The Ffestiniog transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility located on the slopes of Mynydd Maentwrog about south of the town of Llan Ffestiniog, in Gwynedd, Wales. It was originally built by the IBA, entering service in early 1969 acting as a BBC and ITV relay transmitter for the now-defunct 405-line VHF television system.
Specifications The site has a self-standing lattice tower erected on land that is itself about above sea level. The television broadcasts primarily cover the towns of Ffestiniog, Blaenau Ffestiniog and the Vale of Ffestiniog in general.
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 according to the BBC's and ITV's transmitter list and the BBC's internal "Eng. Inf." magazine, Ffestiniog's 405 line services were due to close early - in the third quarter of 1982.
Ffestiniog currently broadcasts digital television and analogue FM radio.
Services listed by frequency
Analogue television
28 February 1969 - Late 1970s The start date is for ITV service from the site. It is not clear when the BBC service commenced. The transmitter was classed as a relay of Blaenplwyf about 40 miles (65 km) to the south (for BBC) and as a relay of Preseli about to the south (for ITV). However, the line-of-sight to Preseli is obstructed about 6 miles (10 km) to the south of Ffestiniog, and it is likely that the signal feed was obtained by off-air reception of Arfon about to the west, itself a repeater of Preseli.
FrequencyVHFkWService5H0.05BBC1 Wales13V0.1HTV Wales
Late 1970s - Third Quarter 1982 Colour TV eventually arrived, with the site now additionally acting as a very indirect relay of Llanddona (about to the north) for the 625-line services, receiving its signal off-air from Llandecwyn, itself receiving a signal off-air from Arfon, which received its signal off-air from Llanddona itself.
FrequencyVHFUHFkWService5H—0.05BBC1 Wales13V—0.1HTV Wales—221.2BBC1 Wales—251.2HTV Wales—281.2BBC2 Wales
Third Quarter 1982 - 21 October 2009 Channel 4 launched across the UK on 1 November 1982. Being in Wales, Ffestiniog broadcast the S4C variant. 405-line television was discontinued (after a mere 13 years) at about the same time as this new service started up. For the next 27 years there were to be no changes to the television output at this site.
FrequencyUHFkWService221.2BBC1 Wales251.2HTV Wales281.2BBC2 Wales321.2S4C
Analogue and Digital Television
21 October 2009 - 18 November 2009 Digital switchover started at Llanddona and therefore at Ffestiniog and all its other relays. BBC 2 was closed down on channel 28 and ITV 1 was moved from channel 25 to channel 28 for its final three weeks of service. Mux A started up on the newly vacated channel 25 at full post-DSO power.
FrequencyUHFkWServiceSystem221.2BBC1 WalesPAL System I250.24BBC ADVB-T281.2itv1 walesPAL System I321.2S4CPAL System I
Digital Television
18 November 2009- present All the remaining analogue TV transmitters were shut down and the three multiplexes of Freeview Lite took over their frequencies, leaving channel 32 unused for now.
FrequencyUHFkWService220.24Digital 3&4250.24BBC A280.24BBC B
Analogue radio (FM VHF)
14 December 1992 - January 2012 For its FM radio services, Ffestiniog acts as an off-air relay of Blaenplwyf.
FrequencykWService88.1 MHz0.1Radio 290.3 MHz0.1Radio 392.5 MHz0.1Radio Cymru97.7 MHz0.1Radio 1103.5 MHz0.1Radio 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