This simple vertically polarised SIRA FM-01 antenna radiating on 102.2MHz is situated at the Market Street, Lerwick, studios of the Shetland Isles Broadcasting Company – SIBC.
It has been used by SIBC since the commencement of their operations on 26 November 1987, and can be received throughout Lerwick, the main town and population centre on the Shetland Islands.
In October 1991 SIBC commenced high-power vertically polarised transmissions from Bressay on 96.2MHz in order to extend their reach to all of the Shetland Islands (including the Lerwick area). Transmission power was further increased in December 1994. Note that the Shetland Islands stretch for a distance of around 100 miles from North to South, therefore a high-power transmitter such as that at Bressay is needed to provide the required coverage. The commencement of transmissions from Bressay in 1991 saw the main function of the Market Street Tx changed to that of providing a programme-feed for Bressay rather than providing the primary frequency for listening to SIBC on.
In 1994 a dedicated UHF programme feed for Bressay was installed utilising two UHF yagis on a pole on the side of the studio building. However, the Market Street Tx was retained due to the desire to provide a back-up service for the Lerwick area if Bressay was off-air, as was often the case due to the historically poor reliability of the mains power supply on Bressay island.
These days the mains power supply on Bressay is much more reliable and transmission breaks due to mains failure are a rare occurrence, however SIBC still operate the Market Street Tx on a 24/7 basis as an emergency back-up.
Note that the Bressay Tx outputs RDS “__SIBC__”, however no RDS is supported on the Market Street Tx.
With many thanks to Ian Anderson at SIBC for showing me round the station on Wednesday, 11 June 2014 and for providing the supporting details for this write-up.
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