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Twenty Years of Channel Five [Part Two]
Tests, Transmissions and Turbulence
Tests, Transmissions and Turbulence
The test pattern for the Channel Five test card consisted of a set of five mock colour bars, with the station’s slogan Give Me Five and some helpline information (Figs. 1 and 2).
More detailed transmitter identification information was not normally included, although at least a couple of sites did display this information, for instance at Croydon and Reigate (Figs. 1 and 3).
At the time when the Channel 5 re-tuning exercise was carried out, from the autumn of 1996 onwards, the transmitters were still in the process of being installed.
They remained largely inactive – apart from short tests, which were conducted at some sites – to prevent interference, until a certain percentage of re-tunes had been carried out within the service area, or in those cases where the transmitters were simply considered less of a ‘threat’.
Test broadcasts were mainly undertaken during the day, so as not to disrupt any evening video viewing in homes that had not yet been re-tuned.
Later Transmitter Launches
The batch of transmitters airing on Channel 35 did not enter service until after the official launch date.
This seemed to suggest that plans were considerably off-target. Some transmitters, such as the one in Waltham, did not in fact air until about August 1997.
Some of the Channel 35 transmitters were located geographically ‘too close for comfort’. These included Waltham (250kW), The Wrekin (100kW), Fenton (10kW), Ridge Hill (100kW) and Hannington (60kW).
Needless to say, that there were plenty of visible co-channel effects at times, even in primary service areas, and under relatively ‘flat’ reception conditions.
The preliminary information supplied by Channel 5 in early 1997 stated that, “once the Channel 35 transmitters are airing, there are no further plans yet to add any more analogue terrestrial transmitters.”
‘Yet’ was very much the operative word here….
After its launch, some relays had Channel 5 added, depending on frequency availability, and local reception conditions permitting.
In a handful of cases, some locations were granted relays operating on very low-power.
In addition to this, a few ‘self-help’ sites began operating, some of these in an unofficial capacity.
Eventually, there were almost 70 transmitters, relays and self-help sites broadcasting Channel 5.
After 2002, the service eventually became available via Freeview.
However, ironically, viewers who were dependent on local relay stations (i.e. where analogue Channel 5 was not available), were not able to receive the digital counterpart either!
Fig. 4 shows Kirsty Young reading the news on 30th March 1997.
Fig. 5 displays the official Channel 5 logo, as it appeared twenty years after launch, in 2017.
Transmitter Switch-On Timetable
According to the official Channel 5 information disseminated during the re-tuning exercise, the switch-on dates for the first batch of 33 transmitters were as follows (Table 1):
Table 1: Switch-on dates for the first 33 Channel 5 Transmitters (ERP=Effective Radiated Power)
SWITCH-ON TRANSMITTER CH/POL. ERP
- Nov 1st, 1996 Cambret Hill 37 20kW
- Nov 21st, 1996 Belmont 56 50kW
- Dec 10th,1996 Tay Bridge 34V 4kW
- Dec 11th,1996 Churchdown Hill 48 1kW
- Dec 11th,1996 Caldbeck 56 10kW
- Dec 17th,1996 Sandy Heath 39 10kW
- Jan 5th,1997 Black Hill 37 500kW
- Jan 5th,1997 Black Mountain 37 50kW
- Jan 7th,1997 Huntshaw Cross 67 2kW
- Jan 9th,1997 Plympton 30V 2kW
- Jan 9th,1997 Fawley 34 10kW
- Jan 15th,1997 Chelmsford 63 1kW
- Jan 15th,1997 Londonderry 31V 10kW
- Jan 26th,1997 Croydon 37 1000kW
- Jan 28th,1997 Craigkelly 48 4kW
- Feb 16th,1997 Lichfield 37 1000kW
- Feb 20th,1997 Perth 55V 2kW
- Feb 23rd,1997 Emley Moor 37 870kW
- Feb 25th,1997 Durris 67 100kW
- Feb 25th,1997 Tacolneston 52 4kW
- Mar 2nd,1997 Mendip 37 126kW
- Mar 4th,1997 Oxford 49 40kW
- Mar 5th,1997 Storeton 39V 2.8kW
- Mar 6th,1997 Burnhope 68 50kW
- Mar 9th,1997 Presely 37 100kW
- Mar 9th,1997 Redruth 37 3kW
- Mar 11th,1997 Mounteagle 67 100kW
- Mar 11th,1997 Sheffield (Crosspool) 67V 2.5kW
- Mar 18th,1997 Blaenplwyf 56 4kW
- Mar 18th,1997 Fenham 56V 2kW
- Mar 19th,1997 Nottingham 34V 2kW
- Mar 19th,1997 Selkirk 52 50kW
- Mar 20th,1997 Winter Hill 48 12.5kW
Table 2 is a list of Channel 5 transmitters opened after March 1997.
TRANSMITTERS CH/POL ERP
- Bilsdale 35 500kW
- Croydon (Old Town) 59V 300W
- Darvel 35 100kW
- Fenton 35V 10kW
- Hannington 35 60kW
- Hastings 35V 1kW
- Kilvey Hill 35V 10kW
- Madingley 34V 5kW
- Middleton (Manchester) 22V* 40W
- Millburn Muir 45V 250W
- Norwich (Central) 33V 30W
- Oliver's Mount 66V 1kW
- Peterhead 68V 100W
- Reigate 42V 10kW
- Ridge Hill 35 100kW
- Salisbury 68V 2.5kW
- Sudbury 35 50kW
- The Wrekin 35 100kW
- Tunbridge Wells 37V 10kW
- Waltham 35 250kW
- Whitehawk Hill 35V 10kW
* N.B. - A temporary mast was radiating BBC-1 on Channel 22 by the end of June 1999.
SMALL & SELF-HELP RELAYS CH
- Aberdeen 49
- Ardlui 62
- Bakers Wood 63
- Balquidder 30
- Blackpool Football Club (SH) 34
- Blair Drummond 54
- Craigie Gardens (SH) 52
- Culloden (SH) 56
- Enochdhu 48
- Llandyfriog 35
- Torridon (Active Deflector) 56
- Torridon (Translator) 56
- White City 54
All very low-power.
This article was featured in the February 2019 issue of Radio User