The Pontop Pike transmitting station is a facility for
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
and broadcasting situated on a 312-metre (1,024-ft) high hill of the same name between
Stanley
Stanley may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Film and television
* ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film
* ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy
* ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short
* ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
and
Consett
Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019.
History
Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...
, County Durham, near the village of
Dipton, England. The mast is high, giving an average antenna height of above sea level. It is owned and operated by
Arqiva.
History
The mast was built in 1953, by
BICC with
Rowridge (also ) and
North Hessary Tor
North Hessary Tor is a 517 metres hill just above Dartmoor Prison, in Princetown within Dartmoor Forest civil parish, which is in the borough of West Devon, Devon, England (). The tor is one of the boundary points mentioned in the perambulations ...
in Devon ().
Its construction was brought forward by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
so that people in
North East England
North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...
could watch the
Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II live on the
405-line television system
The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting. The number of television lines influences the image resolution, or quality of the picture.
It was ...
VHF
Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter.
Frequencies immediately below VHF ...
then in use in the UK. Test transmissions from a low-power temporary
aerial began on Monday, 20 April 1953, and the first programmes were transmitted on Friday, 1 May 1953, in plenty of time for the Coronation on 2 June. UHF transmissions began in 1966 with the first colour transmissions in 1970, and the VHF television signal was switched off in 1985.
Coverage
The Pontop Pike transmitter provides
digital television
Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an innovative advanc ...
transmissions to
Tyne and Wear
Tyne and Wear () is a metropolitan county in North East England, situated around the mouths of the rivers Tyne and Wear. It was created in 1974, by the Local Government Act 1972, along with five metropolitan boroughs of Gateshead, Newcastl ...
, County Durham,
Tees Valley
Tees Valley is a mayoral combined authority and Local enterprise partnership area in northern England, around the River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley.
The LEP was established in 2011 and the combined authority was establish ...
, most of
Northumberland
Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey.
It is bordered by land on ...
and parts of
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
. It also carries the national
BBC Radio FM signals, covering the whole
North East
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, as well as 95.4 MHz FM
BBC Newcastle. It was one of the first national FM transmitters in December 1955. All of its television output is within the C/D aerial group.
Digital TV switchover
Analogue TV transmissions from this mast began to close from 12 September 2012 and completely ceased on 26 September that year, making Pontop Pike, alongside
Bilsdale
Bilsdale is a dale in the western part of the North York Moors in North Yorkshire, England. The head of the dale is at Hasty Bank, and the dale extends south to meet Rye Dale near Hawnby. The dale is the valley of the River Seph, formed wher ...
and
Chatton
Chatton is a village in Northumberland, in England. It is roughly to the east of Wooler.
History
Chatton has been occupied for many centuries. There has been a church on the site since the twelfth century. There is evidence of occupation in ...
, the last-but-one transmitter group in the United Kingdom to complete
digital switchover
The digital television transition, also called the digital switchover (DSO), the analogue switch/sign-off (ASO), the digital migration, or the analogue shutdown, is the process in which older analogue television broadcasting technology is conv ...
(DSO) with Northern Ireland being the last area to switch. In July 2007 it was confirmed by Ofcom that Pontop Pike would remain a C/D group after DSO.
Pontop Pike underwent its 700 MHz clearance between September and November 2019 when its output moved down the band from a C/D group to a K group. Thus people with original C/D group aerials, who live in poor reception areas, may struggle to pick up some channels (se
graph.
Services listed by frequency
Analogue radio
Digital radio
Digital television
Before 700 MHz clearance
Before switchover
Analogue television
Analogue television from Pontop Pike has now ceased permanently. BBC Two analogue was switched off on 12 September 2012 and the remaining three on 26 September 2012. Pontop Pike did not transmit analogue Channel 5. Instead it was transmitted from
Burnhope
Burnhope is a village and civil parish in County Durham, England. It is located in the Craghead valley on the opposite side to Stanley and has 1,564 inhabitants, as measured in the 2011 census. Burnhope overlooks Lanchester in the Browney ...
on UHF 68.
Relay services
Being the main broadcasting transmitter, there are also a number of relays (or repeaters) to cover patches where this transmitter can't properly serve.
Analogue radio
Digital television
The following is a list of the television relays served by Pontop Pike:
See also
*
List of masts
*
List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
References
External links
Info and pictures of Pontop Pike transmitter including historical power/frequency changes and present co-receivable transmitters.Entry on Pontop Pike on The Transmission Gallery
{{Pontop_Pike_VHF_405-line_Transmitter_Group
Radio masts and towers in Europe
Buildings and structures in County Durham
Transmitter sites in England