The Swingate transmitting station is a facility for FM and DAB radio transmission in the village of Swingate, near Dover, Kent (). For many years there were four lattice towers with a height of . This station was one of the first 5 Chain Home Radar stations completed in 1936 and was originally designated AMES (Air Ministry Experimental Station) 04 Dover. The broadcast transmitting antennas are attached to what was the middle tower; microwave link dishes and mobile telephone antennas were spread across all three towers. The south tower was dismantled in March 2010, as a result, only two remain.
The Swingate towers no longer have the three cantilever platforms that were fitted originally.
History Originally there were four towers with wires stretched between them to transmit radio waves that were detected by a group of four smaller towers to the east of the surviving ones. The receiver towers were demolished after the war, along with one of the transmitter towers. Subsequently the north mast was demolished and replaced with a similar tower with a different bracing design. During the Cold War the towers sprouted four transmitters at their base which were popularly assumed to be part of the US ACE High communication system but were more likely an RAF link to Germany. The south tower was dismantled in March 2010.
Timeline In 1936, four towers with platforms were erected. In 1955 one tower was dismantled, leaving three standing. In 1991 the north tower was replaced by a shorter one. In 2010 the south tower was dismantled.
Channels available from this site
High Frequency Trading Several of the microwave dishes located on one of the towers provide connections via a chain of towers between the NYSE Euronext data centres in Basildon and Slough, and Frankfurt for use in High Frequency Trading. Microwave links have lower latency (delay) than other communications systems.
Analogue radio The transmitter is the main transmission station for the BBC which serves the bulk of Kent.Radio Listeners Guide 2010 FrequencykWService90.0 MHz11BBC Radio 292.4 MHz11BBC Radio 394.4 MHz11BBC Radio 499.5 MHz11BBC Radio 1104.2 MHz10BBC Radio Kent
See also Dover transmitting station - broadcasts TV, DAB and commercial FM radio from a site west of the town
References
External links
Swingate transmitting station at mb21 National Geographic photo showing the original configuration of four transmitters and four receiver towers