:Carmarthen transmitting station
{{Infobox UK Transmitter |
|name = Carmarthen
|image =
|map_name = Wales Carmarthenshire
|coordinates = {{coord|51.868075|-4.30715|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
|height2 = {{convert|37|m|ft|0}}
|gridref = SN412213
|built = 1964/65
|demolished =
|collapsed =
|relay = Wenvoe
|BBC = BBC Wales
}}
The Carmarthen transmitting station ({{langx|cy|Gorsaf drosglwyddo Caerfyrddin}}) was originally built by the BBC in 1964/65 as a relay for VHF radio and television.{{cite web|url=http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1965-10.pdf|title=TRANSMITTING AERIALS FOR THE CARMARTHEN V.H.F. TELEVISION AND V.H.F. SOUND STATION - Technological Report No. E-ll4/2|website=BBC|date=April 1965}} The site was built on a 135 m ridge to the north of Carmarthen itself, and entered service on 15 March 1965. The transmission station is now owned and operated by Arqiva.
UHF 625-line colour television was never radiated from this site: the main transmitter at Carmel (20 km to the east) provided that service to the town from 1973 when it opened.
The 405-line VHF television service closed across the UK in 1985, but according to the BBC's transmitter list{{cite web|url=http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/405-Lines/Transmitters.gif |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2013-11-15 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120813054041/http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/405-Lines/Transmitters.gif |archivedate=2012-08-13 }} and the BBC's internal "Eng. Inf." magazine,{{Cite web |url=http://www.bbceng.info/Eng_Inf/EngInf_4.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-04-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106011307/http://www.bbceng.info/Eng_Inf/EngInf_4.pdf |archive-date=2009-01-06 |url-status=dead }} Carmarthen was due to close early - in the first quarter of 1982. From that point onwards the site just relayed FM radio until 6 June 2011{{cite web| url = http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/radio/digital_radio.shtml| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071011172530/http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/radio/digital_radio.shtml| archive-date = 2007-10-11| title = BBC - Help receiving BBC TV and radio - BBC DAB digital radio transmitters}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100919081122/http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/radio/digital_radio.shtml |date=2010-09-19 }} when a single multiplex of DAB radio was added.
Channels listed by frequency
=Analogue television=
==15 March 1965 - First Quarter 1982==
The site provided BBC 405-line VHF television to the towns of Carmarthen and Abergwili which, being sited in a river estuary, could not reliably receive a signal from Wenvoe, 85 km to the east.
| class="wikitable sortable"
!{{no2}}Frequency !{{no2}}VHF !{{no2}}kW !{{no2}}Service |
| {{UK System A|ch=1}}
|1 |0.013 |
=Analogue radio (VHF FM)=
==15 March 1965 - January 1973==
==January 1973 - May 1978==
The three original radio services were still on their original frequencies as late as January 1973,{{Cite web |url=http://txlib.mb21.co.uk/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2489 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2012-03-29 |archive-date=2015-02-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150227202401/http://txlib.mb21.co.uk/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=2489 |url-status=dead }} but ERPs had been slightly increased to 10 W per channel by then. By May 1978 all three transmission frequencies had been moved by 400 kHz {{cite web| url = http://txlib.mb21.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=87&g2_imageViewsIndex=3| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150227202825/http://txlib.mb21.co.uk/main.php?g2_itemId=87&g2_imageViewsIndex=3| archive-date = 2015-02-27| title = bbc-eis-1034-31b-vhf_radio_stations-197805.jpg}} and all three were transmitting in stereo by that time.
| class="wikitable sortable"
!{{No2}}Frequency !{{No2}}kW !{{No2}}Service |
| 88.5 MHz -> 88.9 MHz
|0.01 |
| 90.7 MHz -> 91.1 MHz
|0.01 |
| 92.9 MHz -> 93.3 MHz
|0.01 |
† Radio 4 was replaced by BBC Radio Cymru when it launched in January 1977.
==May 1978 - Late 1980s==
The new frequency plan continued unchanged until Radio 1 gained its own frequency.
| class="wikitable sortable"
!{{No2}}Frequency !{{No2}}kW !{{No2}}Service |
| 88.9 MHz
|0.01 |
| 91.1 MHz
|0.01 |
| 93.3 MHz
|0.01 |
==Late 1980s - present==
Radio 1 was given its own frequency as more of Band II became available for broadcasting after the bandplan changes of 1988.
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Frequency !kW !Service |
| 88.9 MHz
|0.01 |
| 91.1 MHz
|0.01 |
| 93.3 MHz
|0.01 |
| 95.5 MHz
|0.01 |
| 97.5 MHz
|0.01 |
| 98.5 MHz
|0.01 |
| 106.0 MHz
|0.02 |
=Digital radio (DAB)=
==6 June 2011 - present==
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Frequency !Block !kW !Operator |
| 225.648 MHz
|12B |0.6 |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://tx.mb21.co.uk/info/405/bbc/#bbc_wales MB21's page on BBC 405 TV to Wales and the West]
- [http://www.bvws.org.uk/405alive/info/tx_list.html 405 Alive's list of transmitters"]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120308050124/http://www.pembers.freeserve.co.uk/405-Lines/tx-list.html#BBC More details on 405-line BBC transmitters]
- [http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/carmarthen.php The Transmission Gallery: Carmarthen] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213221256/http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/carmarthen.php |date=2012-02-13 }}
- [http://www.ukfree.tv/radiomaps.php?tx=SN412213 UKFree's listing for the current radio services] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914113447/http://www.ukfree.tv/radiomaps.php?tx=SN412213 |date=2013-09-14 }}
{{Transmitter sites in Wales}}
{{FM radio transmitter sites in Wales}}
{{Television transmitters in the UK}}
{{Wenvoe VHF 405-line Transmitter Group}}