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Full Freeview on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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The symbol shows the location of the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmitter which serves 4,490,000 homes. 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.

Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) mast?

Crystal Palace transmitter - Crystal Palace transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 18/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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Which Freeview channels does the Crystal Palace 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C23 (490.0MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) London, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 16 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H max
C26 (514.0MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (London), 4 Channel 4 (SD) London ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 London ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (London), 71 That’s 60s,

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C30- (545.8MHz)324mDTG-200,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD London, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV London), 104 Channel 4 HD London ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 H max
C25 (506.0MHz)314mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
20 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C22 (482.0MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C28- (529.8MHz)321mDTG-8200,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

LW
 H -10dB
C35 (586.0MHz)324mDTG-1220,000W
Channel icons
from 31st March 2014: 8 LONDON LIVE,

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Crystal Palace transmitter?

regional news image
BBC London 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London W1A 1AA, 12km north-northwest (335°)
to BBC London region - 55 masts.
regional news image
ITV London News 4.9m homes 18.4%
from London WC1X 8XZ, 11km north-northwest (345°)
to ITV London region - 55 masts.

Are there any 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 will the Crystal Palace (Greater London, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20122012-1321 Mar 2018
VHFA K TA K TA K TA K TW T
C1BBCtvwaves
C22ArqAArqA
C23ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesBBCABBCA
C25SDNSDN
C26BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesD3+4D3+4
C28-ArqBArqB
C29LW
C30C4wavesC4wavesC4waves-BBCBBBCB
C33BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavescom7
C35com8
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off

tv_off Being removed from Freeview (for 5G use) after November 2020 / June 2022 - more
Table shows multiplexes names see this article;
green background for transmission frequencies
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W T
waves denotes analogue; digital switchover was 4 Apr 12 and 18 Apr 12.

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

Analogue 1-4 1000kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 200kW
com7(-13.7dB) 43.1kW
com8(-14dB) 39.8kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*, LW(-17dB) 20kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services 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†
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• 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.

Comments
Sunday, 15 December 2019
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:27 PM

Jean Claude Lau:

It has been said many, many times that the site owner does not have time to update over 1100 transmitter details


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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Monday, 16 December 2019
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:02 AM

John-Claud Lau:

Further to MikeP's post and mine immediately prior to yours, yes, BBCB HD should be listed on UHF C30.
However UHF C35 is not COM8, it's the Local multiplex L-LON which amongst some other channels has London Live.
COMs 7&8 are on UHF55&56 and you should have no trouble receiving them at your location, reception is predicted as Good.
If you are not receiving these temporary HD multiplexes, it's likely that you are still using and old Group A aerial, and a Wideband /Group T is need to receive all multiplexes satisfactorily. COMs 7&8 moved to those UHF channels back in March 2018.

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Chris.SE's 4,359 posts GB flag
H
Huw Radley
1:41 PM

Over the last 3 weeks we have experienced frequent . No signal on all or TVs which are aimed on Crystal Palace.
Postcode GU102NZ

This occurs usually before 08.00 and we also noticed after 01.00. We lost DVB transmission ( Freeview) during election night at 01.10.

It's all fine on TV sets where we have Free - sat also internet derived TV is fine.

When it cuts out it's immediate and complete no break-up as one might see for reduced signal ... the signal is zero and when it returns it's all immediate and fully clear

I have searched web for details but there seems to next to nothing as it concerns Crystal Palace transmission

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Huw Radley's 2 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:56 PM

Huw Radley: If it's happening at the same time every day, there is a high chance that you are suffering with interference caused by electrical noise being emitted from something in your home or close by which operates on a timer. Common culprits include central heating systems (or anything with an electric motor) as well as poorly shielded LED lighting.

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StevensOnln1's 3,671 posts GB flag
D
David Warner
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

8:38 PM

Huw Radley: I think your Crystal Palace signal may be borderline. So if something like adverse weather conditions or some unexplained power reduction at Arqiva occurs your DTV drops out until the signal level is restored to a level the TV can use.
I have had similar problems. I live only 3 miles from Crystal Palace, but my aerial is in the loft. Heavy rain on the roof, verdant leafing on trees over the road or even gradual creeping out of alignment of the aerial itself can take out weaker channels - especially the COM7 and COM8 HF ones for BBC News HD etc, not to mention those interesting channels like PBS America and Smithsonian.
If your aerial if old (like from 2008 or something) this would certainly account for lake of BBC News HD etc as those channels now need Band T aerial, not Band A as someone said upthread.

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David Warner's 30 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:35 PM

Huw Radley:

Both the BBC and Freeview(DigitalUK) predict Good reception of all multiplexes at your location. But that does assume a suitable externally mounted aerial. If you have an old Group A aerial, you'll struggle with the COMs 7&8 multiplexes or not get them (BCC News HD etc.). As David Warner says, loft aerials can suffer various weather issues, never mind signals being obstructed/reflected etc by objects like water tanks, solar panels, walls etc.
If you have an external Group A aerial you should be fine with the other multiplexes.

However, if this is happening at exactly the same time each night (day), then as StevensOnln1 says this is likely to be interference. For those times you have quoted it looks to me like the off-peak times of Economy 7. So have you or a next door neighbour got Economy 7 and probably with Night Storage heating or some equipment timed to run during the cheap rate time like a washing machine tumble drier etc.? If it's just storage or some other Heating then there may be a bad connection, something arcing. I would get investigating.

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Chris.SE's 4,359 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 17 December 2019
H
Huw Radley
9:44 AM

Thanks for those responses received.

Some quick comments - we do not have Economy 7 or similar in our home and our neighbours are not very close to us.
There are a large number of electrical devices in our home that are permanently on or come in on demand - like central heating pumps etc.

Yes we are probably on the edge of Crystal Palace transmissions , but we have been so for over 20 years ( not using the same Ariel I hasten to add) . I am not sure if the type of Ariel we have - I will check this - it was installed about 7-8 years ago. There are a number of high trees near us but most are no longer in leaf.

There are 6 Panasonic TVs here and all exhibit the same issue when it occurs.I am not sure when the outages initiate suffice to say in the middle of the night. In all cases we observe service restored just before 08.00. We have never observed outages during 08.00 to approx 01.00.

As previously mentioned the cut or subsequent restoration is immediate - there is no prior deterioration in signal - it's ether on or off.

I will have a chat with my antenna installation guy who is pretty competent, and familiar with local conditions

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Huw Radley's 2 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 18 December 2019
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:30 AM

Huw Radley :

An aerial that was installed 7-8 years ago will be a Group A type and that is no longer suitable for reception from Crystal Palace. That 'old' aerial will not receive the Com 7 and COM8 multiplexes at all well. You definitely need a Group T or wideband aerial since the changes to the channels used at Crystal Palace.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
D
David Warner
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

1:19 PM

Huw Radley : Agree with MikeP - your aerial is not suitable for Freeview Channels 91-99, 101-113.
It probably works OK with other channels, including BBC One - Channel 5 HD.

What interests me in your comment was this "there are 6 Panasonic TVs here".
Does this mean you have some sort of splitter running one aerial into up to six TVs?
If so, given you are on the fringe of the Crystal Palace reception area, have you consided upgrading your splitter (if you do indeed have one)?

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David Warner's 30 posts GB flag
Thursday, 19 December 2019
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:15 AM

David Warner:

I have already posted that Huw is NOT in a fringe area as both the BBC and Freeview(DigitalUK) are predicting GOOD reception at his location. Also as I've already advised that if he has a group A aerial (highly probable) he won't get (or struggle) with COMs 7 or 8 BUT that does NOT include Freeview channels/LCNs 100-105 (as listed in your post) +204 &65 which are on the BBCB/PSB3 multiplex with which he should have no problem (nor is he reporting any).

Additionally, how many TV's or whatever form of distribution he has is irrelevant to the INTERFERENCE issue he has between the hours of 0100 - 0800 and that is the problem that Huw has been struggling with in the last 3-4 weeks. Crystal Palace has not been listed as having any Planned Engineering eg. currently or last week so low signal between those hours is not a likely cause.

Huw Radley :

Whilst chatting with your antenna installation guy is fine if you want to think about upgrading your aerial, that will not solve this interference problem that has arisen. You need to concentrate on what electrical equipment is operating between those hours and also get some more precise data on whether it's continuous or comes and goes between those hours, exactly what time it seems to start and what time it seems to end.

The fact that your neighbour is not "that close" doesn't stop interference travelling down the mains cables. You should also see if any more accurate timings coincide with the (faulty) operation of any street or external lighting immediately near you or even "dimming" of such lighting if LED.

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Chris.SE's 4,359 posts GB flag
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