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Mendip transmitting station
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Mendip transmitting station
The Mendip transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility on the summit of Pen Hill, part of the Mendip Hills range in Somerset, England, at 305 metres (1,001 ft) above sea level. The station is in St Cuthbert Out civil parish, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Wells. Its mast, 293 m (961 ft) high, was built in 1967 and is the tallest structure in South West England. The mast broadcasts digital television, FM analogue radio and DAB digital radio, and had broadcast analogue colour television from 1967 until 2010.
The station is owned and operated by Arqiva (which acquired National Grid Wireless, previously Crown Castle).
Until 2008 a glass-reinforced plastic aerial cylinder, containing the analogue television transmitting antennas, was mounted at the top of the mast, bringing the total height of the structure to 305 metres (1,001 ft). With a mean height of 596 metres (1,955 ft) above sea level, these antennas were among the highest in the UK. They were removed in 2010, the antenna cylinder being replaced with a new antenna assembly, ready for digital switchover later that year. The present assembly is slightly shorter than the previous cylinder, causing the overall mast height to be reduced from 305 metres (1,001 ft) to 293 metres (961 ft).
There are red aircraft warning lamps (six sets of two lights) on the mast, and two lights on top. The mast can be seen from as far away as Puriton during the day, and the aircraft warning lights make it visible at night from most of the Somerset Levels and from areas of South Wales, such as the high ground near the Wenvoe transmitting station.[citation needed]
Mendip was configured as a C/D group transmitter when it entered service with analogue PAL transmissions. In July 2007, Ofcom confirmed that it would remain a C/D group transmitter at digital switchover. The mast broadcasts digital television over a large area of the west of England, including Somerset, Wiltshire, Bristol, southern Gloucestershire, and northern Dorset. Northern Gloucestershire – such as most of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury – is outside the coverage area, instead receiving signals from Ridge Hill transmitting station in Herefordshire.
Cardiff and other parts of southeast Wales were also able to receive the analogue TV transmissions from Mendip,[citation needed] and many households used it in preference to the more local Wenvoe transmitter which carries the Wales variations of BBC One, BBC Two, and ITV. This was originally because the Wenvoe transmitter broadcast S4C (with programmes in Welsh and some prime-time English programmes from Channel 4 scheduled at much later times) rather than Channel 4 itself. Even after digital switchover when transmitters in Wales also began to broadcast Channel 4 in addition to S4C, some households continued with their preference for the West variations of BBC One, BBC Two, and ITV, and having Channel 4 (not S4C) as number 4 on the electronic programme guide.
Power on analogue transmissions was 500 kW (ERP) for BBC 1, BBC2, HTV West, Channel 4, and 126 kW (ERP) for Channel 5. The latter was transmitted outside of the original C/D grouping of the transmitter but most homes in reasonable signal areas for the C/D group could receive it with their C/D group aerial. All six digital multiplexes were transmitted at 10 kW until switchover in 2010 when the power on the "BBC A", "BBC B/HD" and "D3&4" multiplexes was boosted to 100 kW. In 2011, SDN was boosted to 50 kW and in 2012 the remaining two Arqiva multiplexes were boosted to 50 kW too.
In June 2019, as part of the 700MHz clearance programme, Mendip became K group (excluding muxes 7 and 8, which are due to be switched off between 2020 and 2022). This means that homes in poor signal areas which still have a C/D group aerial may have difficulty in receiving all multiplexes.[citation needed]
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Mendip transmitting station AI simulator
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Mendip transmitting station
The Mendip transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility on the summit of Pen Hill, part of the Mendip Hills range in Somerset, England, at 305 metres (1,001 ft) above sea level. The station is in St Cuthbert Out civil parish, approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north-east of Wells. Its mast, 293 m (961 ft) high, was built in 1967 and is the tallest structure in South West England. The mast broadcasts digital television, FM analogue radio and DAB digital radio, and had broadcast analogue colour television from 1967 until 2010.
The station is owned and operated by Arqiva (which acquired National Grid Wireless, previously Crown Castle).
Until 2008 a glass-reinforced plastic aerial cylinder, containing the analogue television transmitting antennas, was mounted at the top of the mast, bringing the total height of the structure to 305 metres (1,001 ft). With a mean height of 596 metres (1,955 ft) above sea level, these antennas were among the highest in the UK. They were removed in 2010, the antenna cylinder being replaced with a new antenna assembly, ready for digital switchover later that year. The present assembly is slightly shorter than the previous cylinder, causing the overall mast height to be reduced from 305 metres (1,001 ft) to 293 metres (961 ft).
There are red aircraft warning lamps (six sets of two lights) on the mast, and two lights on top. The mast can be seen from as far away as Puriton during the day, and the aircraft warning lights make it visible at night from most of the Somerset Levels and from areas of South Wales, such as the high ground near the Wenvoe transmitting station.[citation needed]
Mendip was configured as a C/D group transmitter when it entered service with analogue PAL transmissions. In July 2007, Ofcom confirmed that it would remain a C/D group transmitter at digital switchover. The mast broadcasts digital television over a large area of the west of England, including Somerset, Wiltshire, Bristol, southern Gloucestershire, and northern Dorset. Northern Gloucestershire – such as most of Cheltenham and Tewkesbury – is outside the coverage area, instead receiving signals from Ridge Hill transmitting station in Herefordshire.
Cardiff and other parts of southeast Wales were also able to receive the analogue TV transmissions from Mendip,[citation needed] and many households used it in preference to the more local Wenvoe transmitter which carries the Wales variations of BBC One, BBC Two, and ITV. This was originally because the Wenvoe transmitter broadcast S4C (with programmes in Welsh and some prime-time English programmes from Channel 4 scheduled at much later times) rather than Channel 4 itself. Even after digital switchover when transmitters in Wales also began to broadcast Channel 4 in addition to S4C, some households continued with their preference for the West variations of BBC One, BBC Two, and ITV, and having Channel 4 (not S4C) as number 4 on the electronic programme guide.
Power on analogue transmissions was 500 kW (ERP) for BBC 1, BBC2, HTV West, Channel 4, and 126 kW (ERP) for Channel 5. The latter was transmitted outside of the original C/D grouping of the transmitter but most homes in reasonable signal areas for the C/D group could receive it with their C/D group aerial. All six digital multiplexes were transmitted at 10 kW until switchover in 2010 when the power on the "BBC A", "BBC B/HD" and "D3&4" multiplexes was boosted to 100 kW. In 2011, SDN was boosted to 50 kW and in 2012 the remaining two Arqiva multiplexes were boosted to 50 kW too.
In June 2019, as part of the 700MHz clearance programme, Mendip became K group (excluding muxes 7 and 8, which are due to be switched off between 2020 and 2022). This means that homes in poor signal areas which still have a C/D group aerial may have difficulty in receiving all multiplexes.[citation needed]
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