Dolgellau transmitting station
  Dolgellau transmitting station (Gwynedd) | |
| Tower height | 22 metres (72 ft) |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°44′58″N 3°53′12″W / 52.74954°N 3.886713°W |
| Grid reference | SH727185 |
| Built | 1967 |
| BBC region | BBC Wales (1967-1982) |
The Dolgellau transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility located on a hill about 1 km north of the town of Dolgellau, in Gwynedd, Wales. It was originally built by the BBC,[1] entering service just before Christmas 1967 acting as a relay transmitter for the now-defunct 405-line VHF television system.
Specifications[edit]
The site has a self-standing 22 m lattice tower erected on land that is itself about 100 m above sea level. The television broadcasts primarily cover the towns of Dolgellau, Llanelltyd and the villages of the upper Mawddach river valley.
625-line colour TV came to the site in the late 1970s.
The 405-line VHF television service closed across the UK in 1985, but Dolgellau's 405 line services closed early - in January 1984.
Dolgellau currently broadcasts digital television and analogue FM radio.
Services listed by frequency[edit]
Analogue television[edit]
18 December 1967 - Late 1970s[edit]
The transmitter was classed as a relay of Blaenplwyf about 40 km to the south, but received its signal from an SHF link fed from an off-air pickup on the coast at Barmouth about 10 km away to the west on the Mawddach estuary.
| Frequency | VHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 66.75 MHz | 5V | 0.026 | BBC1 Wales |
November 21st 1977 - 1 November 1982[edit]
Colour TV eventually arrived, with the site now additionally acting as an indirect relay of Preseli (about 100 km to the south) for the 625-line services, receiving its signal off-air from Llwyn Onn, which receives its signal off-air from Preseli itself.[2]
| Frequency | VHF | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 66.75 MHz | 5V | — | 0.026 | BBC1 Wales |
| 743.25 MHz | — | 55 | 0.02 | BBC1 Wales |
| 775.25 MHz | — | 59 | 0.02 | HTV Wales |
| 799.25 MHz | — | 62 | 0.02 | BBC2 Wales |
1 November 1982 - January 1984[edit]
Channel 4 launched across the UK on 1 November 1982. Being in Wales, Dolgellau broadcast the S4C variant.
| Frequency | VHF | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 66.75 MHz | 5V | — | 0.026 | BBC1 Wales |
| 743.25 MHz | — | 55 | 0.02 | BBC1 Wales |
| 775.25 MHz | — | 59 | 0.02 | HTV Wales |
| 799.25 MHz | — | 62 | 0.02 | BBC2 Wales |
| 823.25 MHz | — | 65 | 0.02 | S4C |
January 1984 - 19 August 2009[edit]
405-line television was discontinued (after a mere 17 years). For the next 25 years there were to be no changes to the television output at this site.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 743.25 MHz | 55 | 0.02 | BBC1 Wales |
| 775.25 MHz | 59 | 0.02 | HTV Wales |
| 799.25 MHz | 62 | 0.02 | BBC2 Wales |
| 823.25 MHz | 65 | 0.02 | S4C |
Analogue and Digital Television[edit]
19 August 2009 - 16 September 2009[edit]
Digital switchover started at Preseli and therefore at Dolgellau and all its other relays. BBC 2 was closed down on channel 62 and ITV 1 was moved from channel 59 to channel 62 for its final three weeks of service. Mux A started up on the newly vacated channel 59 at full post-DSO power.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 743.25 MHz | 55 | 0.02 | BBC1 Wales | PAL System I |
| 778.000 MHz | 59 | 0.004 | BBC Mux A | DVB-T |
| 799.25 MHz | 62 | 0.02 | HTV Wales | PAL System I |
| 823.25 MHz | 65 | 0.02 | S4C | PAL System I |
Digital Television[edit]
16 September 2009 - 31 October 2012[edit]
All the remaining analogue TV transmitters were shut down and the three multiplexes of Freeview Lite took over their frequencies.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 746.000 MHz | 55 | 0.004 | Digital 3&4 |
| 778.000 MHz | 59 | 0.004 | BBC Mux A |
| 801.833 MHz | 62- | 0.004 | BBC Mux B |
31 October 2012 - present[edit]
As part of the Europe-wide clearance of the 800 MHz band,[3] the BBC Mux B signal was moved from channel 62- to channel 50.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 706.000 MHz | 50 | 0.004 | BBC Mux B |
| 746.000 MHz | 55 | 0.004 | Digital 3&4 |
| 778.000 MHz | 59 | 0.004 | BBC Mux A |
Analogue radio (FM VHF)[edit]
18 December 1967 - Early 1990s[edit]
For its FM radio services, Dolgellau is an off-air relay of Blaenplwyf.
| Frequency | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 90.1 MHz | 0.016 | Radio 2 |
| 92.3 MHz | 0.016 | Radio 3 |
| 94.5 MHz | 0.016 | Radio 4 Wales |
Early 1990s - present[edit]
Radio 1 gained its own frequency and National Radio 4 was added.
| Frequency | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 90.1 MHz | 0.02 | Radio 2 |
| 92.3 MHz | 0.02 | Radio 3 |
| 94.5 MHz | 0.02 | Radio Cymru |
| 99.7 MHz | 0.02 | Radio 1 |
| 103.6 MHz | 0.02 | Radio 4 |
See also[edit]
- List of masts
- List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
- List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain
References[edit]
- ^ "DOLGELLAU V.H.F. RELAY STATION: SUMMARY OF INSTALLATION - Technological Report No. RA-19/1O" (PDF). BBC.
- ^ "About us" (PDF). www.digitaluk.co.uk.
- ^ "EU States Must Allow 4G on Analogue TV Spectrum". thenextweb.com. 15 February 2012.
External links[edit]
- MB21's page on BBC 405 TV to Wales and the West
- 405 Alive's list of transmitters"
- More details on 405-line BBC transmitters
- The Transmission Gallery: Photographs and Information Archived 2012-06-25 at the Wayback Machine
Transmitter sites in Wales | |
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