This is the site of the former BBC 1, 405-line, band 1, channel 3, transmitter and Radio Wiltshire MF transmitter. It is unlikely that the current tower, now used by the mobile phone companies, is the original 41m (134 ft) BBC tower. BBC TV entered service on 5th November 1962, closed on 5th October 1982, and operated as a relay of Wenvoe, channel 5. Unfortunately there is no BBC RD report on the installation, the only details being that horizontal polarisation was used with the ERP being directional, ranging from 1 to 170 Watts. As the site is to the south-east of Swindon, I would expect maximum ERP would have been directed to the north-west. The mean aerial height was 33.5m (110 ft).
Wroughton was also used to transmit BBC Wiltshire Sound on 1368 kHz from the station launch on 4-Apr-1989 until the relocation to the Swindon MF site on 27-Jun-2003.
The site was also used as a receive point for the West Home Service from Wenvoe on 92.125 MHz, which was then fed by GPO line to Oxford. BBC FM radio services commenced from Oxford on 28th May 1962 and transmitted both the Midlands and West versions of the Home Service. Oxford ceased transmitting the West version, of what was by then Radio 4, early in 1970, prior to the launch of Radio Oxford. |
