Clarkestown radio transmitter

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The Clarkestown site

The longwave transmitter Clarkestown is a longwave transmitter near Clarkestown, County Meath, Ireland (see here for pictures). It is located in a field less than a kilometer south of the R156 regional road, 3 km (2 mi) east of the village of Summerhill. It was built in 1988 for the transmission of "Atlantic 252" on 252 kHz. The site has an ITU-cleared daytime transmission power of 500 kilowatts (100 Kw at night). It uses one 248-metre-high guyed steel framework mast with triangular cross section, which is insulated against ground. The transmitters are 2x300 kilowatt Continental Solid State built by Varian Associates of Dallas. The ground around the mast and the entire transmission site bed is lined with copper for conductivity.

Atlantic 252 was closed down on December 20th, 2001 and the transmitter was later taken over by RTÉ, an Irish national broadcaster. 252 kHz is now used for the AM version of RTÉ Radio 1, and will likely be the sole source of this after 24th March 2008[1], as the higher power, but lower range Tullamore transmitter on 567kHz is planned to be taken off air at that stage.

As of 2007, the transmitter carries a Digital Radio Mondiale multiplex overnight, featuring Radio 1, RTÉ Digital Radio Sport, RTÉ Digital Radio News and the World Radio Network before reverting to AM transmission for the day time.