Holywell Hill transmission site explained

Holywell Hill
Map Name:island of Ireland
Map Relief:yes
Coordinates:54.999°N -7.3998°W
Location:Killea, County Donegal
Height:60m (200feet)
Built:1981

The Holywell Hill transmission site is located on a 260 metre hill[1] near Killea in County Donegal, Ireland, and is owned and operated by 2RN (formerly RTÉ NL).

History

The site which is close to the border with Northern Ireland has a 60 metre self-supporting tower and was opened in 1981 to provide UHF television coverage to parts of County Donegal as well as Derry City and County. It originally carried the two Irish analogue channels, RTÉ One (Ch 23), and RTÉ Two (Ch 26), in later years, both TV3 (Ch 29), and TG4 (Ch 33) were added, all were horizontally polarised and with an effective radiated power (ERP) of 20 kw. Digital terrestrial television (DTT) was first broadcast from the site in 2008 in preparation for the national switchover to digital television on 24 October 2012.[2]

Today the Irish digital television service Saorview, and five national radio stations on FM, are broadcast from the Holywell Hill site to a large area of North West Ireland including Derry city.[3] The transmitter also services a number of relay transmitters in County Donegal to help improve coverage in the difficult terrain.

Current transmissions

Digital television

FrequencyUHFERPMultiplexPol
482 MHz2220 kwSaorview 1H
506 MHz2520 kwSaorview 2H

FM radio

FrequencyERPService
89.2 MHz6 kwRTÉ Radio 1
91.4 MHz6 kwRTÉ 2fm
93.6 MHz6 kwRTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta
98.8 MHz6 kwRTÉ lyric fm
101.0 MHz6 kwToday FM

Holywell Hill relay transmitters

DTT RelayCountyMux 1Mux 2ERPPol
BallybofeyDonegal47440.1 kwV
ClonmanyDonegal39420.02 kwV
FanadDonegal43461.5 kwV
LetterkennyDonegal39422 kwV
MagheraroartyDonegal22270.5 kwV
MalinDonegal28262 kwH
MovilleDonegal32342 kwH

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Mountain views Ireland. Holywell Hill. Mountain view Ireland. 2012-10-31.
  2. News: Analogue consigned to broadcasting history. 2012-06-12. The Irish Times. 2012-10-25.
  3. Web site: UK FreeTV. Holywell Hill transmitter. 2012-10-31.