Hillsborough
Sheffield
S6 2LL
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Tel : 0114 285 4254
Luckily the channel planners were able to fit all the Digital MUXES within the B group, which was Emley`s original analogue group, so an aerial change should not be necessary to receive all the
Freeview channels. Furthermore those in poor reception areas can take advantage of the superior performance of an B group aerial over a wideband.
For Emley Moor we recommend the DM log for strong signal areas, the Log 40 for medium signal areas, the Yagi18B for outdoor installs in poor signal areas,the XB10B for loft installations in poor signal areas, and the XB16B for those with the most marginal signals. Unless you have a massive loft we`d normally recommend an XB10B for loft installs (over an XB16) due to smaller size of the former aerial. The dimensions and test performance of the aerials can be found on the relevant tables.
As one travels North on the M1 Emley is on the left. Whenever I return back home from a long journey, I find the sight of Emley somewhat comforting, I know there isn`t long to go now ! Incidentally, this stretch of the M1 was opened in 1968, doesn`t time fly.....
Emley Moor`s population coverage is the fourth highest of any UK transmitter at about 4 million people and its signals are received in many large towns/cities including Sheffield, Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and Doncaster.
Location of Emley Moor
transmitter`s
This picture was taken from near the National Coal Mining Museum which is definitely worth a visit, and it`s free !
Emley Moor television transmitter, all 1084ft of it...... The structure may look solid * but according to someone who works there it sways in the wind and this can sometimes induce sea sickness to those working in the microwave link room when gales are about ! Incidentally the structure is designed to withstand winds of up to 150 mph.
* The foundations consist of a solid concrete annulus of 8.2m width and 6.1m depth with a thickness of 4.3m and that`s a lot of concrete.......
See Emley`s height in relation to other transmitters, and Emley v Belmont v Taipei 101.
Emley Moor TV transmitter as you`ve never seen it before.......
The ring marks in the concrete will be noted, this is where the shuttering was used to build the structure. Because the tower is tapered the shuttering`s diameter had to be reduced each time a new (higher) section was added.
The whole structure weighs 11200 tons.
Note that Emley Moor is not a “mast” because it`s a self supporting structure, it`s actually a “tower”. Masts are cable stayed, like Winter Hill for example.
Top of Emley Moor transmitter showing the microwave link room, also note the spiral structure at the top to deflect wind upwards.
The link room is at 262m and one (of the two) lifts goes straight to this level. Despite this it still takes seven (seven ! ) minutes to do so. The other lift provides engineers access to all the different levels, but you could always use the ladder(s), with a total of 865 rungs......
Emley Moor by night. Note the red glow, of the top navigation light, on the cloud just above the transmitter. Picture dedicated to my wife who was getting impatient as I farted about with exposure settings etc....
Emley Moor transmitter from Shelley station on the Kirklees Light Railway.
The latter is a 15” gauge line built on the trackbed of the ex branch line to Clayton
West which was originally built by the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1879 but
closed in 1983. The KLR was opened in stages from 1991 to 1996 and the loco shown
is Hawk which is an 0-
Emley Moor`s Channel Allocations* (above)
Note the gaps in the table below for channels 31 to 37 and 61 to 68, they`re reserved for “other uses”........
Also check Emley Moor`s fifty six small repeaters.
The frequencies given are for (most) digital MUXES, for analogue channels deduct 3MHz.
* There are a few retune events (temporary MUX reallocations) just before and after DSO which may not be shown on these tables.
Emley Moor`s channels in relation to the UHF TV band and the gain curves of the aerials we recommend for it. DM Log Log40 Yagi18B XB10B XB16B
Also see other relevant B group curves.
There`s tall and there`s tall....
Well Emley Moor is pretty high, to be honest I wouldn`t really want to clean the windows on the microwave link room, but Belmont is taller (385m as originally built) and the “Taipei 101” [509m] makes them both look like midgets....
The three of them are pictured in scale, more or less, on the right.
Until the Burj Dubai (828m) was completed in Jan 2010 the Taipei 101 in Taiwan was the tallest building in the world, and it`s bleedin` huge. My wife and I went up it and unsurprisingly the lifts are the worlds fastest (at 38mph..) and it only took 37 seconds to get to the 89th floor !
Also see Transmitters In Proportion,
Incidentally we only went to Taiwan because we got a cheap flight to Australia via Taipei and we broke the journey there, but we really liked it. It`s a fascinating country (a cross between Japan and
China ? ) but the best thing about it is the people have got to be some of the friendliest I`ve ever met. It`s like a huge National Trust property in that everyone is so nice to everyone else !
External Links
Emley Moor page at The Big Tower
Digital UK Emley Moor transmitter
Radiation patterns of Emley Moor`s proposed interleaved spectrum channels
Emley Moor has fifty six (including Sheffield and Chesterfield) small repeaters to improve its signal coverage, particularly in the hilly areas of the Pennines.
For Emley`s frequencies see its channel allocation guide. This also includes the same data for Bilsdale, Belmont, Waltham, Sutton Coldfield, Chesterfield, Sheffield, Idle, Keighley and Beecroft Hill. This information can be useful for suggesting alternative transmitters should Emley prove problematic.
The channel allocation guides can also be very useful in the diagnosis of co-
There are two interleaved spectrum channels allocated to Emley Moor, CH 45 and CH
56, which are both more or less within the previously announced post DSO group. In
addition there is a possibility of 2 or 3 more MUXES being transmitted between CHs
31 and 37, but all of these can be picked up by (decent) B group aerials. It must
be admitted that at CH56 a B group may be a little down in gain on some widebands,
but it should still be working reasonably well up there. This may not apply to some
cheap crappy B group Contract aerials. It will be noted that anything on CH56 would
have co-
Emley tower is the tallest free standing structure in the UK at 328m (a.g.l), that`s 1084 ft.
Incidentally, how high is high ?
And how long would it take for a spanner, dropped off Emley tower, to hit the ground ? ! ?
The very first Emley Moor transmitter was a steel lattice tower built in 1956 to broadcast ITV on the old 405 line VHF system, and as such it worked in tandem with the original Holme Moss mast, which transmitted the BBC (only one programme, BBC2 didn`t start till 1964) on VHF until 1984. Duplicated transmitters were/are also used at Sutton Coldfield / Lichfield, Crystal Palace / Croydon and Pontop Pike / Burnhope amongst others. This 1956 structure was rebuilt at Craigkelly in 1971 to provide UHF TV to SE Scotland.
The next transmitter, built in 1966, was a cable stayed mast [the same design as Belmont] built by BICC. This mast was even taller than the present structure at 385m, but this infamously blew down in 1969. One theory was that a weak point in the design was found wanting by the unprecedented weather. Others speculated that there was so much ice on the cable stays that the weight broke them, after that the mast was doomed.... It had only been up for 3 years ! A team of Polish riggers were bought in to erect a temporary mast, apparently they were the only people who were willing to work in the winter conditions prevailing at the time, and the replacement mast began transmitting just 3 days and 23 hours later, impressive......
The present Emley Moor tower started transmissions on the 21 Jan 1971 and it is an elegant tapered concrete structure. In fact, to many people, Emley is iconic and fully deserving of the Grade 2 listed status it received in 2002. Just like the previous transmitters it is situated about half way between Huddersfield and Barnsley. This area of high ground is perfect for RF (Radio Frequency) transmission and both Holme Moss and Moorside Edge transmitters are visible (SW and WNW respectively) from the site. Emley Moor was originally owned by the ITA (Independent Television Authority) then it was sold off to NTL and finally to Arquiva (sic).
Emley Moor Transmitter OS Grid Ref SE 222 128
Note, as work takes place on various digital transmitters (to prepare for the DSO) you may experience problems, e.g. with certain MUXES disappearing. First try rescanning your TV / set top box (do it manually if possible), but if this fails to work check on transmitter work or call the reception advice phone numbers. Also see basic digital fault finding.
Switchover occurred at Emley Moor between the 7 and the 21 of September 2011.
Emley is a powerful transmitter, in fact it`s the the 6th most powerful transmitter in the whole of the UK.
Note the huge power increase after the digital switchover.
Emley Moor`s MUXES 4 to 6 will suffer a slight reduction in error correction data from the 31 Jan 12.
Emley Moor is a B group and all aerials on it should be horizontally polarised.
You can confirm if you are on Emley if you receive your local Calendar news from Leeds, rather than from Hull (which would be from Belmont).
Ofcom report Emley`s digital output as being essentially omnidirectional, which is somewhat surprising because there are hardly any people living to the SW of it !
We are more than willing to give advice to those actually purchasing from us. Could those only seeking information please just find the answer somewhere on this site, or ring an aerial installer local to them, or call the reception advice phone numbers.
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