The Beacon Hill transmitting station is an English telecommunications facility located at Beacon Hill, Marldon, Devon. It includes a guyed mast (Beacon Hill A), and a free-standing lattice tower (Beacon Hill B),, both of which support various antennas.
History Beacon Hill A became operational in 1972–3, bringing 625 line PAL colour television to the coverage area of Torbay and south Devon. Beacon Hill B transmits FM radio and DAB radio to the area. In 2007, a third guyed lattice mast was constructed at the site to provide medium wave transmissions for Gold (Exeter/Torbay). The transmitter for Gold was dismantled after the service was discontinued.
Digital switchover In April 2009, the analogue television transmissions at Beacon Hill A were turned off, requiring homes in the area to switch to the Freeview service. The Beacon Hill transmitter group was the first in the South West of England to stop broadcasting analogue television services. BBC Two ceased at 00:50 on 8 April 2009 and the remaining analogue signals were turned off on 22 April 2009 at 00:20.
Services listed by frequency
Analogue radio FrequencykWRadio Listeners Guide 2010Service88.7 MHz1BBC Radio 290.9 MHz1BBC Radio 393.1 MHz1BBC Radio 496.4 MHz1.8Heart West98.4 MHz1BBC Radio 1104.3 MHz1BBC Radio Devon105.5 MHz1.6Greatest Hits Radio Devon
Digital radio FrequencyBlockkWOperator220.352 MHz11C2NOW Exeter and Torbay222.064 MHz11D2Digital One225.648 MHz12B5BBC National DAB
Digital television FrequencyUHFkWOperatorSystem4010Arqiva BDVB-T4120Digital 3&4DVB-T4210SDNDVB-T4420BBC ADVB-T4510Arqiva ADVB-T4720BBC BDVB-T2
700MHz clearance
The 700MHz clearance programme led to the removal of some of the Freeview HD and SD channels from the Beacon Hill transmitter."700 MHz Clearance Programme" Ofcom, 27 February 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2019. Prior to 27 March 2019, Beacon Hill used to transmit these services:
FrequencyUHFkWOperatorSystem337.3COM7DVB-T2341COM8DVB-T2
Before switchover FrequencyUHFkWOperator52-2BBC (Mux 1)54+2BBC (Mux B)56-1Arqiva (Mux C)58+2SDN (Mux A)61+2Digital 3&4 (Mux 2)64+1Arqiva (Mux D)
Analogue television Analogue television signals ceased in April 2009. BBC2 was closed on 8 April 2009, with ITV Westcountry temporarily moving into its place, followed by the remaining services on 22 April.
FrequencyUHFkWTelevision Viewers Guide 2009Service53100Channel 457100BBC1 South West60100Westcountry63100BBC2 South West
References
External links Beacon Hill at mds975.co.uk Beacon Hill at The Transmission Gallery