Stockland Hill transmitting station

The Stockland Hill transmitting station is a transmitting facility of FM Radio and UHF television located near Honiton, Devon, England. This transmitter mainly serves the East of Devon and West Dorset.

Stockland Hill
Stockland Hill transmitting station is located in Devon
Stockland Hill transmitting station
Stockland Hill transmitting station (Devon)
Mast height235 metres (771 ft)
Coordinates50.807222°N 3.105°W / 50.807222; -3.105
Grid referenceST222014
Built29 April 1961
BBC regionBBC South West
ITV regionITV West Country

It was constructed in 1961 by the IBA to transmit ITV 405-line television with transmissions commencing on Band III channel 9 from antennas at 450 m (1,475 ft) above sea level.

Colour television came to the site in 1971.[1] Channel Four started up in November 1982. Stockland Hill never radiated the analogue Channel Five service.

Digital television was first introduced at this site in 1998, and Digital Switchover happened in May 2009. Stockland Hill was the second transmitter in the south west of England to have its analogue television transmissions shut off. BBC Two was switched off on 6 May 2009 and the rest of the analogue services were switched off on 20 May 2009 around after midnight.

Stockland Hill currently transmits all of the DTT multiplexes at full planned ERP. The three PSB multiplexes are at 50 kW, the other three multiplexes are at 25 kW.[2]

Services

29 April 1961 – 13 September 1971

405-line VHF ITV television arrived in the southwest with the simultaneous building of this station and Caradon Hill 60 miles (100 km) to the west in Cornwall.

Frequency VHF kW Service
194.75 MHz 9V 100 Westward

13 September 1971 – 1 November 1982

UHF colour television commenced.

Frequency VHF UHF kW Service
194.75 MHz 9V — 100 TSW (Westward until 1981)
487.25 MHz — 23 250 TSW (Westward until 1981)
511.25 MHz — 26 250 BBC2 South West
567.25 MHz — 33 250 BBC1 South West

1 November 1982 – 3 January 1985

The UK's fourth UHF television channel started up.

Frequency VHF UHF kW Service
194.75 MHz 9V — 100 TSW
487.25 MHz — 23 250 TSW
511.25 MHz — 26 250 BBC2 South West
535.25 MHz — 29 250 Channel 4
567.25 MHz — 33 250 BBC1 South West

3 January 1985 – 15 November 1998

The VHF 405-line system was discontinued across the UK, and from that point for the next 23 years, television from Stockland Hill was the originally-intended four channels on UHF only.

Frequency UHF kW Service
487.25 MHz 23 250 Westcountry (TSW until 1992)
511.25 MHz 26 250 BBC2 South West
535.25 MHz 29 250 Channel 4
567.25 MHz 33 250 BBC1 South West

15 November 1998 – 6 May 2009

The initial roll-out of digital television involved running the digital services interleaved (and at low ERP) with the existing analogue services.

Frequency UHF kW Service System
481.833 MHz 22- 5 BBC (Mux 1) DVB-T
487.25 MHz 23 250 Westcountry PAL
505.833 MHz 25- 5 SDN (Mux A) DVB-T
511.25 MHz 26 250 BBC2 South West PAL
529.833 MHz 28- 5 Digital 3&4 (Mux 2) DVB-T
535.25 MHz 29 250 Channel 4 PAL
546.166 MHz 30+ 2.5 Arqiva (Mux C) DVB-T
561.833 MHz 32- 5 BBC (Mux B) DVB-T
567.25 MHz 33 250 BBC1 South West PAL
578.166 MHz 34+ 2.5 Arqiva (Mux D) DVB-T

6 May 2009 – 20 May 2009

Digital Switchover commenced at Stockland Hill, with analogue BBC2 being switched off on channel 26 and BBC Mux 1 being switched off on channel 22-. Channel 26 was reused by the new BBC A multiplex at full post-DSO power (50 kW) and using 64-QAM with 8k carriers.

Frequency UHF kW Service System
487.25 MHz 23 250 Westcountry PAL
505.833 MHz 25- 5 SDN (Mux A) DVB-T
514.166 MHz 26+ 50 BBC A DVB-T
529.833 MHz 28- 5 Digital 3&4 (Mux 2) DVB-T
535.25 MHz 29 250 Channel 4 PAL
546.166 MHz 30+ 2.5 Arqiva (Mux C) DVB-T
561.833 MHz 32- 5 BBC (Mux B) DVB-T
567.25 MHz 33 250 BBC1 South West PAL
578.166 MHz 34+ 2.5 Arqiva (Mux D) DVB-T

20 May 2009 – 18 April 2012

Digital switchover was completed at Stockland Hill. All analogue television was switched off and the new post-DSO multiplexes took over the analogue frequencies plus a few new ones. Full power could not immediately be achieved for the COM multiplexes due to interference issues at Rowridge and in France.[3][4]

Frequency UHF kW Operator System
481.833 MHz 22- 10 Arqiva A DVB-T
490.166 MHz 23+ 50 Digital 3&4 DVB-T
505.833 MHz 25- 10 SDN DVB-T
514.166 MHz 26+ 50 BBC A DVB-T
529.833 MHz 28- 10 Arqiva B DVB-T
538.166 MHz 29+ 50 BBC B DVB-T2

18 April 2012 - present

The current UHF channels that Stockland Hill is transmitting are:

Frequency UHF kW[5] Operator System
481.833 MHz 22- 25 Arqiva A DVB-T
490.166 MHz 23+ 50 Digital 3&4 DVB-T
505.833 MHz 25- 25 SDN DVB-T
514.166 MHz 26+ 50 BBC A DVB-T
529.833 MHz 28- 25 Arqiva B DVB-T
538.166 MHz 29+ 50 BBC B DVB-T2

Analogue radio (FM)
Frequency kW Service
103.0 MHz 1 Heart West

Digital radio (DAB)
Frequency Block kW[6] Operator
221.352 MHz 11C 5 NOW Exeter and Torbay
222.064 MHz 11D 2 Digital One
225.648 MHz 12B 5 BBC National DAB

References
  1. "ITV75p146w". txlib.mb21.co.uk. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014.
  2. "UK free TV".
  3. "About us".
  4. "About us" (PDF).
  5. Television Viewers Guide 2009
  6. Radio Listeners Guide 2010
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