The Midhurst transmitting station is a facility for both analogue and digital VHF/FM radio and UHF television transmission, 3.1 miles (5.0 km) northeast of Midhurst, West Sussex, England. The station broadcasts to much of the northern half of West Sussex, and to small parts of Surrey and Hampshire. This includes towns such as Horsham, Midhurst, Haslemere, Godalming, Petersfield, Steyning, and Bordon.
It includes a guyed steel lattice mast, and on top of this is the UHF television transmitting antenna, which brings the overall height of the structure to 117.7 metres (386 ft).
The transmission site is located at 51° 01' 2.0″ North, 0° 42' 4.0" West (National Grid Reference: SU912250).
The current mast has an average height of 307 metres above sea level. It is now owned and operated by Arqiva, but was owned by the BBC before they privatised their transmission department prior to 1997.
Services listed by frequency
Analogue radio (FM VHF)
| Frequency | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 106.6 MHz | 0.4 | Greatest Hits Radio West Sussex |
Digital radio (DAB)
| Frequency | Block | kW | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 222.064 MHz | 11D | 1.0 | Digital One |
| 225.648 MHz | 12B | 6.3 | BBC National DAB |
Television
Analogue
1972 – 1983
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 743.25 MHz | 55 | 100 | BBC2 South |
| 767.25 MHz | 58 | 100 | Southern (TVS from Jan 1982) |
| 791.25 MHz | 61 | 100 | BBC1 South |
1983 – 31 December 1992
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 743.25 MHz | 55 | 100 | BBC2 South |
| 767.25 MHz | 58 | 100 | TVS |
| 791.25 MHz | 61 | 100 | BBC1 South |
| 847.25 MHz | 68 | 100 | Channel 4 |
1 January 1993 – 14 November 1998
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 743.25 MHz | 55 | 100 | BBC2 South |
| 767.25 MHz | 58 | 100 | Meridian |
| 791.25 MHz | 61 | 100 | BBC1 South |
| 847.25 MHz | 68 | 100 | Channel 4 |
Analogue and digital
15 November 1998 – 28 February 2012
Digital terrestrial television was first transmitted from the Midhurst mast from 15 November 1998 using the frequency gaps between the analogue TV broadcasts. To limit interference to the analogue transmissions, power output on the digital multiplexes was low.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 743.25 MHz | 55 | 100 | BBC2 South | PAL System I |
| 754.166 MHz | 56+ | 2 | BBC (Mux 1) | DVB-T |
| 767.25 MHz | 58 | 100 | Meridian | PAL System I |
| 778.166 MHz | 59+ | 2 | BBC (Mux B) | DVB-T |
| 786.000 MHz | 60 | 1 | Arqiva (Mux D) | DVB-T |
| 791.25 MHz | 61 | 100 | BBC1 South | PAL System I |
| 802.166 MHz | 62+ | 2 | SDN (Mux A) | DVB-T |
| 817.833 MHz | 64- | 1 | Arqiva (Mux C) | DVB-T |
| 826.166 MHz | 65+ | 2 | Digital 3&4 (Mux 2) | DVB-T |
| 847.25 MHz | 68 | 100 | Channel 4 | PAL System I |
29 February 2012 to 13 March 2012
On 29 February 2012, Midhurst started DSO with analogue BBC2 ceasing transmission on UHF 55 and Mux 1 closed on UHF 56.3 The new BBC A multiplex started on UHF 55 from the start.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 746.000 MHz | 55 | 20 | BBC A | DVB-T |
| 767.25 MHz | 58 | 100 | Meridian | PAL System I |
| 778.166 MHz | 59+ | 2 | BBC (Mux B) | DVB-T |
| 786.000 MHz | 60 | 1 | Arqiva (Mux D) | DVB-T |
| 791.25 MHz | 61 | 100 | BBC1 South | PAL System I |
| 802.166 MHz | 62+ | 2 | SDN (Mux A) | DVB-T |
| 817.833 MHz | 64- | 1 | Arqiva (Mux C) | DVB-T |
| 826.166 MHz | 65+ | 2 | Digital 3&4 (Mux 2) | DVB-T |
| 847.25 MHz | 68 | 100 | Channel 4 | PAL System I |
Digital
14 March 2012 to 2 October 2012
Following the completion of analogue TV shutdown on 14 March 2012,4 Midhurst frequency allocation was.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 706.000 MHz | 50 | 10 (1 kW untul 25 April 2012) | Arqiva B | DVB-T |
| 746.000 MHz | 55 | 20 | BBC A | DVB-T |
| 770.000 MHz | 58 | 20 | BBC B | DVB-T2 |
| 778.000 MHz | 59 | 10 | Arqiva A | DVB-T |
| 794.000 MHz | 61 | 20 | Digital 3&4 | DVB-T |
| 802.000 MHz | 62 | 10 | SDN | DVB-T |
3 October 2012 to 20 March 2018
Due to the clearance of the 800 MHz band, Digital 3&4 was moved from UHF 61 to UHF 56 and SDN from UHF 62 to UHF 54.5
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 706.000 MHz | 50 | 10 | Arqiva B | DVB-T |
| 738.000 MHz | 54 | 10 | SDN | DVB-T |
| 746.000 MHz | 55 | 20 | BBC A | DVB-T |
| 754.000 MHz | 56 | 20 | Digital 3&4 | DVB-T |
| 770.000 MHz | 58 | 20 | BBC B | DVB-T2 |
| 778.000 MHz | 59 | 10 | Arqiva A | DVB-T |
21 March 2018 to 15 October 2019
Due to the clearance of the 700 MHz band,6 SDN was moved from UHF 54 to UHF 29, this allowed Digital 3&4 to move from UHF 56 to UHF 54 (this was a "Transitional" frequency for 700MHZ clearance purposes), BBC A from UHF 55 to UHF 48 and Arqiva B from UHF 50 to UHF 33.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 538.000 MHz | 29 | 10 | SDN | DVB-T |
| 570.000 MHz | 33 | 10 | Arqiva B | DVB-T |
| 690.000 MHz | 48 | 20 | BBC A | DVB-T |
| 738.000 MHz | 54 | 20 | Digital 3&4 | DVB-T |
| 770.000 MHz | 58 | 20 | BBC B | DVB-T2 |
| 778.000 MHz | 59 | 10 | Arqiva A | DVB-T |
16 October 2019 to present
Midhurst completed 700 MHz clearance on 16 October 2019 when the following frequencies came into use.7
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | System |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 538.000 MHz | 29 | 10 | SDN | DVB-T |
| 570.000 MHz | 33 | 10 | Arqiva B | DVB-T |
| 578.000 MHz | 34 | 10 | Arqiva A | DVB-T |
| 586.000 MHz | 35 | 20 | Digital 3&4 | DVB-T |
| 594.000 MHz | 36 | 20 | BBC B | DVB-T2 |
| 690.000 MHz | 48 | 20 | BBC A | DVB-T |
See also
- List of masts
- List of tallest structures in the United Kingdom
- List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
External links
- MB21 Transmission Gallery
- Digital UK - Midhurst
- Ofcom 'Digital Switchover Transmitter Details - Meridian Region'
- Midhurst Transmitter at thebigtower.com
References
"Flash Earth". Retrieved 22 February 2012. http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=51.017092&lon=-0.701204&z=17.5&r=0&src=msa ↩
"BBC - TV Transmitters". Retrieved 22 February 2012. https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/tv/tv_midhurst.shtml ↩
"Digital UK - Midhurst". Archived from the original on 10 May 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120510111741/http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/when_do_i_switch/meridian/midhurst ↩
"West Sussex's Midhurst transmitter gets ready for final stage of the Digital Switchover". a516digital. Retrieved 26 November 2019. https://www.a516digital.com/2012/03/west-sussexs-midhurst-transmitter-gets.html ↩
"West Sussex: Countdown to the first 4G clearance retune". a516digital. Retrieved 26 November 2019. https://www.a516digital.com/2012/09/west-sussex-countdown-to-first-4g.html ↩
"Freeview changes - Southern England - 21st March 2018". a516digital. Retrieved 26 November 2019. https://www.a516digital.com/2018/03/freeview-changes-southern-england-21st.html ↩
"Freeview signal changes reach SE England". rxtvlog. Retrieved 26 November 2019.[dead link] https://www.rxtvlog.com/2019/10/freeview-signal-changes-reach-se-england.html ↩