West Kirby television relay station

The West Kirby television relay station (also commonly known as West Kirby transmitter[1]) serves parts of West Kirby, Wirral, UK (national grid reference: SJ224862[2]). It is a relay of the Winter Hill transmitter. The antenna support structure is a 17-metre-high (56 ft-high) wooden pole situated at an elevation of 64 metres (210 ft).[3] Thus, the top of the pole has an overall height of 81 metres (266 ft) above sea level. As of 2009, the transmitter serves approximately 3,400 homes.[1]

West Kirby
West Kirby transmitting mast, June 2009
West Kirby television relay station (Merseyside)
Mast height17 metres (56 ft)
Coordinates53.367404°N 3.166929°W / 53.367404; -3.166929
Grid referenceSJ224862
Relay ofWinter Hill
BBC regionBBC North West
ITV regionITV Granada

Details

The relay station is located on a United Utilities bore hole site near Column Road,[3] West Kirby. The relay was not an original VHF 405-line transmitter.[1] For 625-line analogue services on UHF, the relay covers a geographical Winter Hill blind spot in the vicinity of West Kirby near the Dee estuary. Prior to switchover, analogue channels BBC One, BBC Two, ITV1 and Channel 4 are radiated from the site.[2] Being a relay of Winter Hill, the transmitter is in the BBC North West and ITV Granada TV regions.

From 4 November 2009[1] some digital TV services started broadcasting from the transmitter.

The final digital switchover date was 2 December 2009, after which three digital multiplexes (known as Freeview Lite[4]) were made available.

All TV transmissions from the West Kirby site are vertically polarised.[1]

Transmitted services
On the extreme left, the TV mast as seen from a distance. Nearby mobile phone infrastructure is shown on the right.
Close-up of the mast showing the lower receiving aerials and upper transmitting aerials. All are of the Log-periodic type.

Digital television
Frequency UHF kW Operator System
474.166 MHz 21+ 0.015 BBC B DVB-T2
498.000 MHz 24 0.015 Digital 3&4 DVB-T
522.000 MHz 27 0.015 BBC A DVB-T

See also

References
  1. "West Kirby transmitter - analogue switch-off". ukfree.tv. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  2. "Digital Switchover Transmitter Details: Granada Region" (PDF). Office of Communications (OFCOM). 24 October 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  3. "The Transmission Gallery: West Kirby". mb21. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  4. "Freeview Lite?". Brian Butterworth, ukfree.tv. 1 January 2006. Retrieved 9 June 2009.


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