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Transmitter
Coverage
Area Maps
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| SUFFOLK |
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BBC RADIO SUFFOLK
The first maps show BBC Suffolk. BBC Suffolk commenced transmissions on FM only from main transmitters at the BBC Manningtree site and from the original IBA Great Barton site. A low power relay was later added for the town of Lowestoft in the north of the county. |
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 The BBC map for BBC Radio Suffolk Strangely the BBC do not show the actual coverage across the county borders! |
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In 2003 the BBC
increased the power of the Lowestoft relay from 0.05 kW to 2.0
kW. The site was also changed from the 'Lowestoft Town' mast (TM
540 943) to a better location at Oulton (TM 523 942). The
Lowestoft transmitter now uses the same site location as the ILR Great
Yarmouth and Lowestoft station (103.4 The Beach etc.), but will use a
different aerial. This move greatly improved reception for
listeners in North Suffolk and parts of East Norfolk.
In 2004 The BBC added a new 2 kW transmitter for Aldeburgh and the surrounding area on 95.9 MHz VHF. This is situated at the Aldeburgh television relay station site and brings reception of BBC Suffolk to parts of the county previously unable to receive strong reception from the station. The full
TRANSMITTER DETAILS for BBC Radio Suffolk are now:
*
A guestimation of the aerial height at Oulton - ILR aerial is at 38m
** A guestimation of the aerial height at Aldeburge - TV aerials are at 81m |
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No coverage maps
have been published since the BBC map at the top of this page was
printed. Below are pixel plots produced by RadioMobile for the new
improved coverage area of BBC Radio Suffolk. The first one is for
the estimated predicted coverage of the Aldeburgh transmitter and the
second one is for the whole of this BBC station's coverage area:
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| Estimated coverage of the BBC
Suffolk Aldeburgh transmitter |
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| Estimated coverage for the whole of
BBC Radio Suffolk |
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ILR IPSWICH, BURY AND COLCHESTER Moving on to
some ILR stations in Suffolk. First we have ILR Ipswich which was
originally named Radio Orwell, and broadcast from Electric House, but
now it's called SGR FM and is a joint area with ILR Bury St Edmunds, which
was originally called Saxon radio and came from studios in Long
Brackland.
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 IBA map for ILR Ipswich (Radio Orwell / SGR etc) |
IBA map for ILR Bury St Edmunds (Saxon Radio / SGR etc)
| Radio
Station Name |
Site |
Frequency |
Pol' |
Max e.r.p. |
Grid
ref. |
Site
Ht. a.s.l. |
Ae
Ht. a.g.l. |
| SGR
FM Ipswich |
Foxhall Heath |
97.1 MHz |
M |
3.4 |
TM 212 445 |
33m |
46m |
| SGR
FM Bury St Edmunds |
Great Barton |
96.4 MHz |
M |
2.0 |
TL 886 686 |
63m |
49m |
| SGR
FM Colchester ++ |
Wivenhoe Park |
96.1 MHz |
M |
0.5 |
TM 028 239 |
23m |
62m |
| Classic
Gold Amber Ipswich Bury St Edmunds |
Foxhall Heath Great Barton |
170 kHz 1251 kHz |
- - |
0.28 0.76 |
TM 212 445 TL 886 686 |
33m 63m |
- - |
AM STEREO
The IBA carried out some tests with AM stereo from the Foxhall Heath transmitter and were to assess the compatibility with current AM receivers and the interaction with other 'ordinary' AM transmissions. As far as I can remember these tests were conducted in the mid 1980's and only the Radio Orwell MW transmitter was used, no other ILR AM transmitters were involved. The tests lasted for a matter of weeks and hopes were raised that AM stereo would be generally adopted by ILR in the not too distant future.
The system used for the tests was the American CQuam (Compatible Quadrature AM) system which had been developed by Motorola. The tests were apparently successful, but it seems that the government of the day were indifferent to the benefits that it may offer and were unwilling to allow further tests from other sites and thus the general adoption of AM stereo was ruled out.
The CQuam AM Stereo system was widely adopted by AM radio stations in North America and is still in use today, although the number of AM stations transmitting music has dwindled.
This system transmits stereo by using 2 phases of the RF carrier 90 degrees apart. Each phase of the carrier is fed to a balanced modulator. The balanced modulator that is in phase with the original RF signal receives left plus right mono audio. The balanced modulator that is 90 degrees out of phase receives the left minus right stereo information. The balanced modulator outputs are summed together with the original in phase carrier and then passed through a limiter so only the phase information is retained. This signal is then modulated by the conventional means in the transmitter, producing a quadrature AM signal that is compatible with mono AM radios. Stereo identification is provided by a 25 Hz pilot tone transmitted in with the left minus right information. This system may be decoded using a chip like the Motorola MC13020P.
More
information on the subject of AM Stereo can be found here: http://www.wa2fnq.hamradios.com/amstrdoc.htm
A later addition
to the commercial air-waves of Suffolk is ILR Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth
(103.4 The Beach etc.).
This ILR station originally transmitted from a single 2kW v.h.f. / FM transmitter at Oulton in Lowestoft which serves Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Beccles, Bungay and Caister on Sea.
The Radio Authority (now Ofcom) later advertised for an company to operate a small scale, stand-alone, ILR station for the Southwold area, but no suitable applicant was found and the offer of a licence was withdrawn.
The current holder of the ILR Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth licence (103.4 The Beach) has now been allowed to add a 0.24 kW relay station located at Blythburgh to serve Southwold and the surrounding area, this opened in May 2004. Presumably this is the frequency originally intended for the stand-alone ILR Southwold station.
This ILR station originally transmitted from a single 2kW v.h.f. / FM transmitter at Oulton in Lowestoft which serves Lowestoft, Great Yarmouth, Beccles, Bungay and Caister on Sea.
The Radio Authority (now Ofcom) later advertised for an company to operate a small scale, stand-alone, ILR station for the Southwold area, but no suitable applicant was found and the offer of a licence was withdrawn.
The current holder of the ILR Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth licence (103.4 The Beach) has now been allowed to add a 0.24 kW relay station located at Blythburgh to serve Southwold and the surrounding area, this opened in May 2004. Presumably this is the frequency originally intended for the stand-alone ILR Southwold station.
For ILR Lowestoft and Gt. Yarmouth with Southwold
TRANSMITTER DETAILS
| FM
Site |
Freq MHz |
Pol' |
Max e.r.p. |
Grid
Ref. |
Site
Ht. a.s.l. |
Ae
Ht. a.g.l. |
| Lowestoft (Oulton) |
103.4 |
M |
2.0 |
TM
523 942 |
13m |
38m |
| Blythburgh (Water Tower also O2 site) |
97.4 |
M |
0.24 |
TM
453 742 |
22m |
30m |
Here's a odd one. The major
transmitting station at Orfordness was once owned by the BBC as part of
its transmitter network used for the BBC World Service.
Transmissions were broadcast on 648 kHz and 1296 kHz.
The BBC transmitter network was prviatised and sold off in 1997 to Merlin Communications International, subsequently re-organised and re-named VT Merlin when it was aquired by the Vosper Thornycroft Group p.l.c.
The VT Merlin site at Orfordness continues a contract with the BBC World Service and transmits the programmes to Europe on 648 kHz. In 2004 the 1296 kHz transmitter is contracted to transmit the programmes of Radio Nationaal of The Netherlands.
The BBC transmitter network was prviatised and sold off in 1997 to Merlin Communications International, subsequently re-organised and re-named VT Merlin when it was aquired by the Vosper Thornycroft Group p.l.c.
The VT Merlin site at Orfordness continues a contract with the BBC World Service and transmits the programmes to Europe on 648 kHz. In 2004 the 1296 kHz transmitter is contracted to transmit the programmes of Radio Nationaal of The Netherlands.
PHOTO