Freeview: Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) Full Freeview transmitter
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Full Freeview on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter

Google StreetviewGoogle mapBing mapGoogle Earth51.324,0.520 or 51°19'25"N 0°31'13"EME5 9RD

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter. Click to recheck

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The symbol shows the location of the Bluebell Hill (Medway, England) transmitter which serves 200,000 homes.

Other maps:Bluebell Hill DABBluebell Hill AM/FMBluebell Hill regionBBC South EastMeridian (East micro region)

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.


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

Bluebell Hill 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.

MuxAerial positionFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 horizontal max
C46 (674.0MHz)242m64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		20,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One South East, 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

PSB2
D3+4
 horizontal max
C43 (650.0MHz)242m64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		20,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV (Meridian (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 (Meridian south coast),

PSB3
BBCB
 horizontal max
C40 (626.0MHz)242m256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s DVB-T2 MPEG4		20,000W
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, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 horizontal max
C45 (666.0MHz)242m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		20,000W
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 22 others

COM5
ArqA
 horizontal max
C39 (618.0MHz)245m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		20,000W
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, plus 9 others

COM6
ArqB
 horizontal max
C54 (738.0MHz)245m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		20,000W
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 21 others



Regional news from the Bluebell Hill transmitter


BBC South East Today 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Tunbridge Wells TN1 1QQ, 28km southwest
to BBC South East region - 45 masts.

ITV Meridian News 0.8m homes 3.1%
from Maidstone ME14 5NZ, 5km south-southeast
to ITV Meridian (East) region - 39 masts.

How the transmission frequencies change over time

years1984-971997-981998-20122012-132013-182013-18
aerial groupEEWEEW
C242
C27A
C28local
C39DArqAArqAArqA
C40BBC1BBC1BBC1BBCBBBCBBBCB
C42-C
C43ITVITVITVD3+4D3+4D3+4
C45-BSDNSDNSDN
C46BBC2BBC2BBC2BBCABBCABBCA
700C54ArqBArqBArqB
C591
800C65C4C4C4

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 13th June and 27th June 2012.

Comparison of old analogue and current digital signal levels

Analogue 1-4 30kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-1.8dB) 20kW
Mux 1*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-10dB) 3kW
Mux 2*, Mux A*(-11.8dB) 2kW

History of Channel 3 in the Bluebell Hill transmitter area

Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated-Rediffusion†
Sep 1955-Jul 1968Associated TeleVision◊
Jul 1968-Dec 1981Thames†
Jul 1968-Dec 1981London Weekend Television♦
Jan 1982-Dec 1992Television South (TVS)
Jan 1993-Dec 2014Meridian
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only. Bluebell Hill 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  ◊ 

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.

David
Wednesday 5 December 2012 12:39PM
I am just 3 miles from Bluebell hill (Vinters park Maidstone) yet reception is poor especially at the moment.Why is this? Is it the weather or what?
David
Wednesday 5 December 2012 8:42PM
Suddenly this evening things are a lot better.I have a SIGNAL STRENGTH OF 6 AND QUALITY of 8 now.It is always channel 54 that suffers the most when things go awry.
jb38
Wednesday 5 December 2012 9:26PM
David: If as was likely, that you were receiving signals from the transmitter that strength wise were bordering on the verges of being "over the top", then if your reception has suddenly improved it simply means that the signal strength has dropped slightly thereby taking the edge off the tuner from operating in a semi-overload situation.

By the way don't trust any signal strength / quality indications seen when in this type of situation, as the receivers signal measuring circuitry gets corrupted due to an element of instability occurring in the tuner and with this resulting in inaccurate indications, these nearly always being much lower than in reality.
Transmitter engineering
Tuesday 15 January 2013 8:02PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview - No reported problems -. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Tuesday 15 January 2013 8:02PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview - No reported problems -. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Tuesday 15 January 2013 8:50PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview No problems on any service. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Tuesday 15 January 2013 8:50PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview No problems on any service. [BBC]
Colin Halton
Wednesday 16 January 2013 5:27PM
Having lost signal on film4, yesterday, and a few others, I did a factory reset and auto rescan on all my tv's and my Humax fox t2 and this cured the problem. I noticed that the channel carrying these signals had changed to 54.
However my Humax DTR 1000 T YouView box won't allow me to do this without wiping the hard drive & therefore losing all the recordings nor does it allow manual scans so I can't scan Channel 54 alone. Fresh autoscanning does not find the channel 54 items so the problem remains. This is going to be a real pain if it happens every time there is this kind of update.
Dave Lindsay
Wednesday 16 January 2013 5:55PM
Colin Halton: COM6 which carries Film4, Yesterday and others has always been on C54 since switchover. Therefore if you were tuned to a different channel you must have been receiving it from another transmitter.

If the unwanted signals are outside the range of channels used by Bluebell Hill then you may be able to get around it by unplugging the aerial lead for that part of the scan. For example, Crystal Palace's are all in the 20s so unplug the aerial for the first 30% of the scan.
mike giggs
Monday 21 January 2013 10:48PM
I live in dartford but would like to get TV south east instead of London. Could I get SE with anew aerial pointing towards bluebell hill. Thanks
Dave Lindsay
Tuesday 22 January 2013 10:50AM
mike giggs: Knowledge of your location, preferably in the form of a postcode or nearby postcode such as a shop, would allow some prediction as to the chances of success to be made.

Judging by the map above, generally speaking, Dartford is shaded from Bluebell Hill. This doesn't mean that it won't be able to be receiver but does generally suggest that it is not the easiest place to receive and whether it can or can't be picked up might vary over the area, perhaps over short distances.
Transmitter engineering
Thursday 11 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Very Weak Signal from 23:56 yesterday. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Thursday 11 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Very Weak Signal from 23:56 yesterday. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Thursday 11 April 2013 10:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 yesterday. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Thursday 11 April 2013 10:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 yesterday. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Thursday 11 April 2013 4:32PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 yesterday to 15:15 today. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Thursday 11 April 2013 4:32PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 yesterday to 15:15 today. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Friday 12 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 yesterday. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Friday 12 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 yesterday. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Saturday 13 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Saturday 13 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Saturday 13 April 2013 4:32PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 today to 15:06 today, BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 today. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Saturday 13 April 2013 4:32PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 today to 15:06 today, BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 today. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Saturday 13 April 2013 7:33PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 today to 15:06 today, BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 today to 17:50 today. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Saturday 13 April 2013 7:33PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 today to 15:06 today, BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 today to 17:50 today. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Sunday 14 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 yesterday to 17:50 yesterday, BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 yesterday to 15:06 yesterday. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Sunday 14 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 yesterday to 17:50 yesterday, BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 yesterday to 15:06 yesterday. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Monday 15 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 on 13 Apr to 17:50 on 13 Apr, BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 on 13 Apr to 15:06 on 13 Apr. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Monday 15 April 2013 4:32AM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - Freeview: BBC Digital TV Weak Signal from 23:56 on 10 Apr to 15:15 on 11 Apr. DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 on 13 Apr to 17:50 on 13 Apr, BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 on 13 Apr to 15:06 on 13 Apr. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Tuesday 16 April 2013 4:32PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 on 13 Apr to 17:50 on 13 Apr, BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 on 13 Apr to 15:06 on 13 Apr. [BBC]
Transmitter engineering
Tuesday 16 April 2013 4:32PM
BLUEBELL HILL transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 15:06 on 13 Apr to 17:50 on 13 Apr, BBC National DAB Radio Weak Signal from 14:32 on 13 Apr to 15:06 on 13 Apr. [BBC]
Mandy Wallace
Tuesday 30 April 2013 4:55PM Ashford
Have just returned freeview, arial on roof and now find Channel5 plus 1 is missing

are you able to advise. I thought I was on the Dover transmitter
Dave Lindsay
Tuesday 30 April 2013 5:07PM
Mandy Wallace: If your receiver has manual tuning then COM4 (ITV3, Channel 5+1 etc) from Bluebell Hill is C45 and from Dover it is on C55.

However, I'm a little puzzled by what you say that you "thought" you were using Dover. On looking at the Streetview photos all the aerials appear to be on Dover, which is due east rather than Bluebell Hill which is west north west.
Kate
Monday 20 May 2013 1:41PM Maidstone
I have had 'no signal' since yesterday morning.What is the problem?
Dave Lindsay
Monday 20 May 2013 1:49PM
Kate: As you appear to live in a block of flats then the suspicion must be that you have alluded to the fact that this is a communal aerial system. In which case this must surely be one possibility!
Kate
Monday 20 May 2013 2:47PM Maidstone
Dave: Thanks for the response,but I don't understand you point please.Yes,it's a communal aerial system. So what happened?and what do I do next?that's my question
Dave Lindsay
Monday 20 May 2013 3:32PM
Kate: I suggest that you ask nearby neighbours and see if they have the same issue. Check that they are using the terrestrial aerial system (Freeview) and not satellite (Sky or Freesat).

The aerial system will have one or more powered boosters (amplifiers) to split the signal so as to feed multiple points. Failure of one of these devices will likely result in loss of signals to the flats which they feed. This could have come about due to it going faulty or loss of electricity supply.

The reason for failure is really irrelevant though. The point is that if the communal aerial system fails, it is down to the party responsible - perhaps your landlord - to see that it is put right. If your neighbours do have the same issue and haven't yet reported it then I suggest that you do so.

Checking with neighbours is a way of ascertaining whether it is likely to be an issue with the aerial system or something to do with your own equipment and wires.

If the aerial feed of your television is connected via another box such as a Sky box or recorder then try connecting directly to the incoming wall socket. If you have one try using a different lead from the wall socket to the TV, just to discount the possibility that it is this which is at fault.

Whatever you do, don't retune as this will simply give a second problem which is that the TV/box isn't tuned.
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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.

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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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