Bilsdale transmitting station

The Bilsdale transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility, located at Bilsdale West Moor above Bilsdale, close to Helmsley, North Yorkshire, England. It includes a guyed steel tubular mast that is primarily used for radio and television transmission. The height of the mast is 314 metres (1,030 ft) to the pinnacle.[2] It is among the most powerful in the UK, for analogue it was 500 kW ERP and is now 100 kW / 50 kW for digital. It has recently been equipped with new aircraft warning lights, in the form of arrays of ultra bright red LEDs.

Bilsdale
The Bilsdale mast stands high above the hills of the North York Moors.
Bilsdale transmitting station (North Yorkshire)
Mast height314 metres (1,030 ft)
Coordinates54.358611°N 1.150278°W / 54.358611; -1.150278
Grid referenceSE553962
Built1969[1]
BBC regionBBC North East and Cumbria
ITV regionITV Tyne Tees
Local TV serviceMade In Teesside, That's York

History

Bilsdale was constructed in 1969[3] by the BBC to bring 625-line colour television on UHF to Teesside and the surrounding areas for the first time. Having added UHF TV to the existing VHF TV stations at Pontop Pike and Emley Moor, it was quickly established that a new station would be required to cover County Durham and north North Yorkshire where existing coverage was poor, and thus the new station was built.

Construction

It was built by J. L. Eve Construction.

Coverage

Coverage extends throughout Teesside and the surrounding regions, encompassing north North Yorkshire and southern County Durham. This includes Harrogate and York to the south, Filey and Whitby to the east, Middlesbrough, Stockton, Darlington, Bishop Auckland, Hartlepool, Peterlee, some areas of Seaham and some areas of Sunderland to the north, and Barnard Castle and Worton to the west.

Channels listed by frequency

Analogue radio
Frequency kW Service
89.0 MHz 5 BBC Radio 2
91.2 MHz 5 BBC Radio 3
93.4 MHz 5 BBC Radio 4
95.0 MHz 10 BBC Tees
96.6 MHz 8.9 TFM
98.6 MHz 5 BBC Radio 1
100.7 MHz 8.9 Heart North East
101.6 MHz 1 Classic FM
106.4 MHz 8.9 Capital FM

Digital radio
Frequency Block kW[4] Operator
213.360 MHz 10C 10 MuxCo North Yorkshire
222.064 MHz 11D 4.7 Digital One
223.936 MHz 12A 2 BBC National DAB

Digital television

In July 2007, it was confirmed by Ofcom that the television frequency assignment after digital switchover would be such that a wideband or group K aerial would be required for reception of all six multiplexes. However, the three public service multiplexes would still fall within the station's original analogue frequency range assignment of aerial group A.[5] The digital switchover started at Bilsdale on 12 September 2012 and was one of the last transmitters in England to complete this operation on 26 September 2012, the others being Pontop Pike and Chatton in the same region.[6]

On 13 November 2019, due to the 700 MHz Clearance Programme, the following multiplexes moved frequencies:

  • BBC A from UHF 26 to UHF 21.
  • Digital 3&4 from UHF 29 to UHF 24.
  • BBC B from UHF 23 to UHF 27.
  • Arqiva C and D moving to UHF 55 and UHF 56 respectively.

On 12 March, BBC A and BBC B swap UHF Channel allocations, with BBC A on UHF 27 and BBC B on UHF 21.

On 25 June 2020, COM 8 was switched off permananetly due to the effects of the 700 MHz clearance programme.

Frequency UHF kW Operator System
474.000 MHz 21 100 BBC B DVB-T2
498.000 MHz 24 100 Digital 3&4 DVB-T
522.000 MHz 27 100 BBC A DVB-T
626.000 MHz 40 50 Arqiva B DVB-T
650.000 MHz 43 50 SDN DVB-T
674.000 MHz 46 50 Arqiva A DVB-T
746.000 MHz 55 26.9 Arqiva C DVB-T2

Before switchover
Frequency UHF kW[7] Operator
474.000 MHz 21 6 Digital 3&4 (Mux 2)
498.000 MHz 24 6 BBC (Mux B)
522.000 MHz 27 6 Arqiva (Mux C)
554.000 MHz 31 6 SDN (Mux A)
578.000 MHz 34 4.8 BBC (Mux 1)
642.000 MHz 42 1.6 Arqiva (Mux D)

Analogue television

Analogue television is no longer available from Bilsdale; BBC Two was closed on 12 September 2012, followed by the remaining four channels on 26 September 2012.

Frequency UHF kW Service
487.25 MHz 23 500 Channel 4
511.25 MHz 26 500 BBC Two
535.25 MHz 29 500 ITV1 (Tyne Tees regional feed)
567.25 MHz 33 500 BBC One
583.25 MHz 35 500 Channel 5

Relays

Below is a list of transmitters that relay Bilsdale.

Digital television
transmitter kW BBC-A BBC-B D3&4 SDN ARQ-A ARQ-B Pol.
Aislaby 0.0076 45 42 39 N/A N/A N/A BV
Bainbridge 0.0076 57 53 60 N/A N/A N/A CDV
Castleton 0.002 50 55 59 N/A N/A N/A CDV
Eston Nab 0.003 52 48 51 N/A N/A N/A BV
Grinton Lodge 0.005 45 49 42 N/A N/A N/A BV
Guisborough 0.01 57 53 60 N/A N/A N/A CDV
Limber Hill 0.008 47 44 41 N/A N/A N/A BV
Peterlee 0.002 45 39 42 N/A N/A N/A BV
Ravenscar 0.033 56 53 58 N/A N/A N/A CDV
Romaldkirk 0.012 44 47 41 N/A N/A N/A BV
Rookhope 0.002 45 49 42 N/A N/A N/A BV
Rosedale Abbey 0.002 45 42 39 N/A N/A N/A BV
Skinningrove 0.006 52 48 51 N/A N/A N/A BV
West Burton 0.002 45 42 39 N/A N/A N/A BV
Whitby 0.1 55 50 59 N/A N/A N/A CDV

See also

References
  1. "Bilsdale Transmitter". ATV aerial sales. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  2. http://www.muxco.com/docs/muxco-yorks.pdf MuxCo Ofcom DAB application document
  3. "The Big Tower Bilsdale". The Big Tower. Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  4. Radio Listeners Guide 2010
  5. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 27 April 2008.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) Ofcom digital switchover plan
  6. "Digital UK – Tyne Tees region". Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  7. Television Viewers Guide 2009
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