Full Freeview on the Sudbury (Suffolk, England) transmitter
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Sudbury (Suffolk, England) transmitter.
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The symbol shows the location of the Sudbury (Suffolk, England) transmitter which serves 440,000 homes.
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 plotWhich Freeview channels does the Sudbury 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 | Aerial position | Frequency | Height | Mode | Watts |
PSB1
BBCA | horizontal max | C44 (658.0MHz) | 229m | 64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2 | 100,000W |
| 
1 BBC One East, 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 200 BBC Red Button, 700 BBC Radio 1, 701 BBC Radio 1Xtra, 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 4 Extra, 709 BBC Asian Network, 710 BBC World Service,
|
PSB2
D3+4 | horizontal max | C41 (634.0MHz) | 229m | 64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2 | 100,000W |
| 
3 ITV (Anglia (East 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 max | C47 (682.0MHz) | 229m | 256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s DVB-T2 MPEG4 | 100,000W |
| 
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 232 The Space,
|
COM4
SDN | horizontal max | C58 (770.0MHz) | 186m | 64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2 | 100,000W |
| 
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 Bluebird 1, ADULT Playboy, 16 QVC, 23 Bid TV, 49 The Jewellery Channel, 170 ADULT Section, 171 Television X, 180 XxXpanded TV, 201 Teletext Hols, 202 Rabbit, 203 Gay Rabbit, 204 1-2-1 Dating, 228 Christian, 229 CONNECT 2, 230 VISION2, 234 CONNECT 4, 235 God TV, 236 Sony SAB TV Asia, 724 Capital FM, 727 Absolute Radio, 728 Heart,
|
COM5
ArqA | horizontal max | C60- (785.8MHz) | 228m | 64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2 | 100,000W |
| 
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 36 Create and Craft, 37 Price Drop TV, 43 Gems TV 1, 173 ADULT smileTV3, 175 ADULT PARTY, 176 ADULT Blue, 177 Babestation Xtra, 206 SkyText, 723 talkSPORT,
|
COM6
ArqB | horizontal max | C56 (754.0MHz) | 228m | 64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2 | 100,000W |
| 
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 heat, 0 Argos TV, 22 Ideal World, 35 QVC Beauty, 40 Rocks and Co 1, 172 ADULT smileTV2, 174 Babestation, 199 ADULT Section, 225 VISION, 226 CCTV, 227 Sports, 231 Racing TV , 306 Channel Zero, 711 The Hits radio, 712 Smash Hits!, 713 Kiss, 714 KISSTORY, 715 Magic, 716 Q, 717 Kerrang!, 718 Smooth radio, 725 Premier Radio,
|
Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Sudbury transmitter?
Are there any self-help relays?
| Felixstowe West | Transposer | | 1000 homes +1000 or more homes due to expansion of affected area? |
| Witham | Transposer | 14 km NE Chelmsford. | 118 homes |
How will the Sudbury (Suffolk, England) transmission frequencies change over time?
| years | | 1984-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-2011 | 2011-13 | 2013-18 | 2013-18 | |
| aerial group | | B E | B E | E | E | E | W | |
| 600 | C31 | | | | | | | com7 | |
| C35 | | | C5 | C5 | | | | |
| C37 | | | | | | | com8 | |
| C39 | | | | B | | | | |
| C41 | | ITV | ITV | ITV | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |
| C44 | | BBC2 | BBC2 | BBC2 | BBCA | BBCA | BBCA | |
| C47 | | C4 | C4 | C4 | BBCB | BBCB | BBCB | |
| C48 | | | | +A | | | | |
| 700 | C49 | | | | +1 | | | | |
| C50 | | | | +D | | | | |
| C51 | | BBC1 | BBC1 | BBC1 | | | | |
| C54 | | | | C | | | | |
| C56 | | | | | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | |
| C58 | | | | | SDN | SDN | SDN | |
| C60 | | | | | -ArqA | -ArqA | -ArqA | |
| 800 | C68 | | | | 2 | | | | |
| orange background for multiplexes names more | green background for transmission frequencies | lilac background for power levels in watts | 800MHz band: 4G mobile to start in 2013 | 700MHz band: possible 4G in 2019 more | 600MHz band: new or moved digital TV services more |
Notes:
+ and
- denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as
A B C/D E K WItalics for
analogue, digital switchover was Wednesdays 6th July and 20th July 2011.
- COM7, COM8 projected for 2013-16. COM7 and COM8 to operate as Sudbury, Tacolneston SFN.
How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?
| Analogue 1-4 | 250kW | |
| SDN, ARQA, ARQB, com7, com8, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB | (-4dB) 100kW | |
| Analogue 5 | (-7dB) 50kW | |
| Mux 2* | (-14.9dB) 8.1kW | |
| Mux B* | (-15.2dB) 7.5kW | |
| Mux 1* | (-15.5dB) 7kW | |
| Mux A* | (-17dB) 5kW | |
| Mux C* | (-22.2dB) 1.5kW | |
| Mux D* | (-23.6dB) 1.1kW | |
Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Sudbury transmitter area
| Oct 1959-Feb 2004 | Anglia 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. Sudbury 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.
Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom
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Latest comments
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.
K
Kevin HodgesWednesday 23 January 2013 2:47PM
Chelmsford
Whilst recently scanning the HD channels I caught the end of a test card and 5.1 surround check on the BBC HD preview channel. Does anyone know if this test is broadcast at set times? I've looked on the BBC site but can't find any info. I'm hoping to record this test so I can fiddle with the settings when the boss isn't around!L
LandlubberDaveSaturday 26 January 2013 12:34PM
Clacton-on-seaL
LandlubberDaveSaturday 26 January 2013 12:48PM
Clacton-on-seaLandlubberDave: Broadly speaking, digital either works or it doesn't. By "works" I am talking the bit that you can see, which is producing a picture.
HD pictures are more susceptible to such interference.
Of course, this is not to say that the standard definition signals aren't being affected, it is just that your receiver is able to resolve them to a picture. It may be that they are "only just" good enough. As you only measure is the picture, you perceive them has having no effect. J
jb38Saturday 26 January 2013 7:11PM
That said, there could though be a possible solution to your difficulty, but with this being totally dependant on whether or not you can receive a strong signal from your local Clacton transmitter (bar any obstructions) as although your Sudbury facing aerial is quite a bit out as far as rear reception is concerned, but this fact does not always hold the same importance where really strong signals are concerned, and by your relatively local Clacton transmitter (@ 1.8 miles) having a radiation power of 400watts ERP it "might" still be received at a reasonable (and consistent) strength on your Sudbury facing aerial, and if it was then you could use Clacton for the PSB channels and Sudbury for the COMs.
Fully appreciating that Philips TV's cannot really be classed as being the most user friendly as far as tuning menus are concerned, but you can easily check if Clacton is a possibility by accessing your TV's tuning menu system / manual tune and entering Clacton's HD mux Ch42 (642.0Mhz) but do NOT press search or scan, because on most Freeview devices as soon as the channel number (or frequency) is entered the signal strength / quality its being received at should immediately be shown.
It would though have been of assistance to know the model number of the TV in question.
By the way the other possible station to use for this type of action is Dover (@ 47 miles) and in that case its HD mux is Ch53 (730.0Mhz)
This test might not really come to anything, but its worth a try.
N
NickSaturday 26 January 2013 11:23PM
M
MaryThursday 31 January 2013 12:55PM
Ipswich
I had YouView installed on Thursday (24th) through TalkTalk.
Whilst I have a very healthy 36 channels to choose from, my problem is that:
I live in Ipswich which for local News, Weather and adverts comes under Anglia.
If I try to watch either BBC or ITV HD channels, I do not receive Anglia but for ITV HD get Meridian and for BBC get This is BBC HD (both for the Sussex/Kent area), which is not my local news, weather and adverts.
I have now spoken with TalkTalk each day since Friday regarding this problem and have now basically been told that there is nothing further they can do to assist to rectify the problem.
Yesterday I got in touch with YouView directly and they suggested that I contact DigitalUK, which I have now done but they just say re-tune.
I have re-tuned my YouView box and my postcode is showing correctly.
I was just wondering if anyone may be able to offer some advice as to where I may go from here.
Mary: There are fewer HD regions due to the cost of providing different feeds.
BBC One HD has one region for the whole of England which means that no regional output is carried on it.
Nationwide, ITV has opted to provide about four or five HD regions and those transmitters whose region there isn't a HD equivalent of get the ITV HD of another region.
The majority of the time, all regions carry the same content. So providing a HD feed for each and every region would only be of benefit for the short periods that they are different.
You say that you get 36 channels but Sudbury broadcasts all Freeview channels. To receive all channels you may need your aerial replacing.
Refer to this page for a list of Freeview services (channels):
DTG :: DTT Services by Multiplex
Those with grey and a bullet in the "E" (England) column apply. There are 36 services on the PSB multiplexes which leads me to suspect that you are not receiving the COMs, which, for Sudbury, may require a different aerial. K
KMJ,DerbyThursday 31 January 2013 8:25PM
N
NickSunday 3 February 2013 9:12PM
Sorry to call on you again but I have yet another problem from Sudbury. You may recall the problems I had with the mux on c60. I have a big aerial, 28db booster, on a long pole in a high location and with no Dutchmen interfering in the winter can now get it. However, the hitherto strongest muxes showing 100%, ie ch41 and 44, are now periodically partially breaking up. Can this happen with TOO MUCH signal?J
jb38Sunday 3 February 2013 9:35PM
Just out of curiosity, did you test to make sure that Ch60 was still NOT being received before you installed your new aerial system? the only reason for asking being that terrain changes as far as reflective properties are concerned that usually occur during the winter months can alter reception whereby some might lose channels and others might gain, this being my reason for asking.
It should also be appreciated though, that the changing conditions referred to can also be to the detriment of a channel that was previously OK before, I only say this in case there is no difference when you reduce the signal. N
NickTuesday 5 February 2013 7:44AM
No, could not get c60 before upgrade.
Masthead amp, suppose I now have to attenuate and lose c60.
For your interest, I have been surprised how Dover comes in in winter as well as summer, but have now removed aerial. Before doing so I did a strength test. I noticed the signal was lower on c59, despite the power on that channel being double that of some other channels. Dover uses a group c/d aerial and unlike Sudbury, the channels are not widely spread needing a wideband. To me this shows that signals travel less well on the high channels and that my problem with Sudbury is that they are too widely spread, some with too much signal, some not enough, just can't win!P
PETER HUGHESMonday 25 February 2013 3:50PM
Clacton-on-sea
My immediate thought that this might be a local Clacton pirate radio station, over powering the Sudbury signal. When the record finished, BBC presenter's voice (Stewart Mc Connie) started talking. The "replaced" sound was, in fact, BBC Radio 6 Music channel (which is also part of the BBC MUX on UHF Channel 44) I then pressed channel 1 on the Freeview remoote and on screen it showed BBC ONE AUDIO, CH. UHF 44.
Then about a minute later, the radio sound was replaced by BBC ONE sound plus return of vision. Did anybody else witness this? I assume that someone at Sudbury station "got their lines crossed" ???
P
peter parkerMonday 4 March 2013 2:58PM
Ipswich
i have 2 separate teles one on a lft aerial and one on a highgain gable end erected aerial,but am unable to receive channels yesterday,dave and quest ect,
help. my arerials are tuned to the sudbury transmitterI have 2 teles ,one on a loft aerial and the 2nd on a highgain gable end external aerial tuned to sudbury transmitter,but cant receive the yestrday,dave,really channels etc.,
help is their a reason for this.
peter peter parker: Suffolk One College appears to be close to the signal path. Also, you are not the only person to have issues with COM5 (C60) from Sudbury. Nick in Hollesley finds it to be intermittent, and you are on the same bearing from the transmitter. K
KMJ,DerbyMonday 4 March 2013 4:29PM
N
NickThursday 7 March 2013 11:26PM
Nick: I was going to suggest that you wait until the BBC programmes are shown on Dave, but maybe not. N
NickSunday 10 March 2013 10:57PM
J
jb38Sunday 10 March 2013 11:37PM
N
NickTuesday 12 March 2013 6:49PM
I am also puzzled by the fact that I am currently not getting pixellation, or something similar, ie a few small 'boxes' briefly dotting the screen now and then on the two strongest muxes, ITV and BBC. If you recall it was suggested this paterning could be the effect of too large a signal since erecting an almighty aerial, at height, with 28 db booster, to pull in the naff mux on c60J
jb38Tuesday 12 March 2013 7:53PM
At least thats whats indicated on most devices when operating in these type of situations, although not guaranteed to be applicable in every case as its dependant on the equipment being used.N
NickThursday 14 March 2013 6:39PM
if I was using the Icecrypt box this would be useful, but I am using the pvr, Tvonics which does not have signal strength/quality bars, just sig qual which always says 'very good,' and sig level where the bar is always solid green.
Would you have any idea why periodically I lose these channels on the tuner? I switch the box off at the mains at night, but only the BBC channels, and occasionally the ITV channels disappear.J
jb38Thursday 14 March 2013 8:43PM
However with reference to your query, what is the model number of your PVR, and if it only has auto-tuning and not manual as well, then during an auto-tune can you see the names of the programmes being picked up? or if not then does it show a progress bar during the scan? as there is a test I would like you to try but this is dependant on the answers to the aforementioned questions.
N
NickThursday 14 March 2013 9:10PM
I don't believe it shows the stations it is finding. It does have manual tuning. Progress bar during the scan. I disconnect aerial till nearly half way through to stop it logging onto channels from local relay, 23 and 28.
ThanksJ
jb38Friday 15 March 2013 12:40AM
Once done then go into the manual tuning screen then enter and scan on BBC's mux Ch44 storing anything found, then change the search channel to 41 (ITV 1 etc) and carry out the same procedure as before.
Have a look at the EPG listings and you should only see BBC and ITV group channels being listed, once this is observed put the box into standby and then switch it off altogether to simulate it being switched off overnight.
Leave it that way for about an hour or so before switching it back on again then check the EPG programme listings and see if BBC is still being seen, if it is then just click on it to see if this results in normal reception, if though the screen is still blank then go into the tuning menu again and enter BBC Mux Ch44 but do NOT press search or scan as this action should result in the signal level being seen, make a note of the level and then compare it with that obtained whilst on ITV1, giving an update on results. N
NickFriday 15 March 2013 5:35PM
thank you very much, will try this.
Sorry to be thick, but just wondering what we are proving here. Are you suggesting I might have actually lost the signal when I turn on to a blank screen? It does not say 'no signal.'
I will tune it to channels 41 and 44, only as you say, although what gets me is that these strongest channels are the ones that disappear.
[I know which are the strongest channels thanks to Icecrypt box.]N
NickFriday 15 March 2013 10:18PM
J
jb38Saturday 16 March 2013 7:27AM
Of course it could also be found that the problem is being caused by one of the most common reasons of all, and being that the signal level is dipping under the reception threshold for the tuner, although to reiterate on a previous comment I made with regards to the box, insomuch that by it not having separate strength and quality indicators then this is a serious impediment to it being used for any form of meaningful tests, as when dealing with DTT signals a quality indicator is an absolute must.
And on that subject of quality, it would be advantageous if you had a variable attenuator in line with the boxes aerial socket albeit with it normally being kept set for zero attenuation, because going by what you have reported with regards to receiving a strong signal from the BBC mux, if indeed you are then what "might" be happening is that the signal is occasionally peaking over the top and causing intermittent blocking of that mux, as signals received at distances can rapidly fluctuate upwards as well as the reverse and if the former was applying then this is where the in-line variable attenuator would be handy, because should you find that the picture had vanished you could instantly verify (or not) if the problem was being caused by an intermittent signal level excess.
By the way the other reason for suggesting the variable attenuator is that it might be somewhat easier to use that rather than temporarily bypassing the booster.
J
jb38Saturday 16 March 2013 7:40AM
Is this being connected to the box via a scart lead?
N
NickSaturday 16 March 2013 5:10PM
You are a marvel.
Yes, connected by scart to small set, buzz does change pitch according to brightness, but only marginally. Have another small set, ancient Fergusson without remote facility connected by aerial socket to Icecrypt, no problem.
I think you may be barking up the right tree re too much signal on BBC/ITV. I have a whopping homemade aerial and booster to be able at last to pull in the naff mux on c60. Fortunately I also have a 'homemade' booster, it is one of those behind the set ones. I have split it, with the gubbins on the mast, powered by a cable, to the transformer in the attic. I will remove the transformer and replace with 6 volts, as I found during testing I could reduce the gain that way. What a palaver over a rotten mux on c60! If I lose c60 doing this, I will swear!
I will also do your experiment.
N
NickSaturday 16 March 2013 5:30PM
Only my tvonics is on Sudbury. It is not overstretching itself with channels. I only connect the aerial when it looks close to channel 41, a trick difficult to achieve. If I do not do this, it logs onto the local Aldeburgh channels.
All small sets are on Aldeburgh.
Are you saying that if the BBC signal from Sudbury peaks too high it can cause the picture to vanish...and not be restored without a retune?J
jb38Saturday 16 March 2013 6:32PM
But as far as the PSB channels being lost are concerned, if the action of selecting BBC1 results in a blank screen then the "only" way of determining the cause is by following (exactly) the manual tune test procedure as described in my reply on the 12th @ 07.53PM. J
jb38Saturday 16 March 2013 7:31PM
Another problem that could be introduced by this action being, that there is always the possibility of the signal passing through the amplifier becoming corrupted due to the RF transistor being used for amplification becoming unstable because of insufficient voltage on its collector compared to that of the high level of RF on its base. N
NickSaturday 16 March 2013 10:47PM
Did you have any conclusions re the sound buzz with small tvs/ brightness etc?J
jb38Sunday 17 March 2013 8:32AM
However, put simply as it can involve a lengthy explanation, but what you refer to is actually something that was quite frequently heard in a large number of older CRT sets of the somewhat less costly types when the contrast was set on the high side, and with the problem basically being caused by poor design of the power supply allowing the effects of the "maximum current drawing" white level pulses of the video signal to be introduced into the audio circuitry by insufficient levels of filtering, this being why you hear the buzz level changing with the content of the picture.
This type of problem was not really noticed quite so much when the TV was being used for analogue reception via an aerial as the sets auto-gain circuitry kept this level under an element of control, but when a video signal is being fed into the set via the scart socket this control is bypassed thereby placing the circuitry at the mercy of the incoming signal level, and because a Freeview boxes video output is not adjustable in the same way as can be done with a Sky box (three choices of contrast) the only way of compensating for this is on the TV is by reducing the contrast level of the picture, unfortunately on some sets this resulting in the picture having a slight wishy-washy appearance.
N
NickSunday 17 March 2013 7:57PM
seems not to affect bigger sets, and even Sony trinitron portables buzz via scart.J
jb38Sunday 17 March 2013 8:58PM
N
NickSunday 17 March 2013 10:48PM
This problem seems common to several small tvs, scart leads and boxes I have tried, and avoidable only with boxes which will feed via aerial, including my Digital Vision AD-BEAV....which brings me to yet another problem. That box is useful as it can connect via the aerial. However, the speech is often slurred and slow, as if drunk, or a 45 rpm record playing at 33. It is remedied by switching it off at the mains once or twice. Any ideas please?A
AlexaFriday 22 March 2013 9:40PM
AldeburghN
NickFriday 22 March 2013 11:54PM
J
jb38Saturday 23 March 2013 12:01AM
Have you made any enquiries with your neighbours to determine as to whether or not the problem is solely confined to yourself? or that others are being similarly affected? N
NickSaturday 23 March 2013 7:38AM
do you have any idea about the slurred speech on one of my boxes, please?
Sound has now gone on tvonics box, replaced scarts etc, def the box. That did not last long.J
jb38Saturday 23 March 2013 12:21PM
If you have completely reset the box then that's about the only thing that you can do, however I believe that software updates were available for some models although I am not able to check on this as I am unaware of the model you are referring to, although as the company went into administration the link I am thinking about may no longer exist.
Anyway, if you come back with the model number of the PVR in question I will have a check.
By the way, the undermentioned link is for a company that any enquiries concerning TVOnics devices should be addressed to, clicking on "contact us" seen on the left hand side of the page.
Pulse-Eight
N
NickSaturday 23 March 2013 5:49PM
The box with the slurred speech, which appears slow and deeper voice yet pic is in sync, is Digital Vision AD BEAV
Which of these two companies is in administration?
Many thanksJ
jb38Saturday 23 March 2013 7:20PM
Will check up on both devices mentioned.
N
NickSunday 24 March 2013 8:20AM
I went on that pulse site and told them what I think of their product.N
NickSaturday 6 April 2013 7:56AM
14:31
