Anybody who’s ever driven this section of the A82 knows that FM radio reception is poor. I find you can just about hold on to reception of the nationals, but the signals are below the threshold for RDS linking. Over Rannoch Moor it’s a case of manual tuning to see which signals are best. Therefore, it’s great to hear a full stereo signal on this stretch from Nevis Radio.
I thought the transmitter was on one of the buildings at the bottom of the hill, but noticing nothing there I thought I’d take up the chance of a ski lift ride to the top of the hill (£13.20 but well worth it. I arrived quite late (around 4pm) and was one of the last people on so couldn’t get off at the top. The views though… I’d love to do it again and go walking around there). While approaching the top, I noticed a white vertical aerial and started taking photos!
Considering the challenging terrain and remoteness of this area, I thought I’d get in touch with Simon Abberley from Nevis Radio to get the ‘behind the scenes’. I am indebted to Simon for the following information:
“Our Glencoe transmitter was recommissioned in December of 2020 after being removed in 2005. Currently running 200w ERP as per our aerial spec on 97.0FM.
Originally this transmitter was fed from another of our sites in a mono signal which I believe was a little hit and miss. For this new build we have utilised EE 4G in a similar way to the emergency services use within the area. The audio is fed over an IP Link to a Barix from our studio, and is set up on a VPN which means we also have full access to log into the decoder or the transmitter itself.
We haven’t enabled it yet but we do also have the option to feed RDS data over this method which will enable the TA flags throughout Glencoe for traffic information.
Coverage wise this site reaches across a good part of Glencoe which I’m sure you are aware, and we have also been told it can be heard clearly on the other side of Rannoch Moor along the A9 near Pitlochry and Blair Atholl.
It was myself who fitted the site with our engineer, it’s quite good to see photos as it is on my agenda to go up and check on this site before the weather turns for the yearâ€.
Well done to the team at Nevis Radio for getting this back on air. Hope you enjoy the photos. |
