Bye bye longwave transmitter
October 1st, 2007 by EvaH
I grew up in a small town in Denmark, where the inhabitants didn’t make much fuss about themselves. We did though have one thing to be really proud of: We had waves, and those waves were often mentioned in the broadcasting media. The waves were coming from the Kalundborg Transmitter, a transmission facility for long- and mediumwave. Curiously, I looked up the transmitter in Wikipedia. Among other useful things, I now know that the transmitter was inaugurated in 1927 and transmits a program in the longwave range on 243 kHz with 300 kilowatts and in the medium wave range on 1062 kHz with 250 kilowatts. I also know that for the longwave transmission a wire aerial is used, which is supported by two 118 metre high freestanding, grounded, steel framework pylon towers. Besides I am aware of that the medium wave transmitter uses an insulated guyed steel-framework mast aerial with a height of 147 metres. Very importantly, the mast is close to the sea (and waves!), which allows a very good wave propagation. All of this wave information is of course interesting and calls for thoughts, but the thing that really caught my eye was that the longwave era in Kalundborg has already ended; after 80 years of service, the Kalundborg Transmitter stopped transmitting longwave on February 15 2007, after 80 years in service.
4 Responses to “Bye bye longwave transmitter”
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I guess the “Kalundborg-waves” were often mentioned in the broadcastmedia due to the fear of high-voltage-electricity that has never been proved - but has never quite been cleared either.
These days most high voltage electricity is placed underground due to the safety first-principle - for the people who live near it, and for the safe deliviery of power as cables under ground are better protected from storms.
So now that wave-scare should be taken care of - and I guess Kalundborg is back to square one…left with “only” the cathedral to boast :-)
Ooops - correction - I just realized that the story and the post wasn’t about electricity…but about media-transmission. SORRY about that. The picture totally fooled me.
But anyhow… makes me wonder whether there was also a “tranmitter-wave-scare” and fear of “radiance” for the people who lived nearby?
No, there wasn’t such a scare, because we had larger threats to worry about. Like the oil refinery; Novo, which was a whole, mysterious city producing medicine; and not least Asnæsværket, Denmark’s biggest power station. Those were the places appearing in the same sentences as higher cancer risk etc.
No, the radio transmitter was a good thing. However, the reason why it was mentionen in the broadcasting media was more, like “…and now the trading prices for fish from Kalundborg medium- and longwave transmitter…” or “…kuling over fisker banke og hibriderne”.
Bonus info: The Kalundborg Transmitter is Denmark’s most famous!
(http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/archive/index.php/t-98309.html)
Thanks for clearing that up. I’m slowly but surely realizing that Kalundborg has a lot more claims to fame than I used to know. I guess the infamous ferries between Aarhus and Kalundborg also attracted a lot of attention…