Heartland FM is a community radio station in Perthshire which started transmission in 1992 with studio in Pitlochry and an FM transmitter on 97.5MHz located at the Faire Mhor site, near Pitlochry. The station also broadcasts on the Tayside DAB multiplex - also from Faire Mhor. The Studio-Transmitter Link was via a 52.925MHz analogue channel. There is line-of-sight for this path.
In April 2024, Heartland closed its studio in Pitlochry and moved to Crieff, following a merger with Radio Earn in October 2023. It now has an additional transmitter on the tower of the Crieff Hydro Hotel, broadcasting on 107.3MHz. The 97.5MHz service from Faire Mhor continues.
The Crieff Hydro Hotel site is 127m AOD and the aerial height is 20m according to TXParams. The licence is for 100W in both HP and VP but only VP is in use. TXParams does not include directional information but the MCA suggests a cardioid pattern roughly beamed South-East. The Tx aerial bearing was measured as 150 degrees, which agrees with the MCA and this is in the direction of the town of Crieff (the hotel being north-ish of the town).
It is not known how the STL back to Faire Mhor is achieved, despite enquiries, but an OFCOM statement on the matter contains this slightly baffling paragraph: "Although the surrounding terrain is such that coverage between the two transmitters will not be completely contiguous, and implementation of a RBL (re broadcast link which is typically used when there is no direct signal path from the transmitter to the studio), is not possible in this case, it was considered to be the best technical solution given the challenging topography in the local area."
Somewhat puzzling was that the station was on-air at the time of the visit, but the studios on the High Street were closed and shuttered.
Also worth mentioning is that Crieff has a separate main Tx site for TV, FM and DAB. |
