Carmel transmitting station
 | |
  Carmel transmitting station (Carmarthenshire) | |
| Mast height | 151.9 metres (498 ft) |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°49′21″N 4°03′24″W / 51.8225°N 4.0567°W |
| Built | 1973 |
| BBC region | BBC Wales |
| ITV region | ITV Cymru Wales |
The Carmel transmitting station, located half a mile (0.8km) SSW of the village of Carmel in Carmarthenshire, has been broadcasting terrestrial TV and radio services since the mid-1970s. The TV coverage area for the Carmel transmission station includes most of Carmarthenshire, the southern and eastern parts of Pembrokeshire; the southern fringes of Powys and Ceredigion; the northern part of Swansea. The Carmel signal is also receivable in parts of Neath Port Talbot, Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taff. Places as far away as Merthyr Tydfil and the north Devon coast are also able to receive signals from Carmel.
Carmel started to switch over to digital terrestrial TV broadcast services on 26 August 2009.[1]
Services available[edit]
Analogue television[edit]
21 May 1973 - 1 November 1982[edit]
Carmel never did broadcast VHF television, and went live with the UK's three national UHF television services.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 759.25 MHz | 57 | 100 | BBC1 Wales |
| 783.25 MHz | 60 | 100 | HTV Wales |
| 807.25 MHz | 63 | 100 | BBC2 Wales |
1 November 1982 - 15 November 1998[edit]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 727.25 MHz | 53 | 100 | S4C |
| 759.25 MHz | 57 | 100 | BBC1 Wales |
| 783.25 MHz | 60 | 100 | HTV Wales |
| 807.25 MHz | 63 | 100 | BBC2 Wales |
Analogue and digital television[edit]
15 November 1998 - 26 August 2009[edit]
The initial rollout of digital television in the UK involved radiating the signals at low power in between the existing analogue channels.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 727.25 MHz | 53 | 100 | S4C | PAL System I |
| 746.000 MHz | 55 | 2.5 | BBC (Mux 1) | DVB-T |
| 759.25 MHz | 57 | 100 | BBC1 Wales | PAL System I |
| 777.833 MHz | 59- | 5 | SDN (Mux A) | DVB-T |
| 783.25 MHz | 60 | 100 | HTV Wales | PAL System I |
| 801.833 MHz | 62- | 2.5 | BBC (Mux B) | DVB-T |
| 807.25 MHz | 63 | 100 | BBC2 Wales | PAL System I |
| 825.833 MHz | 65- | 2.5 | Digital 3&4 (Mux 2) | DVB-T |
| 834.000 MHz | 66 | 1 | Arqiva (Mux C) | DVB-T |
| 842.000 MHz | 67 | 1 | Arqiva (Mux D) | DVB-T |
26 August 2009 - 23 September 2009[edit]
The UK's digital switchover commenced at this site. Analogue BBC2 Wales closed on channel 63 and HTV took over on that frequency for what would be its final 3 weeks of service, vacating channel 60 as it did so. The new BBC A multiplex started up at full power in 64-QAM mode on channel 60, and Mux 1 on channel 55 closed.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 727.25 MHz | 53 | 100 | S4C | PAL System I |
| 759.25 MHz | 57 | 100 | BBC1 Wales | PAL System I |
| 777.833 MHz | 59- | 5 | SDN (Mux A) | DVB-T |
| 786.000 MHz | 60 | 20 | BBC A | DVB-T |
| 801.833 MHz | 62- | 2.5 | BBC (Mux B) | DVB-T |
| 807.25 MHz | 63 | 100 | HTV Wales | PAL System I |
| 825.833 MHz | 65- | 2.5 | Digital 3&4 (Mux 2) | DVB-T |
| 834.000 MHz | 66 | 1 | Arqiva (Mux C) | DVB-T |
| 842.000 MHz | 67 | 1 | Arqiva (Mux D) | DVB-T |
Digital television[edit]
23 September 2009 - present[edit]
All the analogue television services closed and the new digital multiplexes took over their frequencies (and two new ones) with name-changes, power increases and a shift to 64-QAM.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 730.000 MHz | 53 | 20 | Digital 3&4 |
| 738.000 MHz | 54 | 10 | SDN |
| 762.000 MHz | 57 | 20 | BBC B |
| 770.000 MHz | 58 | 10 | Arqiva A |
| 786.000 MHz | 60 | 20 | BBC A |
| 794.000 MHz | 61 | 10 | Arqiva B |
May 2013[edit]
As a side-effect of frequency-changes elsewhere in the region to do with clearance of the 800 MHz band for 4G mobile phone use,[2] Carmel's "Arqiva B" multiplex will have to be moved from channel 61 to channel 49 and the "BBC A" multiplex will get a negative offset.[3]
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 698.000 MHz | 49 | 10 | Arqiva B |
| 730.000 MHz | 53 | 20 | Digital 3&4 |
| 738.000 MHz | 54 | 10 | SDN |
| 762.000 MHz | 57 | 20 | BBC B |
| 770.000 MHz | 58 | 10 | Arqiva A |
| 785.833 MHz | 60- | 20 | BBC A |
Analogue radio (VHF FM)[edit]
| Frequency | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 88.4 MHz | 3 | BBC Radio 2 |
| 90.6 MHz | 3 | BBC Radio 3 |
| 92.8 MHz | 3 | BBC Radio 4 |
| 95.1 MHz | 3 | BBC Radio Wales |
| 97.1 MHz | 1.4 | Radio Carmarthenshire |
| 98.0 MHz | 3 | BBC Radio 1 |
| 104.6 MHz | 3 | BBC Radio Cymru |
| 105.2 MHz | 3 | Heart South Wales |
Digital radio (DAB)[edit]
| Frequency | Block | kW[4] | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 222.064 MHz | 11D | 1 | Digital One |
| 223.936 MHz | 12A | 1 | Swansea SW Wales |
| 225.648 MHz | 12B | 5 | BBC National DAB |
References[edit]
- ^ UK Free TV - Freeview on the Carmel transmitter
- ^ Summers, Nick (2012-02-15). "EU States Must Allow 4G on Analogue TV Spectrum". Thenextweb.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
- ^ "4G clearance retunes". a516digital. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
- ^ Radio Listeners Guide 2010
External links[edit]
- Pictures of Carmel transmitter masts on Geograph
- Freeview transmission details
- Carmel Transmitter at thebigtower.com
Transmitter sites in Wales | |
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