Croydon transmitting station

The Croydon transmitting station is a broadcasting and telecommunications transmitter. It is in Upper Norwood, Croydon, London, England."TheBigTower Croydon Transmitter" It is owned by Arqiva. It was built in 1955. It opened on 22 September, 1955. It originally used a small lattice tower. The tower currently used was made in 1962. The mast is 152 metres (499 ft) high.

The transmitter is also a maintenance base for transmitter maintenence teams. It also used to have one of four Regional Operations Centres.

 History 
It was made by the Independent Television Authority to broadcast ITV on VHF Band III. After UHF television began, the Crystal Palace transmitting station was used. After VHF television ended in January 1985, the Croydon transmitter was not used until 1997.

In 1997, a new directional UHF antenna was given to the transmitter so it could transmit Channel 5 in London. Directional antennas were chosen so it wouldn't interfere with transmitters on continental Europe. It transmitted Channel 5's analogue signal until April 2012, when digital switchover meant that analogue signals were turned of in London. The digital Channel 5 signal was transmitted from Crystal Palace. Croydon also had backup transmitters for BBC1, BBC2, ITV and Channel 4. The backup transmitters were only used during engineering works or an issue at Crystal Palace. 

After the digital switchover, no television has been transmitted from Croydon.

 Channels by frequency 

 Analogue (FM) Radio 
FrequencykWService94.9 MHz -BBC Radio London†95.8 MHz4Capital Londonhttps://www.radiodns.uk/transmitters/tq33269697.3 MHz4LBC97.8 MHz4Croydon FM100.0 MHz4Kiss102.2 MHz4Smooth London105.4 MHz4Magic106.2 MHz4Heart London
† Backup for the Crystal Palace transmitter.

 Digital (DAB) Radio 
FrequencyBlockkWMultiplex218.640 MHz11B2.5DRG London223.936 MHz12A5Switch London227.260 MHz12C5London 1

 Analogue television 
 22 September 1955 - 3 January 1985 
The first ITV companies which served London were Associated-Rediffusion on weekdays and Associated Television (ATV) on weekends. They started transmitting on 22 September 1955. They were the first ITV franchises to go on air. 
After the mast was rebuilt in 1962 the transmitter power was increased from 60 kW to 400 kW. In 1968, Thames and London Weekend Television (LWT) replaced the first two companies, with Thames replacing Rediffusion and LWT replacing ATV.
On the 3 January 1985, the VHF television service stopped.
 Frequency VHF kW Service 194.75 MHz 9 400 Rediffusion/ATV (1955-1968)Thames/LWT(1968-1985)

 30 March 1997 - 18 April 2012 
Channel 5 started on 30 March 1997. It started from Croydon and other retired IBA VHF transmitters in the UK. Later on, backup transmitters for ITV and Channel 4 were added in case Crystal Palace couldn't transmit the channels. Sometime later, BBC1 and BBC2 reserve transmitters were also added.
 Frequency UHF kW Service487.25 MHz23 -ITV London†543.25 MHz30 -Channel 4† 599.25 MHz 37 1000 Channel 5
† Backups for Crystal Palace.

 Digital television 

 18 April 2012 - present 
Since 18 April 2012, no television has been transmitted from Croydon. The backups can still be used if any issues happen at Crystal Palace.
FrequencyUHFkWServiceSystem490.000 MHz23200BBC A†DVB-T514.000 MHz26200Digital 3&4†DVB-T545.833 MHz30-200BBC B†DVB-T2
† Backups for Crystal Palace.

 References 

Category:British television