The Swingate transmitting station is a facility for FM-transmission in the village of Swingate, near

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

(). For many years there were three lattice towers with a height of . This station was one of the first 5 Chain Home Radar stations completed in 1936 and was originally designated AMES ( Air Ministry Experimental Station) 04 Dover. The FM transmitting antennas are attached to what was the middle tower;

microwave Microwave is a form of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths shorter than other radio waves but longer than infrared waves. Its wavelength ranges from about one meter to one millimeter, corresponding to frequency, frequencies between 300&n ...

link dishes and mobile telephone antennas were spread across all three towers. The south tower was dismantled in March 2010, as a result, only two remain. The Swingate towers no longer have the three cantilever platforms that were fitted originally.

History

Originally there were four towers with wires stretched between them to transmit radio waves that were detected by a group of four smaller towers to the east of the surviving ones. The receiver towers were demolished after the war, along with one of the transmitter towers. Subsequently the north mast was demolished and replaced with a similar tower with a different bracing design. During the Cold War the towers sprouted four transmitters at their base which were popularly assumed to be part of the US ACE High communication system but were more likely an RAF link to Germany. The south tower was dismantled in March 2010.

Timeline

In 1936, four transmitters with platforms were erected. In 1955 one transmitter was dismantled, leaving three standing. In 1991 the north tower was replaced by a shorter one. In 2010 the south tower was dismantled. Swingate transmitting towers - original configuration 1936.jpg, Four towers with platforms, 1936 Swingate military telecommunication station - geograph.org.uk - 1633769.jpg, Three towers plus Cold War installation, 1982 Remaining Swingate Chain Home Station Masts - geograph.org.uk - 74790.jpg, Two of the original towers plus a newer, shorter one, 2005 Swingate Chain Home radar towers - White Cliffs of Dover.jpg, Two remaining towers, 2011

Channels available from this site

High Frequency Trading

Several of the microwave dishes located on one of the towers provide connections via a chain of towers between the NYSE Euronext datacentres in Basildon and Slough, and Frankfurt for use in High Frequency Trading

Analogue radio

The transmitter is the main transmission station for the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

which serves the bulk of Kent.Radio Listeners Guide 2010

References

External links

Swingate transmitting station at mb21National Geographic photo
showing the original configuration of four transmitters and four receiver towers Transmitter sites in England {{UK-bcast-stub