Hillsborough
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have (only) it`s head in the clouds.....
This picture was taken from near the National Coal Mining Museum which is definitely worth a visit, and it`s free !
Picture Justin Smith ATV
Emley Moor television transmitter, all 1084ft of it...... The structure may look solid * but according to someone who works there it sways in the wind and this can sometimes induce sea sickness to those working in the microwave link room when gales are about ! Incidentally the structure is designed to withstand winds of up to 150 mph.
* The foundations consist of a solid concrete annulus of 8.2m width and 6.1m depth with a thickness of 4.3m and that`s a lot of concrete.......
See Emley`s height in relation to other transmitters, and Emley v Belmont v Taipei 101.
Emley Moor TV transmitter as you`ve never seen it before....... Picture Justin Smith (ATV)
The ring marks in the concrete will be noted, this is where the shuttering was used to build the structure. Because the tower is tapered the shuttering`s diameter had to be reduced each time a new (higher) section was added. The whole structure weighs 11200 tons.
Note that Emley Moor is not a “mast” because it`s a self supporting structure, it`s actually
a “tower”. Masts are cable stayed, like Winter Hill for example.
Top of Emley Moor transmitter showing the microwave link room, also note the spiral structure at the top to deflect wind upwards. The link room is at 262m and one (of the two) lifts goes straight to this level. Despite this it still takes seven (seven ! ) minutes to do so. The other lift provides engineers access to all the different levels, but you could always
use the ladder(s), with a total of 865 rungs......
you may experience problems, e.g. with certain MUXES disappearing.
First try rescanning your set top box (do it manually if possible), but if this fails to work check on Transmitter work or call the reception advice phone numbers.
Emley Moor is one of the most powerful transmitters in the country at 870kW (analogue), plus Digital /Freeveiw at 10kW (apart from MUX6/D which is only 4kW).
It is the tallest free standing structure in the UK at 328m (a.g.l), that`s 1084 ft, also
see How High is High ? The previous transmitter was a cable stayed mast which was even taller at 385m (the same design as Belmont) but this infamously blew down in 1969.
One theory was that a weak point in the design was found wanting by the unprecedented weather. Others speculated that there was so much ice on the cable stays that the weight broke them, after that the mast was doomed.... It had only been up for 5 years !
A team of Polish riggers were bought in to erect a temporary mast, apparently they were
the only people who were willing to work in the winter conditions prevailing at the time.
The replacement mast began transmitting 3 days and 23 hours later, impressive.
The very first Emley Moor transmitter was a steel lattice tower built in 1956 to broadcast
ITV on the old 405 line VHF system, and as such it worked in tandem with the original
Holme Moss mast, which transmitted the BBC (only one programme, BBC2 didn`t start till 1964) on VHF until 1984. Duplicated transmitters were / are also used at Sutton Coldfield / Lichfield, Crystal Palace / Croydon and Pontop Pike / Burnhope amongst others.
This 1956 structure was rebuilt at Craigkelly in 1971 to provide UHF TV to SE Scotland.
The present Emley Moor tower opened in 1971 and it is an elegant tapered concrete structure which is situated about half way between Huddersfield and Barnsley. This area of high ground is perfect for RF (Radio Frequency) transmission and both Holme Moss and Moorside Edge transmitters are visible (SW and WNW respectively) from the site. Emley Moors population coverage is the forth highest of any UK transmitter at about 4 million people and its signals are received in many large towns/cities including Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and Doncaster. To many people Emley is iconic and fully deserving
of the Grade 2 listed status it received in 2002. For most locations in South Yorkshire the transmitter is NW and on a clear day it can be seen from many high points in Sheffield or (more obviously) from the M1. As one travels North it`s on the left. Whenever I return back home from a long journey, I see Emley and know there isn`t long to go now ! Incidentally, this stretch of the M1 was opened in 1968, doesn`t time fly.....
Emley Moor by night.
Note the red glow, of the top navigation light, on the cloud just above the transmitter.
(Picture Justin Smith, dedicated to my wife who was getting impatient as I farted about with exposure settings etc.....)
Emley Moor transmitter from Shelley station on the Kirklees Light Railway.
The latter is a 15” gauge line built on the trackbed of the ex branch line to Clayton
West which was originally built by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1879 but
closed in 1983. The KLR was opened in stages from 1991 to 1996 and the loco shown
is Hawk which is an 0-
Luckily the channel planners were able to fit all the Digital / Freeview MUXES
(transmitted at 10kW) within the B group along with the analogue stations, so an aerial change may not be necessary. Furthermore those in poor reception areas, who may require an upgrade, can take advantage of the superior performance of an B group aerial
over a wideband. In fact there is an argument that there is no such thing as a “High Gain” wideband aerial for the B group frequencies and they shouldn`t be fitted on B group transmitters in poor signal areas. If the site is in a poor spot a “high gain” B group aerial should be used. On the other hand if the signal is strong (or medium) then by definition it doesn`t need a “high gain” antenna anyway ! Under these circumstances a Log Periodic should be fitted instead. See Emley Moor`s graph
For Emley Moor we recommend the DM log for strong signal areas, the Log 40 for
medium signal areas, the Yagi18B for outdoor installs in poor signal areas,
the XB10B for loft installations in poor signal areas, and the XB16B for those with the
most marginal signals. Unless you have a massive loft we`d normally recommend an XB10B for loft installs (over an XB16) due to smaller size of the former aerial.
The dimensions and test performance of the aerials can be
found on the relevant tables.
All aerials on Emley Moor should be horizontally polarised. You can confirm if you are on Emley if you receive your local Calendar news from Leeds, rather than from Hull (which would be from Belmont) or Sheffield (which would be from Crosspool).
Emley Moor has fifty six small repeaters off it to its signal improve coverage.For Emley`s frequencies see its Channel Allocations for both before and after the DSO. These also include the same data for Bilsdale, Belmont, Waltham, Sutton Coldfield, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Idle, Keighley and Beecroft Hill. This information can be useful for diagnosing
co-
Ofcom report Emley`s digital output as being essentially omnidirectional.
DSO is due to occur in September 2011, and unsurprisingly it has been confirmed that Emley will remain a B group at DSO.
There are two interleaved spectrum channels allocated to Emley Moor, CH 45 and CH 56,
which are both more or less within the previously announced post DSO group.
It must be admitted that at CH56 a B group may be a little down in gain on some widebands, but it should still be working reasonably well, particularly the XB16B.
It will be noted that post DSO anything on CH56 would have co-
The proposed radiation patterns for CH45 and CH56 off Emley are on this Ofcom PDF,
CH45 is on page 8 of 20, and CH56 on page 12 of 20.
Those living in the North Notts area should take particular note of the fact that most of Sutton Coldfield`s channels are on the same frequencies as Emley Moor !
The best approach is to use a B group “high gain aerial” (with as narrow a beam width as possible) e.g. our Yagi18B or XB16B. If necessary try to mount the aerial so as to shield
it from the unwanted transmitter, e.g. down the side of your house. Emley is NNW and
Sutton Coldfield is SSW. Note that for this problem use of an amplifier will make no difference at all and would probably make things worse, in fact an attenuator (ideally a variable one) would be of more use.
Note Emley Moors output clashes with that of Sutton Coldfield and Chesterfield.
Also check Emley Moor`s fifty six small repeaters.
The frequencies given are for the analogue channels, for (most) digital MUXES add 3MHz.
Emley Moors Post DSO Channel Allocations (below) Note the gaps in the table below for channels 31 to 35, 37, 39 to 40 and 63 to 68, they`re reserved for “other uses”....
Emley Moor`s channels in relation to the UHF TV band and the gain curves of the aerials
we recommend for it. DM Log Log40 Yagi18B XB10B XB16B
Also see other relevant B group curves.
There`s tall and there`s tall....
Well Emley Moor is pretty high, to be honest I wouldn`t really want to clean
the windows on the microwave link room,
but Belmont is taller, and the “Taipei 101” makes them both look like midgets....
The three of them are pictured in scale, more or less, on the right.
Until the Burj Dubai is completed in Autumn 2009 the Taipei 101 in Taiwan is the tallest building in the world, and it`s bleedin huge. My wife and I went up it and unsurprisingly the lifts are the worlds fastest (at 38mph..) and it only took 37 seconds to get to the 89th floor !
Also see Transmitters In Proportion,
Incidentally we only went to Taiwan because we got a cheap flight to Australia via Taipei and we broke the journey there, but we really liked it. It`s a fascinating country (a cross between Japan and
China ? ) but the best thing about it is
the people have got to be some of the friendliest I`ve ever met. It`s like a huge National Trust property in that everyone is so nice to everyone else !
