Weißkirchen radio transmitter
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The transmitter Weißkirchen is a medium wave broadcasting facility located near Weißkirchen, Oberursel, Germany. It is the most powerful European AM transmitter of the American Forces Network and transmits on 873 kHz with a power of 150 kilowatts. Its aerial is directional and consists of three guyed steel framework masts in a distance of 140 metres, which are insulated against ground. Its transmissions commenced in May 1951 on 872kHz, moving to 873kHz in the 1979 European frequency tidy-up.
As the numbers of American forces stationed in Europe has waxed and waned over the years, in response to developments in politics such as the end of the Cold War, this transmitter has remained operational, though its observed signal strength today (2006) appears far less able to compete with other Medium-Wave broadcasters compared to reception reports made in the early to mid 1970s. For many European listeners in the 1970s and 80s, its relays of United States domestic networks provided the only American radio receivable in the home, excluding stations specifically intended for overseas reception, such as the Voice of America.
