Divis transmitting station
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| Location | Hannahstown, County Antrim |
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| Mast height | 141.7 metres (465 ft) |
| Coordinates | 54°36′27″N 6°00′34″W / 54.6075°N 6.0094°WCoordinates: 54°36′27″N 6°00′34″W / 54.6075°N 6.0094°W |
| Grid reference | NW4111830995 |
| BBC region | BBC Northern Ireland |
| ITV region | UTV |
| Local TV service | NVTV |
Divis transmitting station is the main high-power UHF and BBC National FM/DAB station that serves County Antrim and parts of County Down.
Situated just outside Belfast, it is the primary UHF/FM main station in Northern Ireland and was originally Northern Ireland's main BBC 405-line television transmitter, coming into operation in this capacity on 21 July 1955. As such, it was the first permanent television transmitter to be established within the island of Ireland.
Although one of three UHF main stations in Northern Ireland, it is the only one to feature a stayed mast, the other stations at Brougher Mountain and Limavady both utilising smaller self-supporting towers. Stayed masts are however located at the UHF relay stations at Londonderry and Strabane (respectively former BBC and ITA 405-line relays) and at Black Mountain, the former ITA 405-line main station and current transmitter of Channel 5 that is sited adjacent to Divis. It is owned and operated by Arqiva.
The Divis station is located in a range of hills directly overlooking Belfast from the west, in an area which for many years was controlled by the Ministry of Defence, until it was sold in 2004 to the National Trust and subsequently opened to the public. It is sited between the peaks of Divis Mountain and Black Mountain and is ironically closer to the latter than the transmitter that is named after it.
Divis was opened by the BBC on 21 July 1955 as their permanent 405-line Band I transmission facility serving Northern Ireland. It superseded the temporary station at Glencairn, which was one of two transmitters (the other being Pontop Pike) to be rushed into operation on 1 May 1953, in time for the televised Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Although the BBC had by this time already obtained the Divis site, the need to construct the long access road was the primary factor preventing its immediate use for a provisional installation.
Divis was designated as a medium-power transmitter, on which type of installation the second phase of BBC Band I stations were based. In this respect, Divis was grouped with permanent installations at Meldrum, North Hessary Tor, Pontop Pike, Rowridge, Sandale and Tacolneston. Transmissions from Divis were on VHF Channel 1 at a peak output of 35 kW vision e.r.p.
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