Sutton Coldfield transmitting station

Sutton Coldfield
Location Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham England
Mast height 270.5 metres (887 ft)
Coordinates 52°36′2″N 1°50′2″W / 52.60056°N 1.83389°W / 52.60056; -1.83389Coordinates: 52°36′2″N 1°50′2″W / 52.60056°N 1.83389°W / 52.60056; -1.83389
Grid reference SK113003
Built 1949 (1949)
BBC region BBC West Midlands
ITV region ITV Central
Local TV service Big Centre TV

The Sutton Coldfield transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, England. It has broadcast terrestrial television signals every day since 1949 and is thus the oldest working television transmitting station in the world.[1] In terms of population covered, it is the second most important transmitter in the UK, after Crystal Palace in London.[2]

History

Sutton Coldfield's mast in June 2007

On 17 December 1949, it became the first television transmitter to broadcast outside London and the Home Counties, bringing BBC Television to viewers outside of the south-east of England for the first time.

A new mast was built around 1983 to replace the original structure, primarily to support new mixed-polarisation FM antennas.

A 240.2m temporary mast was erected alongside the original mast in the spring of 2009 so that work could proceed in raising the height of the original mast by 31m (to a total height of 270.5m). After four years in service and almost a year after the completion of digital switch over, the temporary mast was removed during August 2013.

All analogue TV transmissions ceased on 21 September 2011, as part of the digital switchover. This made it one of the oldest transmitters in the country to formally end analogue broadcasts.

Services

With a mast height of 270.5 metres (887 ft), it is one of the most powerful transmitters in England, powered at 200 kilowatts ERP for digital television and 250 kW for FM radio. The coverage extends as far south as Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire and as far north as Stoke-on-Trent. However, there are many relay transmitters around the Midlands that extend coverage even further.

The transmitter broadcasts eight digital television multiplexes, as well as VHF or FM transmitters for the four BBC national stations; the BBC's local service BBC WM on FM and DAB; independent national station Classic FM and local commercial radio stations Free Radio, Heart, Absolute Radio (previously Kerrang 105.2 until June 2013, and Planet Rock until September 2015) and Smooth Radio.

When opened as a UHF TV transmitter Sutton Coldfield was a B grouping, but with the advent of Digital broadcasting one of the six muxes could not be fitted into the original B group due to co-channel considerations. Thus mux 6 was transmitted slightly out of band on UHF Channel 55, though this would still be receivable on most B group aerials as this graph makes clear. In July 2007 it was confirmed by Ofcom that Sutton Coldfield would return to an undisputed B group transmitter post-Digital Switchover, a process that was completed on 21 September 2011.

An MF transmitter for Radio Birmingham (now BBC WM) used to be installed at this site, but could only be operated at 5 kW instead of the planned 10 kW because of interference to video equipment on the site. It was eventually replaced with a transmitter at the nearby Langley Mill MF site owned by Arqiva. This transmitter is currently used for the BBC Asian Network.

The station is now owned by Arqiva.

Radio

Analogue (FM)

Frequency kW[3] Service
88.3 MHz 250 BBC Radio 2
90.5 MHz 250 BBC Radio 3
92.7 MHz 250 BBC Radio 4
95.6 MHz 11 BBC WM
96.4 MHz 10 Free Radio
97.9 MHz 250 BBC Radio 1
100.1 MHz 125 Classic FM
100.7 MHz 11 Heart West Midlands
105.2 MHz 11 Absolute Radio
105.7 MHz 11 Smooth Radio

Digital (DAB)

Frequency Block kW[3] Operator
222.064 MHz 11D 8.7 Digital One
225.648 MHz 12B 10 BBC National DAB

Television

Digital

Frequency UHF kW[4] Operator System
570.000 MHz 33 89.2 Arqiva C DVB-T2
586.000 MHz 35 86 Arqiva D DVB-T2
618.166 MHz 39+ 200 Arqiva B DVB-T
626.166 MHz 40+ 200 BBC B DVB-T2
642.000 MHz 42 200 SDN DVB-T
650.000 MHz 43 200 BBC A DVB-T
666.000 MHz 45 200 Arqiva A DVB-T
674.000 MHz 46 200 Digital 3&4 DVB-T
714.000 MHz 51 10 Comux DVB-T
Before switchover
Frequency UHF kW[5] Operator
634.166 MHz 41+ 8 BBC (Mux 1)
658.166 MHz 44+ 8 Digital 3&4 (Mux 2)
682.166 MHz 47+ 8 SDN (Mux A)
714.166 MHz 51+ 8 BBC (Mux B)
722.166 MHz 52+ 8 Arqiva (Mux C)
746.000 MHz 55 8 Arqiva (Mux D)

Analogue

Analogue television signals are no longer broadcast from Sutton Coldfield as of 21 September 2011.

Frequency UHF kW[6] Service
623.25 MHz 40 1000 BBC Two
647.25 MHz 43 1000 ITV
671.25 MHz 46 1000 BBC One
703.25 MHz 50 1000 Channel 4

Relays

The transmitter is served by a set of 35 local relays, delivering signals to areas shaded from it by hills. These are:[7]

  • Allesley Park
  • Brailes
  • Bretch Hill
  • Bridgnorth
  • Brierley Hill
  • Cheadle
  • Earl Sterndale
  • Edgbaston
  • Gib Heath
  • Gravelly Hill
  • Haden Hill
  • Hamstead
  • Harborne
  • Hartington
  • Ipstones Edge
  • Ironbridge
  • Kenilworth
  • Kidderminster
  • Kinver
  • Leamington Spa
  • Leek
  • Long Compton
  • Malvern
  • Oakamoor
  • Perry Beeches
  • Queslett
  • Redditch
  • Repton
  • Rugeley
  • Tenbury Wells
  • Turves Green
  • Whittingslow
  • Winchcombe
  • Winshill
  • Woodford Halse

Digital switchover

Digital switchover took place at Sutton Coldfield in September 2011.[7] In preparation for this, major engineering works took place at the station. The mast height was increased from 245.0 metres (804 ft) to 270.5 metres (887 ft) and the UHF television antennas were replaced. This was accomplished through the use of a temporary 240.2 metres (788 ft) mast constructed to broadcast all the area's services so that the main mast could be worked on 'cold'.[8]

As at other stations, the digital switchover took place in two stages:[7]

In the first stage (7 September 2011):

In the second stage (21 September 2011):

HD broadcasts were moved from the Lichfield transmitter to Sutton Coldfield on the BBC B multiplex (C40, 626.2 MHz). The Lichfield transmitter ceased the broadcast of all television services (Analogue Channel 5 and Digital BBC B (Mux HD)), with all six multiplexes being broadcast from Sutton Coldfield.

Further reading

See also

References

  1. ↑ "The BBC Story - 1940s" (PDF).
  2. ↑ The structures that power your television
  3. 1 2 Radio Listeners Guide 2010
  4. ↑ "Digital Switchover Transmitter Details: Central Region" (PDF). Ofcom. 2011-05-25. Retrieved 2011-08-14.
  5. ↑ Television Viewers Guide 2009
  6. ↑ Television Viewers guide 2009
  7. 1 2 3 "Sutton Coldfield". Digital UK. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  8. ↑ Birmingham Council Planning Control: Application No. N/04511/07/FUL
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