Haverfordwest transmitting station

The Haverfordwest transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility located at Woodstock about 13 km (8 mi) to the north east of the town of Haverfordwest, in Pembrokeshire, Wales (grid reference SN028261). It was originally built by the BBC, entering service in early 1964 acting as a main transmitter for the 405-line VHF television system, and as a repeater for Band 2 VHF FM radio received off-air from Blaenplwyf transmitting station.[1] It is now owned and operated by Arqiva.

Haverfordwest
Haverfordwest
Preseli
Mast height154.4 metres (507 ft)
Coordinates51°53′57″N 4°51′59″W
Grid referenceSN028261
Relay ofPreseli
BBC regionBBC Wales
ITV regionITV Wales

The site has a 155 m (509 ft) guyed steel lattice mast erected on land that is itself about 187 m (614 ft) above sea level. The radio broadcasts cover the majority of Pembrokeshire, except the north eastern part of the county. The signals also can reach the outskirts of Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan.

It currently carries seven analogue FM radio stations, including BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Cymru, BBC Radio Wales and Radio Pembrokeshire.

When UHF analogue television was added in 1990,[2] those services were provided only at very low power and only designed to cover the small villages of Puncheston, Castlebythe, Little Newcastle and Rosebush, which are all located within about 7 km (4 mi) of the mast.

It currently carries three digital television multiplexes at twice the ERP of the analogue services that they replaced, thus providing digital TV to a much larger area than had been served before.

The mast had its aircraft warning lights upgraded in October 2006, from white xenon discharge flashers to red lamps employing arrays of ultrabright LEDs.

Services listed by frequency

17 February 1964 - January 1985
Frequency VHF kW Service
61.75 MHz 4 10 BBC1 Wales

January 1985 - 18 July 1990

The 405-line VHF television system closed down permanently across the UK, and from then until Summer 1990, the site transmitted no television signals, just VHF radio.

18 July 1990 - 19 August 2009

Colour TV was added very late: Haverfordwest became a UHF relay of Preseli. Being in Wales, this transmitter radiated the S4C variant of Channel 4.

Frequency VHF UHF kW Service
719.25 MHz — 52 0.05 BBC1 Wales
751.25 MHz — 56 0.05 HTV Wales
831.25 MHz — 66 0.05 BBC2 Wales
847.25 MHz — 68 0.05 S4C

19 August 2009 - 16 September 2009

Digital Switchover started at Haverfordwest, mirroring the changes at its parent transmitter at Preseli. BBC Two closed on channel 66 and ITV1 Wales switched to that channel for its final three weeks of service. The BBC multiplex A started up on channel 56 vacated by ITV.

Frequency UHF kW Service System
719.25 MHz 52 0.05 BBC One Wales PAL System I
754.000 MHz 56 0.1 BBC A DVB-T
831.25 MHz 66 0.05 ITV1 Wales PAL System I
847.25 MHz 68 0.05 S4C PAL System I

16 September 2009 - 31 October 2012

All the remaining analogue TV services closed and were replaced with the standard three multiplexes of Freeview Lite. Notice that unusually, the digital TV services are broadcast at twice the ERP that had been provided in the analogue TV days. At most sites, the digital services are broadcast at a fifth the ERP of the old analogue channels.

Frequency UHF kW[3] Operator
690.000 MHz 48 0.1 BBC B
722.000 MHz 52 0.1 Digital 3&4
754.000 MHz 56 0.1 BBC A

31 October 2012 - present

As a side-effect of frequency-changes elsewhere in the region to do with clearance of the 800 MHz band for 4G mobile phone use,[4] Haverfordwest's "BBC B" multiplex was moved from channel 48 to channel 47. Additionally, all the transmissions at the site gained a +3 dB power boost.[5]

Frequency UHF kW[6] Operator
682.000 MHz 47 0.2 BBC B
722.000 MHz 52 0.2 Digital 3&4
754.000 MHz 56 0.2 BBC A

Analogue radio (FM VHF)
Frequency kW[7] Service
89.3 MHz 20 BBC Radio 2
91.5 MHz 20 BBC Radio 3
93.7 MHz 20 BBC Radio Cymru
95.9 MHz 20 BBC Radio Wales
98.9 MHz 20 BBC Radio 1
102.5 MHz 20 Radio Pembrokeshire
104.9 MHz 20 BBC Radio 4

See also

References
  1. http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/rd/pubs/reports/1964-22.pdf
  2. http://www.bbceng.info/Information/eid/press-releases/Transmitter_Press_Releases_07Oct1991_to_18July1990.pdf
  3. Television Viewers Guide 2009
  4. Summers, Nick (2012-02-15). "EU States Must Allow 4G on Analogue TV Spectrum". Thenextweb.com. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  5. "4G clearance retunes". a516digital. Retrieved 2013-05-28.
  6. Television Viewers Guide 2009
  7. Radio Listeners Guide 2010
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