Oxford TV Transmitter Digital Channels

The Oxford TV transmitter (Bexley) provides DVB-T Freeview coverage to Oxfordshire (including Oxford, Banbury, Bicester, Abingdon, Didcot, Witney and parts of Aylesbury). Fringe Freeview reception from the Oxford DTT transmitter also possible in parts of Newbury and Milton Keynes using a digital compatible TV aerial and subject to favourable local terrain. High gain Freeview aerials suitable for the Oxford TV transmitter are available from Satcure - click here for a discount voucher which can be used on the Satcure website.

UHF DVB-T multiplex channels and power levels for the Oxford digital TV transmitter are given in the table below. To check whether you are in the Oxford DTT transmitter coverage area enter your postcode at the Freeview site by clicking here. For long distance DX Freeview coverage predictions for the outer Oxford digital terrestrial TV service area click here.

Oxford TV Transmitter UHF DTT Channels (Digital Multiplexes)
Mux 1	Mux 2	Mux A	Mux B	Mux C	Mux D
Ch34 - 10kW	Ch68 - 10kW	Ch51 - 6kW	Ch52 - 6kW	Ch48 - 8kW	Ch29 - 8kW

After Digital TV Switchover Date 1 March 2011 (DVB-T power increase to 75kW)
DVB-T PSB1	DVB-T PSB2	DVB-T COM4	DVB-T PSB3	DVB-T Com5	DVB-T Com6
UHF Ch53	UHF Ch57	UHF Ch55	UHF Ch60	UHF Ch59	UHF Ch62

Final digital switchover DVB-T multiplex channel information is subject to change.

We recommend high gain wideband TV aerials for Freeview reception from the Oxford TV transmitter. Many homes served by this south Midlands transmitter will need an aerial upgrade to get good Freeview reception as a high proportion of older existing aerials may be Group C/D, not the required wideband type.

If retained, Group C/D aerials will give Freeview reception problems from the Oxford TV transmitter particularly of Mux 1 and Mux D, since Group C/D aerials are optimised for UHF channels 52 - 68, well away from the Oxford DTT channel numbers.

If some Freeview channels are missing from your digital TV channel line up start by checking your aerial. If you are getting Freeview reception problems on Oxford UHF channel 29 and 34 DTT multiplexes and you are well inside the DTT coverage area from Oxford, it is likely that your installed aerial is not suitable for Freeview. In this case, you'll need to buy a high gain wideband aerial and get it installed by a CAI registered aerial contractor. Alternatively, if you live in a strong DTT signal area, you can try installing a loft aerial yourself. High gain wideband aerials for Freeview are available from eBay.co.uk. A suitable wideband aerial for Oxford Freeview reception is a Triax 52 element.

Oxford Transmitter Fringe DVB-T Reception

I recently tested fringe area Oxford Freeview reception at my home in Greenham, Newbury, Berkshire using my Humax PVR 8000T - known for its high sensitivity DVB-T tuner.

Oxford DTT Reception : Newbury, Berkshire

The path from to the Oxford transmitter (28 miles distant) isn't at all favourable. Although my Pyle Hill, Newbury home is a respectable 110m above sea level (410ft ASL) and has a good view to the north, the path to the Oxford transmitter is totally obscured by the high ground of the Berkshire Downs and the Ridgeway - a mass of chalk rising to around 195m! To make matters worse, I only have an indoor wideband set top TV aerial for Oxford which gives poor analogue TV reception. The aerial is located in a north facing first floor bedroom.

To give you some idea of what analogue TV reception is like on my set top aerial, Six TV at Oxford on UHF Channel 47 is a very poor TV picture, as is Analogue channel 5 from Oxford which also runs low power. Other analogue TV channels from Oxford still have considerable picture noise, but are just about watchable.

Consequently, getting Oxford DVB-T reception in Newbury on this poor indoor TV aerial was always going to be a real challenge, given it doesn't even give decent analogue TV reception!

To my utter amazement my Humax PVR 8000T Freeview box actually managed to receive all but one of the Oxford DTT multiplexes on the set top TV aerial. Signal strength of most DTT multiplexes was around 25 - 30% and signal quality between 60 and 90% on the set top aerial here. Very little picture break up was seen on any Freeview channel with the picture being perfect 99% of the time. The DTT multiplex that wasn't receivable was UHF Channel 51 (Mux A). With a high gain wideband TV aerial mounted on my roof, I would expect perfect DTT reception from the Oxford transmitter here. However, the town centre of Newbury is on considerably lower ground and Oxford DTT may not be possible there.

This test shows that the Humax PVR performs brilliantly in poor Freeview reception areas. Terrestrial Digital TV reception was far better than the equivalent analogue reception from the Oxford transmitter. The Humax Freeview box is therefore highly recommended for fringe DTT reception areas or for DX TV enthusiasts.

Oxford Transmitter Freeview Reception Problems

Some high gain wideband aerials have lower signal gain on the low number UHF channels, so you may see lower signal quality readings on Mux 1 and Mux D from the Oxford transmitter. If you are using a loft aerial, further problems may be experienced with Mux 2 which is on the highest UHF channel 68. The higher the UHF channel, the more signal attenuation will be experienced through trees, tiles and walls. In fringe areas, Mux 2 from the Oxford TV transmitter may not be receivable on an indoor aerial.

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.

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