Ox head antenna
Ochsenkopfantenne or simply Ochsenkopf was the colloquial term in the south of the GDR for a television antenna in private households intended to receive western television . The name comes from the Ochsenkopf , a mountain in the Fichtelgebirge .
West television reception
The first TV program of the ARD , broadcast by the local station Ochsenkopf of the Bavarian Radio, could also be received with this antenna in parts of the GDR (West Saxony , East Thuringia and in the south of today's Saxony-Anhalt , sometimes even in the so-called Valley of the Unsuspecting around Dresden) .
Due to the reception frequency in VHF band I in channel 4, the antenna elements were relatively long (> 2 m, see below) and because of the vertical polarization they had a typical appearance. At the same time, these antennas could also be used as auxiliary antennas for VHF broadcasting.
Also due to the locally quite large transmitter distance, even freely installed 3-element Yagi antennas and antenna groups consisting of two 3-element Yagi antennas often only offered good long-range reception temporarily or depending on the weather.
Industrial production in the GDR
These Yagi antennas were also manufactured industrially in the GDR by RFT and were freely available because in Calau from the Calau telecommunications tower there was also a TV station broadcast on channel 4. There were versions with one, two and three elements to buy.
DIY half-wave dipoles
It was also common to build these dipole antennas yourself . A half-wave dipole was z. B. made of two aluminum or copper pipes of equal length with a diameter of approx. 10-15 mm. Both pipes were axially connected to one another with an insulating spacer. The total length of both tubes and the spacer had to be around 2230 mm and could not have any axial offset. Better, because it was easier to implement, was to convert an FM antenna that is available everywhere. This was simply lengthened by screwing on two 35 cm long pieces of aluminum pipe of the same diameter and thus obtained the required total length of 2.23 m. For connection to the television receiver used was a commercially available symmetrical FM - strip line , which ended in the vicinity of the insulating part, on which a respective pipe to a pipe by clamping or soldering was attached.
The assembly of the pipes with the spacer was done vertically insulated, e.g. B. on a wooden roof rack in the floor chamber or on the back wall of a wall unit .
Both options often offered unsatisfactory reception conditions due to the insufficient free space around the antenna and the associated attenuation and field distortion.
State countermeasures and repression
In the 1960s, it initially led to repression against citizens when “ox heads” were discovered on the roof of their houses. As a result, the antennas were then hidden under the roof or in the apartments, but from the 1970s they were tolerated in private households. This toleration was unofficially (verbally) announced when Erich Honecker took over from the SED . The transmission signals from the transmitter from the Calau telecommunications tower on channel 4 also acted as jammers in some regions .
Antenna communities in the GDR
From 1970, the formation of local antenna communities was tolerated in regions with particularly difficult reception conditions. Interested citizens organized the construction of an antenna system on a favorable location (hill) and distributed the amplified signal to households by cable.
Many municipal and cooperative housing administrations also gave their tenants the opportunity to watch western television. However, initiative was required here. Most of the houses in the GDR were spoiled by numerous self-made west antennas. The reception of these channels in state institutions such as dormitories was officially prohibited and was also partially prevented with the help of blocking filters . Wherever reception was still possible, however, it was often tacitly tolerated. Many of these community antenna systems disappeared after reunification with the introduction of cable television by the Deutsche Bundespost.