OMEGA broadcaster Bratland
The OMEGA transmitter Bratland was one of the eight stations of the OMEGA navigation system and went into operation as one of the first in 1966.
He used two ropes as a transmitting antenna, which were stretched over the Aldrasund : They were 3500 meters and 3300 meters long and weighed 17.5 t and 16.8 t respectively. The ropes were attached to a steel lattice tower on the island of Aldra , the construction of which corresponded to the overhead line masts for large spans in Norway, while on the Norwegian mainland a massive anchor block on the Liatind mountain was used for attachment. From these two ropes led over several pulleys to the winch house in order to be able to lower the antenna system for maintenance purposes if necessary. To keep the height of the antenna constant, it was stretched over a counterweight of 10 tons. The counterweight ran on rails on the outside of a 60 meter high steel lattice tower and was connected to the antenna via a cable with several pulleys. There was also a heliport on the Liatind, as the construction of a road would have been far too complex because of the steep terrain. There was also a shelter there in case of sudden bad weather.
The transmitter had an output of 300 kW, but despite the large antenna only about 10 kW were emitted. In the first years of operation, the transmitter caused major disruptions in the power grid. The OMEGA transmitter Bratland was shut down together with the other OMEGA transmitters on September 30, 1997 and then the technical equipment (including the antenna) was dismantled. The anchor block on the Liatind, the foundations for the pulleys, the voting house and the broadcasting building still exist today.
Web links
- Samferdselsdepartementet, Norwegian text
- Ronald Kjærsund: OMEGA NORGE - stasjon Bratland. Norwegian text
- Image of the steel lattice tower on Aldra
Coordinates: 66 ° 25 ′ 15 ″ N , 13 ° 9 ′ 2 ″ E