Burnhope transmitting station
 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(January 2010) |
 Burnhope from Springwell Farm with Burnhope Television Mast in the background. | |
  Burnhope transmitting station (County Durham) | |
| Location | Burnhope,County Durham |
|---|---|
| Mast height | 228.6 metres (750 ft) |
| Coordinates | 54°49′19″N1°42′52″W/ 54.822°N 1.7145°W |
| Grid reference | NZ184474 |
| Built | 1958 |
| ITV region | Tyne Tees Television(1959–1985) |
| Local TV service | County Durham Television |
TheBurnhope transmitting stationis a television transmitter in the north of England.
History[edit]
Construction[edit]
It was originally built byBICC[1]for theIndependent Television Authority(ITA) as its sole405-linetransmitting station service theTyne Tees Televisionregion.
Transmission[edit]
Test transmissions started in December 1958 approximately one month before the launch onTyne Tees Televisionon 15 January 1959. It was built close to the existingBBCBand I station atPontop Pike.This was the eighth transmitter opened by the ITA.
From the station's 750 foot mast, transmissions from Burnhope were onVHFChannel 8 at a peak visionERPof 100 kW, successfully covering a region spanning theNorth Yorkshiremoorlands andTeessidein the South, to the remote upper reaches ofNorthumberlandin the North.
With the advent ofUHFwith its625-lines,the adjacentPontop Pike transmitting stationcarried these services to the Newcastle and County Durham area from 1967 onwards, confining Burnhope to 405-line transmission. In due course, further main UHF transmissions were established atBilsdale West Moor(serving North Yorkshire and Teesside) and Chatton (serving upper Northumberland).
The transmitter would later get a new lease of life with the advent ofIndependent Local Radio(commercial radio or ILR). Burnhope extended its remit by providing the transmissions for the first ILR service in the North East of England –Metro Radioon 97.0MHz(now on 97.1 MHz).
After the 405-line television service ceased in January 1985,Metro Radiowas for many years, the only broadcasting duty performed by the transmitter until the early 1990s, when a new tranche of commercial radio (regional) became available.
On 1 September 1994, the transmitter started broadcasting the first new regional radio service to the North East. Launched asCentury Network,it then broadcast as Real Radio (North East) and is nowHeart North East.It was followed almost five years later (1 June 1999), by Galaxy North East, nowCapital North East.
TV returns[edit]
In between the launch of the first two regional services, a new television service launched in 1997. March 1997 saw the launch of Channel 5, with Burnhope, along with a number of other ITA-built transmitter stations which had not been used since the 405-line closure, broadcasting the new television service.
Channel 5's analogue transmission from Burnhope ceased upon closure of the analogue TV service in the North East of England, which took place in the final phase of thedigital switchoverin September 2012. Channel 5 would then only be available digitally via thePontop Pike transmitting station.
Further radio[edit]
Two further analogue radio services would launch using this transmitter. On 5 December 2005,Durham FM(now used bySun FM,nowNation Radio North East) launched a low-powered service to County Durham with a third and final regional service launched on 8 January 2008 (Smooth North East).
The transmitter is also used to carry the two local DAB signals (Bauer Digital) locally, and MXR Digital regionally.
Services available[edit]
Analogue radio[edit]
| Frequency | kW[2] | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 97.1MHz | 10 | Hits Radio North East(Burnhope) |
| 97.5 MHz | 9 | Smooth North East(Tyneside) |
| 101.8 MHz | 10 | Heart North East(South Shields) |
| 102.8 MHz | 0.5 | Nation Radio North East(Durham) |
| 105.3 MHz | 10 | Capital North East(Tyneside) |
Digital radio[edit]
| Frequency | Block | kW | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 220.352 MHz | 11C | 4.8 | Bauer Tyne & Wear |
Analogue television[edit]
15 January 1959 – 3 January 1985[edit]
| Frequency | VHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 189.75MHz | 8 | 100 | Tyne Tees |
30 March 1997 – 26 September 2012[edit]
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 847.25MHz | 68 | 50 | Channel 5 |