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The Skelton Transmitting Station is a radio transmitter site at near Skelton, Cumbria, 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 A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...
. Shortwave broadcasts from this station ended on 30 March 2023, replaced by Woofferton. Skelton's lattice mast 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. indicates a structure that h ...
.


History


Construction

The site was built by J. L. Eve Construction during the Second World War, for long-distance short-wave transmissions, across Europe.


Transmissions

In 1946, 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 ...
was heralding the site as being "the World's largest and most powerful (shortwave) radio station". The main purpose of it was
shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...
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), ...
. The site was 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—p ...
(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) were known. A
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
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 A submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) is a ballistic missile capable of being launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), each of which carries a nuclear warhead ...
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. indicates a structure that h ...
. The transmitter went into service in 2001.


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 t ...
*
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. indicates a structure that h ...
*
List of radio stations in the United Kingdom This is a list of radio stations in the United Kingdom. National analogue and digital stations This list does not include stations which broadcast on numerous local digital multiplexes or MW licences to achieve near-national coverage. It also feat ...
*
List of VLF-transmitters A list of VLF-transmitters and LF-transmitters, which work or worked on frequencies below 100 kHz. List of VLF transmissions Demolished References {{Reflist Time signal radio stations Radio navigation Submarines Military radio sy ...


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