Carmarthen transmitting station

The Carmarthen transmitting station was originally built by the BBC[1] in 1964/65 as a relay for VHF radio and VHF television. The site was built on a 135 m ridge to the north of Carmarthen itself, and entered service on 15 March 1965. The transmission station is now owned and operated by Arqiva.

Carmarthen
Carmarthen transmitting station (Carmarthenshire)
Tower height37 metres (121 ft)
Coordinates51.868075°N 4.30715°W / 51.868075; -4.30715
Grid referenceSN412213
Built1964/65
Relay ofWenvoe
BBC regionBBC Wales

UHF 625-line colour television was never radiated from this site: the main transmitter at Carmel (20 km to the east) provided that service to the town from 1973 when it opened.

The 405-line VHF television service closed across the UK in 1985, but according to the BBC's transmitter list[2] and the BBC's internal "Eng. Inf." magazine,[3] Carmarthen was due to close early - in the first quarter of 1982. From that point onwards the site just relayed FM radio until 6 June 2011[4] when a single multiplex of DAB radio was added.

Channels listed by frequency

15 March 1965 - First Quarter 1982

The site provided BBC 405-line VHF television to the towns of Carmarthen and Abergwili which, being sited in a river estuary, could not reliably receive a signal from Wenvoe, 85 km to the east.

Frequency VHF kW Service
45.00 MHz 1 0.013 BBC1 Wales

15 March 1965 - January 1973

According to the BBC's R&D report,[1] the original frequencies for the FM radio services were as shown below.

Frequency kW Service
88.5 MHz 0.0065 BBC Light Programme
90.7 MHz 0.0065 BBC Third Programme
92.9 MHz 0.0065 BBC Welsh Home Service

January 1973 - May 1978

The three original radio services were still on their original frequencies as late as January 1973,[5] but ERPs had been slightly increased to 10 W per channel by then. By May 1978 all three transmission frequencies had been moved by 400 kHz [6] and all three were transmitting in stereo by that time.

Frequency kW Service
88.5 MHz -> 88.9 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio 2
90.7 MHz -> 91.1 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio 3
92.9 MHz -> 93.3 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio 4†

† Radio 4 was replaced by BBC Radio Cymru when it launched in January 1977.

May 1978 - Late 1980s

The new frequency plan continued unchanged until Radio 1 gained its own frequency.

Frequency kW Service
88.9 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio 2
91.1 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio 3
93.3 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio Cymru

Late 1980s - present

Radio 1 was given its own frequency as more of Band II became available for broadcasting after the bandplan changes of 1988.

Frequency kW Service
88.9 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio 2
91.1 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio 3
93.3 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio Cymru
95.5 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio 4
97.5 MHz 0.01 Radio Carmarthenshire
98.5 MHz 0.01 BBC Radio 1
106.0 MHz 0.02 Real Radio (Wales)

6 June 2011 - present
Frequency Block kW Operator
225.648 MHz 12B 0.6 BBC National DAB

References
  1. http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1965-10.pdf
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2013-11-15.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-06. Retrieved 2012-04-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/radio/digital_radio.shtml
  5. http://txlib.mb21.co.uk/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2489
  6. http://txlib.mb21.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=87&g2_imageViewsIndex=3
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