The Sottens Transmitter is the nationwide transmitter for French-speaking

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The transmitter is located at

Sottens Sottens is a former municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is known for its radio transmitter for the French language Swiss radio, built in 1931. The municipalities of Villars-Tiercelin, Montaubio ...

Canton of Vaud Vaud ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...

. It is run on 765 kHz with a power of 600 kilowatts and is easily receivable during the night throughout the whole of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Since 1989 the aerial used has been a centre-fed dipole fixed on the outside of a 188-metre-high grounded freestanding steel framework tower. Before 1989 a 190-metre high self-radiating, free standing steel framework tower was used as a transmission aerial. The Sottens transmitter most recently broadcast the ''Option Musique'' radio programme from Radio Suisse Romande, up until 5 December 2010. There is also a 125 metre tall free-standing lattice tower on the site. This tower was built in 1931 as one of a pair, which until 1958 carried between them a T-antenna for medium wave broadcasting. The second tower was dismantled in that year and rebuilt in

Dole Dole may refer to: Places * Dole, Ceredigion, Wales * Dole, Idrija, Slovenia * Dole, Jura, France ** Arrondissement of Dole * Dole (Kladanj), a village at the entity line of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Republika Srpska * Dole, Ljubušk ...

as a TV transmission tower. This tower is insulated from ground to form a tower radiator and is used as backup antenna. After the shutdown of RSR on MW, the antenna was later used for

ham radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communic ...

experiments in February 2011, using both standard AM and

DRM DRM may refer to: Government, military and politics * Defense reform movement, U.S. campaign inspired by Col. John Boyd * Democratic Republic of Madagascar, a former socialist state (1975–1992) on Madagascar * Direction du renseignement milita ...

in the 80 m band.

External links

Sottens transmitter pictures
on emetteurs.ch * * http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b44084 * http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b57952

Retrieved 26 January 2006

Sottens Lattice towers Towers in Switzerland Buildings and structures in the canton of Vaud Broadcast transmitters 1931 establishments in Switzerland Towers completed in 1931 {{Europe-mast-stub

See also

External links