Standing on the summit of North Hessary Tor in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England is an FM radio and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

transmitter which uses as aerial a high guyed mast.

History

It was built by BICC for the BBC in 1955 when a transmitter was needed to introduce 405 line television into Devon, alongside Rowridge and Pontop Pike (both 500ft). It now carries a small UHF TV transmitter which serves

Princetown Princetown is a villageDespite its name, Princetown is not classed as a town today – it is not included in the County Council's list of the 29 towns in Devon: located within Dartmoor national park in the English county of Devon. It is the p ...

and

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferous ...

. FM radio transmissions began in 1956 and cover most of Devon and eastern parts of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, along with Somerset and South Wales as a backup for Wenvoe. It is owned and operated by

Arqiva Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquarters ...

Services listed by frequency

Analogue radio (FM VHF)

In all BBC publications the national FM ERPs for North Hessary Tor are listed as 160 kW (mixed polarisation): Classic FM list their ERP as 80 kW (horizontal) and 80 kW (vertical) for North Hessary Tor which equates to the same power as the BBC. The mast covers a large area including Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and South Wales.

Digital radio (DAB)

Analogue television

17 December 1954 – 3 January 1985

Until 12 August 2009

Analogue and digital television

12 August 2009 – 9 September 2009

Digital television

9 September 2009 – June 2013

From June 2013

In June 2013, BBC A moved from UHF 62 to UHF 50, to allow for the clearance of the 800 MHz band for 4G LTE mobile services.

References

External links

The Transmission Gallery: North Hessary Tor Transmitting Station photographs, coverage maps and information

{{North_Hessary_Tor_VHF_405-line_Transmitter_Group Radio masts and towers in Europe Transmitter sites in England