Croydon transmitting station

Croydon
Height of mast 152 metres (499 ft)
Built 1955, 1962
BBC region BBC London
ITV region ITV London

The Croydon transmitting station (also known as the NTL Tower) is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility located on Beulah Hill[1] in Upper Norwood, London, England (grid reference TQ332696), in the London Borough of Croydon, owned by Arqiva. It was founded in 1955 and initially used a small lattice tower. The tower present on the site today is 152 metres (499 ft) high and was built in 1962.

The Croydon Transmitter was originally used to broadcast the London ITV signal on VHF Band III. When UHF broadcasting began the nearby Crystal Palace Transmitter was used. VHF television was discontinued in 1985, and the Croydon Transmitter was not used again for regular TV broadcasting until 1997, when a new directional UHF antenna, designed to avoid interference with continental transmitters, was installed to carry the newly-launched Channel 5 in the London area. It still carries Channel 5's analogue signal, although its digital terrestrial service uses Crystal Palace. Croydon also has reserve transmitters for BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1 and Channel 4, but these are only used in the event of engineering works or a failure at Crystal Palace. When the digital switchover occurs in April 2012, no television signals will be broadcast from Croydon, but will still be used as a backup for Crystal Palace.

The site is also a maintenance base for transmitter teams and previously used to house one of four Regional Operations Centres or ROCs.

Contents

Channels listed by Frequency

Analogue radio (FM VHF)

Frequency kW Service
94.9 MHz N/A BBC Radio London†
95.8 MHz 4 Capital FM
97.3 MHz 4 LBC
100.0 MHz 4 Kiss 100
102.2 MHz 4 Smooth FM
105.4 MHz 4 Magic
106.2 MHz 4 Heart

† Backup for Crystal Palace.

Digital radio (DAB)

Frequency Block kW Operator
218.640 MHz 11B 2.5 DRG London
227.360 MHz 12C 5 CE London

Analogue television

Frequency UHF kW Service
487.25 MHz 23 N/A ITV1†
511.25 MHz 26 N/A BBC One†
543.25 MHz 30 N/A Channel 4†
567.25 MHz 33 N/A BBC Two†
599.25 MHz 37 1000 Channel 5

† Backup for Crystal Palace.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.thebigtower.com/live/Croydon/Index.htm

External links

Buildings and structures in Croydon
Highrises
Notable lowrises
Major railway stations
Major complexes
Sports venues
Television transmitter and major relay sites in the United Kingdom
London and South of England
Midlands and East Anglia
West and South West of England
North of England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland