Millennium Transmitter

Millennium Transmitter
The Millennium Transmitter at night. 2012
Alternative names ABS-CBN Tower
General information
Type Communications tower
Location Quezon City, Philippines
Coordinates 14°38′25.36″N 121°02′12.08″E / 14.6403778°N 121.0366889°E / 14.6403778; 121.0366889Coordinates: 14°38′25.36″N 121°02′12.08″E / 14.6403778°N 121.0366889°E / 14.6403778; 121.0366889
Construction started Mid-1968
Completed March 21, 1969
Owner ABS-CBN
Height
Antenna spire 219.5 m (720 ft)

The Millennium Transmitter is a 720 ft (219.5 m) high communications tower of ABS-CBN located at the ABS-CBN Broadcast Center, Mother Ignacia Street corner Sgt. Esguerra Avenue, Quezon City. It serves as a platform for television transmission antennas for both ABS-CBN and S+A. It was formerly the platform for transmission antenna for DWRR until they separate their facilities when the Millennium Transmitter was upgraded by the end of 1999.

History

Millennium Transmitter (right) before the renovation.

The Millennium Transmitter also called ABS-CBN Tower was constructed at the corner of Mother Ignacia Street and Sgt. Esguerra Avenue, within the ABS-CBN Broadcasting Centre. Construction began in the third quarter of 1968. On March 21, 1969, the tower became operational, transmitting television and radio for ABS-CBN and also used to beam color broadcasts in Metro Manila, and to nearby provinces. After martial law was declared on September 21, 1972, as ABS-CBN suspended their operations the following day, the facility was taken over by the crony-owned BBC-2 from 1973 to 1979 and GTV/MBS-4 from 1974 to 1992 used to beam their programs. When the EDSA Revolution happened, both the tower and Broadcast Plaza are stormed by the reformist rebels as escalating battle occurred on February 24, 1986. After the revolution, the tower was returned to the original owner ABS-CBN to receive TV and FM radio programs at the time it was the transmitter of both DWWX-TV and DWRR and later it also became the transmitter of DWAC-TV when it was signed on in 1996. In late 1999, the tower was expanded and DWRR's transmission tower was built and moved to Eugenio Lopez Center in Antipolo City.

The newly renovated Millennium Transmitter (left).

Its former height is 650 ft (198.1 m), until the time when ABS-CBN started a major reconstruction and rehabilitation of the whole tower, which includes the changing of its previously used cylinder antennas to even more powerful dipole antennas with reflector, and increase of its height which was finished by the 3rd quarter of 2009.[1]

Features

The Tower

The Millennium Transmitter uses its newly installed dipole antennas with reflector, and UHF panel antennas for wide coverage of VHF and UHF TV reception in Metro Manila some nearby provinces in both grades A and B, for the broadcasts of DWWX-TV and DWAC-TV respectively. Despite the name, the Millennium Transmitter is not a transmitter, rather a communications tower with antennas which are connected to multiple transmitters.

The Transmitter Facility

The transmitter facility houses both DWWX-TV and DWAC-TV that contains sets of transmitter equipment imported by Harris and Jampro of the United States.

See also

References

  1. An “Improvised” TV Antenna of ABS-CBN of 2009 « Albert Cornelio Blog Community PH. Albcorph.wordpress.com (2009-08-24). Retrieved on 2011-10-01.
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