Llanddona was originally established as a BBC FM radio site on 22nd December 1958. BBC TV, VHF channel 1 was added on 15th May 1962 (closed January 1984). A UHF cylinder was added to the top with BBC 2 entering service on the 3rd June 1967. The BBC 2 programme feed was initially via a SHF link from Great Ormes Head, where the BBC 2 signal from Winter Hill was received. UHF BBC 1 arrived in April 1973 and ITV in September 1973, with S4C available from the November 1982 launch.
The location, near the north east corner of Anglesey, means that directional arrays have always been required - there is no benefit to providing coverage to points between approximately north west and east. The BBC Research paper, linked below, covers the design of the UHF array installed in 1967. It is not known whether this underwent any subsequent re-engineering but at the time of DSO in 2009 the cylinder was still in place - though it was subsequently changed in June 2012, see other page
We understand that analogue BBC was fed from Blaenplwyf via the link site at Bwlch Mawr - an arrangement which started in 405-line days.
In 1985, FM radio was re-engineered for mixed polarisation and converted to stereo. Radio's 1 & 4 were added on 7th January 1991. Classic FM and ILR are transmitted from Great Ormes Head.
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