  Orfordness transmitting station (Suffolk) | |
| Location | Orford Ness, Suffolk, England |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°06′03″N 1°34′22″E / 52.1007°N 1.5728°E |
| Grid reference | TM448507 |
| Built | 1970s |
1.2miles
National Nature
Reserve
station
Island (RSPB)
The Orfordness transmitting station was a major radio broadcasting facility at Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast in the United Kingdom able to broadcast to much of Europe. It closed in May 2012 after more than 30 years of service. In 2017 Radio Caroline started broadcasting from the site, though not with the same intended coverage of an audience in Europe as the original station.
The station was designed to transmit powerful medium wave (AM) signals to much of Europe on two frequencies, 648 and 1296 kHz. Built by the British government, the facility passed through various owners after privatisation in 1997. From 2010, it was owned by a large engineering and defence services company, the Babcock International Group. The current owner of the site is a telecommunications company called Cobra Mist Limited, set up in 2015.[2]
Over the years, the Orfordness station carried a variety of radio services. It was best known, particularly in the UK, for transmitting the BBC World Service in English around the clock on 648 kHz from September 1982 until March 2011.
The station's name is written as one word while that of the shingle spit on which it sits is two words.
- ^ "Orfordness Visitor Map". National Trust. 2018. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ Update on Orford Ness Article on the station by Alan Pennington and Dave Kenny in Communication, monthly journal of the British DX Club, September 2016.