| Carmarthen | |
| Map Name: | Wales Carmarthenshire |
| Coordinates: | 51.8681°N -4.3072°W |
| Height2: | 37m (121feet) |
| Gridref: | SN412213 |
| Built: | 1964/65 |
| Relay: | Wenvoe |
| Bbc: | BBC Wales |
The Carmarthen transmitting station (Welsh: Gorsaf drosglwyddo Caerfyrddin) was originally built by the BBC in 1964/65 as a relay for VHF radio and television.[1] The site was built on a 135 m ridge to the north of Carmarthen itself, and entered service on 15 March 1965. The transmission station is now owned and operated by Arqiva.
UHF 625-line colour television was never radiated from this site: the main transmitter at Carmel (20 km to the east) provided that service to the town from 1973 when it opened.
The 405-line VHF television service closed across the UK in 1985, but according to the BBC's transmitter list[2] and the BBC's internal "Eng. Inf." magazine,[3] Carmarthen was due to close early - in the first quarter of 1982. From that point onwards the site just relayed FM radio until 6 June 2011[4] when a single multiplex of DAB radio was added.
The site provided BBC 405-line VHF television to the towns of Carmarthen and Abergwili which, being sited in a river estuary, could not reliably receive a signal from Wenvoe, 85 km to the east.
According to the BBC's R&D report, the original frequencies for the FM radio services were as shown below.
| Frequency | kW | Service | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88.5 MHz | 0.0065 | BBC Light Programme | |
| 90.7 MHz | 0.0065 | BBC Third Programme | |
| 92.9 MHz | 0.0065 | BBC Welsh Home Service |
The three original radio services were still on their original frequencies as late as January 1973,[5] but ERPs had been slightly increased to 10 W per channel by then. By May 1978 all three transmission frequencies had been moved by 400 kHz [6] and all three were transmitting in stereo by that time.
| Frequency | kW | Service | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88.5 MHz -> 88.9 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 2 | |
| 90.7 MHz -> 91.1 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 3 | |
| 92.9 MHz -> 93.3 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 4† |
† Radio 4 was replaced by BBC Radio Cymru when it launched in January 1977.
The new frequency plan continued unchanged until Radio 1 gained its own frequency.
| Frequency | kW | Service | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88.9 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 2 | |
| 91.1 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 3 | |
| 93.3 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio Cymru |
Radio 1 was given its own frequency as more of Band II became available for broadcasting after the bandplan changes of 1988.
| Frequency | kW | Service | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 88.9 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 2 | |
| 91.1 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 3 | |
| 93.3 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio Cymru | |
| 95.5 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 4 | |
| 97.5 MHz | 0.01 | Radio Carmarthenshire | |
| 98.5 MHz | 0.01 | BBC Radio 1 | |
| 106.0 MHz | 0.02 | Heart South Wales |
