Belmont transmitting station
The Belmont transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility next to the B1225, one mile west of the village of Donington on Bain in the civil parish of South Willingham, near Market Rasen and Louth in Lincolnshire, England. It is owned and operated by Arqiva.
It has a guyed tubular steel mast, with a lattice upper section. The mast was shortened in April 2010 and is now in height. Before this it was high and was considered to be the tallest structure of its kind in the world, the tallest structure of any type in the United Kingdom. After the top section was removed, the mast's reduced height relegated it to the second-highest in the UK after Skelton. The current world's tallest guyed tubular steel mast is TV Tower Vinnytsia in Ukraine.
Despite the mast being shortened it can be seen in daylight on clear days from most areas close to and within the Lincolnshire Wolds. On clear nights its bright red aircraft warning lights can be very widely seen across much of Lincolnshire from as far north as the River Humber and Barton-Upon-Humber; from the west of the county it can be seen from Lincoln, Gainsborough and Grantham; from the south of the county it can be seen from Spalding and Bourne; and from the east it can be seen from Skegness, Mablethorpe and most areas along the Lincolnshire coast. The lights can also be seen from many parts of Nottinghamshire, coastal areas of North West Norfolk and a few parts of Derbyshire on very clear nights.
Construction
The mast was constructed in 1965 and it came into service on 20 December of that year. As built it was a tubular pipe long by in diameter, surmounted by a lattice upper section.In September 1967, meteorological equipment was added to the mast extending its height to. The imperial measurement was the accepted value quoted by publications including the 1993 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. The metric measurement quoted by the current owners is shorter.
Between October 2009 and April 2010, the mast was shortened as part of the Digital Switchover works, most of the top section above and the mast now stands high.
Coverage
From its location, high in the Lincolnshire Wolds, it broadcasts digital television and both analogue and digital radio to Lincolnshire, eastern Yorkshire, northern parts of Norfolk and some parts of Nottinghamshire. When it was first operated it transmitted ITV station Anglia Television. Following a re-organisation of ITV coverage in 1972, from 1974 it started transmitting neighbouring station Yorkshire Television instead, which it continues to do to this day. Due to most of the region being flat, Belmont has few relay stations although there is a main relay station at Oliver's Mount covering the Scarborough area.Transmitter power
In the analogue era Belmont, at 500 kW E.R.P. for the four main analogue television channels, was one of the most powerful transmitters in the UK, though there were four UK transmitters which were more powerful; Sutton Coldfield, Crystal Palace and Sandy Heath were all at 1000 kW and Emley Moor was 870 kW. After digital switchover Belmont's digital transmitting power was 50 kW for SDN, 100 kW for Arqiva A & B and 150 kW for BBC A, D3&4 and BBC B.700MHz clearance
On 4 March 2020, Belmont was due to complete its 700MHz clearance and will become an A group transmitter, excluding the temporary MUXES 7 and 8. Since Belmont started out as an A group for analogue it returns to that band after being a wideband for 21 years. Technically the advent of C5 analogue complicated the issue for a few months prior to running digital transmissions started in 1998.Services listed by frequency
Analogue television
20 December 1965 – 19 November 1966
First transmissions from the site: ITV's 405-line television service, an off-air rebroadcast from Mendlesham.| Frequency | VHF | kW | Service |
| 7V | 20 | Anglia Television |
19 November 1966 – 24 May 1971
The BBC's services came online on both VHF and UHF. BBC 1 was initially fed by means of an off-air rebroadcast of Holme Moss but this was plagued by co-channel interference from the continent. BBC2 was an off-air rebroadcast from Emley Moor. On 19 March 1969, the Emley Moor mast collapsed, taking Belmont's BBC2 transmissions off-air for several days.Despite the programme sources on VHF and UHF being off-air rebroadcasts of other transmitters in the vicinity, Belmont was always regarded by the BBC as being a "main station" both on VHF and UHF. The IBA initially regarded it as a relay of Mendlesham but from 1974 it became a "main station" for Yorkshire Television after changes in the minor franchise areas.
It was always number 120.0 in the BBC/IBA numbering scheme for UHF stations).
| Frequency | VHF | UHF | kW | Service |
| 7V | — | 20 | Anglia Television | |
| 13V | — | 20 | BBC1 | |
| — | 28 | 500 | BBC2 |
24 May 1971 – 30 July 1974
ITV's UHF service began.| Frequency | VHF | UHF | kW | Service |
| 7V | — | 20 | Anglia Television | |
| 13V | — | 20 | BBC1 | |
| — | 22 | 500 | BBC1 | |
| — | 25 | 500 | Anglia Television | |
| — | 28 | 500 | BBC2 |
30 July 1974 – 2 November 1982
After changes to the regional structure of ITV in 1972, Belmont stopped being a relay of Mendlesham and became a main station for Yorkshire TV.| Frequency | VHF | UHF | kW | Service |
| 7V | — | 20 | Yorkshire TV | |
| 13V | — | 20 | BBC1 | |
| — | 22 | 500 | BBC1 | |
| — | 25 | 500 | Yorkshire TV | |
| — | 28 | 500 | BBC2 |
2 November 1982 – 30 March 1997
Both the BBC and ITV 405-line VHF TV services from Belmont were discontinued early in mid-1982, and when Channel 4 began formal transmissions in November that year it was radiated on UHF from the site:| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
| 22 | 500 | BBC1 | |
| 25 | 500 | Yorkshire TV | |
| 28 | 500 | BBC2 | |
| 32 | 500 | Channel 4 |
30 March 1997 – 15 November 1998
Belmont started transmitting the UK's final terrestrial analogue UHF TV service: Channel 5. This was done well out-of-band and at reduced power compared with the main group.| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
| 22 | 500 | BBC1 | |
| 25 | 500 | Yorkshire Television | |
| 28 | 500 | BBC Two | |
| 32 | 500 | Channel 4 | |
| 56 | 50 | Channel 5 |
Analogue and digital television
15 November 1998 – 3 August 2011
Belmont began transmitting digital TV, with the new digital multiplexes spaced far from the existing analogue channels. In July 2007 it was confirmed by Ofcom that Belmont would be remaining a wideband transmitter after digital switchover.| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service/Operator | System |
| 22 | 500 | BBC1 | PAL System I | |
| 25 | 500 | Yorkshire Television/ ITV Yorkshire | PAL System I | |
| 28 | 500 | BBC Two | PAL System I | |
| 30 | 10 | BBC | DVB-T | |
| 32 | 500 | Channel 4 | PAL System I | |
| 48 | 20 | Digital 3&4 | DVB-T | |
| 56 | 50 | Channel 5 | PAL System I | |
| 57+ | 4 | Arqiva | DVB-T | |
| 60 | 4 | Arqiva | DVB-T | |
| 66 | 10 | BBC | DVB-T | |
| 68 | 10 | SDN | DVB-T |
3 August 2011 – 17 August 2011
BBC Two closed on UHF 28. BBC One was moved on to that channel for its final three weeks of service. Pre-DSO Multiplex 1 on UHF 30 was closed and was replaced by BBC A on UHF 22.| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service/Operator | System |
| 22 | 150 | BBC A | DVB-T | |
| 25 | 500 | ITV Yorkshire | PAL System I | |
| 28 | 500 | BBC1 | PAL System I | |
| 32 | 500 | Channel 4 | PAL System I | |
| 48 | 20 | Digital 3&4 | DVB-T | |
| 56 | 50 | Channel 5 | PAL System I | |
| 57+ | 4 | Arqiva | DVB-T | |
| 60 | 4 | Arqiva | DVB-T | |
| 66 | 10 | BBC | DVB-T | |
| 68 | 10 | SDN | DVB-T |
Digital television
17 August 2011 – 26 November 2013
All the remaining analogue and existing digital signals were turned off and replaced with higher-power digital signals.| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | System |
| 22 | 150 | BBC A | DVB-T | |
| 25 | 150 | Digital 3&4 | DVB-T | |
| 28 | 150 | BBC B | DVB-T2 | |
| 30- | 50 | SDN | DVB-T | |
| 53 | 100 | Arqiva A | DVB-T | |
| 60 | 100 | Arqiva B | DVB-T |
- Arqiva A and Arqiva B were limited to 4 kW until 23 November 2011, when they were increased to 100 kW.
26 November 2013 – 4 February 2020
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | Multiplex | System |
| 22 | 150 | BBC A | PSB1 | DVB-T | |
| 25 | 150 | Digital 3&4 | PSB2 | DVB-T | |
| 28 | 150 | BBC B | PSB3 | DVB-T2 | |
| 30- | 50 | SDN | COM4 | DVB-T | |
| 32 | 5 | Local TV | LOC | DVB-T | |
| 33 | 37.1 | Arqiva C | COM7 | DVB-T2 | |
| 53 | 100 | Arqiva A | COM5 | DVB-T | |
| 56 | 39 | Arqiva D | COM8 | DVB-T2 | |
| 60 | 100 | Arqiva B | COM6 | DVB-T |
5 February 2020 - 03 March 2020
Arqiva A moved from UHF 53 to UHF 23, in accordance with the 700MHz clearance.| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | Multiplex | System |
| 22 | 150 | BBC A | PSB1 | DVB-T | |
| 23 | 75 | Arqiva A | COM5 | DVB-T | |
| 25 | 150 | Digital 3&4 | PSB2 | DVB-T | |
| 28 | 150 | BBC B | PSB3 | DVB-T2 | |
| 30- | 64 | SDN | COM4 | DVB-T | |
| 32 | 5 | Local TV | LOC | DVB-T | |
| 55 | 37.1 | Arqiva C | COM7 | DVB-T2 | |
| 56 | 39 | Arqiva D | COM8 | DVB-T2 | |
| 60 | 100 | Arqiva B | COM6 | DVB-T |
4 March 2020 - 24 June 2020
Arqiva B moved from UHF 60- to UHF 26, and a power increase of the Local multiplex, in accordance with the 700MHz clearance.| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | Multiplex | System |
| 22 | 150 | BBC A | PSB1 | DVB-T | |
| 23 | 75 | Arqiva A | COM5 | DVB-T | |
| 25 | 150 | Digital 3&4 | PSB2 | DVB-T | |
| 26 | 75 | Arqiva B | COM6 | DVB-T | |
| 28 | 150 | BBC B | PSB3 | DVB-T2 | |
| 30- | 64 | SDN | COM4 | DVB-T | |
| 32 | 10 | Local TV | LOC | DVB-T | |
| 55 | 37.1 | Arqiva C | COM7 | DVB-T2 | |
| 56 | 39 | Arqiva D | COM8 | DVB-T2 |
25 June 2020 - Present
COM 8 was switched off permanently in accordance with the 700MHz clearance programme.| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | Multiplex | System |
| 22 | 150 | BBC A | PSB1 | DVB-T | |
| 23 | 75 | Arqiva A | COM5 | DVB-T | |
| 25 | 150 | Digital 3&4 | PSB2 | DVB-T | |
| 26 | 75 | Arqiva B | COM6 | DVB-T | |
| 28 | 150 | BBC B | PSB3 | DVB-T2 | |
| 30- | 64 | SDN | COM4 | DVB-T | |
| 32 | 10 | Local TV | LOC | DVB-T | |
| 55 | 37.1 | Arqiva C | COM7 | DVB-T2 |
Analogue radio (FM VHF)
19 November 1966 – 11 November 1980
11 November 1980 – February 1992
BBC Radio Lincolnshire started broadcasting.| Frequency | kW | Service |
| 88.8 MHz | 8 | BBC Radio 2 |
| 90.9 MHz | 8 | BBC Radio 3 |
| 93.1 MHz | 8 | BBC Radio 4 |
| 94.9 MHz | 3 | BBC Radio Lincolnshire |
February 1992 – present day
Lincs FM and Classic FM join the set of FM broadcasts.| Frequency | kW | Service |
| 88.8 MHz | 8 | BBC Radio 2 |
| 90.9 MHz | 8 | BBC Radio 3 |
| 93.1 MHz | 8 | BBC Radio 4 |
| 94.9 MHz | 3 | BBC Radio Lincolnshire |
| 98.3 MHz | 8 | BBC Radio 1 |
| 100.5 MHz | 3.1 | Classic FM |
| 102.2 MHz | 3.2 | Lincs FM |