A linjesender (English: "line transmitter") was a low-power

longwave In radio, longwave (also spelled long wave or long-wave and commonly abbreviated LW) is the part of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave (MW) broadcasting band. The term is historic, dati ...

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

system used for broadcasting in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

with similar systems in other countries. It consisted of a

power line communication Power-line communication (PLC) is the carrying of data on a conductor (the ''power-line carrier'') that is also used simultaneously for AC electric power transmission or electric power distribution to consumers. A wide range of power-line comm ...

system, which fed the radio programme on a frequency in the longwave broadcasting range into domestic powerlines. The power lines acted as a combination of transmission line and antenna. The last linjesender in Norway was closed in 1987 although the Swiss counterpart survived another ten years.

Features

The typical powers used by linjesenders were between 250 watts and 2 kW. Most systems used frequencies in the

band or in between the LW and MW band although some used

medium wave Medium wave (MW) is a part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytim ...

or frequencies below the standard LW band which required special receivers. Wired broadcasting had several advantages over conventional broadcasting: # Less susceptible to interference # Potentially greater number of programmes (as overcrowding on the frequency bands was less of a problem) # Potentially greater audio quality as wired transmissions were not subject to the same restrictions on bandwidth as terrestrial AM broadcasts. # In a mountainous country like

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

it was difficult to obtain satisfactory national coverage with conventional transmitters, particularly in the 1930s when transmissions were typically less powerful than today. On the other hand there were practical and economic difficulties in extending such services to remote or thinly populated regions. Wired broadcasting could also be used by governments as a tool of

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

through promoting ownership of wire-only receivers which could not receive foreign stations.

Similar systems

Similar systems were used in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, where it was called " Drahtfunk" ("wire radio") and in

, where it was called " Telefonrundspruch" ("telephone broadcast"), both of these systems used domestic

telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...

lines. In some countries occupied by Germany during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

these systems entirely replaced conventional broadcasting. In the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

all standard receivers were confiscated and replaced with wire-only sets (Draadomroep) as these could receive local and German broadcasts but not enemy stations such as the BBC. Wire broadcast systems were also deployed in parts of the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. In the 1930s some towns in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

used wire broadcasting experimentally either over dedicated cables (sometimes as

baseband In telecommunications and signal processing, baseband is the range of frequencies occupied by a signal that has not been modulated to higher frequencies. Baseband signals typically originate from transducers, converting some other variable into ...

audio) or through power lines. However as the coverage of conventional broadcast stations improved the popularity of these "radio relay" or "

rediffusion Rediffusion was a business that distributed radio and TV signals through wired relay networks. The business gave rise to a number of other companies, including Associated-Rediffusion, later known as Rediffusion London, the first ITV (TV network ...

" systems waned and local councils were often hostile to their installation.

Russia

In the former

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, cable radio was popular and Radio Rossii is reported to have had as many as forty million listeners. Initially the system had one channel that was transmitted as direct audio. The wires and plugs for the system were the same as for standard power wires and plugs which could cause receivers to burn out by attaching to mains socket. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, all RF receivers were confiscated, but cable radio continued operating and, in particular, was used to transmit warnings of aerial bombing. The 1960s saw an enhancement with the addition of two additional channels, using AM on carrier frequencies of 78 and 120

kHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base uni ...

. The installation of this system became mandatory for all new buildings. The system, along with usual broadcasting, was created to inform people of emergencies. Today, cable radio outlets are installed in all new homes, but many people don't use them or even uninstall the socket and wires inside their units. However, they continue to pay the mandatory fee (as of 2019, the price in Moscow is approx. 1.56 EUR per month). These payments can be avoided, but due to bureaucratic procedure it is rarely used. There were similar systems in other Soviet republics, such as

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

References

{{Reflist

External links

* http://www.wabweb.net/radio/radio/lw2.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20060524151218/http://nrhf.no/nrhf-sendere-AM.html Radio in Norway Telecommunications equipment

Features

Similar systems

Russia

See also

References

External links