Carmarthen transmitting station
![]() ![]() Carmarthen transmitting station (Carmarthenshire) | |
Tower height | 37 metres (121 ft) |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°52′05″N 4°18′26″W / 51.868075°N 4.30715°WCoordinates: 51°52′05″N 4°18′26″W / 51.868075°N 4.30715°W |
Grid reference | SN412213 |
Built | 1964/65 |
Relay of | Wenvoe |
BBC region | BBC Wales |
The Carmarthen transmitting station was originally built by the BBC[1] in 1964/65 as a relay for VHF radio and VHF television. The site was built on a 135 m ridge to the north of Carmarthen itself, and entered service on 15 March 1965. The transmission station is now owned and operated by Arqiva.
UHF 625-line colour television was never radiated from this site: the main transmitter at Carmel (20 km to the east) provided that service to the town from 1973 when it opened.
The 405-line VHF television service closed across the UK in 1985, but according to the BBC's transmitter list[2] and the BBC's internal "Eng. Inf." magazine,[3] Carmarthen was due to close early - in the first quarter of 1982. From that point onwards the site just relayed FM radio until 6 June 2011[4] when a single multiplex of DAB radio was added.
Channels listed by frequency[]
Analogue television[]
15 March 1965 - First Quarter 1982[]
The site provided BBC 405-line VHF television to the towns of Carmarthen and Abergwili which, being sited in a river estuary, could not reliably receive a signal from Wenvoe, 85 km to the east.
Frequency | VHF | kW | Service |
---|---|---|---|
45.00 MHz | 1 | 0.013 | BBC1 Wales |
Analogue radio (VHF FM)[]
15 March 1965 - January 1973[]
According to the BBC's R&D report,[1] the original frequencies for the FM radio services were as shown below.
Frequency | kW | Service |
---|---|---|
88.5 MHz | 0.0065 | BBC Light Programme |
90.7 MHz | 0.0065 | BBC Third Programme |
92.9 MHz | 0.0065 | BBC Welsh Home Service |
January 1973 - May 1978[]
The three original radio services were still on their original frequencies as late as January 1973,[5] but ERPs had been slightly increased to 10 W per channel by then. By May 1978 all three transmission frequencies had been moved by 400 kHz [6] and all three were transmitting in stereo by that time.
Frequency | kW | Service |
---|---|---|
88.5 MHz -> 88.9 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 2 |
90.7 MHz -> 91.1 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 3 |
92.9 MHz -> 93.3 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 4† |
† Radio 4 was replaced by BBC Radio Cymru when it launched in January 1977.
May 1978 - Late 1980s[]
The new frequency plan continued unchanged until Radio 1 gained its own frequency.
Frequency | kW | Service |
---|---|---|
88.9 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 2 |
91.1 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 3 |
93.3 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio Cymru |
Late 1980s - present[]
Radio 1 was given its own frequency as more of Band II became available for broadcasting after the bandplan changes of 1988.
Frequency | kW | Service |
---|---|---|
88.9 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 2 |
91.1 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 3 |
93.3 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio Cymru |
95.5 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 4 |
97.5 MHz | 0.01 | Radio Carmarthenshire |
98.5 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 1 |
106.0 MHz | 0.02 | Real Radio (Wales) |
Digital radio (DAB)[]
6 June 2011 - present[]
Frequency | Block | kW | Operator |
---|---|---|---|
225.648 MHz | 12B | 0.6 | BBC National DAB |
References[]
- ^ a b http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1965-10.pdf[bare URL]
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2013-11-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2012-04-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/radio/digital_radio.shtml Archived 2010-09-19 at the Wayback Machine[bare URL]
- ^ http://txlib.mb21.co.uk/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2489[bare URL]
- ^ http://txlib.mb21.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=87&g2_imageViewsIndex=3[bare URL]
External links[]
- Transmitter sites in Wales
- Wenvoe VHF 405-line Transmitter Group