Arfon transmitting station

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The Arfon transmitting station is a facility for FM radio and television transmission at Nasareth, Caernarfon, Gwynedd in northwestern Wales (grid reference SH476493). It includes a 308.5 metres (1,012 ft) guyed mast with antennas attached at various heights. The mast is surmounted by a television transmitting antenna, which brings the total height of the structure to 317.4 metres (1,041 ft), making it the tallest structure in Wales.^[1] It is owned and operated by Arqiva.

[edit] History

The station was built by the ITA in the 1960s to provide a 405-line ITV Band III (VHF) TV service for north west Wales. Unlike the BBC, which served the area from Llanddona (on the island of Anglesey), Arfon gave better coverage to some areas. 405-line TV was discontinued in the UK in 1985.

In October 1975 the site became a medium power 625 line UHF TV relay of Llandonna, at the time carrying BBC One, BBC Two and ITV. S4C was added in 1982. More recently, Police and Ambulance communications have been added, in addition to mobile (cellular) telephone antennas. In 1993, Classic FM began using the site for FM coverage of north west Wales in preference to Llanddona (the BBC's regional FM site), partly due to a dispute over BBC charges for sharing fees of its transmitter masts and antennas, but more because Arfon, in conjunction with Great Ormes Head (near Llandudno) gave Classic FM better coverage than the BBC sites.

On 16 November 1998, local commercial radio station Champion 103 launched from studios in Caernarfon with its transmitter at Arfon.

The mast had its aircraft warning lights replaced in Summer 2006 to red lamps employing arrays of ultrabright LEDs.

On 18 July 2006, national digital radio network Digital One began broadcasting from the station.

[edit] Coverage area

The primary television service area includes most of Anglesey and central parts of the Lleyn Peninsula, however many viewers in south Dublin and north County Wicklow can also receive Arfon's broadcasts. The radio service area is slightly larger, reaching further down Cardigan Bay towards Barmouth.

[edit] Channels listed by frequency

Arfon transmits four of the five analogue terrestrial television channels. As with all Welsh transmissions, Arfon is required to carry S4C instead of Channel 4 which is broadcast to the rest of the United Kingdom.

• Analogue radio (FM VHF)
  • 100.7 MHz - Classic FM
  • 103.0 MHz - Champion 103

• Digital Radio (DAB)
  • Block 11D: 222.06 MHz - Digital One

• Analogue television
  • UHF 51: BBC One Wales
  • UHF 44: BBC Two Wales
  • UHF 41: ITV1 Wales
  • UHF 47: S4C

[edit] Digital switchover

Digital switchover is scheduled for north west Wales in November 2009. At this time, the analogue television transmissions from Arfon will cease and will be replaced by digital only transmissions. In preparation for this, the transmitting antenna at the top of the mast was replaced in March 2008. This new antenna is slightly taller than the previous one, resulting in the mast's total height increasing to 317.4 metres (1,041 ft) from its previous height of 313.9 metres (1,030 ft).^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Gwynedd Council : Track & Trace Planning Applications : Application Details

[edit] See also

• Category:UK transmitter sites
• List of masts
• List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain
• List of radio stations in the United Kingdom

[edit] External links

• The Transmission Gallery: Photographs and Information
• The Transmission Gallery: Coverage Map
• http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b54126

Coordinates: 53°1′12″N, 4°16′25″W

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