Craigkelly
Craigkelly transmitting station is located in Fife
Craigkelly transmitting station
Craigkelly transmitting station (Fife)
Location3QC8+HG, Burntisland KY3 0AJ
Tower height125 metres (410 ft)
Coordinates56°04′19″N 3°13′59″W / 56.071944°N 3.233194°W / 56.071944; -3.233194
Grid referenceNT233872
Built1968
BBC regionBBC Scotland
ITV regionSTV Central
Local TV serviceThat's TV Scotland

The Craigkelly transmitting station[1] is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility located at Craigkelly[2] (grid reference NT233872) north of the Firth of Forth above the town of Burntisland in Fife, Scotland. It has a 125-metre tall free-standing lattice tower reassembled after being moved from its original location at Emley Moor, West Yorkshire, where it was used to broadcast the 405-line ITV service between 1956 and 1966.[3]

The station came into service in 1968 to improve coverage of BBC2 to the Edinburgh area, which has a number of hills blocking good reception from Black Hill. In September 1971 it also started broadcasting BBC1 and Scottish Television on 625 lines in colour and though considered a 'main' station, it actually rebroadcast the signal from the Black Hill transmitting station, like a relay.

In March 1983 Channel 4 was added (five months after programmes began), however Channel 5 was available at its launch on 30 March 1997.[4]

Its tower now also carries antennas for many broadcasting and private radio organisations.

Craigkelly is part of the STV Central TV region. [5]

The transmitter was originally an A group but has become a K group (or wideband) with the advent of Channel 5 and Digital. Craigkelly is one of the few main transmitters which did not return to its original group at Digital Switchover (DSO). However, when Craigkelly went through its 700 MHz clearance[6] in October 2018 all of the main 6 muxes returned to the A group, the only two outside being muxes 7 and 8 (see Craigkelly's graph) which were to be switched off between 2020 and 2022. [7]

The tower can be clearly seen from many parts of Edinburgh across the Firth of Forth on its prominent position atop the hill known as The Binn.[8]

Coverage

Television reception from Craigkelly[9] includes a wide area stretching from Stirling and Falkirk in the central belt, eastwards to Crail in Fife and Dunbar in Lothian. Kirkcaldy and Glenrothes also receive a strong signal, as does most of the principal city of Edinburgh.

Transmitted services

Analogue radio

Frequency kW[10] Service
97.3 MHz 9.8 Forth 1
101.1 MHz 10 Heart Scotland
104.1 MHz 5 BBC Radio nan Gaidheal
105.7 MHz 10 Capital Scotland

Digital radio

Frequency Block kW Operator
227.060 MHz 11D 0.78 Switch Scotland
223.936 MHz 12A 6.8 Digital One
225.648 MHz 12B 5 BBC National DAB
229.072 MHz 12D 1 Bauer Edinburgh

Analogue television

Analogue television transmissions ceased from Craigkelly on 15 June 2011.

Frequency UHF kW Service
471.25 MHz 21 100 Channel 4
495.25 MHz 24 100 STV (Central)
519.25 MHz 27 100 BBC Two Scotland
551.25 MHz 31 100 BBC One Scotland
687.25 MHz 48 4 Channel 5

See also

References

  1. ↑ "TheBigTower Craigkelly Transmitter".
  2. ↑ "Craigkelly Transmitter · Burntisland KY3 0AJ, UK, UK". Craigkelly Transmitter · Burntisland KY3 0AJ, UK.
  3. ↑ "Mb21 - ether.net - ITV 405 line TV Transmitters - Yorkshire".
  4. ↑ "Mb21 Craigkelly at the Transmission Gallery".
  5. ↑ "STV Central TV region" (PDF). ofcom.org.uk.
  6. ↑ "700MHz Clearance Programme". freeview.co.uk.
  7. ↑ "COM7 Closure Implications". digitaltv.org.uk.
  8. ↑ "The Binn at Fifewalking.com". fifewalking.com.
  9. ↑ "Craigkelly Coverage Map at The Big Tower". theBigTower.com.
  10. ↑ "Craigkelly at RadioDNS". radiodns.uk.
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