mb21 - The Transmission Gallery

	UK Broadcast Transmission

THE TRANSMISSION GALLERY

Photos by David Foord, Mike Smith, Steve Webster and Lee Mansfield

Sutton Coldfield

West Midlands

NGR: SK113003	Maps: Google Bing (Ord Surv)		Site Height: 167.7m		Structure Height: 245.0m
Digital TV:	BBC A: 43	D3&4: 46	BBC B: 40	SDN: 42	Arq A: 45	Arq B: 39
BBC Radio:	Radio 1: 97.9	Radio 2: 88.3	Radio 3: 90.5	Radio 4: 92.7
	BBC WM: 95.6
Ind. National Radio:	Classic FM: 100.1
Ind. Local Radio:	BRMB FM: 96.4		Heart FM (West Midlands): 100.7		Kerrang!: 105.2
	Smooth Radio (West Midlands): 105.7
Digital Radio:	BBC National: 12B Digital One: 11D West Midlands: 12A
Comments:

Sutton Coldfield, the UKs longest serving TV transmission site, is located 1-2 miles north of the town centre in the affluent suburb of Mere Green.

The original mast was the first built outside London, extending BBC TV coverage to a large part of the Midlands from 1949 onwards.

Read Ray Cooper's Tales From a Cold Field

	The original mast and Band I aerials The original mast showing the Band I dipoles above the Band II slot aerials for VHF radio.
	Photo by Lee Mansfield
	Photos by Mike D Smith and David Foord
	Photos by Tony Curley and Will Rittman
	Photos by Mark Bridgewater
	Photos by Rob Shufflebotham
	DSO1: Photos by Bill Wright September 2008
	DSO2: Photos by Rob Shufflebotham October 2008
	DSO3: Photos by Rob Shufflebottom, Bill Wright and Mac 'Tis now February, the second month in the year of 2009 AD, and Rob has been back to see how things are progressing, and temporary UHF main aerial is installed - and possibly in use?
	DSO4: Photos by Rob Shufflebotham June 2009 and UHF (analogue) FM and DAB aerials are now in place on the temporary mast
	DSO5: Photos by Rob Shfflebotham September 2009
	DSO6: Photos by Rob Shufflebotham It's February 2010 and we can see the DSO work is progressing. The old Marconi slot antennas and the GRP shroud have been removed (the shroud you can see stacked up) and left the top of the mast bare ready for the addition of more metal.
	DSO7: NEW Photos by Reg Hill It's now 22-Mar-2010 and the nex job is to remove the old antenna spine, which will be done with the aid of a helicopter...
	DSO8: NEW Photos by Reg Hill Next, the mast extension begins to take shape...
	DSO9: NEW Photos by Reg Hill Work continues the next day...
	DSO10: Photos by Roger Piper March 2010: Since Rob’s Feb 2010 photos the centre spine which supported the top cylinder has been removed and a mast extension added, secured by temporary stays
	DSO11: Photos by Rob Shufflebotham May 2010: Some nice high res's of the new top section of mast as a Panorama and a couple of full length shots too. The shrouded logs I spotted about one-third of the way up the new mast. New stays are also in place, but still on the old stay blocks at the moment.
	DSO12: NEW Photos by Reg Hill 22-Jun-2010: The first half of the new main antenna is is installed
	DSO13: NEW Photos by Reg Hill 22-Jun-2010: ... followed by the second half.
	Coverage area maps