West Kirby television relay station

West Kirby
West Kirby transmitting mast, June 2009
West Kirby television relay station (Merseyside)
Mast height 17 metres (56 ft)
Coordinates 53°22′03″N 3°10′01″W / 53.367404°N 3.166929°W / 53.367404; -3.166929Coordinates: 53°22′03″N 3°10′01″W / 53.367404°N 3.166929°W / 53.367404; -3.166929
Grid reference SJ224862
Relay of Winter Hill
BBC region BBC North West
ITV region ITV Granada
Local TV service Bay TV Liverpool

The West Kirby television relay station (also commonly known as West Kirby transmitter[1]) serves parts of West Kirby, Wirral, UK (national grid reference: SJ224862[2]). It is a relay of the Winter Hill transmitter. The antenna support structure is a 17 metre-high (56 ft-high) wooden pole situated at an elevation of 64 metres (210 ft).[3] Thus, the top of the pole has an overall height of 81 metres (266 ft) above sea level. As of 2009, the transmitter serves approximately 3,400 homes.[1]

Details

The relay station is located on a United Utilities bore hole site near Column Road,[3] West Kirby. The relay was not an original VHF 405-line transmitter.[1] For 625-line analogue services on UHF, the relay covers a geographical Winter Hill blind spot in the vicinity of West Kirby near the Dee estuary. Prior to switchover, analogue channels BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1 and Channel 4 are radiated from the site.[2] Being a relay of Winter Hill, the transmitter is in the BBC North West and ITV Granada TV regions.

From 4 November 2009[1] some digital TV services started broadcasting from the transmitter.

The final digital switchover date was 2 December 2009, after which three digital multiplexes (known as Freeview Lite[4]) were made available.

All TV transmissions from the West Kirby site are vertically polarised.[1]

Transmitted services

On the extreme left, the TV mast as seen from a distance. Nearby mobile phone infrastructure is shown on the right.
Close-up of the mast showing the lower receiving aerials and upper transmitting aerials. All are of the Log-periodic type.

Digital television

Frequency UHF kW Operator System
474.166 MHz 21+ 0.015 BBC B DVB-T2
498.000 MHz 24 0.015 Digital 3&4 DVB-T
522.000 MHz 27 0.015 BBC A DVB-T

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "West Kirby transmitter - analogue switch-off". ukfree.tv. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  2. 1 2 "Digital Switchover Transmitter Details: Granada Region" (PDF). Office of Communications (OFCOM). 2007-10-24. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  3. 1 2 "The Transmission Gallery: West Kirby". mb21. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  4. ↑ "Freeview Lite?". Brian Butterworth, ukfree.tv. 2006-01-01. Retrieved 2009-06-09.


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