History
Mendlesham was an early ITA television transmitter, entering service in October 1959. The Post Office shared the broadcast mast initially - the "network" feed was a 2 GHz link (one-way) from London terminating at Stoke Holy Cross and continuing to the Anglia studios in Norwich via cable. The programme feed was then routed back via Stoke Holy Cross to the Mendlesham transmitter. A return route to London was not provided until some years later.
The Post Office subsequently built a separate site on the opposite side of the main road. BT Archives has photos of the "standard tower" being assembled in 1967. A building of the by-then conventional type was also provided. The tower lacks the "steps" to support horn antennas and 1970s photos show only dishes. Separation from the broadcast site may have been with a view to expansion and general purpose use by the Post Office. Mendlesham was not selected as a site for UHF television and in later years the programme feed was more likely via off-air reception of Tacolneston. The links between London and the Anglia studios (in both directions) however continued to pass through the PO Mendlesham site along with other traffic. This included the Linesman/Mediator link from Neatishead to West Drayton together with general telephony traffic.
Mendlesham was, however, used extensively for experimental work. A spur was added to serve the Post Office Research Laboratory which moved to Martlesham in the 1970s. The site was used for propogation studies in "upper" bands including 27, 36 and 47 GHz and later for comparison of digital modulation systems over a link to Swaffham. BT network diagrams from the mid-1980s show several TV circuits running between Martlesham and London, some of which were used for experimental satellite TV broadcasting. By 2007 the structure was effectively empty.
