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Transmitter Site

Vectis Radio has been broadcasting since 2010, and for its first seven years, there was no transmitter site to worry about. The station simply broadcast from wherever the studio happened to be, starting at the Quay Arts Centre, then Newport Football Club, followed by three more Newport studios, before finally settling at the Riverside Centre, where our equipment is now based.

Then came the big moment. Ofcom gave us the green light to broadcast on FM, but that meant a new challenge. We needed a transmitter site, and not just anywhere. We needed somewhere high enough to give Vectis Radio the strongest possible signal across the Island.

The answer was St Georges Down, at Newport Golf Club. But a transmitter site is about far more than sticking a big aerial in the air and hoping people in Cowes can hear us. There is a whole world of technology, engineering and careful planning behind that signal, and now you are about to find out exactly what goes on behind the scenes.

First you need a place for the foundations to go

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200 Watts of power
TX Graphics
TX Contruction
First you need a place for the foundations to go

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Big thanks to David Parkinson, Graham Appell and Scott for carrying out the excavation, concrete preparation, groundworks and site preparation. The work took place during autumn 2017, ahead of our FM launch on November 4th. Getting the transmitter operational involved much more than installing the mast. We also had to install dedicated cabling, signal distribution equipment and other transmission hardware to establish a reliable link between the studio and transmitter, enabling Vectis Radio to broadcast on FM104.6.

The Foundations are down, now we need to erect the mast.

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FM Transmitter Ground
200 Watts of power
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Vectis Radio - Mast Erection1
The Hump with a bit of the Mast

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Big thanks to Chris Sullivan for driving up country and bringing back the mast to the Island and for being like Tarzan putting it together in some pretty strong winds. All the hard work and effort that you see is the work of volunteers and we will always be eternally grateful for support. Also the many people that have supported us with financial donations over the year, we originally needed £15000 for all the parts and then there was the Two Tons of Concrete for the mast foundations supplied by Wight Building Materials and Ron Bowler from Jewsons for supplying a digger and the original cherry picker.

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FM Transmitter Ground
200 Watts of power
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Vectis Radio - TX Contruction1
Small Rack in place for transmitter

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The original transmitter had a maximum licensed output power of 25 Watts, which from a technical and coverage perspective should have provided sufficient signal strength to cover Newport and the surrounding areas. That power level formed part of the original technical arrangement agreed with Ofcom and was specified as the permitted maximum on our broadcasting licence. The transmitter power, together with the approved antenna system, operating frequency and site characteristics, was intended to provide the licensed coverage area. Any significant reduction in effective radiated power could therefore have a direct impact on signal strength, coverage and reception, particularly in areas at the edge of the service area. The original coverage is shown in green but we had reports from listeners who were listening in Cowes, Lake and East Cowes and as far as Portsmouth and Southampton.

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FM Transmitter Ground
200 Watts of power
TX Contruction
5km radius

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After a few years of proving that we are worthy of our license we were invited to apply for more power, we applied and then after a period of time that seemed like an eternity we were granted 150 W of power which sounds very easy and almost like you just flick a switch, but it was nothing like we obviously had to get another transmitter that could handle the power in place. The only big problem on the horizon was it was during Covid time so we put together a plan so that people could be socially distanced whilst taking down the current mast and replacing it with a new one and all of this while trying to stay on the airwaves and socially distanced. Big thanks to David Parkinson who you can see up in the air on the cherry picker that was provided for the day by Island roads. Huge thanks to Island Roads and we have to say I don't really get the credit they deserve within our community. They do a lot more than people realise

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FM Transmitter Ground
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TX Contruction
Vectis Radio - Transmitter Upgrade66

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