Mast height 1,154 feet (351.7 m) Opened 1965 | Built 1965 | |
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BBC region BBC Yorkshire (1965–2004)
BBC Yorkshire and Lincolnshire (2004–present) ITV region ITV Anglia (1965–74)
ITV Yorkshire (1974–present) Local TV service Estuary TV
That's Lincolnshire Similar Waltham transmitting station, Caldbeck transmitting station, Mendip transmitting station, Hannington transmitting station, Black Hill transmitting station | ||
The Belmont transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility next to the B1225, one mile west of the village of Donington on Bain in the civil parish of South Willingham, near Market Rasen and Louth in Lincolnshire, England (grid reference TF217837). It is owned and operated by Arqiva.
Contents
- Map of Belmont Transmitting Station Market Rasen LN8 6JT UK
- Construction
- Coverage
- Transmitter power
- 20 December 1965 19 November 1966
- 19 November 1966 24 May 1971
- 24 May 1971 30 July 1974
- 30 July 1974 2 November 1982
- 2 November 1982 30 November 1997
- 30 November 1997 15 November 1998
- 15 November 1998 3 August 2011
- 3 August 2011 17 August 2011
- 17 August 2011 26 November 2013
- 26 November 2013 present
- 11 November 1980 February 1992
- February 1992 present day
- References
Map of Belmont Transmitting Station, Market Rasen LN8 6JT, UK
It has a guyed tubular steel mast, with a lattice upper section. The mast was shortened in April 2010 and is now 1,154 feet (351.7 m) in height. Before this it was 1,272 feet (387.7 m) high and was considered to be the tallest structure of its kind in the world (taller masts, such as the KVLY-TV mast in the United States, use steel lattice construction), the tallest structure of any type in the United Kingdom and also the tallest structure within the European Union. After the top section was removed, the mast's reduced height relegated it to 14th-highest structure in the EU and second-highest in the UK after Skelton. The current world's tallest guyed tubular steel mast is TV Tower Vinnytsia in Ukraine.
Despite the mast being shortened it can be seen in daylight on clear days from most areas close to and within the Lincolnshire Wolds. On clear nights its bright red aircraft warning lights can be very widely seen across much of Lincolnshire from as far north as the River Humber and Barton-Upon-Humber; from the west of the county it can be seen from Lincoln, Gainsborough and Grantham; from the south of the county it can be seen from Spalding and Bourne; and from the east it can be seen from Skegness, Mablethorpe and most areas along the Lincolnshire coast. The lights can also be seen from many parts of Nottinghamshire, coastal areas of North West Norfolk and even a few parts of Derbyshire on very clear nights.
Construction
The mast was constructed in 1965 and it came into service on 20 December of that year. As built it was a tubular pipe 900 feet (274.3 m) long by 9 feet (2.7 m) in diameter, surmounted by a 365 feet (111.3 m) lattice upper section. (An identical mast was constructed in 1964 at Emley Moor near Huddersfield in Yorkshire, but that mast collapsed due to guy failure caused by icing and high winds on 19 March 1969.)
In September 1967 meteorological equipment was added to the 1,265 feet (385.6 m) mast extending its height to 1,272 feet (387.7 m). The imperial measurement was the accepted value quoted by a number of publications, including the 1993 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. The metric measurement quoted by the current owners is 0.2 m (8 in) shorter.
Between October 2009 and April 2010 the mast was shortened as part of the Digital Switchover works, most of the top section above the fifth stay level was removed (along with the sixth stay level) and the mast now stands 1,154 feet (351.7 m) high.
Coverage
From its location, high in the Lincolnshire Wolds, it broadcasts digital television and both analogue and digital radio to Lincolnshire, eastern Yorkshire, northern parts of Norfolk and Nottinghamshire. When it was first operated it transmitted (amongst others) ITV station Anglia Television. Following a re-organisation of ITV coverage in 1972, from 1974 it started transmitting neighbouring station Yorkshire Television instead, which it continues to do to this day. Belmont has few relay stations, most of the region being flat. There is a main relay station at Oliver's Mount covering the Scarborough area.
Transmitter power
At 500 kW E.R.P. for the four main analogue channels, Belmont was one of the most powerful transmitters in the UK, though there are four UK transmitters which were more powerful; Sutton Coldfield, Crystal Palace and Sandy Heath were all at 1000 kW and Emley Moor was 870 kW. Channel 5 was only broadcast at 50 kW from Belmont and digital at 20 kW (Mux 2), 10 kW (Mux 1, A, B) and 4 kW (Mux C, D) although this level of digital power is theoretically equal to 500 kW on analogue in terms of the received carrier to noise ratio required to give a "perfect" picture. After digital switchover Belmont's digital transmitting power rose to 50 kW for SDN (previously Mux A), 100 kW for Arqiva A & B (Mux C, D) and 150 kW for BBC A, D3&4 and BBC B (Mux 1, 2, B).
20 December 1965 – 19 November 1966
First transmissions from the site: ITV's 405-line television service, an off-air rebroadcast from Mendlesham.
19 November 1966 – 24 May 1971
The BBC's services came online on both VHF and UHF. BBC 1 was initially fed by means of an off-air rebroadcast of Holme Moss but this was plagued by co-channel interference from the continent. BBC2 was an off-air rebroadcast from Emley Moor. On 19 March 1969, the Emley Moor mast collapsed, taking Belmont's BBC2 transmissions off-air for several days.
Despite the programme sources on VHF and UHF being (for many years) off-air rebroadcasts of other transmitters in the vicinity, Belmont was always regarded by the BBC as being a "main station" both on VHF and UHF. The IBA initially regarded it as a relay of Mendlesham (and numbered it 14.2 in their numbering of VHF stations) but from 1974 it became a "main station" for Yorkshire Television (renumbered as 20.0 in the IBA's numbering of VHF stations).
It was always number 120.0 in the BBC/IBA numbering scheme for UHF stations).
24 May 1971 – 30 July 1974
ITV's UHF service began.
30 July 1974 – 2 November 1982
After changes to the regional structure of ITV in 1972, Belmont stopped being a relay of Mendlesham and became a main station for Yorkshire TV.
2 November 1982 – 30 November 1997
Both the BBC and ITV 405-line VHF TV services from Belmont were was discontinued early in mid-1982, and Channel 4 started up on UHF from the site in November that same year:
30 November 1997 – 15 November 1998
Belmont started transmitting the UK's final terrestrial analogue UHF TV service: Channel 5. This was done well out-of-band and at reduced power compared with the main group.
15 November 1998 – 3 August 2011
Belmont began transmitting digital TV, with the new digital muliplexes well spaced away from the existing analogue channels. In July 2007 it was confirmed by Ofcom that Belmont would be remaining a wideband transmitter after digital switchover, though the first four of the six multiplexes would still be available within the original A group, as this graph makes clear.
3 August 2011 – 17 August 2011
BBC Two closed on UHF 28. BBC One was moved on to that channel for its final three weeks of service. Pre-DSO Multiplex 1 (BBC) on UHF 30 was closed and was replaced by BBC A on UHF 22.
17 August 2011 – 26 November 2013
All the remaining analogue and existing digital signals were turned off and replaced with higher-power digital signals.
26 November 2013 – present
Local TV, carrying Estuary TV, and Arqiva C, carrying additional HD services, launched on 26 November 2013.
11 November 1980 – February 1992
BBC Radio Lincolnshire started broadcasting.
February 1992 – present day
"Lincs FM" and "Classic FM" join the set of FM broadcasts.