menuMENU    UK Free TV logo Freeview

 

 

Click to see updates

Full Freeview on the Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps54.773,-3.091 or 54°46'21"N 3°5'28"Wsa_postcodeCA7 8DW

 

The symbol shows the location of the Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) transmitter which serves 120,000 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 Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) mast?

Caldbeck transmitter - Caldbeck transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 25/03/2024 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
_______

Which Freeview channels does the Caldbeck 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
C25- (505.8MHz)619mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) North East and Cumbria, 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
C28- (529.8MHz)619mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Border (England)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) North ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 North ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Yorkshire Emley Moor),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C22- (481.8MHz)619mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD North East and Cumbria, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Granada), 104 Channel 4 HD North 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 -3dB
C23- (489.8MHz)598mDTG-850,000W
Channel icons
20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H -3dB
C26- (513.8MHz)598mDTG-850,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H -3dB
C30- (545.8MHz)598mDTG-850,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

PSB1
BBCA
 H -3dB
C27- (521.8MHz)489mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) Scotland, 2 BBC Two Scotland, 7 BBC Alba HD, 23 BBC Three, 24 BBC Four (Scotland SD), 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 13 others

PSB2
D3+4
 H -3dB
C24- (497.8MHz)489mDTG-50,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Border (England)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) North ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 North ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Yorkshire Emley Moor),

PSB3
BBCB
 H max
C22- (481.8MHz)509mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD North East and Cumbria, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Granada), 104 Channel 4 HD North ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others

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

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

regional news image
BBC Look North (Newcastle) 1.6m homes 6.0%
from Newcastle NE99 2NE, 97km east-northeast (77°)
to BBC North East and Cumbria region - 70 masts.
regional news image
ITV Lookaround 0.2m homes 0.7%
from Carlisle CA1 3NT, 17km northeast (45°)
to ITV Border England region - 33 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with Tyne Tees

Are there any self-help relays?

BorelandActive deflector25 km NE Dumfries22 homes School
CarsphairnTransposer35 km SE Ayr84 homes
Crosby GarrettActive deflector35 km N Dumbarton42 homes
DeepdaleActive deflector20 km SW Penrith20 homes
Eskdalemuir BActive deflector45 km NW Carlisle31 homes
KeldActive deflector30 km E Sedbergh17 homes
StaintonTransposer8km W Penrith251 homes (low lying area of housing)

How will the Caldbeck (Cumbria, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1961-80s1984-971997-981998-20092009-1325 Mar 2020
VHFA K TW TW TW TA K T
C11ITVwaves
C22-BBCBBBCB
C23-SDNSDN
C24-D3+4
C25-BBCABBCA
C26-ArqAArqA
C27-BBCA
C28ITVwavesITVwavesITVwaves-D3+4D3+4
C29-ArqBLOCAL2
C30BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1waves-BBCBArqB
C32C4wavesC4wavesC4wavescom7
C33_local
C34BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2waves
C35com8
C56tv_offC5wavesC5waves_local

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 24 Jun 09 and 22 Jul 09.

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

Analogue 1-4 500kW
BBCA, D3+4, BBCB, PSB3 sc(-7dB) 100kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, PSB1 sc, PSB2 sc(-10dB) 50kW
com8(-11.5dB) 35.8kW
com7(-12dB) 31.9kW
Mux 2*, Mux A*(-15.2dB) 15kW
Analogue 5, Mux 1*(-17dB) 10kW
Mux B*(-21.9dB) 3.2kW
Mux C*, Mux D*(-24.9dB) 1.6kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Caldbeck transmitter area

Sep 1961-Feb 2004Border 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.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

Radiation patterns withheld

Comments
Wednesday, 25 December 2019
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:33 PM

Gary Johnson:

Merry Xmas all. Technically speaking, because Caldbeck no longer transmits the COMs 7&8 multiplexes since the last retune, then a Group T (Wideband) is no longer essential. Those top UHF channels will never be used again for TV transmissions from Caldbeck. Whilst there other transmitters using those temporary multiplexes, they are expected to disappear in due course (~2022 is the current best guess as nothing has been formally announced).
Caldbeck's UHF channels are currently all in Group A. There are some transmitters that use Group B or a combination of both (Group K). It's highly unlikely that Caldbeck will ever have any channels in Group B, so if you are in a weak signal area, then a Group A aerial would be the best option (usually better gain etc than a wideband).

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 14 January 2020
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:47 PM

CALDBECK transmitter - Freeview: Off the air due to essential engineering from 14 Jan 15:36 until 14 Jan 15:48. Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 14 Jan 13:58 until 14 Jan 15:36. . [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

5:09 PM

CALDBECK transmitter - Freeview: Off the air due to essential engineering from 14 Jan 15:36. Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 14 Jan 13:58 until 14 Jan 15:36. . [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Friday, 17 January 2020
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:59 AM

CALDBECK transmitter - Freeview: Off the air due to essential engineering from 17 Jan 00:04. Off the air due to essential engineering from 14 Jan 15:36 until 14 Jan 15:48. Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 14 Jan 13:58 until 14 Jan 15:36. . [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

7:47 AM

CALDBECK transmitter - Freeview: Off the air due to essential engineering from 17 Jan 00:04 until 17 Jan 04:55. Off the air due to essential engineering from 14 Jan 15:36 until 14 Jan 15:48. Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 14 Jan 13:58 until 14 Jan 15:36. . [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Monday, 20 January 2020
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:58 AM

CALDBECK transmitter - Freeview: Off the air due to essential engineering from 17 Jan 00:04 until 17 Jan 04:55. . [BBC]

link to this comment
Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts xx flag
Wednesday, 1 April 2020
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:32 PM

All:

FYI a new Local multiplex started on the 25th March on UHF C29 at 4kW, this is in addition to the existing one on C33 according to DigitalUK/Freeview documentation.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
Sunday, 5 April 2020
O
Ogilvie Jackson
10:40 AM

Chris.SE: Interesting your comments on local MUX on ch. 29 [Caldbeck] along with ch.33.
Tried to scan it ,but nothing. Is it intermittent ? and what programs are on it .
regards
Ogilvie

link to this comment
Ogilvie Jackson's 1 post GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:20 PM

Ogilvie Jackson:

I assume at present it's "That's Cumbria" that you are getting on Freeview LCN 8 in your EPG which I believe started life back in 2017 as "That's Carlisle".
As with most Local multiplexes, they are beamed in certain directions to serve particular communities.
The only information I can state positively is that the multiplex on UHF C33 is beamed primarily to the E and NW and to a slightly lesser extent to the NE.
Whereas the new multiplex on C29 is beamed primarily to the SE and a slightly lesser extent to the SW.
It's very unlikely that if you live to the north of Caldbeck that you'll get the mux on C29.
At present I can't locate any information about the broadcasters on the new mux, but would assume that it's just providing additional coverage for That's Cumbria - it might not make any sense (geographically) for it to be anything else, and of course the other stations that use local multiplexes would likely be the same as C33.

Perhaps you could have a look in your local press etc to see if there's any more information available and let us know. If I come across anything further, I'll post it, may be anyone else reading can update us as well.

link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
Monday, 6 April 2020
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:37 PM

All: Just to add to the above information, the launch of this additional coverage was originally scheduled for 29th April, and another document from Freeview/DigitalUK shows this is for "That's Cumbria".
The date was obviously brought forward as this addition does not require any aerial change and as reported else where all other retunes as part of the 700MHz clearance have been postponed most likely until 2021 due to the covid-19 situation. This is because the remaining changes will require aerial support/changes in some locations and that will become very difficult to provide with the social distancing requirements.


link to this comment
Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
Select more comments

Your comment please
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.

UK Free TV is here to help people. If you are rude or disrespectful all of your posts will be deleted and you will be banned.








Privacy policy: UK Free Privacy policy.