The Wrekin transmitting station

The Wrekin
Location	Telford, Shropshire
Height of mast	52 metres (171 ft)
Grid reference	SJ628082
BBC region	BBC West Midlands
ITV region	ITV Central
Analogue switch-off	6 April 2011 (Stage 1) 20 April 2011 (Stage 2)

The Wrekin transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on the The Wrekin, a hill in the county of Shropshire, England. It includes a 52 metres (171 ft) tall free-standing lattice tower with transmitting antennas attached at various heights. The analogue transmitting arrays add about another 10m to this. At present, it broadcasts all analogue and digital television broadcasts across 15 UHF frequencies, alongside digital and FM (analogue) radio.

Television

Like the neighbouring Granada transmitter, Winter Hill, The Wrekin serves a large part of North and Mid Wales, despite being the incorrect regional variation. The reason for this was because of the obvious carriage of Channel 5 at the same quality as channels 1-4, and also it carried the English Channel 4 as opposed to the Welsh equivalent, S4C. Since the digital switchover, The Wrekin carries all six multiplexes while local relays only carry three. This is a problem, as the Welsh terrain disables many Welsh viewers from receiving DTT from the nearest Welsh transmitter, Moel-y-Parc, so the relays of the transmitter to "fill in the gaps" only carry half the channels.

Analogue television

Analogue television was switched off during April 2011; BBC Two analogue was switched off on 6 April and the remaining four on 20 April.

Frequency	UHF	kW	Service
487.25 MHz	23	100	ITV1
511.25 MHz	26	100	BBC One
535.25 MHz	29	100	Channel 4
567.25 MHz	33	100	BBC Two
583.25 MHz	35	100	Channel 5

Digital television

Frequency	UHF	kW	Operator
490.0 MHz	23	20	Digital 3&4
514.0 MHz	26	20	BBC A
545.8 MHz	30-	20	BBC B
634.2 MHz	41+	10	SDN
658.0 MHz	44	10	Arqiva A
682.0 MHz	47	10	Arqiva B

Before digital switchover

Unlike analogue television, The Wrekin had a sub-transmission site, also known as The Wrekin B, designed to serve the east of the region, to fill areas in which the main transmitter didn't broadcast into. This was necessary due to co-channel interference issues with Moel-Y-Parc, on channels 42, 45 and 49 (see external links). After digital switchover, the frequencies serving the east of the region were removed for compromise frequencies that has better reception in all areas of the region.

Frequency	UHF	kW	Operator
474.0 MHz	21	2	BBC (Mux 1)
498.2 MHz	24+	2	SDN (Mux A)
522.2 MHz	27+	2	BBC (Mux B)
554.0 MHz	31	2	Digital 3&4 (Mux 2)
618.2 MHz	39+†	2	BBC (Mux 1)
642.0 MHz	42†	2	SDN (Mux A)
666.0 MHz	45†	2	BBC (Mux B)
698.0 MHz	49†	2	Digital 3&4 (Mux 2)
730.0 MHz	53	1	Arqiva (Mux C)
762.0 MHz	57	1	Arqiva (Mux D)

† Transmitted from The Wrekin B.

Radio

Alongside television, the Wrekin broadcasts a number of local and national radio stations.

Analogue radio

Frequency	kW	Service
96.0 MHz	4.8	BBC Radio Shropshire
103.1 MHz	2.7	Beacon

Digital radio

Frequency	Block	kW	Operator
218.640 MHz	11B	0.5	NOW Wolverhampton
222.064 MHz	11D	8	Digital One
223.936 MHz	12A	4	MXR West Midlands
225.648 MHz	12B	5	BBC National DAB

See also

• List of towers

External links

• Entry at the Transmission Gallery
• Info and pictures of The Wrekin transmitter (including co-receivable channels)
• The Wrekin Transmitter at thebigtower.com