Weiskirchen transmitter, is a

mediumwave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...

broadcasting tower in

Weiskirchen Weiskirchen is a municipality in the district Merzig-Wadern, in Saarland, Germany. It is situated in the Hunsrück, approx. 20 km northeast of Merzig, and 25 km southeast of Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in Englis ...

, Germany. It is the property of

Hessischer Rundfunk Hessischer Rundfunk (HR; "Hesse Broadcasting") is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting, public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, ...

. It was built in 1967

Frequency and transmission diagrams

The Weiskirchen transmitter broadcast on a

frequency Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...

a 594 kHz. Until the conversion of medium-wave transmission frequencies to by nine divisible kilohertz values, its transmission frequency was 593 kHz. Until 1994 the transmitting power was 400 kW. In 1994, it was reduced to 300 kW. Weiskirchen transmitter has a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna which radiates or receives greater power in specific directions allowing increased performance and reduced interference from unwanted sources. Directional antennas provide increased performance ...

, which consists of two 126.5-metre-tall guyed lattice steel mast radiators (coordinates: and ) insulated against ground. As opposed to other

guyed masts A guy-wire, guy-line, guy-rope, or stay, also called simply a guy, is a tensioned cable designed to add stability to a free-standing structure. They are used commonly for ship masts, radio masts, wind turbines, utility poles, and tents. A thin ...

used for medium wave transmission, its guys are not partitioned with

insulators Insulator may refer to: * Insulator (electricity), a substance that resists electricity ** Pin insulator, a device that isolates a wire from a physical support such as a pin on a utility pole ** Strain insulator, a device that is designed to work ...

. Instead they are grounded over coils situated directly close to the anchor block, which are so tuned, that high frequency currents in the guys are as low as possible. The Weiskirchen transmitter forms together with

Hoher Meissner transmitter Hoher Meissner transmitter is a facility for FM and TV broadcasting on Hoher Meissner mountain in Northern Hesse. The transmitter was inaugurated in 1952. The mediumwave transmission at the transmitter used a 150 metre tall guyed steel-tube mast ...

a single frequency network. The directive pattern of the transmitter has a maximum toward northwest and two minima pointing toward northeast and southeast. By regulation of the feeding power for each mast, the directivity pattern can be changed, in cooperation with Hoher Meissner transmitter the maximum even to the east.

Operation

A signal is transmitted by cable from the studio in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

to Weiskirchen transmitter. The transmitter uses two

water-cooled Cooling tower and water discharge of a nuclear power plant Water cooling is a method of heat removal from components and industrial equipment. Evaporative cooling using water is often more efficient than air cooling. Water is inexpensive and non ...

final stages, which are switched in parallel, in order to avoid a complete transmitter failure in case of a failure of a single tube. The power supply takes place under normal conditions from the local electricity 20kV grid. As backup, there is a

Diesel generator A diesel generator (DG) (also known as a diesel Genset) is the combination of a diesel engine with an electric generator (often an alternator) to generate electrical energy. This is a specific case of engine generator. A diesel compression- ...

, which starts in a period of 10 to 20 seconds. The current for starting the generator is supplied by a small accumulator unit, which is connected automatically at power failure. If the Diesel generator is used as power source, transmission power is reduced to 100 kW.

Program Supply

Weiskirchen and Hoher Meissner supplied without frequency shift mobile receivers as car radios with the first program of the Hessian Broadcasting Company. Until 1989 this program was predominantly radiated due to the large range of mediumwaves in the night hours by change of the directivity patterns of both transmitters towards east. Today the broadcast program is mainly the news program HR info. Between 19-22 o'clock programmes for foreign workers are transmitted. It is also used for the transmission of debates of the

Bundestag The Bundestag (, "Federal Diet") is the German federal parliament. It is the only federal representative body that is directly elected by the German people. It is comparable to the United States House of Representatives or the House of Commons ...

and the Hessian federal state parliament or for other special life reports as live reports from soccer matches. It was planned to convert the Weiskirchen transmitter to

digital broadcasting Digital broadcasting is the practice of using digital signals rather than analogue signals for broadcasting over radio frequency bands. Digital television broadcasting (especially satellite television) is widespread. Digital audio broadcasting is ...

by using DRM transmissions.

References

External links

Transmission mast of Weiskirchen transmitter
a
Skyscraperpage

Transmission mast of Weiskirchen transmitter
a
Skyscraperpage
* {{Structurae, id=20011476, title=Weiskirchen Transmission Tower * http://www.waniewski.de/id238.htm Radio masts and towers in Germany Radio masts and towers in Europe Buildings and structures in Merzig-Wadern 1967 establishments in West Germany Towers completed in 1967