Moel-y-Parc TV Mast
Encyclopedia
The Moel-y-Parc transmitting station is situated on Moel y Parc, a hill in north-east Wales
at the northern end of the Clwydian range, close to the town of Caerwys
and several kilometres north-east of Denbigh
. It has been on the air since 1963 and is currently administered by Arqiva
. It is the tallest structure in North Wales.
The mast is 235 metres (771 ft) high, and its overall height above sea level is approximately 575 metres (1,886 ft). Its official coverage area
includes parts of Flintshire
, Denbighshire
and Wrexham
(although the majority of Wrexham is in a blindspot of direct transmission from Moel-y-Parc, its analogue transmissions are relayed via the Wrexham-Rhos Relay
). A network of relay stations extends television coverage as far as Colwyn Bay
in the west and Bala
in the south.
It reverted to a B group transmitter at digital switchover (DSO).
than in its intended coverage
area of north-east Wales. Transmissions can be received using standard aerials in Liverpool
, parts of Manchester
, parts of Lancashire
as far north as Blackpool
, and Wales-facing coastal areas of Cumbria
and the Isle of Man
. In the past, some English viewers have erected a second aerial for Moel-y-Parc in order to receive a slightly increased choice of viewing, although this practice has declined with the introduction of satellite television and the reduction in schedule variations between different ITV regions. Liverpool is located directly between the Winter Hill transmitter
and Moel-y-Parc, and many Liverpudlians obtain a watch-able picture through the back of their normal TV aerial.
The Welsh stations transmitted from Moel-y-Parc compete with English TV stations transmitted from the Winter Hill, which can be received in the Wrexham area and along the North Wales
coast.
Prior to 1963, the only official ITV provider for north-east Wales was Granada Television
based in Manchester. Pressure for a distinctly Welsh TV station was one of the driving forces behind the construction of the Moel-y-Parc mast, along with the need to deliver television to the more mountainous interior of Wales, which was out of range of English transmitters. As late as the 1980s, Granada continued to claim north Wales as part of its coverage area. After a series of mergers, Granada and HTV Wales are now both part of ITV plc
, and competition between the two providers is undoubtedly more muted, however both Granada and HTV still provide local news and programmes for those in North Wales. The ITV Regions Official Map distinctly shows the area of North Wales as part of Granada, however for many across North and Mid Wales, it is possible to receive Central
(West) via The Wrekin Transmitter
. Unlike Granada, these areas are not shown as part of Central's coverage area on the ITV Regions map, and neither are they included as part of the region in Central's weather forecasts http://www.itvregions.com/Central/Weather/.
By December 2009, more than 6,000 complaints over interference from Moel-y-Parc had been received following the changeover to digital in the Granada TV region Many residents in Wirral
and west Cheshire only found Welsh channels including BBC Wales
and S4C
at the top of their channel listings (instead of BBC North West
and Channel 4
). Digital UK
, the organisation responsible for the switchover, said interference had always occurred and responded by telling consumers to retune their systems manually.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
at the northern end of the Clwydian range, close to the town of Caerwys
Caerwys
Caerwys is a town in Flintshire, Wales. It is situated just under two miles from the A55 North Wales Expressway and one mile from the A541 Mold-Denbigh road. At the 2001 Census, the population of Caerwys civil parish was 1,315, with a total ward population of 2,496.Caerwys is mentioned in the...
and several kilometres north-east of Denbigh
Denbigh
Denbigh is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Before 1888, it was the county town of Denbighshire. Denbigh lies 8 miles to the north west of Ruthin and to the south of St Asaph. It is about 13 miles from the seaside resort of Rhyl. The town grew around the glove-making industry...
. It has been on the air since 1963 and is currently administered by Arqiva
Arqiva
Arqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company, with headquarters located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire, was formed by National Grid Wireless...
. It is the tallest structure in North Wales.
The mast is 235 metres (771 ft) high, and its overall height above sea level is approximately 575 metres (1,886 ft). Its official coverage area
Coverage map
Coverage maps are designed to indicate the service areas of radiocommunication transmitting stations. Typically these may be produced for radio or television stations, for mobile telephone networks and for satellite networks. Such maps are alternatively known as propagation maps...
includes parts of Flintshire
Flintshire
Flintshire is a county in north-east Wales. It borders Denbighshire, Wrexham and the English county of Cheshire. It is named after the historic county of Flintshire, which had notably different borders...
, Denbighshire
Denbighshire
Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years...
and Wrexham
Wrexham
Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
(although the majority of Wrexham is in a blindspot of direct transmission from Moel-y-Parc, its analogue transmissions are relayed via the Wrexham-Rhos Relay
Wrexham-Rhos Relay
The Wrexham-Rhos transmitting station is a digital television relay of Moel-y-Parc. Despite its name, the station is situated in Moss Village and serves Wrexham and its surrounding villages...
). A network of relay stations extends television coverage as far as Colwyn Bay
Colwyn Bay
- Demography :Prior to local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 Colwyn Bay was a municipal borough with a population of c.25,000, but in 1974 this designation disappeared leaving five separate parishes, known as communities in Wales, of which the one bearing the name Colwyn Bay encompassed...
in the west and Bala
Bala, Gwynedd
Bala is a market town and community in Gwynedd, Wales, and formerly an urban district of the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies at the north end of Bala Lake , 17 miles north-east of Dolgellau, with a population of 1,980...
in the south.
It reverted to a B group transmitter at digital switchover (DSO).
Digital radio (DAB)
| Frequency | Block | kW | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 222.064 MHz | 11D | 9.5 | Digital One Digital One Digital One is a national commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, owned by Arqiva. , the multiplex covers more than 90% of the populationfrom a total of 137 transmitters... |
| 225.648 MHz | 12B | 10 | BBC National DAB |
| 227.360 MHz | 12C | 5 | MXR North West MXR North West MXR North West is a regional commercial digital radio multiplex in the United Kingdom, which serves the North West of England.- Transmitter sites :MXR North West currently broadcasts from the following sites:-Stations carried:... |
Digital television
As part of the digital switchover, analogue BBC Two Wales ceased transmission on 28 October 2009, followed by analogue BBC One Wales, ITV1 Wales and S4C on 25 November 2009. They were replaced by higher powered digital transmissions.| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 642.0 MHz | 42 | 20 | BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... B |
| 666.0 MHz | 45 | 20 | BBC A |
| 689.8 MHz | 48- | 10 | Arqiva Arqiva Arqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company, with headquarters located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire, was formed by National Grid Wireless... B |
| 698.2 MHz | 49+ | 20 | Digital 3&4 Digital 3&4 Digital 3&4 is a consortium consisting of regional Channel 3 companies and Channel 4 Television Corporation, which operates a multiplex broadcasting from a number of transmitter sites in the UK, carrying television and radio channels from both ITV and Channel 4; however three per-cent of the... |
| 713.8 MHz | 51- | 10 | SDN S4C Digital Networks SDN is a company that operates Multiplex A, one of the six groups of channels on digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom... |
| 722.2 MHz | 52+ | 10 | Arqiva A |
Reception area
In terms of land area and population, Moel-y-Parc delivers a receivable signal to a greater area, and a greater number of potential viewers, in North West EnglandNorth West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
than in its intended coverage
Coverage map
Coverage maps are designed to indicate the service areas of radiocommunication transmitting stations. Typically these may be produced for radio or television stations, for mobile telephone networks and for satellite networks. Such maps are alternatively known as propagation maps...
area of north-east Wales. Transmissions can be received using standard aerials in Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, parts of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, parts of Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
as far north as Blackpool
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
, and Wales-facing coastal areas of Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
and the Isle of Man
Isle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
. In the past, some English viewers have erected a second aerial for Moel-y-Parc in order to receive a slightly increased choice of viewing, although this practice has declined with the introduction of satellite television and the reduction in schedule variations between different ITV regions. Liverpool is located directly between the Winter Hill transmitter
Winter Hill transmitting station
The Winter Hill transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications site situated on Winter Hill, at the southern boundary of the Borough of Chorley, and above Bolton in Greater Manchester, England...
and Moel-y-Parc, and many Liverpudlians obtain a watch-able picture through the back of their normal TV aerial.
The Welsh stations transmitted from Moel-y-Parc compete with English TV stations transmitted from the Winter Hill, which can be received in the Wrexham area and along the North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
coast.
Prior to 1963, the only official ITV provider for north-east Wales was Granada Television
Granada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
based in Manchester. Pressure for a distinctly Welsh TV station was one of the driving forces behind the construction of the Moel-y-Parc mast, along with the need to deliver television to the more mountainous interior of Wales, which was out of range of English transmitters. As late as the 1980s, Granada continued to claim north Wales as part of its coverage area. After a series of mergers, Granada and HTV Wales are now both part of ITV plc
ITV plc
ITV plc is a British media company that operates 12 of the 15 regional television broadcasters that make up the ITV Network, the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom...
, and competition between the two providers is undoubtedly more muted, however both Granada and HTV still provide local news and programmes for those in North Wales. The ITV Regions Official Map distinctly shows the area of North Wales as part of Granada, however for many across North and Mid Wales, it is possible to receive Central
Central Independent Television
Central Independent Television, more commonly known as Central is the Independent Television contractor for the Midlands, created following the restructuring of ATV and commencing broadcast on 1 January 1982. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting...
(West) via The Wrekin Transmitter
The Wrekin Transmitter
The Wrekin transmitting station is a telecommunications and broadcasting facility on the The Wrekin, a hill in the county of Shropshire, England. It includes a tall free-standing lattice tower with transmitting antennas attached at various heights. The analogue transmitting arrays add about...
. Unlike Granada, these areas are not shown as part of Central's coverage area on the ITV Regions map, and neither are they included as part of the region in Central's weather forecasts http://www.itvregions.com/Central/Weather/.
DSO problems
Moel-y-Parc has always had co-channel interference issues with a number of other co-receivable transmitters such as Llanddona, Storeton, Fenton, Sutton Coldfield and The Wrekin B (see external links). In analogue, Greater Manchester area was also able to receive Welsh channels because the Saddleworth transmitter, a relay of Winter Hill, used the same frequencies as Moel-y-Parc.By December 2009, more than 6,000 complaints over interference from Moel-y-Parc had been received following the changeover to digital in the Granada TV region Many residents in Wirral
Wirral Peninsula
Wirral or the Wirral is a peninsula in North West England. It is bounded by three bodies of water: to the west by the River Dee, forming a boundary with Wales, to the east by the River Mersey and to the north by the Irish Sea. Both terms "Wirral" and "the Wirral" are used locally , although the...
and west Cheshire only found Welsh channels including BBC Wales
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the British Broadcasting Corporation for Wales. Based at Broadcasting House in the Llandaff area of Cardiff, it directly employs over 1200 people, and produces a broad range of television, radio and online services in both the Welsh and English languages.Outside...
and S4C
S4C
S4C , currently branded as S4/C, is a Welsh television channel broadcast from the capital, Cardiff. The first television channel to be aimed specifically at a Welsh-speaking audience, it is the fifth oldest British television channel .The channel - initially broadcast on...
at the top of their channel listings (instead of BBC North West
BBC North West
BBC North West is the BBC English Region serving Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Cheshire, Walsden in West Yorkshire, the Isle of Man , north-west Derbyshire, the Yorkshire Dales including Settle and Ribblesdale, and southern Cumbria.BBC North West television output is also broadcast in...
and Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
). Digital UK
Digital UK
Digital UK is the body in charge of the digital switchover of television in the United Kingdom.Digital UK communicates switchover to the public, works with industry to build support for the switchover programme, and co-ordinates engineering work across the UK broadcast network...
, the organisation responsible for the switchover, said interference had always occurred and responded by telling consumers to retune their systems manually.
See also
- Wales West and North TelevisionWales West and North TelevisionWales Television, known on screen as Teledu Cymru and often abbreviated to WWN, was the Welsh "Independent Television" contractor awarded the franchise area serving 'North and West Wales', from 1962-68...
- Flint TV relayFlint TV relayThe Flint TV relay was an analogue television transmitter housed on a residential tower block called Bolingbroke Heights at the centre of the Town of Flint in North Wales. Flint is situated on the estuary of the River Dee which forms part the Wales border with England.Between 1996 and 2009, the...
- one of Moel-y-Parc's relay transmitters - Wrexham-Rhos RelayWrexham-Rhos RelayThe Wrexham-Rhos transmitting station is a digital television relay of Moel-y-Parc. Despite its name, the station is situated in Moss Village and serves Wrexham and its surrounding villages...
- Moel-y-Parc's Wrexham relay - List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain