Black Mountain transmitting station

The Black Mountain transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, situated on land 300.8 metres (987 ft) above Ordnance Datum (mean sea level) to the west of the city of Belfast, in Northern Ireland (grid reference J278727). It includes a guyed steel lattice mast which is 228.6 metres (750 ft) [1] in height. The height of the top of the structure above mean sea level is 529.4 metres (1,737 ft). It is owned and operated by Arqiva.

[edit] History

1959: The station is commissioned by the Independent Television Authority to transmit ITV signals (provided by Ulster Television) on 405-line VHF, using Channel 9 (Band III) on high power. Service commences on 1 October.
1970: UHF 625-line PAL colour TV begins at high power from the adjacent Divis transmitting station.
1975: A low power UHF filler service begins, designed to cover districts close to the station that cannot pick up Divis.
1976: FM commercial radio station Downtown Radio (later Cool FM) starts transmissions.
1985: VHF 405-line television is discontinued in the UK, having been replaced by the UHF service. The VHF service from Black Mountain closes.
1996: FM commercial radio station BCR (later City Beat) begins on 96.7 MHz on 30 September.
1997: Analogue transmissions of Five begin at high power.
2001: DAB Digital Radio transmissions start from Score Northern Ireland on block 12D on 6 September.
2005: FM station U105 begins on 105.8 MHz on 14 November.

For high power VHF Television, UHF Five, and Cool FM, coverage includes most of central and eastern Ulster, north as far as Ballymena, south as far as Downpatrick and Newry, and west past Dungannon and Cookstown.

Radio stations City Beat and U105 have a more restricted coverage area, including areas around Greater Belfast, up to Carrickfergus, Antrim, and the shore of Lough Neagh.

The low power UHF TV relay is only designed to cover areas of Belfast not already covered by Divis.