Rhine transmitter

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Rhine transmitter
Image of the object
Steel lattice tower for VHF (photo March 2013)
Basic data
Place: Wolfsheim
Country: Rhineland-Palatinate
Country: Germany
Altitude : 258  m above sea level NHN
Coordinates: 49 ° 52 ′ 42.2 "  N , 8 ° 3 ′ 3.7"  E
Use: Telecommunication system
Accessibility: Transmission system not accessible to the public
Owner : Südwestrundfunk
Data on the transmission system
Height of the towers / masts : 102  m
Construction time: 2003
Operating time: since 2003
Last modification (transmitter) : March 2013
Waveband : FM transmitter
Radio : VHF broadcasting
Position map
Rhine transmitter (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Rhine transmitter
Rhine transmitter
Localization of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany

The Rheinsender is a transmitter of the Südwestrundfunk for VHF radio near Wolfsheim in the Mainz-Bingen district . Until January 8, 2012, the Rhine transmitter was also used for medium wave broadcasting . Between September 2005 and September 17, 2008 it was also broadcast in Digital Radio Mondiale mode. The 150 m high mast was the tallest structure in Rheinhessen until it was blown up on February 19, 2013 .

history

After the Second World War, there was little technical infrastructure in the French occupation zone . In Rheinland-Pfalz ( transmitter Kaiserslautern and transmitter Koblenz ), Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern existing medium-wave transmitter could the zone area, because of the low transmission power, especially supply inadequately day.

The French military administration entrusted with the Regulations 187 and 188 of the High Commissioner of the French occupation zone the newly founded Südwestfunk both the program authority and the broadcasting authority - previously lay the responsibility for the transmission facilities at the post office. The Rheinsender thus became the first major project of Südwestfunk and went on air on May 15, 1950 with a power of 120 kW.

At the inauguration ceremony, which only took place on October 28, the then French High Commissioner André François-Poncet and SWF Director Friedrich Bischoff , as well as Rhineland-Palatinate Prime Minister Peter Altmeier were present. In the inauguration speech, Altmeier specified the ideas and wishes of the three state governments.

"Since the broadcasting area of ​​the Südwestfunk (...) is not just a single country, but 3 countries, this new legal basis must be created through the conclusion of international treaties between the 3 participating countries (...). We are unanimous in rejecting any kind and form of state centralism. We want cultural life to develop freely. We therefore welcome the idea of ​​cultural self-government in the field of broadcasting as well. But this concept of self-administration includes (...) the need for state supervision in broadcasting too. It will therefore be necessary to regulate in the interstate treaties the corresponding limitations of responsibility between state supervision and the freedom of self-administration. "

- Peter Altmeier : October 28, 1950

The Rheinsender served from 1950 to 1998 to broadcast the first program of Südwestfunk Baden-Baden on the medium wave frequency 1016 kHz or ( since 1978 ) 1017 kHz. SWR1 Rhineland-Palatinate was broadcast on the same frequency from 1998 to 2002 , followed by SWR cont.ra from 2002 to 2012.

In November 1955 the transmitter was assigned the following FM frequencies and channels:

  • Channel 33: 96.9 MHz
  • Channel 41: 99.3 MHz

Transmission masts

Mast 1 and Mast 2 (1950–2013)

Rhine transmitter in July 2011: transmission tower for VHF and MW (left), mast 2 for MW (center), the transmitter building in the background on the right. The small tower on the right is a cell phone tower.
Antenna system of the Rhine transmitter before the demolition of tubular steel mast 2 in February 2013: mast 2 (middle) for medium wave, steel lattice tower with trap antenna (right) for VHF and medium wave and cell phone tower (in the background left) (photo from February 28, 2009).

The medium wave transmitter started on May 15, 1950 on the frequency 1016 kHz with 70 kW power. Up until February 26, 2002, two 150 m high tubular steel masts, insulated from the ground, were used as transmitting antennas. Both transmission masts were equipped with an isolating isolator in the construction and could be fed twice. This made it possible to use it as a transmission antenna to reduce fading . The use of two transmitter masts provided directional radiation for the required masking in a south-easterly direction during the night. Over the years, the transmission power has been gradually increased to 600 kW. The medium wave of the Rhine transmitter had a range during the dark hours of the day as far as Morocco and Tunisia in North Africa .

After the power was reduced to 100 or 150 kW in the mid-1990s, permanent operation with omnidirectional radiation from transmitter mast 2 was possible. Mast 1, which is no longer required, was blown up on February 26, 2002.

The medium-wave transmitter was finally switched off and shut down on January 8, 2012 at 11 p.m. after the regular broadcasting deadline by SWR cont.ra , as the SWR judged its medium-wave broadcasting to be too cost-intensive. Instead, the SWR wants to concentrate on building a nationwide coverage of its programs in Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate via DAB + .

Mast 2 was brought down on February 19, 2013 between 12:15 and 13:15 with a targeted explosive charge on two of the six guy ropes . Before that, the radio amateurs of the Mainz local association in the German Amateur Radio Club had the opportunity to feed it with radio energy for the last time from January 25 to 27, 2013, in order to be able to take part in a global competition. The SWR supported the campaign by attaching fastenings for the more than 160 meter long directional antenna that was built for this purpose.

Mast 3

In addition to the two 150 m high masts 1 and 2, there was another 114 m high guyed tubular steel mast, insulated from the ground, which was located directly next to the transmitter building. This mast served as a reserve antenna for medium waves. He also broadcast the SWR4 program on FM until the end of 2003. From 2005, a DRM test operation on the frequency 1485 kHz took place over this mast. This DRM broadcast had to be stopped in 2008 due to technical defects in the broadcasting system. The mast and the DRM transmitter technology, which were functionless from this point in time, were dismantled in 2010. The latter was transported to the medium-wave transmitter in Heilbronn-Obereisesheim at the end of May 2010 and put back into operation there.

Current transmission tower since 2003

Steel lattice tower for VHF and medium wave in 2011. The trestle ropes of the medium wave reserve antenna were attached to the red cantilever ring of the tower (attached to about 4/5 of its total height)

In December 2003, a grounded, free-standing, 102 m high steel lattice tower was erected on the site of transmitter mast 1, which was demolished in 2002, from which SWR4 Rhineland-Palatinate's program has been broadcast with 5 kW since 2004 on the VHF frequency 94.9 MHz . Previously, this VHF broadcast was via the 114 m reserve mast for medium wave. The transmission tower, newly built in 2003, was retrofitted in 2004 with a trap antenna as a medium-wave reserve antenna. They could broadcast analogue with 100 or 150 kW on the frequency 1017 kHz. After the medium wave operation from this transmitter location was completely stopped in 2012, the trap antenna became superfluous and was dismantled at the beginning of March 2013.

In the vicinity of the facility there is a free-standing steel lattice tower for directional and mobile communications from a telecommunications service provider.

Infrastructure building

Rear view of the transmitter building from the Rhine transmitter. The cuboid building in the center of the picture is the cooling tower. The buildings were demolished between November 2013 and January 2014.

The transmission masts included the transmission technology building, which contained a power supply, as well as workshops, social rooms and a company apartment, and there was a cooling tower to dissipate the heat generated. In the early years there were two fountain basins in front of the representative entrance building, which were used for cooling. These were later removed as more efficient cooling methods existed. The representative buildings and the company apartment were demolished in November 2013, and in January 2014 the cuboid cooling tower as well. In 2015, an agricultural facility will be built on the transmitter site.

Frequencies and Programs

In operation

Analog radio (FM)

Frequency  
(MHz) 		program RDS PS RDS PI Regionalization ERP  
(kW) 		Antenna pattern
round (ND) / directional (D) 		Polarization
horizontal (H) / vertical (V)
94.9 SWR4 Rhineland-Palatinate SWR4_MZ_ DAA4 Mainz 5 ND H

Switched off

Analog radio (MW)

Frequency  
(kHz) 		program Regionalization ERP  
(kW) 		Antenna pattern
round (ND) / directional (D) 		Polarization
horizontal (H) / vertical (V)
1017 SWR cont.ra - 100 ND V

Digital radio

It was broadcast via DRM between 2005 and 2008. First Dasding (1/3) and then SWR cont.ra (2/3 of the period) was broadcast on the frequency 1485 kHz with a transmission power of 0.42 kW. The DRM station used for this was then relocated to Heilbronn .

Frequency  
(kHz) 		program Regionalization ERP  
(kW) 		Antenna pattern
round (ND) / directional (D) 		Polarization
horizontal (H) / vertical (V)
1485 SWR cont.ra - 0.42 ND V
1485 SWR Dasding - 0.42 ND V

See also

literature

  • Dieter Schiffmann : Radio in Rhineland-Palatinate: The Beginnings ; in: Kreuz, Rad, Löwe - Rhineland-Palatinate - A country and its history, Volume 2, From the end of the 18th century to the 21st century; Verlag Philipp von Zabern , Mainz 2013; P. 463
  • Sabine Friedrich : Radio and occupying power. Organization, program and listener of Südwestfunk 1945–1949 ; Baden-Baden 1991; (Südwestfunk-Schriftenreihe, Rundfunkgeschichte, 1) pp. 187–192

Web links

Commons : Rheinsender  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Dieter Schiffmann; P. 463
  2. ↑ Switching to digital radio Farewell to medium wave by Maria Betzler and Michael Neubert on swr.de on December 27, 2011
  3. ↑ Hansjörg Biener: Wolfsheim 1017 kHz ( Memento from September 5, 2005 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on February 21, 2013.
  4. ^ October 12, 1951. Ratification of the State Treaty on Südwestfunk. ( Memento from January 30, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) State Main Archive Rhineland-Palatinate
  5. ↑ Table of VHF channels and frequencies
  6. ↑ Medium-wave transmitter mast blown up in the state show of SWR Fernsehen Rheinland-Pfalz on February 19, 2013
  7. ↑ DXaktuell: Message about the shutdown
  8. ↑ senderfotos-bw.de: SWR gives up medium wave
  9. ↑ swr.de: How you will receive us: Temporary shutdown of transmitters (SWR4 MZ, Rhine transmitter: 94.9 MHz, shutdown for safety reasons to dismantle the MW mast)
  10. ^ MW antenna Wolfsheim blown up ( memento from March 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ). In: Medienmagazin - Radio-News. Rundfunk Berlin Brandenburg, Radio Eins. February 24, 2013. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
  11. ↑ Allgemeine-zeitung.de: Radio amateurs from Mainz use Wolfsheimer transmitters before they are blown up for participation in competition ( memento from February 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) by Jochen Werner, from January 29, 2013
  12. ↑ Structurae - International database for engineering structures: Reserve
    transmission mast of the Rheinsender Wolfsheim , accessed on February 21, 2013. Bernd Waniewski: SWR Wolfsheim (Rheinsender) - Reusenantenne. The old mast and the new tower with trap , accessed on February 21, 2013; on the top photo, mast 3 can be seen in the background on the left.
  13. ↑ Heilbronn and Costa Rica digital . DXaktuell.de. June 4, 2010. Archived from the original on February 8, 2015. Retrieved on February 7, 2015.
  14. ↑ a b Bernd Waniewski: SWR Wolfsheim (Rheinsender) - trap antenna . Retrieved February 21, 2013.