 | |
  Sandy Heath transmitting station (Bedfordshire) | |
| Mast height | 244 metres (801 ft) |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°07′49″N0°14′29″W / 52.130139°N 0.241389°W /52.130139; -0.241389 |
| Grid reference | TL2036249485 |
| Built | July 1965 |
| BBC region | BBC East |
| ITV region | ITV Anglia |
| Local TV service | That's TV Cambridge |
Sandy Heath transmitting station is atelevision andradio broadcasting station in England, located betweenSandy, Bedfordshire andPotton near the B1042. It is owned byArqiva, formerly NTL Broadcast. It was built in 1965, originally broadcastingAnglia Television on VHF 405-lines, UHF with 625-line services ofBBC2,BBC1, andAnglia Television being added by January 1971. It carriedChannel 4 andChannel 5 from their launch days, Channel 5 at lower power than the other four services. Today it broadcastsdigital television on theDTT platform asdigital switchover took place on 13 April 2011. On 17 June 2018, as part of the 700MHz clearance, Com5 (ARQ A) moved from Ch52 to Ch36, Com7 (Arq C) moved from Ch32 to Ch55 and Com8 (Arq D) moved from Ch34 to Ch56
It is a K group or wideband TV transmitter (horizontal polarization), though an original A group aerial will still receive four of the main sixmuxes,[citation needed] in fact from Feb 2020 only MUX 4 (SDN) was out of the A group. During DSO, the digital transmission power for the PSB and commercial muxes increased from 20 kW to 180 kW and 170 kW respectively.
Sandy Heath is the main local TV transmitter forBedfordshire,Cambridgeshire,Peterborough,Northamptonshire,North Hertfordshire as well asStevenage, northBuckinghamshire (includingMilton Keynes), parts ofEssex (such asSaffron Walden andHarlow), parts ofSuffolk (such asNewmarket andHaverhill) and parts ofLeicestershire (includingMarket Harborough).
Sandy Heath has 3 relay stations which are located inNorthampton,[1]Kimpton,[2] andLuton.[3]
It also broadcasts the BBC local radio stationBBC Three Counties Radio and the independent radio stationHeart East, formerly Chiltern Radio.
ThePeterborough BBC mast opened on 5 October 1959, but had no ITV television broadcasting. The ITA referred to the 'Peterborough Bedford gap'. The only ITV broadcasting came fromLichfield orMendlesham. Mendlesham was the tallest mast in the UK.
In June 1962 the planning approval for a 500 ft mast was given bySandy Urban District.[4] In April 1963 the new planning approval was given byBiggleswade Rural District for a 750 ft mast.[5]
In April 1964 it would be a £80,000 lattice mast, made by BICC of Preston, with all steelwork galvanised by Painter Brothers of Hereford,[6] and a transmitter from EMI Electronics.[7]
By January 1965 it was under construction,[8] where in April 1965 it was damaged by lightning,[9] and had reached 750 ft by 23 April 1965.[10]
It cost £200,000. The IBA station would be unmanned, merely a satellite of Mendlesham.[11][12]
It was opened byCharles Hill, Baron Hill of Luton for theITA (Anglia TV), who arrived byWestland Wessex helicopter on Monday 5 July 1965. It would broadcast for 12 hours a day[13][14]
By the end of 1965, it was hoped that nine ITA transmitters would be open.
From its start until late 1966, the transmitter could not broadcastschools programmes in the morning because the frequency (waveband) clashed with theMullard Radio Astronomy Observatory in nearby Cambridgeshire. Anglia TV broadcast on channel 6 from noon to midnight, and the astronomy observatory operated on these frequencies during the morning.[citation needed]
From 1 May 1966, there were no restrictions on channel 6.[15] In October 1966 it was planned to carry BBC2 from 1968.[16] BBC2 on channel 27 arrived on 15 September 1969, with tests from 2 September 1969 at 9am, in colour.[17][18][19]
In June 1970, BBC1 was expected in late 1970, on 625 lines. No BBC television was broadcast from the station on 405 lines. BBC1 had been received in the area from London; viewers in Cambridge had terrible reception.[20]
Tacolneston began Anglia colour test broadcasts in late September 1970, but Anglia in colour was not expected until early 1971.[21] Anglia was to go colour on 18 January 1971, but there was a pay dispute with theAssociation of Cinematograph, Television and Allied Technicians. Colour from Anglia arrived on Monday 8 February 1971.[22] Anglia was about two years behind the BBC, with colour.
Test colour transmissions on BBC1 began on Monday 8 March 1971,[23] with full colour from 22 March 1971. The BBC broadcast came from London, via the Peterborough mast.[24][25] Tacolneston went colour on 1 October 1970 and Sudbury on 18 November 1970.
| Frequency | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 95.5 MHz | 1 | BBC Three Counties Radio |
| 96.9 MHz | 0.84 | Heart East |
| Frequency | Block | kW | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 215.072 MHz | 10D | 1.7 | Herts, Beds & Bucks |
| 220.352 MHz | 11C | 0.72 | Cambridgeshire |
| 222.064 MHz | 11D | 4.7 | Digital One |
| 225.648 MHz | 12B | 5 | BBC National DAB |
Digital television[edit]
| Before switchover[edit]
|
Analogue television services are no longer available. BBC Two was closed on 30 March 2011 and the remaining services on 13 April 2011.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 471.25 MHz | 21 | 1000 | Channel 4 |
| 495.25 MHz | 24 | 1000 | Anglia |
| 519.25 MHz | 27 | 1000 | BBC2 East |
| 551.25 MHz | 31 | 1000 | BBC1 East |
| 615.25 MHz | 39 | 10 | Channel 5 |