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The town of Ilkeston is situated between the cities of Nottingham and Derby. It is on the western side of the M1 corridor in Derbyshire. It has a history of coal mining and steel production although in both cases that is not the case now. All local mines closed some years ago and although the Stanton Ironworks still exists the main area of production is now concrete pipes. There are some hosiery and knitwear factories in the area - a major one being the Charnos company.

From a TV and Radio perspective the area is not an easy one. The centre of the town is on a hill that shields parts from some of the available transmitters.

The main television transmitter covering the area is Waltham but this is not available clearly in some parts of the town notably those to the north and west of the town centre. This is particularly true of the new digital signals. To the west of the town it is usual to see aerials pointing towards the Sutton Coldfield Transmitter that is located on the outskirts of Birmingham. Technically the town is on the edge of the acceptable Sutton Coldfield signal area but never the less in many places the signal is strong. Recently, digital tv signals have improved as the transmitter power has been increased from 4KW to 8KW! However, the regional news service from Sutton Coldfield is from Birmingham so it is quite common for people to have two aerials on their roofs - one for Sutton Coldfield and one for Waltham.

In the south and east of the town Waltham is the more usual choice of transmitter offering as it does a good signal and programmes from the East Midlands both on BBC 1 and ITV 1. There is an alternative to this for some places and that is the Nottingham relay transmitter situated near to the adjacent town of Kimberley. The mast can be seen from Ilkeston and as the transmitter carries all the available analogue and digital services it is well used by some. However, some of the hills around the town shields it signals from certain areas including the one I live in.

In some favoured places it is possible to receive acceptable signals from the Belmont transmitter which offers the programmes of Yorkshire TV. There are not many of these aerials in Ilkeston but if you go 3 miles to the north to the town of Heanor you will find aerials for Waltham, Belmont, Emley Moor, Nottingham and Sutton Coldfield! It just depends where you live.

From a radio point of view the town receives good FM signals from Sutton Coldfield and Belmont. It is also easy to receive signals from a number of BBC and commercial radio stations. The list below is by no means complete.

BBC Radio Nottingham	103.8FM - Strong signal in all parts of the town.
BBC Radio Derby	104.5FM - Strong signal in most parts of the town
BBC Radio Leicester	Despite the distance this station comes in loud and clear.
Radio Trent	Good reception as with Radio Nottingham.
Ram FM	Reasonable reception.
Century 106	Good signal strength throughout the East Midland area. This is a regional station. 106FM
SAGA 106.6	Very good reception from the Waltham Transmitter of this East Midland version of SAGA FM. There is also a relay fro Derby on 101.4 which is receivable in Ilkeston as well.
SAGA 105.7	Satisfactory to poor reception - the station is really designed for the Birmingham area.
BBC Radio Sheffield	Weak signal.
Oak FM	Reasonable signal from this station which really serves Loughborough.
Peak FM	Reasonable signal from this station based in Chesterfield.
BBC National Radio	Strong signals on all channels from Sutton Coldfield.
Classic FM	Good quality music and reception
Lincs FM	102.2 FM - A weak signal from the Belmont transmitter.
Erewash Sound	96.8FM Strong in Ilkeston but not in Long Eaton.
Amber Sound	Broadcasts across the Amber Valley from Ripley. Quite a good signal in most of Ilkeston

BBC Radio Nottingham	Fairly poor reception as the transmitter is near Mansfield.
BBC Radio Derby	Reasonably good reception.
GEM AM	Classic Pop music. Satisfactory reception.
Virgin Radio	Good reception from the transmitter situated about 2 miles outside Ilkeston.
Talk Sport	Satisfactory reception during the day but relatively poor at night.
BBC Radio 4	Good reception from the Long Wave transmitter. 198 Khz.

Transmissions of the BBC and Digital 1 services are received in the main from the Sutton Coldfield transmitter although in some parts of the town Digital 1 is received from Waltham. With a good aerial it is also possible to receive transmissions from a number of local and regional stations. From my location I can receive the following using an in the loft 3 element Band 3 aerial.

In 2004 the new Nottingham local DAB service began from the Mapperley transmitter and Waltham. These provide a good quality signal over much of the city of Nottingham and the County. Unfortunately in Ilkeston the signal is often marginal due to the hills around. However a satisfactory signal can be received using an outdoor or loft mounted aerial. The DAB service is:

Sutton Coldfield	All analogue and digital services available.	Town is on edge of the service area but strong signals are to be found in many parts. 11 to 18 element aerials are common.
Waltham	All analogue and digital services available.	There is a strong signal on the east of the town. 11 to 18 element aerials are the norm.
Nottingham	All analogue and digital services available.	An increasing number of vertical wideband aerials are appearing to provide the required digital signals.
Belmont	Analogue services are available in some areas of the town but the digital service does not stretch this far.	Only a few aerials for this transmitter can be seen in the town and they all have mast head boosters.
Emley Moor	Possible to receive weak analogue signals.	A rare sight in the town but there is at least one.