The 'Belmont transmitting station' is a
broadcasting and
telecommunications facility, situated next to the B1225, one mile west of the village of
Donington on Bain, near
Market Rasen and
Louth in
Lincolnshire,
England (). It is owned and operated by
Arqiva. It includes a
guyed tubular steel mast, which at 1,265 feet (385 m) is the tallest structure in the
UK (and in the
European Union).
Constructed in
1965, it came into service on
December 20 of that year. (An identical mast was constructed in
1964 at
Emley Moor near
Huddersfield in
Yorkshire, but that mast collapsed due to guy failure caused by icing and high winds on
March 19,
1969.)
In 1967 meteorological equipment was added to the mast extending its height to 1,272 ft (388 m).
From its location, high in the
Lincolnshire Wolds, it is used to broadcast both analogue and digital television and radio
to parts of Lincolnshire, north
Nottinghamshire, eastern
South Yorkshire, north-west
Norfolk,
Hull and
East Yorkshire. When it was first operated it transmitted (amongst others) pictures from
Independent Television station
Anglia Television. Following a re-organisation of ITV coverage in
1972, from
1974 it started transmitting pictures from neighbouring station
Yorkshire Television instead, which it continues to do to this day.
Transmitter Power
At 500
kW E.R.P. (for the four main analogue channels) Belmont is one of the most powerful transmitters in the UK. Channel 5 is only broadcast at 50 kW and digital at 10 kW (Multiplex 1, 2, A, B) and 4 kW (Multiplex C, D) although this level of digital power is theoretically equal to 500 kW on analogue in terms of the received carrier to noise ratio required to give a "perfect" picture.
Channels listed by Frequency
★ Analogue Radio (
FM VHF)
★
★ 88.8
MHz -
BBC Radio 2
★
★ 90.9
MHz -
BBC Radio 3
★
★ 93.1
MHz -
BBC Radio 4
★
★ 94.9
MHz -
BBC Radio Lincolnshire
★
★ 98.3
MHz -
BBC Radio 1
★
★ 100.5
MHz -
Classic FM
★
★ 102.2
MHz -
Lincs FM
★ Digital Radio (
DAB)
★
★ Block 11D: 222.06
MHz -
Digital One
★
★ Block 12A: 223.93
MHz -
MXR Yorkshire
★
★ Block 12B: 225.64
MHz -
BBC
★ Analogue Television
★
★
UHF 22 (479.25
MHz) -
BBC One
★
★ UHF 25 (503.25
MHz) -
ITV1
★
★ UHF 28 (527.25
MHz) -
BBC Two
★
★ UHF 32 (559.25
MHz) -
Channel 4
★
★ UHF 56 (751.25
MHz) -
Five
★ Digital Television
★
★ UHF 30 (546
MHz) - Multiplex 1
BBC
★
★ UHF 48 (690
MHz) - Multiplex 2
Digital 3&4
★
★ UHF 57 (762
MHz) - Multiplex D
National Grid Wireless★
★
★ UHF 60 (786
MHz) - Multiplex C
National Grid Wireless
★
★ UHF 66 (834
MHz) - Multiplex B
BBC
★
★ UHF 68 (850
MHz) - Multiplex A
SDN
Multiplex D is off frequency and is actually found at 762166000
Details of all the muxes can be found at
[1]
Digital Switchover
In July 2007 it was confirmed by Ofcom that Belmont would be remaining a wideband transmitter after DSO (Digital Switchover), though the first four - of the six -
MUXES would still be available within the original A group. The
digital switchover will occur at the Belmont site in July 2011, the existing analogue and digital signals will be turned off and replaced with higher power digital signals, the channels for these signals will be:
★ UHF 22 - BBC A - Previously Multiplex 1
★ UHF 25 - D3&4 - Previously Multiplex 2
★ UHF 28 - SDN - Previously Multiplex B
★ UHF 30 - BBC B - Previously Multiplex A
★ UHF 53 - NGW A - Previously Multiplex C
★ UHF 60 - NGW B - Previously Multiplex D
See also
★
List of masts
★
List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain
★
List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
External links
★
The Transmission Gallery: Belmont index.
★
Info and pictures of Belmont.
★
Skyscraperpage plan of Belmont
★
★
Pictures
★
Google Maps
★
Live Maps