The British East Mediterranean Relay Station (also known as BEMRS) was one of the most powerful broadcasting stations in

Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ...

. The

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the dayt ...

transmitters were situated south of

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban population ...

west of Lady's Mile Beach on the area of

Western Sovereign Base Area Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory o ...

at and used for relaying radio programmes to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

area on 639 kHz and 720 kHz with 500 kW. The short-wave transmitters were located at Zygi . The station was used for broadcasting BBC programmes from 1957 until April 2015 when transmissions ended. Previously an Arabic station ( Near East Broadcasting Station), it was taken over by the

Diplomatic Wireless Service The Diplomatic Wireless Service (DWS) was the name of the communications system set up for the British Foreign Office by Brigadier Richard Gambier-Parry, the first Foreign Office Director of Communications, in the latter part of 1945. It grew out ...

as a result of the

Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...

Antenna systems

The medium-wave station had two

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performan ...

systems each consisting of four free-standing lattice towers with triangular cross section. All used towers were insulated against ground. The antenna system for 720 kHz, which was situated north of the transmitter building, pointed to an

azimuth An azimuth (; from ar, اَلسُّمُوت, as-sumūt, the directions) is an angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system. More specifically, it is the horizontal angle from a cardinal direction, most commonly north. Mathematicall ...

of 110 degrees. Its towers were 102 metres tall. The antenna system for 639 kHz, which was situated south of the transmitter building, pointed in a southerly direction (azimuth 180 degrees). Its towers were 120 metres tall.

References

External links

* http://wikimapia.org/#lat=34.618941&lon=33.003273&z=13&l=5&m=b&show=/5227753/BBC-World-Service-Limassol * http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/find-an-embassy/europe/east-mediterranean-relay-station * https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/statements/mw-eastern-med {{BBC World Service Towers in Cyprus BBC Defunct mass media in Cyprus