 | |
  Sandy Heath transmitting station (Bedfordshire) | |
| Mast height | 244 metres (801 ft) |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°07′49″N 0°14′29″W / 52.130139°N 0.241389°W |
| Grid reference | TL2036249485 |
| Built | 1965 |
| BBC region | BBC East |
| ITV region | ITV Anglia |
| Local TV service | That's TV Cambridge |
Sandy Heath transmitting station is a television and radio broadcasting station in England, located between Sandy, Bedfordshire and Potton near the B1042. It is owned by Arqiva, formerly NTL Broadcast. It was built in 1965, originally broadcasting Anglia Television on VHF 405-lines, UHF with 625-line services of BBC2, BBC1, and Anglia Television being added by January 1971. It carried Channel 4 and Channel 5 from their launch days, Channel 5 at lower power than the other four services. Today it broadcasts digital television on the DTT platform as digital switchover took place on 13 April 2011. On 17 June 2018, as part of the 700MHz clearance, Com5 (ARQ A) moved from Ch52 to Ch36, Com7 (Arq C) moved from Ch32 to Ch55 and Com8 (Arq D) moved from Ch34 to Ch56
It is a K group or wideband TV transmitter (horizontal polarization), though an original A group aerial will still receive four of the main six muxes,[1] in fact from Feb 2020 only MUX 4 (SDN) was out of the A group. During DSO, the digital transmission power for the PSB and commercial muxes increased from 20 kW to 180 kW and 170 kW respectively.
Sandy Heath is the main local TV transmitter for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Northamptonshire, North Hertfordshire as well as Stevenage, north Buckinghamshire (including Milton Keynes), parts of Essex (such as Saffron Walden), parts of Suffolk (such as Newmarket and Haverhill) and parts of Leicestershire (including Market Harborough).
Sandy Heath has 3 relay stations which are located in Northampton, [2] Kimpton, [3] and Luton. [4]
It also broadcasts the BBC local radio station BBC Three Counties Radio and the independent radio station Heart East, formerly Chiltern Radio.
- ^ "Sandy Heath transmitter". A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ "Freeview Light on the Dallington Park (Northamptonshire, England) transmitter". May 2004.
- ^ "Freeview Light on the Kimpton (Hertfordshire, England) transmitter". May 2004.
- ^ "Luton (Luton, England) Freeview Light transmitter". May 2004.