Freeview: Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) full-Freeview transmitter
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Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter

Google StreetviewGoogle mapBing mapGoogle Earth51.424,-0.076 or 51°25'26"N 0°4'32"WSE19 1UE

4G at 800MHz (at800) Freeview reception issues

When 800MHz 4G mobile broadband services start there will be 3 multiplexes in the higher risk range (C21-23, C30, C59-60): C22: ArqA, C23: BBCA, C30: BBCB
See How do I know if the 4G broadband will overload my Freeview? and Full UK map of 4G issue areas for details.

Transmitter fauls and engineering works



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The symbol shows the location of the Crystal Palace transmitter which serves 4,490,000 homes.

Other maps:Crystal Palace DABCrystal Palace AM/FMCrystal Palace regionBBC LondonLondon

Radiation patterns

Radiation patterns withheld

Map key

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.

Crystal Palace transmitter Freeview broadcasts

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. The rating shown takes in account the output power level and the various Freeview transmission modes and do not indicate an ongoing fault.

MuxEffective power level, aerial positionRatingModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
Channel icons
1 BBC One London, 2 BBC Two England, 7 BBC Three, 9 BBC Four, 70 CBBC Channel, 71 CBeebies, 80 BBC News, 81 BBC Parliament, 301 301, plus 12 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C23 (490.0MHz) from 324m datum.
PSB2
D3+4
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
Channel icons
3 ITV (London), 4 Channel 4 London ads, 5 Channel 5 London ads, 6 ITV 2, 13 Channel 4+1 London ads, 14 More 4, 28 E4, 33 ITV +1 (London),
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C26 (514.0MHz) from 324m datum.
PSB3
BBCB
 horizontal
Maximum256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s
DVB-T2 MPEG4		200,000
Channel icons
101 BBC One HD (England no regional news), 102 BBC Two HD (England), 103 ITV HD (ITV London), 104 Channel 4 HD London ads, plus 1 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C30- (545.8MHz) from 324m datum.
COM4
SDN
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
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 22 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C25 (506.0MHz) from 314m datum.
COM5
ArqA
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
Channel icons
 TV News,  TV Stars, 11 PICK TV, 12 Dave, 17 Really, 29 E4+1, 32 Movie Mix, 46 Challenge, 48 Food Network, 82 Sky News, 87 Community Channel, plus 9 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C22 (482.0MHz) from 321m datum.
COM6
ArqB
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
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 21 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C28- (529.8MHz) from 321m datum.


Regional news from the Crystal Palace transmitter


BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 11km north-northwest
to BBC London region - 55 masts.

ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 11km north-northwest
to ITV London region - 55 masts.

Self-help relays

Charlton AthleticTransposerRedeveloped north stand Charlton Athletic Football Club130 homes
DeptfordTransposersouth-east London100 homes
GreenfordTransposer12 km N Heathrow Airport203 homes
HendonTransposerGraham Park estate50 homes
White CityTransposer9 km W central London80 homes

How the transmission frequencies change over time

years1950s~851984-971997-981998-20122012-132013-182013-18
aerial groupVHFA KA KA KA KA KA K
C1BBCtv
C22-2ArqAArqAArqA
C23ITVITVITVBBCABBCABBCA
C25-1SDNSDNSDN
C26BBC1BBC1BBC1D3+4D3+4D3+4
C28-B-ArqB-ArqB-ArqB
C29-Dlocal
C30C4C4C4-BBCB-BBCB-BBCB
600C32-A
C33BBC2BBC2BBC2com7
C34+C
C35com8

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 4th April and 18th April 2012.

  • Ofcom have projected that a local television service for London including Greater London area could use an Interleaved Frequency on the Crystal Palace transmitter using C29
  • COM7, COM8 projected for 2013-16. COM7 and COM8 to operate as Crystal Palace,Guildford, Reigate SFN.

Comparison of old analogue and current digital signal levels

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

History of Channel 3 in the Crystal Palace transmitter area

Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated-Rediffusion†
Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1992Thames†
Jul 1968-Feb 2004London Weekend Television♦
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Carlton†
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc♦
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc†
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Crystal Palace 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

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.

Big Mart
Friday 13 April 2012 6:20PM London
jb38: Thank you again.
NICK ADSL UK
Monday 16 April 2012 9:30AM
I just lost last night all channels from crystal palace on free view on all our TV sets
even after a full restore retune this morning nothing

Maybe a power change over glitch on the Reigate transmitter clashing with the crystal palace transmitter ?
Steve
Tuesday 17 April 2012 9:46AM Luton
Freeview he breaks up. Will things be ok after 18th?
NICK ADSL UK
Tuesday 17 April 2012 8:04PM
Should be Steve
Thomas
Wednesday 18 April 2012 12:12AM Leeds
Announcement on BBC1, here we go...
Tim
Wednesday 18 April 2012 12:38AM Radlett
Farewell analogue you served us well.....
Viavault
Wednesday 18 April 2012 12:46AM
12:30am: All Analog TV transmissions have now been switched off for London. 12:40am Mux22 for freeview ITV, ITV2 etc is switched off.
Chris
Wednesday 18 April 2012 12:53AM
Yes, I'm definitely seeing fewer muxes right now: Just three on 490.0MHz, 537.8MHz and 578.2MHz.

I'm guessing this final switchover isn't someone hitting The Big Red Button...
Chris
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:02AM
Goodbye 537.8MHz and 578.2MHz. Hello, 514MHz :-).
Viavault
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:03AM
BBCA is the only active multiplex at the moment.
Chris
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:15AM
Hmm, my tuning program is finding the following channels:

0x2005 0x2045: pmt_pid 0x0100 (null) -- ITV1 (running)
0x2005 0x2085: pmt_pid 0x0102 (null) -- ITV2 (running)
0x2005 0x20fa: pmt_pid 0x010e (null) -- More 4 (running)
0x2005 0x2100: pmt_pid 0x010b (null) -- E4 (running)
0x2005 0x21c3: pmt_pid 0x0112 (null) -- Rabbit (running)
0x2005 0x2104: pmt_pid 0x010c (null) -- Channel 4+1 (running)
0x2005 0x20c0: pmt_pid 0x0108 (null) -- Channel 4 (running)
0x2005 0x2181: pmt_pid 0x0120 (null) -- Gay Rabbit (running)
0x2005 0x20a9: pmt_pid 0x0122 (null) -- ITV1 +1 (running)
0x2005 0x2134: pmt_pid 0x0121 (null) -- Channel 5 (running)

So I think PSB2 must be active as well.
Tim
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:16AM Radlett
D3+4 ch 26 is active with programs
Chris
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:21AM
I think BBCB has just joined the party too :-).
SwitchoverIWasThere
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:23AM
Bybye analogue, love U loads...
Lot of Freeview channels currently out... but hopefully slowly coming back more powerful than ever... hence hopefully bybye to aerial tinkering and so on... Cheers all thanks and good luck :)
Piers
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:24AM
Hi all just got this from www.ukfree.tv link icon Five million London homes must 'full retune' when switchover ends on 18th April | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

Do not expect ANY FREEVIEW television service from midnight until 6am - or a late as mid-afternoon on some relay transmitters (see below for timetable). This means you will not be able to record Freeview programmes overnight. --- but you can watch online here - www.ukfree.tv link icon Watch live UK TV channels and listen to live radio now.
so we will have to wait :-).
Ann
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:29AM Dartford

My aerial is a new Council Communal Dish type

2.15am : I am still missing lots of channels including ITV 3 Yesterday Five* five USA Quest Ideal World etc. Signal strength is still only 55%

My Signal strength on BBC1/2/3/News went up to 55% the rest stayed at usual 43/47% after the 4th - last few days the rest went up to 55% and were still that before switch off this morning.

Perhaps someone could wake up the chap that switches on the rest of the Channels and the chap that turns the Signal Volume up.

There appears to be a bad spot on the Map between the last d in Dartford and the G of Gravesend - I hope I am not in that spot.

tim
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:45AM Radlett
All muxes being received A OK here, although I would not advice a rescan until morning.
Ann
Wednesday 18 April 2012 3:12AM Dartford

3.0am All present and correct now hereabouts plus 2 new additions to be born later - Signal still 55%

Thanks whoever took the cup of tea to the Engineers to wake them up - must have missed the Signal Volume chappie.
andyboy
Wednesday 18 April 2012 6:32AM Benfleet
hi andyboy just done a full rescan all ok now live in essesx ss7 all 100% very happy good to all
Roger
Wednesday 18 April 2012 7:40AM Chelmsford
CM3 in Essex. All present & correct. :-)
optimist
Wednesday 18 April 2012 8:03AM Stansted
CM24 8DL - Stansted. Rooftop wideband aerial horizontal + masthead amp- std coax in house. Analogue TV. DVD HDD recorder Panasonic DMR EX75 with digital tuner inbuilt & Sony digibox VTXD800 which feeds TV. Scart connections. Aerial path first to Panasonic and then looped through to Sony and then to TV. All retuned successfully. PROBLEM - Tuner sensitivity of Panasonic is less than Sony so it appears that on the Sony we are possibly overloading on the D3+4 mux so that ITV and ITV+1 (and possibly the others) are dropping out periodically. Otherwise all OK on other channels so far. Switching off masthead amp gives no signal at all - no pass through. Should I try and attenuator on the aerial loop from the Panasonic to the Sony to dampen its enthusiasm? Thoughts appreciated.
stu
Wednesday 18 April 2012 8:18AM
All present and correct here in camberley roof mounted aerial 52 element no booster 80% signal and one very happy chappy
Doug
Wednesday 18 April 2012 8:34AM
Dear Optimist - I put a 'high gain' aerial on the roof when the digitial signals started and found it wasn't really needed - I had way too much power (over deviating?) so I put an attenuator in and the reception improved - now they've upped the power looks like I might need to wind in some more attenuation.
Briantist
Wednesday 18 April 2012 9:35AM
There is a checklist about signals being too strong on the Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice page.
Chris
Wednesday 18 April 2012 10:40AM
Here's the initial transponder information my scanner receives:

T 490000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE # London .
T 514000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE # London .
T 545833330 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM256 AUTO AUTO AUTO # London .
T 482000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE # London .
T 506000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE # London .
T 529833330 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE # London .

It doesn't quite match the numbers given above. For example, ArqB seems to be on 529.8MHz instead of 530.0MHz, and if I force it to scan 530.0MHz instead then it gives me everything on 529.8MHz anyway so that every channel is listed twice.
Briantist
Wednesday 18 April 2012 10:47AM
Chris: Digital UK are showing a negative ofset on C28-, so I have added that in.

Just to note, the word "transponder" is not correct, that only applies to a satellite, the word "multiplex" is used in the context of terrestrial broadcasting.
Chris
Wednesday 18 April 2012 10:59AM
OK, thanks. The scan also indicates that SDN and ArqA have FEC of 3/4 instead of 2/3.
Dave K
Wednesday 18 April 2012 11:55AM
Here at TN9 postcode area we are not "officially" in the area to receive Crystal Palace transmissions and aerial is optimised for Bluebell Hill. However I find I can even pick up HDTV from Crystal Palace today and it seems that strength and quality is fine :)

Rather chuffed at the mo, hope it lasts and that DSO at Bluebell Hill doesn't mess it up!
Maria
Wednesday 18 April 2012 12:25PM London
Hello...
I normally watch tv on my Pc. I have a WinTv Nova-T with access to the freeview. Today Its impossible to watch any channel.Could you please explain me what to do to retune or if I should wait untill this start again.Thank you very much for your help!
Chris
Wednesday 18 April 2012 12:38PM
Maria, you're going to need to retune all your channels for your WinTV, exactly the same as for any other TV. How you should do this depends on the software that you are using, and if you're using Windows software then all I can suggest is that you read the manual.
ad
Wednesday 18 April 2012 12:56PM Banstead
I just retuned my freeview tv via factory reset and had no problems i have all channels. Just did my sister's tv too and she's missing pick tv and yesterday!! Er..... what to do? Help?! we both have the same tv
ken
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:45PM
The reception map isnt not entirely correct,all receivable muxes in aylesbury bucks,despite chiltern hills in the distance.
NICK ADSL UK
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:51PM
well i have always had a perfect set up and must be the only person who has now got less signal then before
i have always had 10 for quality and 5 for strength and after switch over i now get 8 for quality and 5 for strength

i have used a attenuator just to see what difference that would make and all that does is drop the quality to 4
NICK ADSL UK
Wednesday 18 April 2012 1:56PM
Also on HD i now get 9 for quality and 5 for strength but the sound has to be turned well up to more then half so if whoever can deal with that would be great has you have to remember to turn the sound well down when coming out of a HD channel

overall a mixed bag
mh
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:11PM
I am in Ash Vale (Between Guildford & Aldershot). I have a digital tv that was picking up all the freeview channels available prior to April 4th. After April 4th I lost BBC1 BBC2 and retunes didn't work. Today (April 18th) I have lost all channels. My tv won't retune and shows a very poor signal strength. (transmitter Crystal Palace). I use a recently upgraded community ariel. Have tried several retunes to no avail.
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:22PM
mh: What's the make and model of your TV? The description you give suggests that it may be that it won't receive post-switchover signals.
ad
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:28PM
I just retuned my freeview tv via factory reset and had no problems i have all channels. Just did my sister's tv too and she's missing pick tv and yesterday!! Er..... what to do? Help?! we both have the same tv
mh
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:30PM
My tv is a Philips 32DW9625 05R.
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 18 April 2012 2:34PM
mh: That model is on Digital UK's "2k-only" list of equipment so will not receive post-switchover signals:

www.digitaluk.co.uk link icon http://www.digitaluk.co.u…ment

2k mode was used for signals before switchover and they are in 8k mode after switchover. Hence on 4th April BBC standard definition services switched to 8k mode which is why your TV wouldn't tune to them.
James
Wednesday 18 April 2012 3:04PM
For Those using linux dvb software such as kaffeine the scan file (eg ~/.kde/shared/apps/kaffeine/scanfile.dvb) needs to have the following values for CrystalPalace

[dvb-t/uk-CrystalPalace]
T 482000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
T 490000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
T 506000000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
T 514000000 8MHz 2/3 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE
T 529800000 8MHz 3/4 NONE QAM64 8k 1/32 NONE

(all non-HD freeview channels)
Mack
Wednesday 18 April 2012 3:11PM
just re-tuned Windows Media Centre and still got 2 BBC One's, and 2 BBC Two's. This happened on the 4th April, and was told it would go away with today's re-tune.
mh
Wednesday 18 April 2012 3:32PM
ok - so i need a set top box. Any recommendations, or will any make/price do please?
Rob Davis
Wednesday 18 April 2012 3:33PM
Slingbox classic is working correctly again while set at UK. The upgrade fixed whatever it didn't like.
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 18 April 2012 3:51PM
mh: Any box will do, particularly if you just want to watch programmes as they are broadcast. I can't give you any recommedations.

If you want a recorder such as one with a hard drive (that stores the programmes within itself), then if you get ones with two tuners in you can watch one channel on the TV whilst recording another, or you probably can record two channels at the same time (depending on the model).
mh
Wednesday 18 April 2012 3:55PM
Ok. Thanks for all your help with my post,

MH.
Briantist
Wednesday 18 April 2012 4:43PM
Rob Davis: It is always good to hear when things go right.
chris
Wednesday 18 April 2012 5:04PM
Carried out a retune on a Tecknika ( Tesco) tv on 4th April and lost a lot of channels that previously did work, including BBC 1 and BBC2. Retuned again on 18th April and have now lost Viewable channels even though the TV retune reports it found 90 channels.This retune stuff is something of a farce, I bought this TV in Sept 2010 and it has built in Freeview, I would expect a longer life from a TV than just 18 months.I now have no tv, Tesco are saying it is out of warranty and not their fault, so it might mean a visit to Trading Standards.Who else can afford to just lose the use of a TV on a government related retune.
Nick
Wednesday 18 April 2012 5:09PM
Hi,
Some of channels have offset, is this something that can be adjusted in a standard set top box? Is it important, will it give improved signal, or does settop box just tune to it automatically?
Thanks.
Briantist
Wednesday 18 April 2012 5:28PM
Nick: The ofsets on the channels are a technical network matter, and 99.99% of set-top boxes will discover them.

They are used to provide a small "buffer" against the bands used for the DDR (4G mobile services).
AD
Wednesday 18 April 2012 5:44PM
Does no one want to answer my question? :(
Rob
Wednesday 18 April 2012 5:58PM Chelmsford
If you have a 2K mode unit you will have losted BBC on the 4th April as they moved to 8K mode. And as of today you will loose the rest as the all swtich to 8K mode. If this is the case as with manny of the original cheap boxes or early TV sets. you will need to buy a new box.



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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