British DX Club

UK 405-Line Television Transmitters

Background

The United Kingdom was the first country to start a regular television service in the mid-1930s. The pictures were of course monochrome and used only 405 horizontal lines as opposed to the more usual 625 lines today. The frequencies used - in the VHF range - were at the frontier of the radio technology of the time but look somewhat low today.

The Second World War interrupted the service but afterwards transmissions resumed and transmitter coverage across the UK was extended. The 40MHz to 60MHz range became established for this use and became known as "Band One" (BI). For reasons probably not unconnected with cost, the original 405-line standard was kept for these post-war transmissions, even though other European television services were going for other standards, mainly using 625 lines.

With the success of television in the Fifties and the decision to allow the start of commercial television further frequencies between 175MHz and 215MHz were released, becoming known as "Band Three" (BIII). Colour television was also on the agenda around this time and tests were carried out to see which system should be adopted. PAL became the favoured method of transmission and at the same time it was decided to move up to the technically superior 625-line system.

More frequencies were made available to enable the start of colour television. They were in the UHF band between 470MHz and 860MHz and these became known as "Band Four" and "Band Five" (BIV, BV). At the same time the decision was taken not to re-devlop the existing VHF transmissions but to move all UK television to UHF. This was the death knell for VHF television which finally ceased in the mid-1980s.

It is interesting to speculate how things might have been if the UK had continued to use VHF for television coverage as with most other countries in the world. Almost total Coverage of the country was possible using these frequencies with only a fraction of the number of transmitters needed at UHF. Reception of the Crystal Palace transmitter (and its Alexandra Palace predecessor) on Channel 1 were renowned for their world-wide coverage during times of high sunspot activity.

Alternatively, these conditions, and the regular periods of Sporadic 'E' activity in the summer months could cause difficult reception and interference for local viewers here in the UK. Also, the exclusive use of UHF meant that for good reception four or five terrestrial television channels only one antenna was needed as opposed to up to three - one for each band - if the VHF transmissions had been re-engineered.

The UK 405-Line Transmitter Network

This list is included for academic interest only. In the days of 405-line television there was little cooperation between the BBC and the ITA (Independent Television Authority) in terms of site sharing. In some areas viewers needed to point their antennae in two different directions for the two services that they were able to receive. In practice, as most transmissions were in separate VHF bands anyway this was not too much of a problem.

The list below shows that most sites had only one television service asscoiated with each transmitter. Most main transmitters used vertical polarisation and most relays used horizontal, although as is common today at UHF good use was made of either to help limit the amount of interference from other transmitters on the same channel.

Location	NG Ref	BBC1			ITV
Location	NG Ref	Ch	kW	Pol	Ch	kW	Pol
Abergavenny	SO244126	3	0.03	H	11	0.1	H
Aldeburgh	TM442596	5	0.025	V
Ammanford	SN661109	12	0.02	H
Angus	NO394407				11	50	V
Arfon	SH476493				10	10	H
Ashkirk	NT470244	1	18	V
Aviemore	NH940126				10	1	H
Ayr	NS309171	2	0.05	H
Bala	SH969375				7	0.1	V
Ballachulish	NN059593	2	0.1	V
Ballater	NO379954	1	0.01	V
Ballycastle	ID077423	4	0.05	H	13	0.1	H
Barnstaple	SS502289	3	0.2	H
Bath	ST769654	6	0.25	H	8	0.5	H
Bedford	TL130481	10	3	H
Belmont	TF217837	13	20	V	7	20	V
Betws y Coed	SH825582	4	0.035	H
Bexhill	TQ729103	3	0.15	H
Black Hill	NS828647				10	300	V
Black Mountain	IJ278727				9	100	H
Blaenplwyf	SN569756	3	3	H
Bodmin	SX071674	5	0.01	H
Brecon	SO030299				8	0.1	H
Bressay	HU503387	3	6	V
Brougher Mountain	IH350527	5	7	V
Bude	SS233069	4	0.1	V
Burnhope	NZ184474				8	100	H
Caldbeck	NY299425				11	100	H
Cambridge	TL465593	2	0.1	H
Campbeltown	NR707192	5	2.5	V
Canterbury	TR125596	5	0.03	V
Caradon Hill	SX273707				12	200	V
Cardigan	SN154441	2	0.45	H
Carmarthen	SN412213	1	0.02	V
Chillerton Down	SZ475835				11	100	V
Churchdown Hill	SO880188	1	0.25	H
Croydon	TQ332696				9	350	V
Crystal Palace	TQ339712	1	200	V
Divis	IJ286750	1	35	H
Dolgellau	SH727185	5	0.025	V
Douglas	SC373746	5	3	V
Dover	TR274397				10	100	V
Dundee Law	NO391313	2	0.01	V
Durris	NO763899				9	400	H
Eastbourne	TQ582021	5	0.05	V
Emley Moor	SE222128				10	100	V
Ffestiniog	SH709392	5	0.05	H	13	0.1	V
Folkestone	TR229382	4	0.04	H
Forfar	NO483409	5	5	V
Fort William	NN117772	5	1.5	H
Fremont Point	UT634559				9	10	H
Girvan	NX211981	4	0.02	V
Grantown	NJ003267	1	0.4	H
Hastings	TQ806100	4	0.015	H
Haverfordwest	SN029262	4	10	H
Hereford	SO524365	2	0.05	H
Holme Moss	SE095041	2	100	V
Holyhead	SH223825	4	0.01	H
Hungerford	SU336713	4	0.025	H
Huntshaw Cross	SS527221				11	0.5	H
Isles of Scilly	SV911124	3	0.02	H
Kendal	ST540912	1	0.025	H
Kilkeel	IJ281180	3	0.025	H
Kilvey Hill	SS672940	2	0.5	H
Kingussie	NN769985	5	0.035	H
Kinlochleven	NN178630	1	0.005	V
Kirk o' Shotts	NS858638	3	100	V
Larne	ID395037	3	0.05	H
Les Platons	WV655554	4	1	H
Lethanhill	NS438105				12	3	V
Lichfield	SK164043				8	400	V
Llandovery	SN831405				11	0.1	H
Llanddona	SH583810	1	6	V
Llandrindod Wells	SO018634	1	1.5	H	9	3	H
Llanelli	SN510023	3	0.015	V
Llangollen	SJ204421	1	0.035	H
Llanidloes	SN947843	13	0.02	H
Lochgilphead	NR848861	1	0.02	V
Londonderry	IC404176	2	1.5	H
Machynlleth	SH723003	5	0.05	H
Maddybenny More	IC847376	5	0.02	H
Manningtree	TM123295	4	5	H
Marlborough	SU209688	7	0.025	H
Meldrum	NJ761330	4	17	H
Melvaig	NG757900	4	25	V
Membury	SU307763				12	30	H
Mendlesham	TM122641				11	200	H
Millburn Muir	NS378796	1	0.01	V
Moel y Parc	SJ123701	6	20	V	11	25	V
Morecambe Bay	SD239791	3	5	H
Mounteagle	NH639580				12	50	H
Newhaven	TQ435006	8	0.05	V	6	1	V
Newry	IJ091221	4	0.03	V
North Hessary Tor	SX578742	2	15	V
Northampton	SP759645	3	0.1	V
Oban	NM850290	4	3	V
Okehampton	SX586967	4	0.04	V
Orkney	HY462045	5	15	V
Oxford (Beckley)	SP567104	2	0.65	H
Penifiler	NG489417	1	0.025	H
Perth	NO131232	4	0.025	V
Peterborough	TL127913	5	1	H
Pitlochry	NN923565	1	0.2	H
Pontop Pike	NZ148526	5	17	H
Port Ellen	NR338452	2	0.05	V
Preseli	SN172306				8	100	H
Redruth	SW690394	1	10	H
Richmond	NZ168017	3	0.045	V
Richmond Hill	SC335748				8	10	H
Ridge Hill	SO630333				6	10	V
Rosemarkie	NH762623	2	20	H
Rosneath	NS258811	2	0.02	V	13	0.1	V
Rothesay	NS125690				8	1	V
Rowridge	SZ447865	3	100	V
Rumster Forest	ND197385				8	30	V
Rye	TQ904198	3	0.05	H
Sandale (English)	NY266399	4	30	H
Sandale (Scottish)	NY266399	6	70	H
Sandy Heath	TL204494				6	30	H
Scarborough	TA009880	1	0.5	H	6	1	H
Selkirk	NT500294				13	25	V
Sheffield (Crosspool)	SK324870	1	0.05	H	6	0.1	H
Sidmouth	SY136879	4	0.03	H
Skriaig	NG451408	3	12	H
St Hilary (W)	ST026741				7	100	V
St Hilary	ST026741				10	200	V
Stockland Hill	ST222014				9	100	V
Strabane	IH393947				8	100	V
Sutton Coldfield	SK113003	4	100	V
Swindon	SU159825	3	0.2	H
Swingate	TR334429	2	1.5	V
Tacolneston	TM131958	3	45	H
Thrumster	ND344456	1	7	V
Toward	NS124684	5	0.02	V
Ventnor	SZ567783	5	0.01	H
Weardale	NZ025384	1	0.15	H
Wensleydale	SD992907	1	0.02	V
Wenvoe (English)	ST110742	5	100	V
Wenvoe (Welsh)	ST110742	13	200	V
Weymouth	SY663778	1	0.05	H
Whitby	NZ904113	4	0.04	V
Whitehaven	NX992127				7	0.1	V
Whitehawk Hill	TQ330045	2	0.4	V
Winter Hill	SD660144	12	125	V	9	100	V

UK 405-Line Channel Numbers & Frequencies

Here is a list of the thirteen channels used for 405-line television broadcasting in the UK and their associated vision and sound carrier frequencies:

Ch	V (MHz)	A (MHz)
1	45.00	41.50
2	51.75	48.25
3	56.75	53.25
4	61.75	58.25
5	66.75	63.25
6	179.75	176.25
7	184.75	181.25
8	189.75	186.25
9	194.75	191.25
10	199.75	196.25
11	204.75	201.25
12	209.75	206.25
13	214.75	211.25

British DX Club

UK 405-Line Television Transmitters

Background

The UK 405-Line Transmitter Network

UK 405-Line Channel Numbers & Frequencies

This update: 17/01/2001