The Dolgellau transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility located on a hill about 1 km north of the town of Dolgellau, in Gwynedd, Wales. It was originally built by the BBC, entering service just before Christmas 1967 acting as a relay transmitter for the now-defunct 405-line VHF television system.
Specifications The site has a self-standing 22 m lattice tower erected on land that is itself about 100 m above sea level. The television broadcasts primarily cover the towns of Dolgellau, Llanelltyd and the villages of the upper Mawddach river valley.
625-line colour TV came to the site in the late 1970s.
The 405-line VHF television service closed across the UK in 1985, but Dolgellau's 405 line services closed early - in January 1984.
Dolgellau currently broadcasts digital television and analogue FM radio.
Services listed by frequency
Analogue television
18 December 1967 - Late 1970s The transmitter was classed as a relay of Blaenplwyf about 40 km to the south, but received its signal from an SHF link fed from an off-air pickup on the coast at Barmouth about 10 km away to the west on the Mawddach estuary.
FrequencyVHFkWService5V0.026BBC1 Wales
November 21st 1977 - 1 November 1982 Colour TV eventually arrived, with the site now additionally acting as an indirect relay of Preseli (about 100 km to the south) for the 625-line services, receiving its signal off-air from Llwyn Onn, which receives its signal off-air from Preseli itself.
FrequencyVHFUHFkWService5V—0.026BBC1 Wales—550.02BBC1 Wales—590.02HTV Wales—620.02BBC2 Wales
1 November 1982 - January 1984 Channel 4 launched across the UK on 1 November 1982. Being in Wales, Dolgellau broadcast the S4C variant.
FrequencyVHFUHFkWService5V—0.026BBC1 Wales—550.02BBC1 Wales—590.02HTV Wales—620.02BBC2 Wales—650.02S4C
January 1984 - 19 August 2009 405-line television was discontinued (after a mere 17 years). For the next 25 years there were to be no changes to the television output at this site.
FrequencyUHFkWService550.02BBC1 Wales590.02ITV Wales & WestHTV Wales620.02BBC2 Wales650.02S4C
Analogue and Digital Television
19 August 2009 - 16 September 2009 Digital switchover started at Preseli and therefore at Dolgellau and all its other relays. BBC 2 was closed down on channel 62 and ITV 1 was moved from channel 59 to channel 62 for its final three weeks of service. Mux A started up on the newly vacated channel 59 at full post-DSO power.
FrequencyUHFkWServiceSystem550.02BBC1 WalesPAL System I590.004BBC A DVB-T620.02ITV1 Wales PAL System I650.02S4CPAL System I
Digital Television
16 September 2009 - 31 October 2012 All the remaining analogue TV transmitters were shut down and the three multiplexes of Freeview Lite took over their frequencies.
FrequencyUHFkWService550.004Digital 3&4590.004BBC A62-0.004BBC B
31 October 2012 - present As part of the Europe-wide clearance of the 800 MHz band, the BBC Mux B signal was moved from channel 62- to channel 50.
+FrequencyUHFkWService500.004BBC B550.004Digital 3&4590.004BBC A
Analogue radio (FM VHF)
18 December 1967 - Early 1990s For its FM radio services, Dolgellau is an off-air relay of Blaenplwyf.
FrequencykWService90.1 MHz0.016Radio 292.3 MHz0.016Radio 394.5 MHz0.016Radio 4 Wales
Early 1990s - present Radio 1 gained its own frequency and National Radio 4 was added.
FrequencykWService90.1 MHz0.02Radio 292.3 MHz0.02Radio 394.5 MHz0.02Radio Cymru99.7 MHz0.02Radio 1103.6 MHz0.02Radio 4
See also List of masts List of radio stations in the United Kingdom List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain
References
External links MB21's page on BBC 405 TV to Wales and the West 405 Alive's list of transmitters" More details on 405-line BBC transmitters The Transmission Gallery: Photographs and Information