Clairmont Cairn photos
Brian Butterworth published on UK Free TV Jordy writes:
I suppose a bit of explanation is in order...
Clermont Carn for those who know the area and for the benefit of others who do not... Is a transmitter located in Louth a stones throw from the UK border. The transmitters at the Clermont Carn site are the ultimate border blasters. Putting a serious power into Northern Ireland. Picked as far west as Omagh, as far north as Ballymoney and if it wasn't for the granite butress of the Mourne Mountains i would estimate would comfortably cover most of Northern Ireland. The down side of the Mourne Mountains as beautiful as they are, a complete nightmare for television signals causing severe multipath. Clermont on a whole is picked in North Wales, Isle of Man, parts of Scotland and was regularly used in parts of Merseyside and the Wirral. The transmitters are officially located at Black Mountain but the site's given name is RTE Clermont Carn...
There are 31 images in total...
From the first few pictures you can two structures, 1 tower and 1 mast. Newly built. The tower or half a tower is the original structure and is in the near future to be de-commissioned... The four white paneled aerials are for a filler service, there are broadband panels designed for use in the C/D grouping. These panels tx signal over towards Kilkeel which suffers from an intentional null to stop signal drift across the Irish Sea. Useful when high pressure conditions cause havoc with rf signals. The four tier panel array has an rds uhf whip aerial above it for telemetry and off air monitoring purposes.
There is a single solitary broadband panel which is acting as a filler due to the changes in the beam tilt with the taller mast. Lingering amongst the iron mess of various vhf aerials now defunct. There is two dab aerials pointing south wards, which i can only assume or also defunct after band 3 transmissions were moved to the new mast.
You will see in later images 4 yagi type aerials with shrouds attached, some believe they are to protect the sensitive aerials. They aren't there purpose is to dampen the transmission effects. The front lobe of the aerials in that array causes a nulling effect and stops unwanted RF traveling any great distance. The four aerials were used during a DTT trial from Clermont Carn, they were clearly concerned with the analogue 1/10 of the dtt that co channel inteference was a huge problem. The spacing in that array suggests side lobe protection was taken seriously...
If there are any questions are you want to add anything to what i've written please free... The map is based on the original analogue output projections and as industrycynic quite rightly pointed out is rather pointless with the height of the new mast and gain of the new antenna, there is a newer map on the BCI website...
Here is the complete set of images taken at Clermont Carn
1:29 PM
I remember the time ewhen this transmitter was under construction the dark ages prevailed in some Northern Ireland communities.Unionist politicians complained that this transmitter would be used to broadcast relublican propaganda into N. Ireland.Ian Paisley was among the first to avail of free Irish tv.No objection has been raised to the proposed direct DTT broadcasting of RTE and TG4 into N.Ireland under the GoodFriday agreement.Good to know that the dark ages are over and people of all backgrounds are looking forward to receiving Irish tv.
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6:33 PM
Cardiff
Is it practical to view Irish DTT(e.g. Saorview) in South Wales, or is that wishful thinking? What about on satellite(RTE,TV3,etc.)?
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Tim's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tim: You might, if you have Freeview HD (or BT Vision) and happen to be in the right place, say Fishguard, you might get a signal.
The Saorview satellite service isn't going to be on the same satellites as used for UK services, so you would be able to get it, having a suitable dish and receiver, but you can't just add it to a Sky/Freesat setup.
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4:31 PM
Re. the explanatory text for the photos: those 4 log periodic aerials (not 'Yagi type') for the supposed 'DTT trial', appear to be pointing in a northerly direction, so who was monitoring this 'trial'?
Also, the shrouds *are* for weather protection & possible protection from precipitation-static, especially if used for rx purposes.
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