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THE LICHFIELD TRANSMITTER provides the main analogue service for Channel 5 in the West Midlands and is also the region's Service Centre base for Arqiva (formerly NTL Broadcast). The station is sited approximately two miles north-east of the National Grid Wireless transmitter at Sutton Coldfield. |
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TRANSMISSION STRUCTURE |
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Lichfield broadcasts from a 306m (1000ft) stayed lattice triangular-section mast. It is secured in position by fifteen stay lines, which descend from five attachment points on the structure to a total of nine ground anchor blocks. |
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STATION HISTORY |
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IN THE BEGINNING |
Lichfield was originally built by the Independent Television Authority (ITA) as their second transmitter installation, broadcasting the Midlands 405-line ITV service from 17 February 1956. In the same way the first ITA transmitter at Croydon had been sited near the BBC station at Crystal Palace, the Lichfield transmitter was built close to the BBC station at Sutton Coldfield. The site for the transmitter was just off the A5, near the village of Hints, and much closer to the main town of Tamworth than the Cathedral City of Lichfield. As with their earlier Croydon transmitter, this suggested to some that the ITAs choice of name had more to do with commercial appeal than geographic precision. This was despite the fact there was nothing particularly unusual about an organisation naming one of their facilities after the nearest prominent location. Therefore, after a few initial queries from local parties prior to the station opening, the name Lichfield was accepted. Transmissions from Lichfield, on Channel 8V (VHF Band III), were carried on a 450ft (135m) self-supporting lattice tower, and initially broadcast at reduced power pending installation of permanent high-power transmitters. These became operational towards the end of 1956 and enabled an increase in maximum output to 200kW (vision e.r.p), significantly improving coverage across the Central West Midlands and also Derbyshire, Cheshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire. The next two ITA stations at Winter Hill and Emley Moor were also opened in 1956 and extended ITV coverage to Northern England. |
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THE NEW MAST |
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From 18 July 1961, coverage from the Lichfield station was further improved with the opening of the new 1000ft (306m) stayed mast, built as replacement for the original 450ft tower. The new mast was the third of the total seven 1000ft lattice structures to be constructed for the ITA. As well as providing increased height, the new structure came complete with an improved aerial system which enabled output to be increased to a maximum 400kW (vision e.r.p). However, these highest-powered transmissions were only directed towards the south and west of the region where reception was difficult in places that were low-lying or shielded by higher terrain. Following the opening of the new mast, the original 450ft tower was dismantled and eventually re-erected in 1962 at Fremont Point (Jersey) to provide the Channel Islands ITV service. |
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RELAY STATIONS |
Whilst the new Lichfield mast did in the main provide the desired improvement in coverage, reception remained weak in the far south and west of the region. This deficiency was eventually remedied in two stages: The first stage saw the opening of the Membury relay near Swindon on 30 April 1965, which improved coverage to those parts of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire that were served poorest by Lichfield. Membury was an unattended station, operating on Channel 12H at a maximum output of 30kW (vision e.r.p), with transmissions carried on a 500ft stayed-mast. Unusually for a station built at this time with such a tall structure, it was not scheduled as a future main UHF transmitter. It's potentially short life span as a television station therefore represented a hefty investment for the ITA. The second stage was completed on 30 July 1968 with the opening of the relay at Ridge Hill near Hereford. This station, which was scheduled as a future main UHF transmitter, improved coverage to areas of Herefordshire, Cheltenham and Gloucester that were shielded from from the east by the Malvern Hills. Like Membury, a 500ft mast was employed whilst transmissions were on Channel 6V at a maximum output of 10kW (vision e.r.p). The opening of Ridge Hill completed the ITA 405-line transmitter network in the Midlands. |
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UHF |
With the advent of UHF 625-line colour and the agreement to co-site BBC and ITV UHF transmitters, it was decided to use the BBC Sutton Coldfield transmitter for this purpose. The ITV 625-line service commenced transmission from Sutton Coldfield on 15 November 1969 (along with BBC1), leaving Lichfield to continue providing only the original 405-line service. |
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FM RADIO |
The first regular transmissions on FM (Band II) from Lichfield commenced on 19 February 1974, with the start of the fourth Independent Local Radio (ILR) service - Birmingham's BRMB Radio on 94.8FM. Lichfield was the third IBA transmitter (following Croydon and Black Hill) to carry an ILR service. |
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END OF 405 |
Lichfield continued broadcasting ITV on 405-lines up until the final closure of the service in January 1985. The relays at Membury and Ridge Hill had already ceased 405-line transmission during 1983 and 1984. |
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BEYOND 405 |
At the time of the 405-line closure, Lichfield was carrying a number of FM radio services but these were gradually transferred to Sutton Coldfield as it was able to provide a better service. By the time Lichfield was under the ownership of NTL (along with all other ex-ITA/IBA sites), there were no broadcast services left in operation and for some years the station functioned only as a Service Centre and maintenance base. |
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CHANNEL 5 |
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After seeing all broadcast operations gradually run down since 1985, the advent of the fifth terrestrial service brought a new lease of life to the Lichfield transmitter. NTL Broadcast had secured the Channel 5 transmission contract and it was logical for them to use their own transmission sites wherever possible, rather than automatically co-site the service at the area UHF main station with the other four channels. (In some instances, technical difficulties prevented co-siting anyway). Consequently, a number of former ITA/IBA sites not used for television since the 405-line closure were brought back into service and for the first time acquired UHF capability. Lichfield went to air with the launch of the Channel 5 service on 31 March 1997 and was equipped with the capability to transmit up to 1000kW (vision e.r.p), the same as nearby Sutton Coldfield and also the Channel 5 transmitter at Croydon. The Lichfield Channel 5 transmitter also utilised UHF Channel 37, which was previously reserved for non-broadcast service but was released by the government for use by the fifth channel. The three other highest-powered transmitters that provided the service from launch (Croydon, Emley Moor and Black Hill) also used Channel 37. A second-phase of high-power transmitters using Channel 35 (another former non-broadcast frequency) followed in August and September 1997. |
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(Lichfield's Channel 5 transmissions will cease upon closure of the UHF analogue service in the Midlands, which is currently scheduled to take place in 2011). |
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FM RADIO (CURRENT) |
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Since 6 June 1998, Lichfield has provided the transmission for Tamworth-based ILR station Centre 101.6FM, which serves South-East Staffordshire and parts of Derbyshire. |
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DAB RADIO |
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Since May 2000, Lichfield has also provided the transmission for the CE Birmingham group of services on DAB Block 11C. |
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Site Views These first three images were taken in July 2002 |
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Above and first below: NTL branding gave way to Arqiva in August 2005. |
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STATION SUMMARY |
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Location: |
Hints Quarry, nr Hopwas, Tamworth, Staffordshire, B78 3DH |
Grid Reference: |
SK164043 |
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Landlord: |
Arqiva |
Ground Height: |
152.4m |
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BBC Region: |
N/A |
Mast Height: |
305.1m |
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ITV Region: |
N/A |
Aerial Height: (*) |
452m |
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UHF Tx Number: |
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(*) Channel 5 aerial height above sea level (a.o.d) |
C5 Tx Number: |
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TRANSMISSIONS SUMMARY |
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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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Five |
: 37 / H / 1000kW |
Centre FM: |
101.6 |
0.062k |
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All other UHF transmissions from Sutton Coldfield |
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Digital Television |
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Digital Radio |
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No service - transmitted from Sutton Coldfield |
Service: |
Block |
(e.r.p) |
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CE Birmingham: |
11C |
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