Blosenbergturm

The Blosenbergturm is a transmitting tower in Beromünster, Canton of Lucerne, Switzerland, built in 1937 for the German language radio station DRS and radiating at an AM frequency of 531 kHz marking the bottom end of the official mediumwave broadcasting range. The Blosenbergturm has a height of 150 m and is a self-radiating tower insulated against ground, i.e. the entire tower structure is used as an antenna. It has a cabin at a height of 150 m, containing a coil for feeding the pinnacle, which is insulated against the rest of the tower, separately with high frequency power. By this cabin it has similar proportions as Fernsehturm Stuttgart. Originally the tower was used as dipole antenna, whereby the feeding point was in the cabin. There is a second 126 metre tall freestanding lattice tower nearby, which is as Blosenbergturm a tower radiator insulated against ground. This tower, which was built in 1931, carried until 1962 together with a second tower, which was dismantled and rebuilt in St. Chrischona near Basel as TV transmission tower, a T-antenna for medium wave. After dismantling the second tower it was transformed in a tower radiator, which serves now as backup transmission for the Blosenbergturm.

The air traffic obstacle lights of Blosenbergturm have a special feature: at dawn a rotating beamer above the cabin is in service. This beamer, which is much less bright than the beamers on Stuttgart TV Tower, is switched off at night and the red air-traffic obstacles warning lights are turned on. By watching the blinking lamp on the pinnacle of the tower, one can see if transmitter is working. It glows faint in the blink breaks while transmitter works as result of the high electric field at the top, when transmitter is working.

The Beromünster transmitter has been shut down on December 28, 2008, at midnight (CET), even though there were some protests against this measure.

Images of the Blosenbergturm
Beromuenster backup broadcasting tower  
Bottom of Beromuenster backup broadcasting tower  
Foot of Beromuenster backup broadcasting tower  
Basement insulator of Beromuenster backup broadcasting tower  
High voltage sign on fence around Beromuenster Reserve Broadcasting Tower  
Blosenbergturm  
Blosenbergturm with artwork in front  
Machine room for elevator winding of Blosenbergturm  
Wooden stairway at the legs of Blosenbergturm. The tower may be only entered at grounded state  
Basement insulator of Blosenbergturm  
Basement of Blosenbergturm  
Pinnacle of Blosenbergturm  
Sticker for keeping Beromuenster transmitter alive photographed on a rain tube in Zurich  
Sign marking "Radio Way" ( German: Radioweg) around Beromünster transmitter on Blosenberg  
Blosenbergturm illuminated with skybeamers on Beromünster transmitter decommissioning festival  
Transmitter triode on display at Beromünster decommissioning festival  
Working mercury rectifier shown on display at Beromünster decommissioning festival  
Inside Beromünster transmitter building  

External links

See also