The Burghead transmitting station is a

broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

facility near

Burghead Burghead ( or ''The Broch'', ) is a small town in Moray, Scotland, about north-west of Elgin, Moray, Elgin. The town is mainly built on a peninsula that projects north-westward into the Moray Firth, surrounding it by water on three sides. Peopl ...

() in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

for

long wave In radio, longwave (also spelled long wave or long-wave and commonly abbreviated LW) is the part of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave (MW) broadcasting band. The term is historic, datin ...

and

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is a 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 daytim ...

radio transmission that started service on 12 October 1936. The site is owned by

Arqiva Arqiva () is a British telecommunications company which provides infrastructure, broadcast transmission and smart meter facilities in the United Kingdom. The company is headquartered at the former Independent Broadcasting Authority headquart ...

and houses a long wave radio transmitter on 198 kHz broadcasting

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

and two medium wave radio transmitters, broadcasting

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

on 693 kHz and

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

on 810 kHz. The long wave transmitter is part of a network transmitting on the same frequency, the other transmitters being

Droitwich Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. ...

and Westerglen.

History

It was announced on May 1934. It had been announced earlier that it would be built near Elgin. It would be built nine miles from Elgin, ten miles from Forres. Seven sites were considered. Three new telephone lines from Aberdeen to Elgin opened on 5 October 1934. Construction was planned to begin in November 1934, but work began on 14 January 1935. It would open on Monday 12 October 1936, by engineer Sir Murdoch Macdonald. His company is today known as

Mott MacDonald The Mott MacDonald Group is a management, engineering and development consultancy headquartered in the United Kingdom. It employs over 19,000 staff in 150 countries. Mott MacDonald is one of the largest employee-owned companies in the world. ...

. It cost £100,000, being 500ft. The building was 254ft by 93ft, and 29 ft high. The building was designed by Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie. The generator provided 400kW at 20,000 V.

Structure

The station has three masts, which are all lattice structures with triangular cross section and insulated against ground. The northern of the two large masts is , the southern large mast is tall, while the third one is significantly lower.Entry for "LFA 14"
/ref> One of the large masts is used for the medium wave transmissions and the other is used for the long wave transmitter. The third and smallest mast is the backup antenna. The original building was demolished leaving a much smaller building for the more modern transmitters.

Services available

Analogue radio (AM long wave)

Analogue radio (AM medium wave)

References

External links

The Transmission Gallery
– Photographs & Information 1936 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in Moray Burghead Infrastructure completed in 1936 Radio in the United Kingdom Towers in Scotland Transmitter sites in Scotland {{scotland-stub