Home 
Crystal Palace TV transmitter
Crystal Palace TV Transmitter
TV Reception Problems?
Digital TV Aerial Upgrade
Blake DMX-10A
- Easy installation
- Group A for Highest Gain
- Suits Crystal Palace reception
- For indoor or outdoor use
The Crystal Palace TV transmitter in south London serves 4.5 million homes, providing DTT Freeview coverage to Greater London, Surrey, east Berkshire, south Buckinghamshire, south Hertfordshire, south west Essex and north west Kent. The power increase at Digital Switchover makes Crystal Palace one of the highest power TV transmitters in the UK, alongside Rowridge on the Isle of Wight.
This article provides up to date UHF channel numbers for the Crystal Palace transmitter with reception advice for all Freeview multiplexes, including retuning information to recover missing channels after DSO.
To check whether you are in the Crystal Palace DVB-T transmitter coverage area enter your postcode at the Freeview site. For long distance (DX) Freeview coverage predictions for Crystal Palace click here.
Please note: On 18th April 2012 transmitter power increased to 200kW on all multiplexes (from previous 10-20kW levels).
| After First Stage of Digital Switchover on Wednesday 4th April 2012 | ||||||
| BBC A | BBC B (HD Services) |
Mux 2 (D3 & 4) |
Mux A (SDN) |
Mux B | Mux C (ARQ A) |
Mux D (ARQ B) |
| UHF Ch23 200kW |
UHF Ch31 10kW |
UHF Ch22 20kW |
UHF Ch32 20kW |
UHF Ch28 20kW |
UHF Ch34 20kW |
UHF Ch29 20kW |
| After Last Stage of Digital Switchover on Wednesday 18th April 2012 (Power Increase & Mux Changes) | ||||||
| BBC A | BBC B (HD Services) |
Mux 2 (D3 & 4) |
Mux A (SDN) |
Mux B | Mux C (ARQ A) |
Mux D (ARQ B) |
| UHF Ch23 200kW |
UHF Ch30 200kW |
UHF Ch26 200kW |
UHF Ch25 200kW |
Ceases | UHF Ch22 200kW |
UHF Ch28 200kW |
Retuning Advice
A Full Re-Tune of all digital TV's and set top boxes will be required on April 18th 2012 after the final stages of Crystal Palace digital switchover. The procedure for full re-tuning varies by equipment manufacturer and model, but can normally be carried out from the handset as follows:
- Turn on your Freeview TV or set to box and press the handset "Menu" button
- Choose the "Setup" or "Installation" option which may have a satellite dish, spanner or toolbox icon
- Sometimes access to installer options is password protected. If you are prompted to enter a password try "0000" or "1234"
- Choose "New Installation" or "Full-Retune" option. This is sometimes called "Shipping Conditions" or "Factory Update" or "First Time Installation". Please note that this is not the same as "Add Channels", "Add New Channels" or "Channel Update" - all of which should be avoided, as should any on-screen message prompting the need for a re-tune as this frequently just "Adds New Channels". It is not the same as a full re-installation!
- Ensure that your aerial is connected and Press "OK" and if prompted delete all installed channels.
- All available channels should now be installed and any old erroneous channels removed
Coverage of Crystal Palace Transmitter
Towns and London districts where Crystal Palace Freeview reception is possible (subject to local terrain) include Kingston upon Thames, Richmond, Hammersmith, Ealing, Epsom, Cobham, Weybridge, Staines, Chertsey, Watford and Romford, Essex.
The south London location of the Crystal Palace digital TV transmitter also provides Freeview coverage to east Berkshire (including Virginia Water, Slough, Beaconsfield, Maidenhead, Reading, Basingstoke, Wokingham and Bracknell). Fringe Freeview reception from Crystal Palace may be possible in Newbury, Luton, Stevenage and Aylesbury, with a high gain Group A TV aerial - subject to favourable local terrain.
Aerial Upgrades
The Freeview multiplexes from Crystal Palace occupy the same frequency range as the legacy analogue TV channels which cease broadcasting on the 18th April 2012. Consequently, in many cases an aerial upgrade is not needed for Freeview DTT reception (unless your TV aerial is old or in a poor state of repair, or the signal from Crystal Palace transmitter is too weak for good Freeview reception).
After digital switchover the power level of Freeview transmissions is increased ten fold from 20kW to 200kW which should bring a massive improvement in digital TV reception to fringe areas of the Crystal Palace TV transmitter service area, like Wokingham.
London Freeview Reception Problems
Good Freeview reception in London requires the use of double screened coaxial cable, preferably with a low loss foam insulator like PF100 coaxial cable to connect the aerial to your TV. The same cable should be used for all connections to and from a loft distribution amplifier (if you have one).
The use of double screened cable is especially important in London where electrical noise levels are often high. If your Crystal Palace TV aerial has a long coaxial cable down lead of an older type of single screened coaxial cable, it would be well worthwhile changing it to PF100 cable. We suggest you familiarise yourself with the difference between good versus bad coaxial cables if you are in any doubt concerning the type of cable fitted at your property. Double screened coax will help to eliminate electrical interference pick up through the cable which can cause Freeview picture freeze problems and signal dropout problems.
If some Freeview channels are missing from your Crystal Palace transmitter reception, start by checking your aerial and down lead condition. If the Freeview postcode check shows Crystal Palace Freeview reception is possible, but you are experiencing poor reception, you may need to buy a high gain Group A TV aerial and get it installed as high as possible on your roof by a CAI registered aerial contractor. Alternatively, if you live in a strong Crystal Palace DTT signal area, you can try installing a loft aerial yourself assuming you have reasonable line-of-sight with the transmitter.
However, if you live in a fringe reception area for the Crystal Palace TV transmitter, it would be best to avoid a wideband aerial in favour of a high gain Group A aerial. Group A aerials offer much more signal gain than wideband aerials on the lower UHF channels (Ch21 - Ch32) where all London Freeview channels are transmitted. It is not uncommon to get twice the signal strength from a high gain Group A aerial than a simple wideband array.
It is possible that some locations in the city of London may experience reception difficulties caused by multipath reception from tall nearby buildings, or where nearby electrical interference is present. The use of an inadequate communal TV aerial system for Crystal Palace reception may also give signal quality problems with Freeview. For more help with interference read our Freeview reception problems page.
How to Improve Crystal Palace TV Reception
For fringe reception areas of the Crystal Palace transmitter we recommend a Blake DMX10A TV Aerial for A Group Frequencies or a Triax Unix 52 Group A aerial as these will give the best results.
Disclaimer
The information contained in this page is provided in good faith and is accurate to the best of our ability. No guarantees are offered concerning accuracy of information provided.
