Hannington transmitting station
Mast height | 151.9 metres (498 ft) |
---|---|
Coordinates | 51°18′29″N1°14′41″W/ 51.3080°N 1.2447°W |
Built | 1970 |
BBC region | BBC South |
ITV region | ITV Meridian(Thames Valley) |
Local TV service | That's Thames Valley |
Hannington transmitting stationis a television and radio transmitting station located on Cottington Hill near the village ofHannington, Hampshire.The transmitter is actually in the parish ofKingsclere.The station provides broadcast services toBerkshire,northHampshireand parts ofSurreyandWiltshire,and includes a 131.4-metre (431 ft)guyed steel lattice mast.This includes cities and towns such asBasingstoke,Reading,Winchester,Andover,Newbury,AmesburyandCamberley.Surmounting the mast is aGRPaerial cylinder, which contains theUHFtelevision transmittingantennas,which brings the overall height of the mast to 151.9 metres (498 ft).
Hannington's digital broadcasts were severely attenuated to the east before the digital switchover (DSO) so as not to cause co-channel interference with Guildford transmitter. Those restrictions were removed soon after DSO in 2012.
Broadcast interruptions[edit]
1977 Ashtar Galactic Command message[edit]
On Saturday 26 November 1977 at around 5:10 pm, the Southern ITV broadcast from this transmitter had its UHF sound transmission hi-jacked by unknown agents. At that time Hannington re-broadcast off-air UHF transmissions from Rowridge on the Isle of Wight. The UHF audio signal from Rowridge was swamped by a signal presumably from a location much closer to the Hannington transmitter, overriding the sound of the localITVstationSouthern Televisionand broadcast their own audio message purporting to be from Vrillon, analienfrom an institution calling itself theAshtar Galactic Command.The message, transmitted over anITNNews bulletin and a subsequentMerrie Melodiescartoon,lasted six minutes.
Despite extensive investigations byHampshire Police,theIndependent Broadcasting Authorityand Southern Television, those responsible have never been identified, and the potential culprits have ranged from students to university professors to disgruntled television technicians.
1994 World Cup Final blackout[edit]
On 17 July 1994 vandals sabotaged the mast's power supply during the1994 FIFA World Cup Final,meaning that hundreds of thousands of viewers missed about an hour of the match.[1]
Services available[edit]
Analogue radio[edit]
Frequency | kW[2] | Service |
---|---|---|
102.9 MHz | 4 | Heart South |
104.1 MHz | 3 | BBC Radio Berkshire |
Digital radio[edit]
Frequency | Block | kW | Operator |
---|---|---|---|
222.064 MHz | 11D | 4.8 | Digital One |
225.648 MHz | 12B | 5 | BBC National DAB |
229.072 MHz | 12D | 1 | NOW Berkshire & North Hampshire |
Digital television[edit]
Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | System |
---|---|---|---|---|
618.000MHz | 39 | 50 | BBCB | DVB-T2 |
626.000MHz | 40 | 25 | SDN | DVB-T |
642.000MHz | 42 | 50 | Digital 3&4 | DVB-T |
650.000MHz | 43 | 25 | ArqivaA | DVB-T |
666.000MHz | 45 | 50 | BBCA | DVB-T |
674.000MHz | 46 | 25 | ArqivaB | DVB-T |
746.000MHz | 55 | 36.7 | COM7 | DVB-T2 |
Before switchover[edit]
Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator |
---|---|---|---|
626.166MHz | 40+ | 20 | SDN(Mux A) |
634.166MHz | 41+ | 10 | Arqiva(Mux D) |
650.166MHz | 43+ | 20 | Digital 3&4(Mux 2) |
658.166MHz | 44+ | 10 | Arqiva (Mux C) |
674.166MHz | 46+ | 20 | BBC(Mux B) |
706.000MHz | 50 | 20 | BBC (Mux 1) |
Analogue television[edit]
Analogue television transmissions ceased from Hannington during February 2012; BBC2 analogue closed on UHF 45 on 8 February 2012 and all other analogue services closed on 22 February 2012.
Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
---|---|---|---|
583.25MHz | 35 | 60 | Channel 5 |
615.25MHz | 39 | 250 | BBC1 South |
639.25MHz | 42 | 250 | Meridian |
663.25MHz | 45 | 250 | BBC2 South |
831.25MHz | 66 | 250 | Channel 4 |
- Aerial group: E
- Polarisation: horizontal
External links[edit]
- Hannington Transmitter at MB21
- Info and pictures of Hannington transmitter including historical power/frequency changes and present co-receivable transmitters
- Hannington Transmitter at thebigtower
References[edit]
- ^Graham Moorby (18 July 1994)."Vandals black out World Cup".The Independent.Archivedfrom the original on 9 May 2022.Retrieved25 April2019.
- ^Radio Listeners Guide 2010