The Carmarthen transmitting station () was originally built by the BBC in 1964/65 as a relay for VHF radio and television. The site was built on a 135 m ridge to the north of Carmarthen itself, and entered service on 15 March 1965. The transmission station is now owned and operated by Arqiva.
UHF 625-line colour television was never radiated from this site: the main transmitter at Carmel (20 km to the east) provided that service to the town from 1973 when it opened.
The 405-line VHF television service closed across the UK in 1985, but according to the BBC's transmitter list and the BBC's internal "Eng. Inf." magazine, Carmarthen was due to close early - in the first quarter of 1982. From that point onwards the site just relayed FM radio until 6 June 2011 when a single multiplex of DAB radio was added.
Channels listed by frequency
Analogue television
15 March 1965 - First Quarter 1982 The site provided BBC 405-line VHF television to the towns of Carmarthen and Abergwili which, being sited in a river estuary, could not reliably receive a signal from Wenvoe, 85 km to the east.
FrequencyVHFkWService10.013BBC1 Wales
Analogue radio (VHF FM)
15 March 1965 - January 1973 According to the BBC's R&D report, the original frequencies for the FM radio services were as shown below.
FrequencykWService88.5 MHz0.0065BBC Light Programme90.7 MHz0.0065BBC Third Programme92.9 MHz0.0065BBC Welsh Home Service
January 1973 - May 1978 The three original radio services were still on their original frequencies as late as January 1973, but ERPs had been slightly increased to 10 W per channel by then. By May 1978 all three transmission frequencies had been moved by 400 kHz and all three were transmitting in stereo by that time.
FrequencykWService88.5 MHz -> 88.9 MHz0.01BBC Radio 290.7 MHz -> 91.1 MHz0.01BBC Radio 392.9 MHz -> 93.3 MHz0.01BBC Radio 4†
† Radio 4 was replaced by BBC Radio Cymru when it launched in January 1977.
May 1978 - Late 1980s The new frequency plan continued unchanged until Radio 1 gained its own frequency.
FrequencykWService88.9 MHz0.01BBC Radio 291.1 MHz0.01BBC Radio 393.3 MHz0.01BBC Radio Cymru
Late 1980s - present Radio 1 was given its own frequency as more of Band II became available for broadcasting after the bandplan changes of 1988.
FrequencykWService88.9 MHz0.01BBC Radio 291.1 MHz0.01BBC Radio 393.3 MHz0.01BBC Radio Cymru95.5 MHz0.01BBC Radio 497.5 MHz0.01Radio Carmarthenshire98.5 MHz0.01BBC Radio 1106.0 MHz0.02Heart South Wales
Digital radio (DAB)
6 June 2011 - present FrequencyBlockkWOperator225.648 MHz12B0.6BBC National DAB
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: Carmarthen UKFree's listing for the current radio services