View source for Mendlesham transmitting station

{{pp-semi-indef|small=yes}}
{{Short description|Broadcasting facility}}
[[File:Calling occupants of earth - geograph.org.uk - 238426.jpg|thumb|Calling occupants of earth - geograph.org.uk - 238426.]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2019}}
{{Infobox UK transmitter
|name                = Mendlesham
|image               =
|map_name = Suffolk
|coordinates = {{coord|52.234444|1.1075|type:landmark_region:GB|display=inline,title}}
|location            = [[Mendlesham]], [[Stowmarket]], [[Suffolk]]
|height              = {{convert|305.4|m|ft|0}}
|gridref             = TM123640
|built               = 1959
|demolished          = 
|collapsed           = 
|relay               = 
|ITV                 = [[ITV Anglia|Anglia Television]] <small>(1959-1985)</small>
}}
The '''Mendlesham transmitting station''' is a [[broadcasting]] and [[telecommunications]] facility, situated close to the village of [[Mendlesham]], near the town of [[Stowmarket]], in [[Suffolk]], [[United Kingdom]] ({{gbmapping|TM123640}}). It is owned and operated by [[Arqiva]].

It has a {{convert|305.4|m|ft|0}} high [[Radio masts and towers#Steel lattice|guyed steel lattice mast]]. It was originally commissioned to bring ITV signals (provided by [[ITV Anglia|Anglia Television]]) to [[East Anglia]], including [[Norfolk]], [[Suffolk]] and parts of [[Essex]] and [[Cambridgeshire]] on [[405-line]] [[VHF]], using Channel 11 ([[Band III]]).

==History==
Other sites considered in February 1958 for an ITV television mast were [[Tacolneston]] and [[Snetterton]]. By June 1958, the site was chosen. The site was in the village of [[Wetheringsett-cum-Brockford]], but Mendlesham was the name of the nearby airfield.

For the new ITV region, the GPO would provide a link from London to Norwich, via [[Ongar, Essex]], Sibleys Green ([[Chickney]], to Mendlesham, then on to the telecommunications tower at [[Stoke Holy Cross]], and by cable from there to Norwich. Construction began in January 1959, with the mast being built from April 1959.<ref>''Suffolk and Essex Free Press'' Wednesday 29 April 1959, page 19</ref> By June 1959 it was 600 feet. Construction finished in mid-July 1959, taking ten weeks.<ref>''Haverhill Echo'' Saturday 25 July 1959, page 6</ref>

On Monday 5 October 1959, tests at full power of 200kW took place, from 10am to 9pm from Monday to Saturday.<ref>''Haverhill Echo'' Saturday 10 October 1959, page 5</ref><ref>''Suffolk and Essex Free Press'' Thursday 15 October 1959, page 20</ref> This was also the same day that the BBC started broadcasting from Norwich.<ref>''Bedfordshire Times'' Friday 9 October 1959, page 20</ref> It came into service on 27 October of that year. It was at the time the highest television mast to be constructed in Europe and the first of six of the same height subsequently used at other [[Independent Television Authority]] stations. It was fabricated in Hereford from zinc-galvanised steel, and was erected by British Insulated Callender's Construction Co. (BICC), now known as [[Balfour Beatty]].

When [[UHF]] television came to East Anglia, main transmitters were commissioned at [[Tacolneston transmitting station|Tacolneston]], near [[Norwich]] and [[Sudbury transmitting station|Sudbury]], near [[Colchester]]. Mendlesham was not required in the UHF plan, so when 405 line television was discontinued in the UK in 1985, the mast ceased to be used for any broadcast transmissions for over a decade.

However, in 1997, the site was chosen to be a main transmitter for new regional commercial radio station Vibe FM (renamed [[Kiss 105-108]] in 2006), on 106.4&nbsp;MHz [[VHF]] [[FM broadcasting|FM]] at a power of 20&nbsp;kW. Vibe FM launched November 1997.  Later in December 2001, national [[digital radio]] [[Multiplexing|multiplex]] [[Digital One]] also added its antennas to the mast. The [[BBC National DAB]] Multiplex was added on 13 July 2010.

==Channels listed by frequency==

===Analogue radio (VHF FM)===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Frequency
!kW<ref>Radio Listeners guide 2010</ref>
!Service
|-
|106.4&nbsp;MHz
|20
|[[Greatest Hits Radio|Greatest Hits Radio Ipswich & Suffolk]]
|}

===Digital radio (DAB)===
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Frequency
!Block
!kW
!Operator
|-
|222.064&nbsp;MHz
|11D
|1
|[[Digital One]]<ref>Radio Listeners Guide 2010</ref>
|-
|225.648&nbsp;MHz
|12B
|4.3
|[[BBC National DAB]]<ref>BBC Reception Website</ref>
|}

===Analogue television===
VHF analogue television was transmitted from Mendlesham from its launch in 1959 until the nationwide shutdown of VHF signals in 1985.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
!{{no2}}Frequency
!{{no2}}VHF
!{{no2}}kW
!{{no2}}Service
|-
|{{UK System A|ch=11}}
|11
|200
|[[ITV Anglia|Anglia]]
|}

==See also==
*[[List of masts]]
*[[List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain]]
*[[List of radio stations in the United Kingdom]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/861 15 minute film of the construction of Mendlesham mast] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416133043/http://www.eafa.org.uk/catalogue/861 |date=16 April 2021 }}
* [http://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=1341 Mendlesham entry at The Transmission Gallery]
*[http://www.multimap.com/map/browse.cgi?client=public&X=612500&Y=265000&width=500&height=300&gride=612300&gridn=264000&srec=0&coordsys=gb&db=&addr1=&addr2=&addr3=&pc=&advanced=&local=&localinfosel=&kw=&inmap=&table=&ovtype=&keepicon=&zm=1&scale=25000 Mast location on MultiMap.com]
* http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b61326
*[http://www.thebigtower.com/live/Mendlesham/Index.htm Mendlesham Transmitter at thebigtower.com]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/transmitters/radio/digital_radio.shtml Confirmation of addition of BBC DAB Multiplex, July 2010]

{{Television transmitters in the UK}}
{{Mendlesham_VHF_405-line_Transmitter_Group}}
{{Supertall}}

[[Category:1959 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Infrastructure completed in 1959]]
[[Category:Radio masts and towers in Europe]]
[[Category:Transmitter sites in England]]