The Midhurst transmitting station is a facility for both analogue and digital VHF/FM radio and UHF television transmission, 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 .
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) FrequencykWService106.6 MHz0.4Greatest Hits Radio West Sussex
Digital radio (DAB) FrequencyBlockkWOperator222.064 MHz11D1.0Digital One225.648 MHz12B6.3BBC National DAB
Television
Analogue
1972 – 1983 FrequencyUHFkWService55100BBC2 South58100Southern (TVS from Jan 1982)61100BBC1 South
1983 – 31 December 1992 FrequencyUHFkWService55100BBC2 South58100TVS61100BBC1 South68100Channel 4
1 January 1993 – 14 November 1998 FrequencyUHFkWService55100BBC2 South58100Meridian61100BBC1 South68100Channel 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.
FrequencyUHFkWOperatorSystem55100BBC2 SouthPAL System I56+2BBC (Mux 1)DVB-T58100MeridianPAL System I59+2BBC (Mux B)DVB-T601Arqiva (Mux D)DVB-T61100BBC1 SouthPAL System I62+2SDN (Mux A)DVB-T64-1Arqiva (Mux C)DVB-T65+2Digital 3&4 (Mux 2)DVB-T68100Channel 4PAL 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. The new BBC A multiplex started on UHF 55 from the start.
FrequencyUHFkWOperatorSystem5520BBC ADVB-T58100MeridianPAL System I59+2BBC (Mux B)DVB-T601Arqiva (Mux D)DVB-T61100BBC1 SouthPAL System I62+2SDN (Mux A)DVB-T64-1Arqiva (Mux C)DVB-T65+2Digital 3&4 (Mux 2)DVB-T68100Channel 4PAL System I
Digital
14 March 2012 to 2 October 2012
Following the completion of analogue TV shutdown on 14 March 2012, Midhurst frequency allocation was.
FrequencyUHFkWOperatorSystem5010 (1 kW until 25 April 2012)Arqiva BDVB-T5520BBC ADVB-T5820BBC BDVB-T25910Arqiva ADVB-T6120Digital 3&4DVB-T6210SDNDVB-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.
FrequencyUHFkWOperatorSystem5010Arqiva BDVB-T5410SDNDVB-T5520BBC ADVB-T5620Digital 3&4DVB-T5820BBC BDVB-T25910Arqiva ADVB-T
21 March 2018 to 15 October 2019 Due to the clearance of the 700 MHz band, 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. FrequencyUHFkWOperatorSystem2910SDNDVB-T3310Arqiva BDVB-T4820BBC ADVB-T5420Digital 3&4DVB-T5820BBC BDVB-T25910Arqiva ADVB-T
16 October 2019 to present
Midhurst completed 700 MHz clearance on 16 October 2019 when the following frequencies came into use.
FrequencyUHFkWOperatorSystem2910SDNDVB-T3310Arqiva BDVB-T3410Arqiva ADVB-T3520Digital 3&4DVB-T3620BBC BDVB-T24820BBC ADVB-T
See also List of masts List of tallest structures in the United Kingdom List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
References
External links MB21 Transmission Gallery Digital UK - Midhurst Ofcom 'Digital Switchover Transmitter Details - Meridian Region' Midhurst Transmitter at thebigtower.com