Sandy Heath TV Transmitter
Located at Sandy, Bedfordshire. Broadcasts UK Freeview on channel group Group K, horizontal polarisation, at 180 kW.
The short answer
The Sandy Heath transmitter is one of the UK's main Freeview broadcast sites. It serves an estimated 2,400,000 people across 12 counties. Covers Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Northamptonshire, north Herts and Milton Keynes.
Technical specifications
- Location
- Sandy, Bedfordshire
- Channel group
- Group K
- Polarisation
- horizontal
- Power
- 180 kW
- Mast height
- 244 m
- Latitude
- 52.1301°N
- Longitude
- 0.2414°W
Multiplexes (MUXes) carried
Sandy Heath broadcasts the following Freeview multiplexes. Each MUX carries multiple TV channels.
- BBC A
- D3&4
- BBC B HD
- SDN
- ARQ A
- ARQ B
Counties served
This transmitter is the primary Freeview source for the following counties:
Towns served by Sandy Heath
38 UK towns receive their primary Freeview signal from this transmitter:
- Ampthill
- Bedford
- Biggleswade
- Bletchley
- Brackley
- Burton Latimer
- Cambridge
- Chatteris
- Corby
- Daventry
- Desborough
- Dunstable
- Ely
- Flitwick
- Godmanchester
- Houghton Regis
- Huntingdon
- Kempston
- Kettering
- Leighton Buzzard
- Littleport
- Luton
- March
- Milton Keynes
- Newport Pagnell
- Northampton
- Olney
- Peterborough
- Ramsey
- Rushden
- Sandy
- Soham
- St Neots
- Towcester
- Wellingborough
- Whittlesey
- Wisbech
- Wolverton
What aerial works on Sandy Heath?
The transmitter broadcasts on Group K with horizontal polarisation. Most modern wideband aerials will receive this transmitter, but a group-specific aerial gives better signal-to-noise where there's known interference. If you're in a known black spot or fringe area, a high-gain Yagi may be needed.