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THE TRANSMISSION GALLERY

Photos by Dan Glover Page last updated: 2017-06-07
Laurencekirk
NGR: NO747710 Maps: Google  Bing (Ord Surv)   Site Height: 244m      Structure Height:
Digital TV:
National Radio:
Local Radio: Mearns FM: 107.3  
Digital Radio:
Comments:

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May 2017

Mearns FM operates from three transmitters. The other two use antennas mounted on farm buildings near Inverbervie and Stonehaven. The NGR for Laurencekirk, however, puts the site in the middle of open ground. Surely some mistake?


Seen from the B9120 nearby - there's a small parking area at a "viewpoint" (you're meant to look in the opposite direction). Looks like an MF site. Surely some mistake?


Hmm. No insulators but a vertical antenna at the top. Ofcom has the antenna at only 8 m from ground, maximum ERP on bearing 020 and a 4.5 dB reduction in the opposite direction. Surely some mistake?


It looks like an omnidirectional end-fed antenna of some sort. What's the story?

It seems Mearns FM had a little help. Funds from LEADER (Liaisons Entre Actions de Developpement de L'Economie Rurale) were made available via Aberdeenshire Council:

"LEADER provided funding to undertake work on the transmitter mast [...] The stay wires on the mast had corroded to such an extent that it was no longer usable. A temporary short transmitter mast was in place, but this was not suitable for the exposed location. The work on the mast involved replacing the corroded stays, treating the main mast, moving the transmission aerial from the temporary mast to the top of the repaired mast and servicing to Ofcom standards."

The LEADER report also hints that the Inverbervie site is a relay of Laurencekirk, which is (probably) line fed, together with Stonehaven. The main studio is at Stonehaven Town Hall - not far above sea level - and I think IP-based distribution is used in part as there's a remote studio at the Mackie Academy. Possibly the SHF dish visible in the photo is just a local link to the nearest building with an Internet connection.

Inverbervie | Stonehaven

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