Sutton Coldfield television transmitter on:
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makes clear. In July 2007 it was confirmed by Ofcom that Sutton Coldfield would return to an undisputed B group transmitter post-Digital Switchover, a process that was completed on 21 September 2011. An MF transmitter for Radio Birmingham (now BBC WM) used to be installed at this site, but could only be operated at 5 kW instead of the planned 10 kW because of interference to video equipment on the site. It was eventually replaced with a transmitter at the nearby Langley Mill MF site owned by Arqiva. This transmitter is currently used for the
Cooper, Ray (2006), ''Tales from a Cold Field''.
The Transmission Gallery: photographs, coverage maps and information
Info and pictures of Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter including historical power/frequency changes and present co-receivable transmitters
{{Sutton_Coldfield_VHF_405-line_Transmitter_Group Mass media in Birmingham, West Midlands Buildings and structures in Birmingham, West Midlands Transmitter sites in England Sutton Coldfield
The Sutton Coldfield transmitting station is a
On 17 December 1949, it became the first television
national stations; the BBC's local service BBC WM on FM and DAB; independent national station Classic FM and local commercial radio stations broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting beg ...
and 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 ...
facility located in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. In terms of population covered, it is the third most important transmitter in the UK, after Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
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* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
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in London
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and Winter Hill near Bolton.
History
On 17 December 1949, it became the first television transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...
to broadcast outside London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and the Home Counties
The home counties are the counties of England that surround London. The counties are not precisely defined but Buckinghamshire and Surrey are usually included in definitions and Berkshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Kent are also often included ...
, bringing BBC Television to viewers outside of the south-east of England for the first time.
In 1949 the site housed Britain's first post-war Marconi-EMI band 1 405 line television transmitter. When it was taken out of service in 1981 it was the oldest working television transmitter in the world.
For most of 1965, it had a low-power BBC2 service; this was turned onto full power on 4 October 1965; the East Midlands had no BBC2 service until Waltham began transmissions on 31 August 1968.
A new mast was built around 1983 to replace the original structure, primarily to support new mixed-polarisation FM antennas.
A 240.2m temporary mast was erected alongside the original mast in the spring of 2009 so that work could proceed in raising the height of the original mast by 31m (to a total height of 270.5m). After four years in service and almost a year after the completion of digital switch over, the temporary mast was removed during August 2013.
All analogue TV transmissions ceased on 21 September 2011, as part of the 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 ...
. This made it one of the oldest transmitters in the country to formally end analogue broadcasts.
Services
With a mast height of , it is one of the most powerful transmitters in England, powered at 200 kilowatts ERP for digitaltelevision
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 ...
and 250 kW for FM radio. The coverage extends as far south as Chipping Norton
Chipping Norton is a market town and civil parish in the Cotswold Hills in the West Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Banbury and north-west of Oxford. The 2011 Census recorded the civil parish population as ...
in Oxfordshire and as far north as Stoke-on-Trent. However, there are many relay transmitters around the Midlands that extend coverage even further.
The transmitter broadcasts eight 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 adva ...
multiplexes, as well as VHF or FM transmitters for the four 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 exam. ...
...Free Radio Birmingham
Free Radio Birmingham is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to Birmingham and the West Midlands.
As of September 2022, the station has ...
, Heart West Midlands
Heart West Midlands is a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcasts to the West Midlands from studios in Birmingham.
History
Heart began broadcasting to the West Midlands on Tuesday 6 Septe ...
, Greatest Hits West Midlands
Greatest Hits Radio Birmingham & The West Midlands is an Independent Local Radio station based in Birmingham, England, owned and operated by Bauer as part of the Greatest Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to the West Midlands. The station form ...
(previously Kerrang 105.2 until June 2013, Planet Rock until September 2015, and Absolute Radio until December 2018) and Smooth West Midlands.
When opened as a UHF TV transmitter Sutton Coldfield was a B grouping, but with the advent of Digital broadcasting one of the six muxes could not be fitted into the original B group due to co-channel considerations. Thus mux 6 was transmitted slightly out of band on UHF Channel 55, though this would still be receivable on most B group aerials as thigraph
makes clear. In July 2007 it was confirmed by Ofcom that Sutton Coldfield would return to an undisputed B group transmitter post-Digital Switchover, a process that was completed on 21 September 2011. An MF transmitter for Radio Birmingham (now BBC WM) used to be installed at this site, but could only be operated at 5 kW instead of the planned 10 kW because of interference to video equipment on the site. It was eventually replaced with a transmitter at the nearby Langley Mill MF site owned by Arqiva. This transmitter is currently used for the
BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British Asian radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially British Asians between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has ...
.
The station is now owned 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 headquart ...
.
Radio
Analogue (FM)
Digital (DAB)
Television
Digital
=Before switchover
=Analogue
Analogue television signals are no longer broadcast from Sutton Coldfield as of 21 September 2011.Relays
The transmitter is served by a set of 35 local relays, delivering signals to areas shaded from it by hills and the curve of the Earth. These are:Digital switchover
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 ...
took place at Sutton Coldfield in September 2011. In preparation for this, major engineering works took place at the station. The mast height was increased from to and the UHF television antennas were replaced. This was accomplished through the use of a temporary mast constructed to broadcast all the area's services so that the main mast could be worked on 'cold'.Birmingham Council Planning Control: Application No. N/04511/07/FUL
As at other stations, the digital switchover took place in two stages:
In the first stage (7 September 2011):
* BBC Two analogue (Channel 40) closed down
* Low-power BBC multiplex (Mux 1) on channel 41 closed down
* Low-power SDN multiplex (Mux A) moved from channel 47 to channel 41 (until stage 2)
* ITV analogue moved from channel 43 to channel 40 (until stage 2)
* High-power multiplex BBC A started on channel 43
In the second stage (21 September 2011):
* BBC One analogue (Channel 46) closed down
* ITV analogue (Channel 40) closed down
* Channel 4 analogue (Channel 50) closed down
* Mux 1 (C41), Mux 2 (C44), Mux A (C47), Mux B (C51), Mux C (C52) and Mux D (C55) closed down
* All multiplexes increased in power to 200,000 watts (200 kW)
* New multiplexes came on air: SDN on C42, Arqiva A on C45, Arqiva B on C39, Digital 3&4 on C46 and BBC B on C40.
HD broadcasts were moved from the Lichfield transmitter to Sutton Coldfield on the BBC B multiplex (C40, 626.2 MHz). The Lichfield transmitter ceased the broadcast of all television services (Analogue Channel 5 and Digital BBC B (Mux HD)), with all six multiplexes being broadcast from Sutton Coldfield.
Further reading
* Pawley, Edward (1972), ''BBC Engineering 1922 - 1972'', London, BBC. pp 355, 368-70.Cooper, Ray (2006), ''Tales from a Cold Field''.
See also
*Lichfield transmitting station
The Lichfield transmitting station is situated close to Tamworth in Staffordshire in the West Midlands between the A5 and A51. The nearest geographical feature is Hopwas Hill. The station is owned and operated by Arqiva. The mast is known ...
*List of masts
The tallest structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa skyscraper at . Listed are guyed masts (such as telecommunication masts), self-supporting towers (such as the CN Tower), skyscrapers (such as the Willis Tower), oil platforms, electricity ...
*List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
This is a list of radio stations in the United Kingdom.
National analogue and digital (DAB) stations
This list does not include stations which broadcast on numerous local digital multiplexes or MW licences to achieve near-national coverage.
DAB ...
*List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain
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Entries in ''italics'' denote approximate figures.
Structures taller than 300 ...
References
External links
The Transmission Gallery: photographs, coverage maps and information
Info and pictures of Sutton Coldfield TV transmitter including historical power/frequency changes and present co-receivable transmitters
{{Sutton_Coldfield_VHF_405-line_Transmitter_Group Mass media in Birmingham, West Midlands Buildings and structures in Birmingham, West Midlands Transmitter sites in England Sutton Coldfield