Long Mountain transmitting station

Long Mountain
Height of mast 52 metres (171 ft)
Grid reference SJ265058
Built Late 1970s
BBC region BBC Wales
ITV region ITV Wales

The Long Mountain transmitting station is sited on a 400 m ridge about 4 km east of Welshpool in Powys, Mid Wales and has been broadcasting UHF terrestrial TV and VHF FM radio services since the late 1970s. The site has a self-supporting 52 m high lattice steel mast and was fed with an SHF link from Blaenplwyf via Llangurig. Despite not taking its signal off-air, it was originally classed as a 625-line UHF TV relay of Blaenplwyf.

The transmitter originally radiated 1 kW providing TV and radio to an area including Newtown and Oswestry. Being only 400 m from the England/Wales border, coverage extended to several towns in England - Shrewsbury included.[1]

Long Mountain became re-classed as main transmitter in its own right (albeit a very low power one) with the advent of digital terrestrial TV from the site on 4 November 2009. In addition to this, it currently transmits FM radio and a single multiplex of DAB Digital radio.

Services available

Analogue television

Late 1970s - 1 November 1982

Long Mountain never did broadcast VHF television, and went live with the UK's original three national UHF television services.

Frequency UHF kW Service
767.25 MHz 58 1 BBC1 Wales
791.25 MHz 61 1 HTV Wales
815.25 MHz 64 1 BBC2 Wales

1 November 1982 - 4 November 2009

The UK's fourth national television service joined the set transmitted from the site. Being in Wales, the S4C variant was broadcast.

Frequency UHF kW Service
735.25 MHz 54 1 S4C
767.25 MHz 58 1 BBC1 Wales
791.25 MHz 61 1 HTV Wales
815.25 MHz 64 1 BBC2 Wales

Analogue and digital television

4 November 2009 - 3 December 2009

The UK's digital switchover commenced at this site.[2] Analogue BBC Two Wales closed on channel 64 and ITV1 Wales took over on that frequency for what would be its final 3 weeks of service, vacating channel 61 as it did so. The new BBC A multiplex started up at full power in 64-QAM mode on channel 60 until 19 October 2011.[3]

Frequency UHF kW Service System
735.25 MHz 54 1 S4C PAL System I
767.25 MHz 58 1 BBC One Wales PAL System I
786.000 MHz 60 0.4 BBC A DVB-T
815.25 MHz 64 1 ITV1 Wales PAL System I

Digital television

3 December 2009 - 19 October 2011

All the analogue television services closed and the new digital multiplexes took over on parking-frequencies (until October 2011) with name-changes, power increases and a shift to 64-QAM.[4] Unusually, for a digital TV site classed as a main transmitter, Long Mountain only radiates the three multiplexes of Freeview Lite.

Frequency UHF kW Operator
722.000 MHz 52 0.4 Digital 3&4
754.000 MHz 56 0.4 BBC B
786.000 MHz 60 0.4 BBC A

19 October 2011 - present

DSO was completed at The Wrekin, and this allowed the Long Mountain multiplexes to take up their final frequencies.[5]

Frequency UHF kW Operator
730.000 MHz 53 0.4 Digital 3&4
762.000 MHz 57 0.4 BBC B
785.833 MHz 60- 0.4 BBC A

Analogue radio (VHF FM)

For its FM radio services, Long Mountain is an off-air relay of Llangollen.

Frequency kW Service
89.6 MHz 0.02 BBC Radio 2
91.8 MHz 0.02 BBC Radio 3
94.0 MHz 0.02 BBC Radio 4
99.2 MHz 0.02 BBC Radio 1
102.8 MHz 0.02 Real Radio N. & M. Wales
103.6 MHz 0.02 BBC Radio Cymru

Digital radio (DAB)

Frequency Block kW[6] Operator
225.648 MHz 12B 1 BBC National DAB

References

  1. ↑ UK Free TV - Freeview on the Long Mountain transmitter
  2. ↑ http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/transmitternetwork/tools__and__resources/almanac/installer_newsletters_transmitter_groups2009_pdfs/Installer_Newsletter_Long_Mountain_1_month_out_Updated_28_Oct_09.pdf
  3. ↑ http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/42532/ss1029_long_mountain_dso1.doc.pdf
  4. ↑ http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/43024/Long_Mountain_dso2__JSm_.doc.pdf
  5. ↑ http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/transmitternetwork/tools__and__resources/almanac/special_editions/Special_edition-installers_LONG_MOUNTAIN_191011retune_event_rev3OctFINAL.pdf
  6. ↑ Radio Listeners Guide 2010

External links

Coordinates: 52°38′43″N 3°05′12″W / 52.645156°N 3.086548°W