Truleigh Hill was a Chain Home Extra Low (CHEL) site built in 1952 to replace the Chain Home Low Radar station built at the site in 1939. It was a R2 single level operations room serving a single Type 14 radar system. The station was decommissioned in 1958 and sold to a private buyer in 1965. Although the bunker is presently unused the site provides a home for Police, Ambulance and Fire Service communications as well as those of some private organisations. The site is next door to the BT site, itself the site of a former ROTOR air defence radar station. The site can be seen for miles and is remarkably easy to get to - just follow the signs for the Youth Hostel next door.
The 4 dipole DAB array is on the North West face of the tower and presumably provides fill-in coverage to areas of the Sussex Weald and the Adur Valley not adequately served by Midhurst and Heathfield. Pity we don't have a DTT service from here.
Truleigh Hill was used as the site of one of the earliest Band I TV transposers. The station was originally set up to provide temporary TV coverage to the Brighton, Hove and Worthing areas in time for the Coronation Ceremony on 2 June 1953. The transmitters were converted RCA type ET4336 HF communication units mounted on a trailer. The Truleigh Hill transmitter went into service on 9 May 1953 transmitting on channel 3, and used simple dipole aerials mounted on a 120-ft wooden tower, which already existed on the site.
It had been hoped that when the Rowridge station was operating it would be possible to close down the temporary installation at Truleigh Hill, near Brighton; but the coverage of Rowridge in the Brighton area was insufficient and it was decided to retain the station at Truleigh Hill. It could not, however, continue to work on Channel 3, which was used by Rowridge and it had therefore to be changed to work on Channel 2. Later, on 5-Aug-1959, the Band I relay for Brighton was moved to Whitehawk Hill.
DAB service dates: BBC 22/4/2009; Digital One 7/12/2015; Sussex 9/12/2015; Sound Digital 29/2/2016.
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