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THE TRANSMISSION GALLERY

Photos by Dan Glover Page last updated: 2016-10-15
Birmingham (Pritchett Tower) West Midlands
NGR: SP089860 Maps: Google  Bing (Ord Surv)   Site Height: 125m      Structure Height:
Digital TV:
National Radio:
Local Radio: Unity FM: 93.5  
Digital Radio:
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Show historic services

Updated October 2016

CR stations sometimes evolve - Unity FM first appeared on the mb21 Hit List as "East Birmingham" SP083856 some time in 2008 or before.

Dan visited in September 2010, see photos at the end of the page, but by then the transmission site had moved (as of April 2009) to SP089860. This discrepancy was later discovered and a return visit finally made in October 2016.

It's a bit difficult to confirm the on-air date but it seems likely the first transmissions were made directly from the studio site, before moving to Pritchett Tower in 2009.





We have the usual "tall building problem" ...


...but from further away we can see a Lindeblad array. Old Ofcom data suggests a vertical dipole was used initially but from early 2014 the station is shown with mixed polarisation, 25 W ERP horizontal and vertical.

There is probably some sort of STL up there - it's direct line of sight between the top of Pritchett Tower and the studio so SHF would seem a feasible option.

Some effort has been made to minimise the visibility of the mobile phone panels most of which descend from the roof rather than being mounted above in the traditional way.


Stepping back in time (in more than one sense) - this is a Grade II Listed former school, part of which appeared to be still in use for educational purposes when visited in September 2010.

There is a Band II dipole reasonably discretely mounted on the "turret" - it was still there in 2016. This may have been an interim transmit site for Unity FM - the studios are located within the complex.





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