Huntshaw Cross, in the heart of rural North Devon. The mast is surprisingly fully populated - unlike it's surroundings!
The site was originally constructed by the ITA to improve Band III reception in the Barnstaple/Bideford area where neither Caradon Hill nor Stockland Hill came in very well. It transmitted on ch 11 with horizontal polarisation from two tiers of EMI Mesny panels with a semi-circular radiation pattern, entering service on
22-Apr-1968. Closed April 1983.
UHF TV on three channels, commenced on 5-Nov-1973, with Channel 4 from July 1984. Channel 5 was available from the launch on 30-Mar-1997. Interim DTT entered service in November 1999.
BBC R Devon has been transmitted from Huntshaw since 26-Sep-1983. The national FM relay for the area is elsewhere. At one time the BBC considered moving all their FM services to Huntshaw, but the idea never came to anything, possibly because coverage would have been "too good", with national frequencies co-channel with Rowridge and with the Okehampton relay only 200 kHz away.
ILR North Devon (Lantern Radio), launched on 19-Oct-1992 on 96.2 MHz. Digital One DAB from 21-Dec-2001. |
