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Sandy Heath transmitter is a television broadcast station located between Sandy, Bedfordshire and Potton near the B1042. It is owned by Arqiva, formerly NTL Broadcast. It was built in 1966, originally broadcasting Anglia Television on VHF 405-lines, UHF with 625-line services of BBC2, BBC1 and Anglia Television being added in later years. It carried Channel 4 and Five from their launch days, Five at lower power than the other four services. Today it broadcasts all five terrestrial channels (BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1, Channel 4 and five) in analogue, and broadcasts digital television on the DTT platform. It also broadcasts the BBC local radio station BBC Three Counties Radio and the independent radio station Heart Bedford formerly Chiltern. Sandy has co-channel interference issues with a few other transmitters, most significantly with Sutton Coldfield and Waltham. After Digital Switchover (DSO) it has been confirmed by Ofcom that Sandy will remain a wideband transmitter, though most K groups would pick up all six Muxes and an original A group aerial will still receive the three main Public Service Boadcast (PSB) Muxes. At DSO its digital transmission power will increase from 20kW to 200kW.

It is the main local TV transmitter for Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and north Hertfordshire, bringing the nearby area Look East and Anglia Tonight.

== Channels listed by Frequency == ^{[1] [2]}

• Analogue Radio (FM)
  • 96.9 MHz - Heart Bedford (840 watts)
  • 95.5 MHz - BBC Three Counties Radio (1KW)

• Digital Radio
  • Block 12B - 225.648 MHz (5KW) - BBC National DAB
  • Block 11D - 222.064 MHz (4.7KW) - Digital One

• Analogue Television
  • UHF Ch.21 (474 MHz) - Channel 4 (erp 1000KW)
  • UHF Ch.24 (498 MHz) - ITV1 (erp 1000KW)
  • UHF Ch.27 (522 MHz) - BBC Two (erp 1000KW)
  • UHF Ch.31 (554 MHz) - BBC One (erp 1000KW)
  • UHF Ch.39 (618 MHz) - Five (erp 10KW)

• Digital Television (current) (all operating erp 20KW)
  • UHF Ch.40 (626.167 MHz) - Multiplex C (Arqiva)
  • UHF Ch.42 (641.833 MHz) - Multiplex 1 (BBC)
  • UHF Ch.43 (650.167 MHz) - Multiplex A (SDN)
  • UHF Ch.45 (665.833 MHz) - Multiplex 2 (ITV)
  • UHF Ch.46 (674.167 MHz) - Multiplex D (Arqiva)
  • UHF Ch.67 (842.000 MHz) - Multiplex B (BBC)

• Digital Television (post-switchover) — exact allocations within PSB/COM groups to be determined
  • UHF Ch.21 (474 MHz) - Public Service Broadcaster multiplex
  • UHF Ch.24 (498 MHz) - Public Service Broadcaster multiplex
  • UHF Ch.27 (522 MHz) - Public Service Broadcaster multiplex
  • UHF Ch.48 (690 MHz) - Commercial multiplex
  • UHF Ch.51 (714 MHz) - Commercial multiplex
  • UHF Ch.52 (722 MHz) - Commercial multiplex

References

External links

• Info and pictures of Sandy Heath, including co-receivable transmitters.
• MB21 Transmission Gallery - Sandy Heath
• Picture
• Google Maps
• Live Maps

Coordinates: 52°7′48.5″N 0°14′29″W / 52.130139°N 0.24139°W / 52.130139; -0.24139