| Sutton Coldfield | |
|
|
|
| Location | Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham England |
|---|---|
| Height of mast | 245.0 metres (804 ft) |
| Grid reference | SK113003 |
| Built | 1949 |
| BBC region | BBC West Midlands |
| ITV region | ITV Central |
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]
Contents |
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.
All analogue TV transmissions ceased on the 21st September 2011, as part of the digital switchover. This made it one of the oldest transmitters in the country to formally end analogue broadcasts.
With a mast height of 245.0 metres (804 ft), it is one of the most powerful transmitters in England, powered at 1000 kilowatts ERP for analogue 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 the coverage even further.
The transmitter broadcasts six digital television multiplexes, as well as VHF or FM transmitters for the four BBC national stations, independent national station Classic FM, four local commercial radio stations (BRMB, 100.7 Heart FM, Kerrang 105.2 and Smooth Radio), the BBC's local service WM and DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting – i.e. Digital Radio). When opened as a UHF TV transmitter Sutton Coldfield was a B group but with the advent of Digital broadcasting one of the 6 MUXES could not be fitted into the original B group due to co-channel considerations. Thus MUX6 was transmitted slightly out of band on CH55 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 a B group transmitter after DSO (Digital Switchover), a process that was completed on the 21st September 2011.
An MF transmitter for Radio Birmingham (now Radio 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.
| Frequency | kW[2] | 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 | brmb |
| 97.9 MHz | 250 | BBC Radio 1 |
| 100.1 MHz | 125 | Classic FM |
| 100.7 MHz | 11 | Heart West Midlands |
| 105.2 MHz | 11 | Kerrang! 105.2 |
| 105.7 MHz | 11 | Smooth Radio |
| Frequency | Block | kW[2] | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 222.064 MHz | 11D | 8.7 | Digital One |
| 223.936 MHz | 12A | 3 | MXR West Midlands |
| 225.648 MHz | 12B | 10 | BBC National DAB |
Analogue television signals are no longer broadcast from Sutton Coldfield as of 21 September 2011.
| Frequency | UHF | kW[3] | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 623.25 MHz | 40 | 1000 | BBC Two |
| 647.25 MHz | 43 | 1000 | ITV1 |
| 671.25 MHz | 46 | 1000 | BBC One |
| 703.25 MHz | 50 | 1000 | Channel 4 |
Digital
|
Before switchover
|
The transmitter is served by a set of 35 local relays, delivering signals to areas shaded from it by hills. These are[6]:
Digital switchover took place at Sutton Coldfield in September 2011.[6] 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'.[7]
As at other stations, the digital switchover took place in two stages:[6]
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.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||