Craigkelly transmitting station

The Craigkelly transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications facility located at Craigkelly (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 rebuilt from a lattice tower originally located at the Emley Moor transmitting station.[1]

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)
Coordinates56.071944°N 3.233194°W / 56.071944; -3.233194
Grid referenceNT233872
Built1968
BBC regionBBC Scotland
ITV regionSTV Central
Local TV serviceThat's TV Scotland

The station came into service in 1968 to improve coverage of BBC 2 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. Its tower now also carries antennas for many broadcasting and private radio organisations. This structure was previously used at Emley Moor.[2]

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 DSO. However, when Craigkelly went through its 700 MHz clearance in October 2018 all of the main 6 muxes returned to the A group, the only two outside are muxes 7 and 8 (aee Craigkelly's graph) which are due to be switched off between 2020 and 2022 anyway.

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.

Transmitted services

Analogue radio
Frequency kW[3] 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. "Mb21 - ether.net - ITV 405 line TV Transmitters - Yorkshire".
  3. Radio Listeners Guide 2010
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