Long Mountain transmitting station

Long Mountain

Mast height	52 metres (171 ft)
Coordinates	52°38′43″N 3°05′11″W / 52.6452°N 3.0865°WCoordinates: 52°38′43″N 3°05′11″W / 52.6452°N 3.0865°W
Grid reference	SJ265058
Built	Late 1970s
BBC region	BBC Wales
ITV region	ITV Wales

The Long Mountain transmitting station is sited on a 400 m ridge about 4 km east of Welshpool in Powys, Mid Wales and has been broadcasting UHF terrestrial TV and VHF FM radio services since the late 1970s. The site has a self-supporting 52 m high lattice steel mast and was fed with an SHF link from Blaenplwyf via Llangurig. Despite not taking its signal off-air, it was originally classed as a 625-line UHF TV relay of Blaenplwyf.

The transmitter originally radiated 1 kW providing TV and radio to an area including Newtown and Oswestry. Being only 400 m from the England/Wales border, coverage extended to several towns in England - Shrewsbury included.^[1]

Long Mountain became re-classed as main transmitter in its own right (albeit a very low power one) with the advent of digital terrestrial TV from the site on 4 November 2009. In addition to this, it currently transmits FM radio and a single multiplex of DAB Digital radio.

Services available

Analogue television

Late 1970s - 1 November 1982

Long Mountain never did broadcast VHF television, and went live with the UK's original three national UHF television services.

Frequency	UHF	kW	Service
767.25 MHz	58	1	BBC1 Wales
791.25 MHz	61	1	HTV Wales
815.25 MHz	64	1	BBC2 Wales

1 November 1982 - 4 November 2009

The UK's fourth national television service joined the set transmitted from the site. Being in Wales, the S4C variant was broadcast.

Frequency	UHF	kW	Service
735.25 MHz	54	1	S4C
767.25 MHz	58	1	BBC1 Wales
791.25 MHz	61	1	HTV Wales
815.25 MHz	64	1	BBC2 Wales

Analogue and digital television

4 November 2009 - 3 December 2009

The UK's digital switchover commenced at this site.^[2] Analogue BBC Two Wales closed on channel 64 and ITV1 Wales took over on that frequency for what would be its final 3 weeks of service, vacating channel 61 as it did so. The new BBC A multiplex started up at full power in 64-QAM mode on channel 60 until 19 October 2011.^[3]

Frequency	UHF	kW	Service	System
735.25 MHz	54	1	S4C	PAL System I
767.25 MHz	58	1	BBC One Wales	PAL System I
786.000 MHz	60	0.4	BBC A	DVB-T
815.25 MHz	64	1	ITV1 Wales	PAL System I

Digital television

3 December 2009 - 19 October 2011

All the analogue television services closed and the new digital multiplexes took over on parking-frequencies (until October 2011) with name-changes, power increases and a shift to 64-QAM.^[4] Unusually, for a digital TV site classed as a main transmitter, Long Mountain only radiates the three multiplexes of Freeview Lite.

Frequency	UHF	kW	Operator
722.000 MHz	52	0.4	Digital 3&4
754.000 MHz	56	0.4	BBC B
786.000 MHz	60	0.4	BBC A

19 October 2011 - present

DSO was completed at The Wrekin, and this allowed the Long Mountain multiplexes to take up their final frequencies.^[5]

Frequency	UHF	kW	Operator
730.000 MHz	53	0.4	Digital 3&4
762.000 MHz	57	0.4	BBC B
785.833 MHz	60-	0.4	BBC A

Analogue radio (VHF FM)

For its FM radio services, Long Mountain is an off-air relay of Llangollen.

Frequency	kW	Service
89.6 MHz	0.02	BBC Radio 2
91.8 MHz	0.02	BBC Radio 3
94.0 MHz	0.02	BBC Radio 4
99.2 MHz	0.02	BBC Radio 1
102.8 MHz	0.02	Real Radio N. & M. Wales
103.6 MHz	0.02	BBC Radio Cymru

Digital radio (DAB)

Frequency	Block	kW[6]	Operator
225.648 MHz	12B	1	BBC National DAB

References

1. UK Free TV - Freeview on the Long Mountain transmitter
2. http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/transmitternetwork/tools__and__resources/almanac/installer_newsletters_transmitter_groups2009_pdfs/Installer_Newsletter_Long_Mountain_1_month_out_Updated_28_Oct_09.pdf
3. http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/42532/ss1029_long_mountain_dso1.doc.pdf
4. http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0013/43024/Long_Mountain_dso2__JSm_.doc.pdf
5. http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/transmitternetwork/tools__and__resources/almanac/special_editions/Special_edition-installers_LONG_MOUNTAIN_191011retune_event_rev3OctFINAL.pdf
6. Radio Listeners Guide 2010

External links

• MB21's entry for the site