Bala transmitting station

Bala
	Bala transmitting station is located in Gwynedd Bala transmitting station (Gwynedd)
Mast height	45 m (148 ft)
Coordinates	52°55′32″N 3°32′04″W / 52.925439°N 3.534341°W Fatal error: The format of the coordinate could not be determined. Parsing failed.; ;
Grid reference	SH 969375
Relay of	Moel y Parc
BBC region	BBC Wales
ITV region	ITV Cymru Wales

The Bala transmitting station is a facility for television transmission sited about 6 km east of the town of Bala in Gwynedd, Wales. It consists of a self-supporting 45 m lattice steel mast standing on high ground about 310 m above sea level. It is owned and operated by Arqiva.

Currently the site provides digital TV to the area.

History

The station was built by the ITA in 1967 to provide a 405-line ITV Band III (VHF) TV service for the area, and was officially classed as a relay of Preseli.

In December 1974^[1] the site became a low power UHF analogue colour television relay of Moel y Parc; at that time carrying BBC1, BBC2 and ITV. S4C was added in 1982.

The 405-line TV system was finally discontinued in the UK in 1985, but Bala's VHF transmitters were decommissioned a year early: in 1984.

Digital switchover at Bala happened between 28 October 2009 and 25 November 2009, mirroring events at the Moel y Parc parent station.

Channels listed by frequency

Analogue television

26 July 1967 – December 1974

All the official documentation claims that Bala was originally classed as a relay of Presely (which is about 130 km to the south west). However, it is likely that the VHF signal from Presely would not be receivable at the Bala site, and neither would the signal from Presely's off-air repeater at Arfon due in both cases to considerable obstruction by mountain ranges. The Moel-y-Parc transmitter is however only 35 km to the north east, and it is line-of-sight to Bala. Logic says that the 405-line signal was therefore sourced from Moel y Parc, but with the official records saying otherwise it is being shown as a relay of Presely here.

There is an argument to say that Moel-y-Parc was a relay of Presely in the 405-line era^[2] in that the signal for Moel y Parc came in on an SHF link from Arfon, but since Arfon was an off-air relay of Preseli, that would make Moel-y-Parc an indirect off-air relay of Presely. But the official records list Moel-y-Parc as a 405-line main station (with no ITV repeaters).

Frequency	VHF	kW	Service
184.75 MHz	7V	0.1	HTV Wales (TWW until 1968)

December 1974 – 1 November 1982

With the coming of colour TV on 625 lines, Bala officially became a relay of Moel-y-Parc, whilst continuing to relay Presely's VHF transmission.

Frequency	VHF	UHF	kW	Service
184.75 MHz	7V	—	0.1	HTV Wales
487.25 MHz	—	23	0.2	HTV Wales
511.25 MHz	—	26	0.2	BBC2 Wales
567.25 MHz	—	33	0.2	BBC1 Wales

1 November 1982 – 3 July 1984

1982 saw the rollout of the UK's 4th planned UHF television channel. As with all Welsh transmitters, Bala was required to carry S4C instead of Channel 4 which is broadcast to the rest of the United Kingdom.

Frequency	VHF	UHF	kW	Service
184.75 MHz	7V	—	0.1	HTV Wales
487.25 MHz	—	23	0.2	HTV Wales
511.25 MHz	—	26	0.2	BBC2 Wales
535.25 MHz	—	29	0.2	S4C
567.25 MHz	—	33	0.2	BBC1 Wales

3 July 1984 – 21 October 2009

After 17 years of VHF television from this site, the service was discontinued on 3 July 1984. On UHF, Bala was destined only ever to transmit the originally-planned four of the eventual five analogue terrestrial television channels.

Frequency	UHF	kW	Service
487.25 MHz	23	0.2	HTV Wales
511.25 MHz	26	0.2	BBC2 Wales
535.25 MHz	29	0.2	S4C
567.25 MHz	33	0.2	BBC1 Wales

Analogue and digital television

28 October 2009 – 25 November 2009

There never was a pre-DSO digital TV service from Bala.

DSO for the repeaters of Moel-y-Parc occurred between 28 October & 25 November 2009. As a first step, BBC Two Analogue was switched off, and the digital BBC Mux A took over on that channel.

Frequency	UHF	kW	Service	System
487.25 MHz	23	0.2	HTV Wales	PAL System I
514.000 MHz	26	0.04	BBC A	DVB-T
535.25 MHz	29	0.2	S4C	PAL System I
567.25 MHz	33	0.2	BBC One Wales	PAL System I

Digital television

18 November 2009–present

The analogue television transmissions from Bala ceased permanently and were replaced by digital transmissions.

Frequency	UHF	kW	Operator
490.000 MHz	23	0.04	Digital 3&4
514.000 MHz	26	0.04	BBC A
538.000 MHz	29	0.04	BBC B

References

↑ "mb21 - The Transmission Gallery". Archived from the original on 2007-11-13. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)
↑ "Mb21 - ether.net - ITV 405 line TV Transmitters - Wales and W England".

External links

This article "Bala transmitting station" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Bala transmitting station. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.

[1] "mb21 - The Transmission Gallery". Archived from the original on 2007-11-13. Unknown parameter |url-status= ignored (help)

[2] "Mb21 - ether.net - ITV 405 line TV Transmitters - Wales and W England".

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