As a broadcast engineer, the inside of the buildings would be interesting to see. Since the site are being decommissioned, it should be easier to get in and look around. In the states, this is relatively easy, just find out who takes care of the sites.
that would be talking to arquiva. like crown castle over here in the states, i really doubt they would let you, but you never know. that said, maybe because it's closing down, maybe they would let "historians" in to preserve at least the documentation and paperwork history such as the logs... maybe get in touch with Bletchley park museum, maybe they could help and put them on display for example especially has it has a WW2 connection
@@JorvikBerserkir I had some good mentors in my youth. I had an interest in RF and around 12 had built an FM transmitter from plans I found on the internet. One of my mentors was a staff engineer for one of the local TV stations. We would spend hours on Friday nights looking at schematics and parts from broadcast equipment. He took me to the transmitter site for the AM they maintained one afternoon. The roar of the blowers, growling high voltage transformers, and the indistinct din of the transmitter as it made peak audio modulation...I was hooked. I've had a thing for AM ever since. There is something magical about sending electrical energy into the sky, and having someone thousands of miles away hear it. I began working in engineering right out of high school while attending tech school. I've been in it for 20 years now, working for a contract engineering firm doing transmitter installations, upgrades, build-outs and repairs. I still love it.
I know it’s a continuously ongoing cycle throughout the world’s history, but from a transitory human standpoint, to see things that were once new and innovative become accepted and indispensable, then comfortable and commonplace, and finally passé, obsolete, and someday forgotten is keenly heartbreaking 😢 …or maybe i’ve just had a few pints too many 🍻😅
Dear Ringway, thanks for this informative video and important as a chronicle of the demise of analogue transmission in the UK. As an aside the Start Point lighthouse was used as a location for "The Avengers " TV series for the episode "All Done With Mirrors."
Great video Lewis, but more bad news. When I design aperiodic magnetic loops for 200kHz to 20MHz operation, I have historically used R4 Droitwich on 198kHz, R5 Live (693kHz & 909kHz) and Talk Sport on 1053kHz for calibration purposes. Looks like I will need to think again!
Always strange to see two masts on that hill now since digital switchover. Also, it’s near neighbour at Kirk o’Shotts has quite a fascinating history as far as Scottish broadcasting history is concerned.
Blackhill has an interesting history, but not on AM It was the first commercial TV service in Scotland, 1957, STV on 405 lines VHF channel 10. When we switched over to 625 lines, the BBC co-located their BBC1 &2 TV TX there instead of their neighbouring Kirk o Shots mast, which provided BBC1 on 405 lines channel 3, as well as BBC FM radios Home, Light and third, later radio 2, 3 and 4/RScotland. The Blackhill mast was of stronger construction and could bear the extra 625 line TV transmitters, and became an important and staffed transmitter centre for colour TV Later Blackhill additions included a range of commercial FM radio stations , including Forth & Clyde. 405 line TV was switched off in 1982 (?), then the BBC moved its radio services to Blackhill , leaving Kirk o Shotts vacant for a period, until digital radio (DAB) started around 2000, and the mast was brought back into service for that purpose, still current today. WESTERGLEN AM services in Central Scotland are from Westerglen, two huge masts a few miles north (Falkirk). This is one of the original BBC high power stations, and BBC Radio Scotland is still (almost exactly) where it was in 1932 at 810khz, right in the middle of the MW dial. The site was a dual station when it opened. The second mast carried the National Programme, then the Light Ptogramme, then Radio 2, Radio1, then Virgin Radio then Absolute Radio on 247m 1215khz until it closed earlier this year. It also broadcasts BBC R4 on 198LW and BBC R5 on 909kHz, and Talk Radio (??khz)
I congratulate you on the good work you have been doing and I want to leave you a word of encouragement so that you don't stop doing it while that is possible. Cheers to you, Lewis! Macedo Pinto, Portugal
Lewis: I know where Alvaiázere is, I know the place perfectly, because I worked at Rádio Clube de Alvaiázere for a few months. Specifically, the place where the FM broadcast was made was called "Serra de Alvaiázere" and was approximately 3 kilometers away from that radio's studio. I had good times there, despite the poor working conditions! I enjoyed seeing your work. Keep going, Lewis!
Watching this video makes me wonder how on earth did the “pirates” I listened to clearly at the weekends during the 1970’s broadcast their programmes? This AM set up is enormous.
You can 'cheat' the aerial length by adding a loading coil ... it knocks down the efficiency but at least doesn't fry the output stage of the transmitter !
@@mrb.5610 I wonder if there are any good RU-vid videos explaining the set up pirates used in the 1970’s. My favourite was “Thameside Radio” which broadcast on FM on Sunday’s at 7pm after the Radio 1 chart show ended.
It was sad when radio one left mediumwaves it was never the same when it was forced onto VHF. When I moved to weymouth from the middle of berkshire I was thrilled how good the signal on 1053 khz was Start point was only 30 or 40 miles away and the 120Kw signal was so strong no fading even in the nite. A total contrast to berkshire where even in the day there was some phase distortion on 1089KHz a bit in the day a lot at nite. Cheers thanks for the video x
It's really interesting to see and hear about transmitter sites from other parts of the country. Start point lighthouse is also a kind of radio transmitter. It's just that they are putting out a signal at 400-800THz and modulating it with a rotating mirror. 😁
TOPIC SUGGESTION: Perhaps some of your subscribors might be interested in an episode describling some of the induction systems used to send and recieve telegraph messages from moving trains before radio was invented. One of the engineers involved was was Granville Woods. He defeated Edison in patent lawsuits.
Edison was kind of a dick as i understand after reading many articles about him. He took full credit for many things people working for him should have been given credit as they were the ones who did the work and made the discoveries. But hey he owned the place they worked, lol.
@@MaxStax1 That's often the case. I have a number of patents from various companies. The patents are in my name, but the company that paid for the work owns the IP.
Love the videos as usual. Perhaps you could do an instructional video on how these transmitters work. I would be very curious. At the moment I just like the interesting history and imagery.
Cheers love all your work. Well it’s just like everything has to come to a end, so thanks for letting us see it before it goes. Thanks again Alan from Luton 🍻💯👍
That's not far from me. I was a bit surprised they rebuilt the damaged mast a few years ago given the inevitable demise of am services. Couldn't see why repairing the existing mast wasn't viable. It will certainly be strange not to see them there. Earlier today I passed the Occombe (Torquay) transmitter site, now unused but still standing though I suspect not for much longer as prime development land. The now moss covered drive bares testimony to the lack of any activity.
@@rogerphelps9939 Even in Alaska, AM is the province of talk radio, sports radio, and religious radio, with nary a commercial music station to found on AM.
Excellent vid as usual. I believe that Securicor had one of their LW transmitters located there for the Datatrak/Trakbak vehicle location system but I could be mistaken! (Now that'd be an excellent topic for you to investigate).
It'd be nice if some of these sites were preserved as historical landmarks. This one in particular seems like it was quiet important in the context of WWII, they should turn it into a museum perhaps?
Greetings from East Suffolk. May I suggest covering the AM transmitter at Orfordness that's recently had solar panels fitted to help power it. It's still being used by what was originally a pirate station. Keep up the good work Bur!
I believe that there are ways to embrace digital broadcasts without shutting down AM radio. For example, broadcasters could simulcast their AM broadcasts on digital platforms, especially DRM30 (hybrid) since the MW wave band still using (not like DAB). This would allow listeners to choose the format that they prefer. Additionally, broadcasters could invest in new technologies that improve the quality of AM radio reception. This would make AM radio a more attractive option for listeners. I urge decision-makers to reconsider their plans to shut down AM radio. AM radio is an important part of our cultural heritage, and it still serves a valuable purpose. We should not abandon it in favor of newer technologies.
Brilliant video again Lewis. As you say Start Point is a landmark in that area having been there many times. Good to hear it’s history. Always a nice walk down to the lighthouse.
I only hope they leave the AM frequencies alone for future AM broadcasting and possibly open it up to amateurs. Bottom line don't auction off the airwaves and abandon AM.
Great video as ever! Have not seen it mentioned, but the West Prawle Transmitter you mentioned was actually part of the Datatrak network. Closed down on 2012 never to be used again. As you said they saw an opportunity and borrowed it for a while. I am collecting as much info on these towers at the mo as in 2012 a few of them came off air and were dismantled. If you ever need any info on these Datatrak LF antennas please feel free to get in touch!
I'm going to miss AM radio. There have been two AM transmitters turned off in South Australia over the last few years. Both services were moved over to FM. One shutdown was understandable as the one company owned two AM transmitters that were located close to each other. My local commercial AM transmitter is likely to be shut down too, it is being simulcast on FM in many population centres in its broadcast footprint.
Agree. I find AM fascinating. I think we are doing Ok so far in Australia still having plenty of stations. We only have one or two CQuAM stereo stations left which is a shame though.
@@dan_from_australia I'm not sure that any of my radios can receive AM stereo at all. I really don't know much about that other than from videos I've seen on RU-vid.
@@Lachlant1984 5AU 1242 and 5MU were turned off in 2021 and moved to FM. More recently 5SE/Triple M 963 was turned off in Mount Gambier in early August.
Superb photography. Thank you for showing us these structures. There will be a total demise of all public broadcasting replaced by phone masts for app streaming. Putting all eggs in the internet basket...
The music starting at 6:59 is so soothing and beautiful and fits the imagery perfectly. Glad to see that you linked is Jesse Gallagher - Krishna's Calliope
Another well researched video and produced video Lewis, and thanks for documenting all these historical MF sites before they disappear for ever. I wonder what site it is during the closing credits, nice to see what appears to be a unidirectional VHF 8 stack and I bet that has some coverage from up there!
Oh dear, one day these big corporations will learn the hard way, when there's a war or a natural disaster and the only way to communicate is with AM they'll be wishing they hadn't turned off all the big transmitting sites!
It is still puzzling that UK/EU & some parts of the world use 9 kHz tuning & North America, Caribbean Islands, Bermuda & Central & South America use 10 kHz tuning (530 kHz to 1710 kHz). Biggest AM stations on the US east coast is WCBS 880 kHz (New York City), WBZ 1030 kHz (Boston) & KYW 1060 kHz (Philadelphia) to name a few. -Cheers!
This was a decision made by the ITU (International Telecommunication Union) to allow a few more transmission frequencies within the European/Africa/Asia, Australia and New Zealand regions. North and South America remained at 10Khz. At the same time the MW frequency Bands were expanded so there became more channel bands. In the US and Canada the maximum transmitter power is restricted to only 50 kilowatts, but in Europe there are medium wave stations with transmitter power up to 2 megawatts during recognised daytime hours. I remember night time MW listening from my home in West Cornwall tuning into Athlone in Ireland, Brest in France and my favourite Milan in Italy to get wonderful reception at times and to listen to local popular music. On Special occasions I received signals from Porto, Portugal. I remember the frequency changes as the BBC used Long Wave on 200Khz which moved slightly to 198Khz. and good old Radio Luxembourg moved from 208Khz to 207Khz but this was never announced over the airwaves and they still used to make the announcement that most of Europe knew - 208. I have an article about it on an old WRTH (World Radio and Television Handbook) but I'm away from home presently.
When I was a kid I was fascinated by crystal radios and how they could pick up radio stations without needing an external power source. It doesn't seem that long ago I that I went on a nostalgia trip and constructed a crystal set that could pick up five medium wave stations. At my location, Start Point is now the only transmission strong enough for a crystal set to pick up. It will be a sad day for me when Start Point finally closes down. After that he only thing that the crystal set will be able to receive is my home built micro power AM "pantry" transmitter but the days of receiving real AM broadcasts on a crystal set will be over.
I didn't know that 5 Live was going to close on AM as well as Radio 4. My Roberts Rambler II AM only radio which has accompanied me since my student days will fall silent totally then. 😢
I remember the dial of the Murphy 146 my father bought in 1952 with all the names on it. Even then, there werem't all that many Long Wave sites, most was Medium Wave.
There are some strange contrasts, because some A.M. stations are very strong here in U.S. They tend to be talk rather than music, but the geographic range can be wider, especially at night. The sound quality is dismal, but some legacy stations are still hobbling along. WQVR is fairly new to A.M.
What's the current state of DAB and FM radio in the UK? Even with high speed Internet and mobile communications, broadcast free to air radio is still very important, and it would be dreadful to see it disappear. Here in Australia DAB+ is only available in the capital cities and not in regional parts of the country. AM and FM radio are both very much still alive, and I've not heard any plans of shutting them down.
Are you planning on a video of the Washford or Clevedon sites? I'd love to see one of these sites carry a short term, high ish power DRM trial before they're demolished. Not likely to happen though!
Lewis, ever hear of the USAF HF antennas in the Gulf of Mexico? Pretty sure they're decommissioned, but they still have loud speakers that beep. I can't seem to find much more on them
Passed that a few times on day trips as a North Devon boy or rugby club coach trips..... Huntshaw Cross transmitting Station was closer to me though. Called Gus Honeybun after the Westward TV mascot by locals.
Why did the BBC make the Arquiva company? I suspect that it extracts a significant profit and some taxes are probably charged when money changes hands. So they're gonna close all of Five Live at once. They could have kept one in the capital so that it can be heard overseas better. Right now music is very distorted because of echo.
I was always on the other side of dartmoor on holidays, and radio reception, particulary evenings. was not brilliant. But I was using some small Japanese transistor set
Great compilation, but it's rather annoying that a lot of those still photos and commentary have been lifted from the mb21 website. I wrote the mb21 commentary, and several of the photos were taken by me, and have been used without permission.
@tonywright8294 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-1x9wSeS0nXA.htmlsi=YEGwY2iIBFCQCJvT "While overwhelming amouts of RF caused the controller to lose the drone momentarily" So is it not the same for AM towers?
So sad. My AM listening on a quality 1970's transistor radio now having to be replaced by a poorly made tinny sounding DAB radio which I know from previous experience will only last a few years at most, and the obsession by radio broadcasters that we should all be listening on smart speakers rather than receiving over the air radio.
That hill tip radar and camera installation looks like it needs some detailed analysis of its own. Looks to have a load of cameras I wonder what focal length lenes they have ?
I can't help thinking the day will come when countries will wish they had kept all the high powered AM broadcast stations that have fallen to "budget cuts" available for use.
@RingwayManchester >>> As I understand it, _"AM"_ {Amplitute Modulation} is referred to as _"Medium Wave"_ in the UK and/or Europe. Is that correct? If so, are _AM_ and _Medium Wave_ used interchangeably?
Strictly speaking 'AM' and 'MW' dont mean the same thing, in technical terms... AM - Amplitude Modulation refers to the way the signal information is overlaid onto the carrier wave (FM - 'Frequency Modulation' is the other common way of doing it, assuming we're talking about analogue broadcast radio.) 'MW' - Medium Wave - refers to the waveband on a radio that can pick up signals between 540 and (in Europe, at least) 1600 kHz on the radio spectrum, or, as it was commonly measured here up until the early '80's, 525 metres to 190 metres (wavelength), IIRC! While broadcasts on MW are almost invariably 'AM', it should be borne in mind that _broadcasts_ on Long Wave or Short Wave are 'Amplitude Modulated' too, as, fwiw, are transmissions on the Air band, despite being adjacent to the VHF~FM part of the spectrum... There is also also a modulation system called SSB (Single Side Band) which is also used on the SW band, though not for broadcasting. It represents a way propagating your signal further with less power, and is used by amateurs and some marine traffic, mostly. Hope this helps! Also, while I'm deeply interested in this stuff, let me say, I'm not an expert by _any_ means! " Long Answer, Short ": If one wants to be pedantic about it, 'AM' and 'MW' aren't quite the same thing, but for practical purposes, YES, you can use them interchangeably!
Amplitude modulation didn't always mean medium & long wave broadcasts only. The television sound transmissions in Britain and France used amplitude modulation on V.H.F. In Britain this was because amplitude modulation was the only technology available when the 405-line service began in 1936. In France this may have been to avoid paying patent royalties when their 819-line (later 625) transmissions started in 1949 plus, perhaps, considerations of national pride. The French network continued until comparatively recently (2011). The sound quality was every bit as good as F.M. as I remember watching
...as I remember watching a 405-line receiver in good working order in 1984. Where F.M. scored was in making better use of the transmitter power to give interference-free reception over a wider area.
Something to ponder... Either the great and the good entirely discount the possibility of a major EMP event, or they are very very stupid. Hmmmm...tough call. Actually either proposition is kind of reassuring.
