The Skelton Transmitting Station is a radio transmitter site at near
Skelton, Cumbria
Skelton is a small village and civil parish about north west of Penrith in the English county of Cumbria. It is on the former route of the B5305 road, which is now about to the north. The parish had a population of 1,059 in 2001, increasin ...
, England, about north-west of
Penrith, run by
Babcock International
Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...
and owned by the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...
. Since the
Belmont Mast in
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...
was shortened in 2010, the mast at Skelton has been the
tallest structure in the United Kingdom.
History
Construction
The site was built by
J. L. Eve Construction
J. L. Eve Construction was a civil engineering company from south London.
History
The company was formed on 8 February 1930 by John Leonard Eve (3 February 1887 - 25 June 1954) from Aveley in Essex. In 1924 he was appointed as the Chief Engineer ...
during the Second World War, for long-distance short-wave transmissions, across Europe.
Transmissions
In 1946, the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
was heralding the site as being "the World's largest and most powerful (shortwave) radio station".
The main purpose of it is
shortwave
Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 m ...
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began ...
. The site is capable of
Digital Radio Mondiale
Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM; ''mondiale'' being Italian and French for "worldwide") is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for analogue radio broadcasting including AM broadcasting—pa ...
(DRM) on at least 3955 kHz and 3975 kHz (75m broadcast band) beamed at 121° towards Germany and Central Europe. On
AM the frequencies of 5995 kHz and 6195 kHz (49m broadcast band) and 9410 kHz (31m broadcast band) and 12095 kHz (25m broadcast band) are known.
A
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...
very low frequency
Very low frequency or VLF is the ITU designation for radio frequencies (RF) in the range of 3–30 kHz, corresponding to wavelengths from 100 to 10 km, respectively. The band is also known as the myriameter band or myriameter wave ...
(VLF) transmitter is also located there. It is used to transmit encrypted orders to submarines, including the Trident SLBM fleet.
It uses as its aerial a 365-metre (1,198 foot) high guyed steel lattice mast, which is insulated against ground and is the
tallest structure in the UK
This list contains all types of structures in height or more, which is the accepted criterion for a building to qualify as a skyscraper in the United Kingdom.
Entries in ''italics'' denote approximate figures.
Structures taller than 300 ...
. The transmitter went into service in 2001 and is the successor to the GBR transmitter at
Rugby Radio Station
__NOTOC__
Rugby Radio Station was a large radio transmission facility just east of the Hillmorton area of the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. The site straddled the A5 trunk road, with most of it in Warwickshire, and part on the othe ...
.
See also
*
List of masts
The tallest structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa skyscraper at . Listed are guyed masts (such as telecommunication masts), self-supporting towers (such as the CN Tower), skyscrapers (such as the Willis Tower), oil platforms, electricity ...
*
List of tallest buildings and structures in Great Britain
This list contains all types of structures in height or more, which is the accepted criterion for a building to qualify as a skyscraper in the United Kingdom.
Entries in ''italics'' denote approximate figures.
Structures taller than 300 ...
*
List of radio stations in the United Kingdom
This is a list of radio stations in the United Kingdom.
National analogue and digital (DAB) stations
This list does not include stations which broadcast on numerous local digital multiplexes or MW licences to achieve near-national coverage.
DAB ...
References
External links
*
* http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b40685
Buildings and structures in Cumbria
Radio masts and towers in Europe
Skelton, Cumbria
Telecommunications in World War II
Transmitter sites in England
Shortwave radio stations
{{Europe-mast-stub