Bill writes: The last time I was near Oban was when I was with mum and dad! I don't know when Oban first had FM radio, but I have a distinct memory that Radio 3 had hum on it!
Oban suffers badly from a snag common to hilltop tx sites: dwellings near the foot of the hill are screened; what little signal they receive is via reflections from the surrounding mountains and is generally unusable. From the immediate surroundings of the tx site a large number of rx aerials are just visible, peeping over the horizon. These aerials are fixed to poles and trees and have very long cables running down to dwellings far below. They are sited just far enough up the hill to "see" the transmission mast. I am writing this at a location 1.5km from the site, at the foot of the hill, and there is not the faintest sniff of signal here, not even a reflection.
Luckily, Torosay puts a good signal into the coastal areas. In fact there seems to be a general preference in Oban town for Torosay. This not fully explained by avoidance of 'Freeview Lite' from Oban, because many of the Torosay aerials are pre-digital. It's rather odd, really, to see so many aerials looking towards distant Torosay, in places where the Oban tx is clearly visible. Although Torosay did predate Oban by three years. |
