Ystalyfera transmitting station

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Ystalyfera
Neath Port Talbot UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Ystalyfera transmitting station (Neath Port Talbot)
Mast height55 metres (180 ft)
Coordinates 51°45′22″N3°46′11″W / 51.756°N 3.769662°W / 51.756; -3.769662 Coordinates: 51°45′22″N3°46′11″W / 51.756°N 3.769662°W / 51.756; -3.769662
Grid reference SN779078
Built1977
Relay of Carmel
BBC region BBC Wales
ITV region ITV Cymru Wales

The Ystalyfera television relay station is sited on high ground to the south of the towns of Ystalyfera and Gurnos in the middle Swansea Valley. It was originally built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue television covering the communities of Ystalyfera, Gurnos, Ystradgynlais and parts of Seven Sisters. It consists of a 55 m self-supporting lattice steel mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 350 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed northeast to cover all these targets. The Ystalyfera transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

Contents

Ystalyfera transmitter re-radiates the signal received off-air from Carmel about 30 km to the west. When it came, the digital switchover process for Ystalyfera duplicated the timing at Carmel with the first stage taking place on 26 August 2009 and with the second stage being completed on 23 September 2009. After the switchover process, analogue channels had ceased broadcasting permanently and the Freeview digital TV services were radiated at an ERP of 10 W each. [1]

Channels listed by frequency

Analogue television

1 July 1977 - 1 November 1982

The Ystalyfera transmitting station entered full programme service on 1 July 1977.

FrequencyUHFkWService
615.25  MHz 390.05 BBC1 Wales
663.25  MHz 450.05 BBC2 Wales
695.25  MHz 490.05 HTV Wales

1 November 1982 - 26 August 2009

Ystalyfera (being in Wales) transmitted the S4C variant of Channel 4.

FrequencyUHFkWService
615.25  MHz 390.05 BBC1 Wales
639.25  MHz 420.05 S4C
663.25  MHz 450.05 BBC2 Wales
695.25  MHz 490.05HTV Wales

Analogue and digital television

26 August 2009 - 23 September 2009

The UK's digital switchover commenced at Carmel (and therefore at Ystalyfera and all its other relays) on 26 August 2009. Analogue BBC2 Wales on channel 45 was first to close, and HTV Wales was moved from channel 49 to channel 45 for its last month of service. Channel 49 was replaced by the new digital BBC A mux which started up in 64-QAM and at full power (i.e. 1 W).

FrequencyUHFkWServiceSystem
615.25  MHz 390.05 BBC1 Wales PAL System I
639.25  MHz 420.05 S4C PAL System I
663.25  MHz 450.05 HTV Wales PAL System I
698.000  MHz 490.01 BBC A DVB-T

Digital television

23 September 2009 - present

The remaining analogue TV services were closed down and the digital multiplexes took over on the original analogue channels' frequencies.

FrequencyUHFkWOperator
642.000  MHz 420.01 Digital 3&4
666.000  MHz 450.01BBC B
698.000  MHz 490.01BBC A

Related Research Articles

The Pontardawe television relay station was originally built in 1974/1975 as a relay for UHF analogue television. It consists of a 45 m self-supporting lattice mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 160 m above sea level. Currently, the transmitters cater for most of the digital terrestrial TV subscribers in the towns of Pontardawe and Alltwen and in the nearby villages of that section of the Tawe valley. The transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Alltwen television relay station is sited on a hill to the southwest of Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley, at least a kilometre away from the village of Alltwen from which it takes its name. It was originally built in the late 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television. It consists of a 17 m self-supporting lattice mast standing on Craig Glyn Meirch, a hillside which is itself about 140 m above sea level. The transmitters are beamed northwards and eastwards to cater for those digital terrestrial TV subscribers in the towns of Pontardawe and Alltwen who for reasons of geography can't get a signal from the much bigger and more powerful Pontardawe transmitter. The Alltwen transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Mynydd Emroch television relay station is sited on the eponymous hill to the east of Port Talbot. It was originally built in the 1970s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue television. It consists of a 25 metres (82 ft) self-supporting lattice tower standing on a hillside which is itself 600 ft above sea level. The transmitters are beamed southwards to cater for those digital terrestrial TV subscribers in Port Talbot and Margam which for reasons of geography can't get a signal from the Kilvey Hill transmitter across the bay at Swansea. The Mynydd Emroch transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Briton Ferry television relay station is sited on a hill to the east of Briton Ferry. It was originally built in the 1970s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television. It consists of a 25 m self-supporting lattice mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 180 m above sea level. The transmitters are beamed towards the southwest and northwest to cater for those digital terrestrial TV subscribers in Briton Ferry and western Neath which for reasons of geography can't get a signal direct from the Kilvey Hill transmitter at Swansea nor from the relay transmitter at Neath Abbey across the valley. The Briton Ferry transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

Cilfrew television relay station is sited on a hill south of the village of Tonna, at least 2 km across the valley from Cilfrew in the Neath Valley. It was originally built in 1981 as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television serving the villages of Cilfrew itself, Aberdulais and Tonna. It consists of a 30 m self-supporting lattice mast standing on land which is itself about 80 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed to the north. The Cilfrew transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Efail Fach television relay station is sited on a hill west of the villages of Efail Fach, Cwm Pelenna and Tonmawr. It was originally built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television serving all of those settlements. It consists of a 15 m self-supporting lattice mast standing on a hill which is itself about 160 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed to the east towards the Pelenna valley. The Efail Fach transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Abercraf television relay station is sited on high ground to the east of the village of Abercraf in the upper Swansea Valley, though it is actually closer to Coelbren than to Abercraf itself. It was originally built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television covering the communities of Abercraf, Coelbren, Penycae and Ynyswen. It consists of a 45-metre self-supporting lattice mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 270 metres above sea level. The transmissions are beamed southwest and northwest. The Abercraf transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Builth Wells television relay station is sited on high ground to the north of the town of Builth Wells in Powys, South Wales. It was originally built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television. It consists of a 25 m self-supporting lattice mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 230 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed southwards. The Builth Wells transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Llansawel television relay station is sited on high ground to the north of the village of Llansawel in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. It was originally built in 1986 as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue television. It consists of a 17 m wooden telegraph pole standing on a hillside which is itself about 160 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed southwards. The Llansawel transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Talley television relay station is sited on high ground to the north of the village of Talley in Carmarthenshire. It was originally built in 1986 as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue television covering the community of Talley. It consists of a 17 m wooden telegraph pole standing on a hillside which is itself about 220 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed southwest and northwest to cover all the small settlements of the area and to provide a signal for the Llansawel repeater about 5 km to the northwest. The Talley transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Penderyn television relay station is sited on high ground to the east of the village of Penderyn in the Brecon Beacons. It was originally built in 1984 as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue television covering the communities of Penderyn and Hirwaun. It consists of a 12-metre (39 ft) self-supporting lattice steel mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 310 metres (1,020 ft) above sea level. The transmissions are beamed west and south to cover all these targets. The Penderyn transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Tenby television relay station is sited to the southwest of the town of Tenby and north of Penally on the south coast of Pembrokeshire, South Wales. It was built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue television covering the southwest of Tenby town, plus Penally and the low-lying land between them that is shielded from Carmel by the headland. It consists of a 17 m wooden pole standing on a hillside which is itself about 80 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed northeast and west to cover the targets. The Tenby station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Brechfa television relay station is sited on high ground to the east of the village of Brechfa to the northeast of Carmarthen. It was originally built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television covering the communities of Brechfa, Horeb and Aber Goleu. It consists of a 12 m self-supporting lattice steel mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 290 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed northeast to cover all these targets. The Brechfa transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Bronwydd Arms television relay station is sited on high ground to the west of the village of Bronwydd to the north of Carmarthen. It was originally built in mid 1989 as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television covering the village of Bronwydd Arms and the surrounding community. It consists of a 14 m wooden telegraph pole standing on a hillside which is itself about 85 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed east to cover the target. The Bronwydd Arms transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Cilycwm television relay station is sited on high ground to the east of the village of Cilycwm to the north of Llandovery in Carmarthenshire, South Wales. It was originally built in 1987 as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television covering the communities of Cilycwm and Rhandirmwyn. It consists of a 17 m self-standing lattice steel mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 190 m above sea level. The transmissions are broadly beamed west and east to cover the targets. The Cilycwm transmission station is owned and operated by NTL.

The Llanwrtyd Wells television relay station is sited on high ground by the hamlet of Cefn Gorwydd to the east of the village of Llanwrtyd Wells in Powys, mid Wales. It was originally built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue television covering the communities of Llanwrtyd Wells, Cefn Gorwydd and the surrounding area. It consists of a 25 m (82 ft) self-supporting lattice steel mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 240 m (790 ft) above sea level. The transmissions are beamed broadly northwest and northeast to cover its targets. The Llanwrtyd Wells transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Cwmgors television relay station is sited on high ground at Gwaun Cae Gurwen to the north of the village of Cwmgors in south Wales. It was originally built in 1983 as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television covering the communities of Cwmgors, Gwaun Cae Gurwen and Tairgwaith. It consists of a 25 m self-supporting lattice steel mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 180 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed broadly south to cover its targets. The Cwmgors transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Greenhill television relay station is sited on high ground known as "Greenhill" to the south of the towns of Milford Haven and Pembroke Dock in south Wales. It was originally built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue television covering the communities of Pwllcrochan, Wallaston Cross, Wallaston Green, Rhoscrowther and Hundleton. It consists of a 45 m self-supporting lattice steel mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 75 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed broadly south to cover its targets. The Greenhill transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Erwood television relay station is sited on high ground to the west of the village of Erwood in Powys, south Wales. It was originally built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue colour television covering the communities of Erwood, Llandeilo Graban and Llansteffan. It consists of a 20 m self-supporting lattice steel mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 215 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed northeast and southeast to cover its targets. The Erwood transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

The Rhayader television relay station is sited on high ground to the northeast of the town of Rhayader, south Wales. It was originally built in the 1980s as a fill-in relay for UHF analogue television covering the communities of Rhayader and St. Harmon. It consists of a 45 m self-supporting lattice steel mast standing on a hillside which is itself about 345 m above sea level. The transmissions are beamed southwest and northwest to cover its targets. The Rhayader transmission station is owned and operated by Arqiva.

References

  1. "Freeview on Ystalyfera TV transmitter". ukfree.tv. Retrieved 2012-04-20.