February 2012 1:19PM
Dave Lindsay: Thanks, I had it on the www.ukfree.tv link icon Switchover events 2012
| ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice
page but it now shows in the notes above.
L
Len Ogier
Wednesday 29 February 2012 9:22PM Welwyn
I can't receive ITV3 from the Sandy Heath Transmitter on both my TV and Humax. I've tried the reset procedure with no success. Your website doesn't show that you transmit ITV3. Is that the case or is there a problem with my reception? If you don't transmit it, do you intend to do so in the future?
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 29 February 2012 9:41PM
Len Ogier: The multiplex that carries ITV3, QVC, ITV2+1 and others is on low power from Sandy Heath until 9th May.

Try manually tuning to channel 31 if your receiver has a manual tune facility.
Doug Brown
Monday 5 March 2012 9:15PM
Len Ogier:
I live in Harlow, CM18, I too have the same problem. All down to Crystal Palace broadcasting freeview HD on CH 31. Should impove on April 12th when CP HD moves to CH 30. Will get even better on May 9th when SDN from Sandy goes to CH 51 and power increases to 170Kw.
E
E Marriott
Wednesday 14 March 2012 10:58AM
Why can't I get ITV one today?
L
linda
Wednesday 14 March 2012 9:46PM Poole
I have lost channels 3 and 4 before the switchover date.Have tried to retune but no good.Please help!!
M
Mark Fletcher
Wednesday 14 March 2012 10:07PM Halifax
Linda,Poole.Try manually scanning the Mux 2 multiplex on channel 32 on Rowridge is this the transmitter you are on.
Shaun Southall
Wednesday 14 March 2012 11:06PM
Anyone else just lost all the HD channels in Corby? (sandy Heath).
Dino
Monday 19 March 2012 5:28PM
Lost VHF Channel 31 and re-tuned to see if we could get CITV and Quest Freeview channels back, however they have completely disappeared. So much for a reliable Freeview service. Sandy needs to start providing reliable service IMHO.
Dave Lindsay
Monday 19 March 2012 5:51PM
Dino: In circumstances such as yours, you would be best advised not to retune because the only possible outcome is that (most likely) you loose the programme channels from your receiver or you get them back. Crucially, the act of retuning cannot have any affect on getting them back, therefore they would have come back anyway if they are back after retuning.

The act of retuning is therefore like shooting oneself in the foot. Only where there is reason to retune, such as a change of channel should retune be carried out.

The only way you are going to get it back is to repeatedly manual tune to channel 31 until it comes back, whereas had it been left, you could simply have select CITV to see if it was back.
A
Adam B
Monday 19 March 2012 5:53PM Dunstable
Dino:

On the 9th May Mux COM4 will move to UHF CH51, and increase in power from 20KW to 170KW. The current temporary situation is a result of the digital switchover process and will be full resolved on the above date.

Hope this helps,
Adam.
J
Jim chaney
Wednesday 21 March 2012 11:30PM Cambridge
So, who do I really complain to when a transmitter drops power so much that I lose signal?

It *appears* (I am no expert) that the reason I have had no 5*, 5 USA, ITV2+1 etc for months now is that the managers of the Sandy Heath transmitter decided on an order of magnitude decrease in power would not be a problem. Well, for cb2 1re (the little white patch west of cambridge) that drop is enough to lose all channels on that Mux.

Switchover (maybe the shutdown of the Madingly transmitter?) has resulted in a significant loss of access to TV services, often for weeks at a time. There is clearly no hardware faults, as the signal appearance/loss are months apart!

I am at a loss, I am just miles away from a major technicality (Cambridge) and have huge holes in my tv schedule!

Tips?
J
jb38
Thursday 22 March 2012 7:46AM
Jim chaney: The reason for Sandy's SDN mux being on low power is because it shares Ch31 with Crystal Palaces low powered HD service, however Crystal Palace stops using Ch31 from April 18th but its not until May 9th when a re-tuning event takes place at Sandy that SDN's power increases as well as the channel changing from 31 to 51.
S
Scott austin
Monday 26 March 2012 1:55PM
Hi people does anyone know why we are havering probs in Northampton . It's every night at about 10 pm onwards.i am recovering 75db please help
M
mieke
Monday 26 March 2012 7:00PM
My tv has just stopped working altogether and it says ' connect aerial' - which is fully connected.

I live in Sandy. Anyone else got problems? (7pm).
J
jb38
Monday 26 March 2012 8:02PM
mieke: I assume that it must have been a very temporary break? as I checked the signal from Sandy a few minutes ago and it was as normal.

It has been published to expect interruptions to the service to occur at any time during this week, so if the screen is found to be blank at any time do not alter anything.
B
Bob
Friday 6 April 2012 7:58PM Brandon
The strange thing is here in Brandon, the fringe of Sandy - there is no difference in the signal strength on C31 or C27 & both are solid no breakup on the channels - odd
D
Don O'Ketty
Sunday 8 April 2012 8:00AM
I am a bit confused about wild differences in signal strengths I am seeing from Sandy Heath.

I understand why C31 is low, but why do I see this:

C24, Strength 6619069, Quality 100%
C27, Strength 6487999, Quality 98%
C31, Strength 4521926, Quality 68%
C48, Strength 2686917, Quality 40%
C52, Strength 131019, Quality 0%

If there was something wrong with the aerial and the way it was pointing, why would I get virtually perfect signal on two channels and poor (or absent) on others? It's almost like these channels are still on low power?
B
Bob
Wednesday 11 April 2012 6:52PM Brandon
Don, where are you? - have you upgraded your aerial? If you have an old group A aerial, that will cause your problem. You may need to upgrade to a wideband & perhaps replace the co-ax if it has been there many years.
D
D>W>Murray
Friday 13 April 2012 9:53AM Romford
Thanks for your comments.

My problem arose because I could not find out how to retune. The instruction book had no reference to "retuning". A friend helped me when he pointed out that I had to click on "settings". What's in a name ? CONFUSION !
P
Peter Wullems
Tuesday 17 April 2012 5:15PM
I have lost Channels 48, 52 and channel for the High Definition . That a huge part of the available offering.

These represent our preferred viewing channels and so are an unwelcome loss that was previously at good strength, then became very pixelated and poor strength a week or so ago.

Why can this be done without regard to viewers. Digital has been pretty good for the last year but now not.

I have tried auto retune and manual return and my experience reflects Don's.
S
steve
Wednesday 18 April 2012 10:38AM Luton
now crystal palace has completed switch over will we still keep loosing channel 31 (on sandy heath) or will it still be effecting our reception. It getting to the stage where 5 USA is off more than it's on.
Briantist
Wednesday 18 April 2012 10:50AM
steve: C31 is no longer in use at CP, so your SDN multiplex reception should now be perfect.
S
steve
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:08PM Luton
Thanks Brian, I can watch csi again ;)
B
Brian
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:24PM
So Sandy Heath Mux A (SDN) remains ch 31 until 9th May ? Then ch 51? Is this correct, haven't seen any information regards date change (I understood it was going to be today 18/4/12 Comments please
Brian
A
Adam B
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:43PM Dunstable
Brian:

Yes, C31 until 9th May then C51.

Hope this helps,
Adam.
B
Brian
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:53PM
Adam B Thanks for the reply and confirmation of change date.
Brian
J
John
Thursday 19 April 2012 1:31PM Chatteris
Do we know when Sandy Heath will be on full power instead of above average and Low?
A
Andrei
Friday 20 April 2012 10:17PM Stevenage
Hi,

I'm living in Stevenage from 4 april I've lose all ch 48 (Film 4, Yesterday, Viva).
They will be up again?

Thank you.

J
Jon D
Sunday 22 April 2012 9:07AM
Hi.
I live in Stevenage & was told by a freind to retune my freeview box which i done on Friday 20th April, On doing so most of my channels have moved !! channels like bbc1,bbc2,itc1,channl4,channel5 ect are now on channels 364 365 ect !! the picture that is on channels 1,2 etc is just pixelated!!
I have be receiving all these channels from sandy heath fine uptill now!!! Can anyone give me any advice ?? Many thanks
S
Stephen P
Sunday 22 April 2012 11:21AM
Jon D - Sounds like your scan put weak channels it came to first in the 1 2 3 slots and stored stronger ones in an overflow area. You can probably move them; or try retuning with the aerial unplugged until you get past the ones you don't want.
J
Jon D
Sunday 22 April 2012 3:39PM
Thanks Stephen,
Have tryed what you said! have had some luck! But i still have got to use some of the channels in the 300's !But i have heard that if you sandy heath are not on full power untill 9th/10th of may ! could any tell me if this is the chase?PS Ia second free veiw box in the spare room which i have NOT retuned and thats fine !
Thanks Jon
Dave Lindsay
Sunday 22 April 2012 3:48PM
Jon D: As a test to see what transmitters you could be picking up in your area, I put the postcode for Cineworld in Stevenage into the Digital UK Tradeview predictor:

www.digitaluk.co.uk link icon Postcode Checker - Trade View

As I suspected, Crystal Palace may be coming in strong in your area now that it has switched over (which it did so on Wednesday).

Confirm where the erroneous BBC One and ITV1 channels are coming from. Do this by going to them and bringing up the signal strength screen. Most receivers give the UHF channel number (equivalent to frequency) that it is tuned to. If BBC One is on C23 and ITV1 on C26 then those signals are coming from Crystal Palace. You then know what you're trying to avoid when the device goes through its scan.

Unfortunately the signals from Crystal Palace are all in the 20s, as are the Public Service channels from Sandy Heath. The Commercial channels (ITV3, Pick TV, Yesterday etc) from Sandy are in the 40s and 50s (except for one which I changes on 9th May and for which you will have to retune for).

Refer to "After switchover configuration" on this page www.ukfree.tv link icon Freeview multiplexes | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

The programme channels are broadcast in groups known as multiplexes.


Now, what I would do in your situation, if it turns out that the erroneous BBC and ITV signals are from Crystal Palace is to run the automatic tuning scan with the aerial lead unplugged up until 50%. This should give you ArqA (Pick TV etc) and ArqB (Yesterday) which are on 52 and 48 respectively. When you do this after 9th May it will also give you SDN (ITV3) which will then be on 51.

Having done this, then go to manual tune (if your receiver has this function) and manually add the missing multiplexes. BBC A (BBC One etc) is on C27 and D3&4 (ITV1 etc) is on C24. If the receiver has HD, then you need to manually tune to C21 for HD channels.

Finally, as SDN is presently on C31, manually add it. This will move to C51 on 9th May.

If this is a suitable workaround, then make a note of it should you need to retune at a later date.
S
Stephen P
Sunday 22 April 2012 4:37PM
Jon D - there's a note about temp aerials above. Dunno personally.

You can probably move the channels you want into the 1 2 3 etc. slots.
J
Jon D
Sunday 22 April 2012 6:36PM Stevenage
Hi thanks every one for your help !!
Jon
Colin Wray
Thursday 26 April 2012 5:06PM
I am getting a "Retune on 9th May" message popping up. My main txs are CP and OX, but I do get SH C27 but never watch it. None of these three txs have a 9th May change listed so what is going on ?
A
Adam B
Thursday 26 April 2012 5:39PM Dunstable
Colin Wray:

The SDN Mux at Sandy Heath moves on that date to its final frequency, C51 from C31, and its power will increase also. Probably because you can get C27 from SH the message appears.

Hope this helps,
Adam.
D
del
Tuesday 1 May 2012 10:54PM Stevenage
Anyone else having problems? No signal since I came home tonight, apart from an odd 10-20 minutes about 6.30pm. Have done all the box rebooting and all... Just want to know it's not my equipment (which is fairly new)
P
paul
Wednesday 2 May 2012 9:16PM St. Neots
we have had no signal all day the arial is in the loft
M
Mark Fletcher
Wednesday 2 May 2012 11:24PM Halifax
Paul.Unless you leave a full post code or nearby location as such,we cannot be of valuable assistance to you !
S
Stephen P
Thursday 3 May 2012 12:04AM St. Neots
MF - he has - PE19 1JP

Big signal from SH. as no-one else complaining, sounds like bust kit.

Powercycle, rescan, ask locals if theirs OK



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, your location is noted as PE73RY, please indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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