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thebigtower |
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croydon |
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| THE CROYDON TRANSMITTING STATION is the main Arqiva (formerly NTL Broadcast) operational base within Greater London, sited in the busy residential suburb of South Norwood, approximately three miles north of Central Croydon. It currently broadcasts analogue Channel 5 and multiple Independent Local Radio services on both FM and DAB. EARLY HISTORY |
| The Croydon station was the first transmission facility to be constructed by the Independent Television Authority (ITA), broadcasting ITV to the initial London-only service area from 22 September 1955 using the original 405-line VHF system. Intentionally built near to the BBC Crystal Palace transmitter, it established the nationwide-adopted practice of siting ITA transmitters close to those of the BBC, wherever it was technically feasible. Transmissions from the station were on Channel 9 (VHF Band III), carried on a 60m (200ft) lattice tower at a maximum output of 200kW (vision e.r.p). THE TOWER |
| The current 152m (500ft) transmission tower came into operation on 5 December 1962. It superceded the original 60m tower which had always been intended as provisional, but it's replacement had been deferred whilst the ITA concentrated on rolling out transmitters elsewhere. The opening of the current tower brought with it a significant and much needed improvement in coverage, particularly across North-West London and hill-screened areas of the Home Counties. Employing a slimmer design to the structure at Crystal Palace (due to the somewhat compact nature of the transmission site) the tower is the second-tallest non-stayed lattice broadcasting structure in the UK, the 196m (640ft) Crystal Palace tower remaining as the tallest. THE CHANGE TO UHF |
| The ITV 625-line UHF colour service in London commenced along with BBC1 on 15 November 1969. In accordance with the decision to co-site BBC and ITA transmitters for UHF transmission, the main London ITV UHF transmitter was based alongside those of the BBC at Crystal Palace. Croydon therefore continued to broadcast ITV on 405-line VHF-only until the closure of the 405-line service in January 1985. FM RADIO |
| In 1972 the Independent Television Authority (ITA) changed it's name to the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA), having assumed under the Sound Broadcasting Act of the same year the responsibility for regulating and providing transmission for Independent Local Radio (ILR) services. It was from Croydon that the first of these services, LBC and Capital Radio (respectively launched on 8 and 16 October 1973) were provided with their FM transmission. In the era that followed the closure of the 405-line television service, the expansion of ILR saw further new FM services utilising Croydon for their transmission and although some have since moved to Crystal Palace (notably the former Virgin Radio and Choice FM), the station currently broadcasts six services on FM, including the original two from October 1973. |
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| THE ROC |
| The Regional Operation Centre (ROC) at Croydon was the first of four to be developed by the Independent Broadcasting Authority (IBA) to provide remote centralised monitoring of their entire network of mostly unattended transmitters across a designated area of the UK. Brought into operation in 1978, the Croydon ROC assumed responsibility for all IBA transmitters across East Anglia, London, South & South-East England and the Channel Islands, in the process absorbing the Colour Control Room (CCR) operations at Mendlesham, Dover and Chillerton Down, as well as replacing it's own Colour Control Room which had serviced the ITV UHF transmitter at Crystal Palace and subsequent UHF stations in the London region from 15 November 1969 onwards. Further ROCs were established by 1981 at Emley Moor, St Hilary and Black Hill. However, subsequent to the transfer of the IBA transmitter network to NTL in 1991, all four centres have since been absorbed into the National Customer Service Centre (NCSC) based at Emley Moor. CHANNEL FIVE |
| The launch of the fifth terrestrial television service in the UK on 31 March 1997 restored television transmission to Croydon's broadcasting profile after an absence of just over twelve years. NTL (who had secured the Channel 5 transmission contract) decided to utilise their own sites wherever possible, due principally to the fact that the reciprocal site sharing arrangement, as originally agreed somewhat informally between the BBC and ITA in the 1960s, did not extend to Channel 5. As a result, Croydon was one of a number of stations only used previously to broadcast ITV on 405-line VHF that was required for the new service. Furthermore, along with the three other 'high power' stations that were available from the launch date (the others being Lichfield, Emley Moor and Black Hill), Croydon was allocated UHF Channel 37 - a former non-broadcast frequency released by the government for use by Channel 5, enabling 70% of the UK population to be covered from the outset. Initially operating at 250kW (vision e.r.p), output from Croydon was later increased to 1000kW (in line with the power capability of the Crystal Palace transmitter) although transmissions towards the south coast remain limited to 250kW, effectively preventing signals travelling beyond the ridge of the North Downs, in order to avoid the risk of interfering with stations on the continent. Channel 5 transmissions from Croydon will cease when Digital Switchover takes place in the London region in 2012, with digital coverage provided (as it is already) from Crystal Palace. UHF BACK-UP |
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Since acquiring UHF capability for the transmission of Channel 5, Croydon has also housed reserve analogue transmitters for both ITV1 and Channel 4, for use in the event of the failure of the main transmitters at Crystal Palace. This facility, which is unique to the London-area, is periodically tested during late night/early morning hours and is expected to continue after Digital Switchover with back-up provision for all the PSB (Public Service Broadcast) Multiplexes. |
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Above: The original NTL site-branding was replaced with Arqiva's in Summer 2005. |
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Above and Below: The station buildings. Enlarge the above image here |
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STATION INFORMATION |
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Location: |
Beulah Hill, South Norwood Hill, London, SE25 |
Grid Reference: |
TQ332696 |
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Landlord: |
Arqiva (Legacy: ITA/IBA/NTL) |
Ground Height: |
114m |
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ITV Region: |
London (Emergency back-up only) |
Tower Height: |
152.6m |
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BBC Region: |
N/A |
Aerial Height: (*) |
271m |
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UHF Tx Number: |
N/A |
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(*) Average UHF aerial height above sea level (a.o.d) |
C5 Tx Number: |
180.10 |
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Analogue Television |
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Analogue Radio (FM) |
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Service |
: Ch/Polarisation/e.r.p |
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Service: |
(MHz) |
(e.r.p) |
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BBC1 |
: No service - transmitted from Crystal Palace |
Capital FM: |
95.8 |
4kW |
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BBC2 |
: No service - transmitted from Crystal Palace |
LBC: |
97.3 |
4kW |
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ITV1 |
: 23 / H / 1000kW (Crystal Palace back-up only) |
Heart: |
106.2 |
4kW |
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Ch4 |
: 30 / H / 1000kW (Crystal Palace back-up only) |
Smooth Radio: |
102.2 |
2kW |
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Five |
: 37 / H / 1000kW |
Kiss FM: |
100.0 |
2kW |
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Magic: |
105.4 |
4kW |
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Digital Television |
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Digital Radio |
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No service - transmitted from Crystal Palace |
CE London (Block 12C) |
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DRG London (Block 11B) |
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