Les Platons

Les Platons
Highest point
Elevation136 m (446 ft)[1]
Prominence136 m (446 ft)[1]
ListingHardy
Coordinates49°14′52.05″N 2°06′17.43″W / 49.2477917°N 2.1048417°W / 49.2477917; -2.1048417
Geography
Les Platons is located in Channel Islands
Les Platons
Les Platons

Les Platons is the highest point of Jersey, a British Crown dependency, with an elevation of 136 metres (446 ft). It is located in the Vingtaine de la Ville-à-l'Évêque in the parish of Trinity.

There are radio transmitters,[2] and a radar station located at Les Platons.[3]

In October 1955, Les Platons was used as a site for a television transmitter to bring BBC Television (later renamed BBC One) transmissions to the Channel Islands. It transmitted BBC Television on the VHF 405 line service on channel 4 from Monday 3 October 1955.[4] From 1955, the site was also used to bring the BBC national radio stations to the Channel Islands. Before 1955 the Channel Islands had no transmitters, and received radio transmissions of the BBC national radio stations from mainland England.[5]

The BBC started FM transmissions on 16 October 1961 from Les Platons, of the Home, Light and Third Programmes (had started in the UK in the mid-to-late 1950s). Later this became 91.1 as Radio 2 (with occasional Radio 1), 94.75 as Radio 3 (later rounded up to 94.8), and 97.1 as Radio 4.[5]

The Fremont Point transmitter about 2 km west of Les Platons would go on the air in September 1962 bringing Independent Television (ITV) to the Channel Islands for the first time in the form of the ITV franchise Channel Television. In due course Fremont Point became the main television transmitter site for the Channel Islands. It started broadcasting UHF 625 television in 1976 along with the introduction for the first time of BBC2 and colour television to the Channel Islands.[5]

Les Platons television transmissions ceased in 1985 when the old VHF 405 line transmissions ceased in the UK. From 1985 onwards, Les Platons has been a radio transmitter site only.[5][6][failed verification]

  1. ^ a b "Ascent of Jersey High Point on 2009-09-12" Peakbagger.com. Sources vary on the elevation of Les Platons. Its height is often listed at 143 m, as well as 136 m. Retrieved 2012-06-23.
  2. ^ "mb21 - The Transmission Gallery". tx.mb21.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 June 2010.
  3. ^ "Jersey airport to replace radar". 6 July 2011 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  4. ^ "TheBigTower Les Platons Transmitter". www.thebigtower.com.
  5. ^ a b c d "History". Jersey Wavelength. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
  6. ^ "UK Radio History 2, Post war BBC & Pirate Radio, Radio Luxembourg". Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2015.