| Brougher Mountain | |
| Map Name: | UK Northern Ireland |
| Coordinates: | 54.4233°N -7.4604°W |
| Height2: | 55m (180feet) |
| Bbc: | BBC Northern Ireland |
| Itv: | UTV |
Brougher Mountain transmitting station is a major transmitting station in Northern Ireland.[1] [2] It is located between County Tyrone and County Fermanagh, on top of a high hill called Brougher Mountain.[3]
It has four other transmitter sites in its digital television transmitter group, at Ederny, Derrygonnelly, Belcoo, and Lisbellaw.[4]
Brougher Mountain came into service on 24 February 1964, transmitting the BBC Television Service on VHF 405 lines.
The ITV service provided by Ulster Television launched from the Strabane transmitter located 40 miles north of Brougher Mountain on 18 February 1963 and its coverage extended down to the area covered by Brougher Mountain. prior to date the only television service available in many parts of its service area was from Telefís Éireann's Truskmore transmitter which opened in 1962.
It became the main UHF transmitter for the area in July 1978, when BBC One, BBC Two and UTV started transmitting in colour on the 625 line UHF service. The last main transmitting station in the UK to be equipped for UHF. Channel 4 started transmitting from the transmitter in December 1983.[5] [6] [7]
Due to its close proximity to the Republic of Ireland, since the transmitter went on air in 1964, many living in counties Cavan, Monaghan, Donegal, Leitrim, Roscommon and Sligo could receive the UK channels via spill-over signals from Brougher Mountain, as well as the Strabane transmitter.
During the mid-1980s Brougher Mountain was the only of the original BBC main FM transmitters in Northern Ireland affected by the frequency changes arising from the 1984 Geneva (FM) Frequency plan with all (then) three services moving up 0.5 MHz although across the border in the Republic of Ireland the RTE's FM transmitter network were more extensively affected.
The site was the location of an Provisional IRA bombing on the 9th February 1971, which left 5 BBC workers dead when their vehicle was destroyed by a landmine. The workers were travelling up the mountain to repair the transmitter when the landmine, which was detonated by a tripwire, detonated. It has been suggested that the booby trap was in fact set to target members of the British Army, who regularly patrolled in the border area.
| Frequency | kW | Service | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 89.4 MHz | 5 | BBC Radio 2 | 88.9 MHz Prior to c.1985 | |
| 91.6 MHz | 5 | BBC Radio 3 | 91.1 MHz Prior to c.1985 | |
| 93.8 MHz | 5 | BBC Radio Ulster | 93.3 MHz Prior to c.1985 | |
| 95.6 MHz | 5 | BBC Radio 4 | Since 1993 | |
| 96.6 MHz | 5 | Downtown Radio | Since 1987 | |
| 99.0 MHz | 5 | BBC Radio 1 | Since 1993 | |
| 101.2 MHz | Q Radio Tyrone & Fermanagh | Since 2006 |
| Frequency | Block | kW | Operator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 225.648 MHz | 12B | 3.2 | BBC National DAB | |
| 229.072 MHz | 12D | 4.35 | Bauer Northern Ireland |
Including Sept 2019 Frequency changes.
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | System | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 (Was 21+) | 2 | SDN | DVB-T | ||
| 31 (Was 22+) | 20 | Digital 3&4 | DVB-T | ||
| 24 | 2 | Arqiva A | DVB-T | ||
| 37 (Was 25) | 20 | BBC B | DVB-T2 | ||
| 27 | 2 | Arqiva B | DVB-T | ||
| 29 (Was 28) | 20 | BBC A | DVB-T | ||
| 30 (Was 30-) | 2 | NImux | DVB-T2 |
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23+ | 0.5 | SDN (Mux A) | ||
| 26+ | 0.5 | BBC (Mux B) | ||
| 29+ | 0.5 | Arqiva (Mux C) | ||
| 30+ | 0.5 | BBC (Mux 1) | ||
| 33+ | 0.5 | Arqiva (Mux D) | ||
| 34+ | 0.5 | Digital 3&4 (Mux 2) |
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | 100 | BBC One Northern Ireland | ||
| 25 | 100 | UTV | ||
| 28 | 100 | BBC Two Northern Ireland | ||
| 32 | 100 | Channel 4 |