50 years of the Wrekin TV transmitter. - UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum

G6Tanuki · 30th Dec 2025, 1:43 pm

From the BBC website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0je542374zo

In the 60s and 70s I was living in the area now served by Wrekin; the BandI 405 line BBC signal from Sutton Coldfield was bad (the Wrekin was in the way!) and Lichfield's BandIII ATV signal wasn't much better; as noted in the article plenty of people had a secondary BandIII antenna pointing to Granada-land.

625 line BBC2 from Sutton Coldfield was similarly flaky, the signal being snowy and so too weak to get a consistent 'lock' for the colour decoder.

The coming of Wrekin changed it all. But plenty of people still kept their BandIII antenna pointed North, because it was still common for Granada and ATV (later Central) to show different eposides of popular series.

SWB 18 · 31st Dec 2025, 1:04 pm

The Wrekin was an interesting site in many ways.

Firstly access was by 4 wheel drive only which would be absolutely full of test gear and carboys of de-ionised water for topping up the transmitters cooling.
Even with 4 wheel drive team vehicles, access could not be guaranteed. In snowy conditions the local children would delight in sledging down the first part of the track, compacting the snow to a highly polished icy surface which defeated vehicular access. Also to be considered was a sheer drop to your left as the vehicle slithered ever closer to that edge, if the more adventurous driver attempted an icy ascent. Should we really need access urgently, shutdown or reduced power for some time, the team would have to walk in carrying essential supplies for themselves (a 'tea kit') and the transmitters.
Luckily the site had a good supply of spares and most problems could be overcome, even without our specialist test gear which was sitting at the bottom of the hill in the vehicle.

The building was partially built into the hillside so as to reduce the visibility of the building and the UHF aerial glass fibre cylinder was painted 'duck egg blue' rather than the usual brilliant white to blend in the the blue skies over Shropshire.
Early on, the roof of the building developed a slight crack, thought to have been caused by the hillside 'rejecting' the building and causing some movement. Unfortunately, the crack and the resulting leak manifested itself directly above the 415v switchboard. After some remedial building work, internal guttering was fixed to the ceiling, just in case....

The tv transmitters were Pye UHF 77 multiplex type with klystron amplifiers, I think the klystrons were EEV K370. The transmitters were slightly different between BBC1 & 2, in their control systems. One used Mullard Norbits and the other was a mix of transistors and later logic.

The site had a telephone line, which caused BT untold troubles over the years. This was both due to the length of the run up the hillside and lightning strikes. The line was used for backup telemetry, as well as calls. The telemetry side was regularly checked by our monitoring centre (MIC) at Sutton Coldfield. The telephone calls were an essential part of safety when single man working on site.
Following lightning the transmitters would usually survive OK, but the telephone line might have succumbed. The worst occaision was when there was just a blackened mark on the wall where the instrument once was mounted, combined with a darkened outline of where the wire had once run. This also took out the isolation box (BX1/13) between the telemetry side of our equipment and BT side of things.

Attached are photos showing:-
1. The type of transmitter used, note that at the Wrekin the physical layout was different to that shown and the illustrated gear was slightly later, too.

2. The EEV klystron and truck.

3. Covers of BBC leaflet on the Wrekin.

Phil.

McMurdo · 31st Dec 2025, 4:57 pm

I wonder what transmitters are there now?

I watched a video the other week about a transmitter site in the US and amongst the row of ubiquitous RCA transmitters they had a couple of Marconi ones soldiering on.

Rich Woods · 12th Jan 2026, 4:02 pm

The UHF frequencies used clashed with Lark Stoke and caused rolling banding on the picture on UHF even in strong signal areas around Evesham. Folks that cared opted for Sutton Coldfield or Ridge Hill depending on their location. Living at Offenham you could also pick up Malvern with a reasonable picture and reputedly Mendip using a phased aerial array, although I never tried this myself. We went for Sutton & had a very good picture.

30th Dec 2025, 1:43 pm	#1
G6Tanuki Dekatron Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Wiltshire, UK. Posts: 15,908	50 years of the Wrekin TV transmitter. From the BBC website: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0je542374zo In the 60s and 70s I was living in the area now served by Wrekin; the BandI 405 line BBC signal from Sutton Coldfield was bad (the Wrekin was in the way!) and Lichfield's BandIII ATV signal wasn't much better; as noted in the article plenty of people had a secondary BandIII antenna pointing to Granada-land. 625 line BBC2 from Sutton Coldfield was similarly flaky, the signal being snowy and so too weak to get a consistent 'lock' for the colour decoder. The coming of Wrekin changed it all. But plenty of people still kept their BandIII antenna pointed North, because it was still common for Granada and ATV (later Central) to show different eposides of popular series. __________________ Let's Degauss.

31st Dec 2025, 1:04 pm	#2
SWB 18 Pentode Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: West Midlands, UK. Posts: 186	Re: 50 years of the Wrekin TV transmitter. The Wrekin was an interesting site in many ways. Firstly access was by 4 wheel drive only which would be absolutely full of test gear and carboys of de-ionised water for topping up the transmitters cooling. Even with 4 wheel drive team vehicles, access could not be guaranteed. In snowy conditions the local children would delight in sledging down the first part of the track, compacting the snow to a highly polished icy surface which defeated vehicular access. Also to be considered was a sheer drop to your left as the vehicle slithered ever closer to that edge, if the more adventurous driver attempted an icy ascent. Should we really need access urgently, shutdown or reduced power for some time, the team would have to walk in carrying essential supplies for themselves (a 'tea kit') and the transmitters. Luckily the site had a good supply of spares and most problems could be overcome, even without our specialist test gear which was sitting at the bottom of the hill in the vehicle. The building was partially built into the hillside so as to reduce the visibility of the building and the UHF aerial glass fibre cylinder was painted 'duck egg blue' rather than the usual brilliant white to blend in the the blue skies over Shropshire. Early on, the roof of the building developed a slight crack, thought to have been caused by the hillside 'rejecting' the building and causing some movement. Unfortunately, the crack and the resulting leak manifested itself directly above the 415v switchboard. After some remedial building work, internal guttering was fixed to the ceiling, just in case.... The tv transmitters were Pye UHF 77 multiplex type with klystron amplifiers, I think the klystrons were EEV K370. The transmitters were slightly different between BBC1 & 2, in their control systems. One used Mullard Norbits and the other was a mix of transistors and later logic. The site had a telephone line, which caused BT untold troubles over the years. This was both due to the length of the run up the hillside and lightning strikes. The line was used for backup telemetry, as well as calls. The telemetry side was regularly checked by our monitoring centre (MIC) at Sutton Coldfield. The telephone calls were an essential part of safety when single man working on site. Following lightning the transmitters would usually survive OK, but the telephone line might have succumbed. The worst occaision was when there was just a blackened mark on the wall where the instrument once was mounted, combined with a darkened outline of where the wire had once run. This also took out the isolation box (BX1/13) between the telemetry side of our equipment and BT side of things. Attached are photos showing:- 1. The type of transmitter used, note that at the Wrekin the physical layout was different to that shown and the illustrated gear was slightly later, too. 2. The EEV klystron and truck. 3. Covers of BBC leaflet on the Wrekin. Phil. Attached Thumbnails

31st Dec 2025, 4:57 pm	#3
McMurdo Dekatron Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Staffordshire Moorlands, UK. Posts: 5,839	Re: 50 years of the Wrekin TV transmitter. I wonder what transmitters are there now? I watched a video the other week about a transmitter site in the US and amongst the row of ubiquitous RCA transmitters they had a couple of Marconi ones soldiering on. __________________ Kevin

12th Jan 2026, 4:02 pm	#4
Rich Woods Hexode Join Date: Sep 2017 Location: Ceredigion, Wales, UK. Posts: 361	Re: 50 years of the Wrekin TV transmitter. The UHF frequencies used clashed with Lark Stoke and caused rolling banding on the picture on UHF even in strong signal areas around Evesham. Folks that cared opted for Sutton Coldfield or Ridge Hill depending on their location. Living at Offenham you could also pick up Malvern with a reasonable picture and reputedly Mendip using a phased aerial array, although I never tried this myself. We went for Sutton & had a very good picture. __________________ It’s all about the music…….