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.