The Topolná transmitter () was the central

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 ...

broadcasting facility of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

situated in the municipality of

Topolná Topolná is a municipality and village in Uherské Hradiště District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 1,600 inhabitants. Topolná lies approximately north-east of Uherské Hradiště, south-west of Zlín, and south-east ...

near the Morava River. Constructed in the early 1950s, it was used for broadcasting until the end of 2021, and its masts were blasted down in 2022.

History

The longwave frequency 272 kHz was assigned to

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

in the Copenhagen Frequency Plan of 1948. It had previously been used by German

Deutschlandsender Deutschlandsender (, ''Radio Germany''), abbreviated DLS or DS, was one of the longest-established radio broadcasting stations in Germany. The name was used between 1926 and 1993 to denote a number of powerful stations designed to achieve a nat ...

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 ...

. Construction of a new transmitter began in 1950 and was completed in December 1951. Tests lasted until February 1952. Its power output was 400 kW (2x 200 kW). In its first broadcasts it was transmitting the radio programme "Československo 1", later "Hvězda". From 1957–1958 Topolná was also used to transmit a Hungarian radio programme on 49 meter wavelength. From 1953–1960 and again from 1969–1973 one of its masts was used for transmission on frequency 173 kHz. Between 1975 and 1978 the transmitter was reconstructed and from November 1978 its transmission power increased to 1500 kW. On 1 October 1989 the frequency was changed to 270 kHz. After the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

in 1989 the broadcast programme was renamed from "Hvězda" to "Radiožurnál". In January 1994 one of the masts was switched off to cut costs, reducing the output power to 750 kW. Further reduction of output power followed in January 2002, to 650 kW. As there were very few other transmitters working on the frequency 270 kHz its programme ("ČRo 1 – Radiožurnál") was clearly received across the whole of Europe, especially during the night. Since the mid-2000s

Czech Radio Czech Radio (, ČRo) is the public radio broadcaster of the Czech Republic operating continuously since 1923. It is the oldest national radio broadcaster in continental Europe and the second-oldest in Europe after the BBC. Czech Radio was esta ...

has announced its intention to close down the transmitter several times. In late 2013 it was announced that the broadcasts would cease on 28 February 2014. The transmitter was switched off on 31. December 2021. On 28. July 2022 both masts were demolished.

Construction details

Topolná used a

directional antenna A directional antenna or beam antenna is an antenna that radiates or receives greater radio wave power in specific directions. Directional antennas can radiate radio waves in beams, when greater concentration of radiation in a certain directio ...

, whose maxima point in an East–West direction. This radiation pattern ensured that the Topolná transmitter can be received clearly in all parts of the Czech Republic and

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

. To create this directional antenna pattern two tall guyed lattice steel masts were used. Until the mid-1970s these masts were used as ground-fed mast radiators and are therefore insulated against the ground. In the mid-1970s the transmission power was increased to 1500 kW, making the Topolná transmitter one of the most powerful transmitters in Europe. By this measure, both masts were equipped with cage wire antennas, which made their electrical insulation against the ground obsolete. After the installation of these cage antennas the basement insulators were bridged, but remained in place. As in other high power transmission facilities in Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, the Topolná transmitter used special overhead lines to transmit the RF-power from the transmitter building to the masts.

References

External links

*
Entry of Mast 1 at SkyscraperpageEntry of Mast 2 at Skyscraperpage

Pictures

Directional diagramShort descriptionThe mastsMast BaseRF-Transmission line
{{DEFAULTSORT:Topolna transmitter Communication towers in the Czech Republic Former radio masts and towers Radio masts and towers in Europe Broadcast transmitters Longwave radio stations 1951 establishments in Czechoslovakia 2022 disestablishments in the Czech Republic