Berlin-Britz transmitter

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Transmitter Berlin-Britz is a broadcasting facility for medium wave, shortwave and FM on the site of a former tree nursery in Berlin-Britz. It was established in 1946 and until 1993 it was the most important transmitter of RIAS. It is now used by Deutschlandradio.

The Berlin-Britz transmitter initially used a wire supported between two 30-metre (98 ft) tall wooden poles. This aerial was replaced in 1947 by a 60 m (197 ft) guyed insulated steel framework mast. This mast was replaced in turn in 1948 by two guyed insulated steel framework masts, each with a height of 100 m (328 ft) and which still exist today. These masts were extended in subsequent years so that today they are 160 m (525 ft) and 144 m (472 ft) tall and carry FM radio broadcasting antennas.

Since 1949 the Berlin-Britz transmitter has also been a shortwave transmission facility. A dipole aerial aligned in East-West direction^[clarify] was installed. A second shortwave broadcasting aerial in the form of a dipole with whole length^[clarify] was built in 1983.

A cross dipole aerial^[clarify] for the medium wave frequency 990 kHz was built in 1978 to provide better coverage to the former East Germany for RIAS’ first channel. This aerial for circular polarization^[clarify] radiated vertically in the ionosphere and permitted good reception of RIAS 1 in the entire former East Germany. This aerial was mounted on five guyed masts each with a height of 30.5 m (100 ft) and was shutdown at the end of 1995.