A quick visit to the Sunderland relay in November 2024. The weather wasn't as nice as previous contributors had experienced, but the vegetation up the banking to the site seems to have been recently cut back and cleared making the access simple.
However, the single horizontal log for transmission at the top of the pole in the previous photos has been removed, presumably as Bilsdale is now back on-air. Most of the aerials in the Tunstall/Thornhill/Ashbrooke areas not using the relay are on Pontop Pike, with a smaller number facing southwards to Bilsdale who would have been able to make use of the horizontal service from the relay site.
The areas of Sunderland who mostly rely on Bilsdale are nearer the coast, and out of range of this relay - presumably the increase in power down the A19 at the Seaham relay would provided some coverage for the Ryhope/Grangetown/Hendon Bilsdale viewers? |
