Editing Cremlingen transmitter

{{Infobox transmitter
|name                = Cremlingen transmitter
|image               = Rundfunksendestelle_Cremlingen-Abbenrode.JPG
|caption             = Cremlingen transmitter
|map                 = 
|location            = Cremlingen-Abbenrode
|mast_height         = 137m
|tower_height        = 
|gridref             = 
|coordinates         = {{coord|52|17|38|N|10|43|36|E|region:DE-NI_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|built               = 1962
|demolished          = 
|collapsed           = 
|relay               = 
|BBC                 = 
|ITV                 = 
|localtv             = 
|switchoverdate      = 
|switchoverdate2     = 
|footnotes           = 
}}

The '''Cremlingen transmitter''' is a large [[mediumwave]] transmission facility established in 1962 for transmitting the programme of [[Deutschlandfunk]] on 756&nbsp;kHz near [[Cremlingen]]-Abbenrode. It was also known as ''Sender [[Braunschweig]]'' or ''Sender [[Königslutter]]''.

The first transmitter was installed in 1962. It transmitted the program of Deutschlandfunk on 755&nbsp;kHz (756&nbsp;kHz from 1978 on) at a power of 100&nbsp;kW and used as its aerial a 137-metre-high [[Guy-wire|guyed]] [[steel]] framework [[Radio masts and towers|mast]]. The transmitter power was raised to 200&nbsp;kW one year later, but it only operated during daytime for some time. Interferences with the [[Ravensburg mediumwave transmitter]] which worked on the same frequency were common.<ref name = "biener0756">{{cite web | url=http://www.asamnet.de/~bienerhj/0756.html#0756%20K%C3%B6nigslutter | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20090512191402/http://www.asamnet.de/~bienerhj/0756.html#0756%20K%C3%B6nigslutter | title =Gleichwelle 756 kHz. Königslutter | archivedate = 12 May 2009}}</ref>

A second transmitter was installed for the transmission of the Deutschlandfunk programme on 548&nbsp;kHz from 28 October 1963, initially with a power of 200&nbsp;kW.<ref name = "biener0756"/> It used a 240-metre-high guyed steel tube mast as its aerial, which was insulated against the ground, A second, insulated guyed steel framework mast was installed to shape the radiation pattern with a minimum towards the southeast, in order to avoid interferences with [[Radio Mayak]] in the Soviet Union.

On 1 October 1967 the transmission power on 548&nbsp;kHz was raised to 800&nbsp;kW (400&nbsp;kW during nighttime), sufficient to reach all of the northern [[Federal Republic of Germany]] and most of the territory of the [[GDR]].<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.wabweb.net/radio/listen/LWMWeu76.pdf | title = Die Lang- und Mittelwellensender in Europa, Nahost und Nordafrika 1976 | language = de | publisher = World Radio & TV Handbook 1977}}</ref>

According to the [[Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975]] which came into effect in November 1978, transmissions on 548&nbsp;kHz ceased in favour of [[Thurnau]] transmitter which started to transmit at this time  on 549&nbsp;kHz with 200&nbsp;kW, and [[Nordkirchen transmitter]] on the same frequency with 100&nbsp;kW.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.asamnet.de/~bienerhj/0549-BY.html | archivedate= 3 September 2011 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110903205324/http://www.asamnet.de/~bienerhj/0549-BY.html| title=Thurnau 549 kHz}}</ref>  Both transmitters at Cremlingen were converted to combined operation at 756&nbsp;kHz with a maximum daytime power of 800 kilowatts, and 200 kilowatts with a radiation minimum towards the southeast during the night. The height of the steel tube mast was reduced from 240 metres to 199 metres to optimize it for 756&nbsp;kHz. Likewise, the steel framework mast used to for directional purposes was shortened to 99 m. The height of the 137-metre mast was not changed, it was used after 1978 as a backup aerial.<ref name = "biener0756"/>

The 800&nbsp;kW vacuum tube transmitters have been dismantled, and since the middle of the 1990s the transmitter power has been 200&nbsp;kW all day, provided by two 100&nbsp;kW transmitters. In 2005, a fully transistorised and [[Digital Radio Mondiale|DRM]] capable 800&nbsp;kW transmitter station was installed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.transradio.de/index.php/de/800kw-mw-cremlingen-germany |title=Transradio.de: 800kW AM/400 kW DRM MW-Cremlingen |access-date=2017-01-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219025236/http://www.transradio.de/index.php/de/800kw-mw-cremlingen-germany |archive-date=2014-02-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

From 2001 to 2003 the program of the pop music radio [[Megaradio|MEGARADIO]] was transmitted using the backup station on 630&nbsp;kHz and the 137-metre-high radio mast as the aerial. This was made possible after this frequency, which had been used from 1978 until the mid-1990s for transmissions of [[Sender Freies Berlin|SFB]] and [[Norddeutscher Rundfunk|NDR]] on 630&nbsp;kHz from the Dannenberg transmitter in the daytime, had been re-coordinated for 24-hour transmission from the Cremlingen transmitter.

From 1 April 2005 until 2 January 2013, the program of [[Voice of Russia]] was transmitted from Cremlingen on 630&nbsp;kHz.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.dxaktuell.de/?p=2766 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130217053906/http://www.dxaktuell.de/?p=2766 | url-status = dead | archive-date = February 17, 2013 | title = Russischer Rotstift: Stimme Russlands kürzt Mittelwellensendungen aus Deutschland | date = 22 December 2012 | newspaper = dxaktuell.de }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.dxaktuell.de/?p=2889 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130217052530/http://www.dxaktuell.de/?p=2889 | url-status = dead | archive-date = February 17, 2013 | title = Stimme Russlands: Keine analogen Kurzwellen mehr aus Moskau für Deutschland, nur 693 kHz verbleibt | newspaper = dxaktuell.de | date = 22 December 2012 }}</ref> Switch-off was planned for 31 December 2012, but a technical fault caused transmissions to continue until 2 January 2013.<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.radioeins.de/programm/sendungen/medienmagazin/radio_news/beitraege/2013/stimme_russlands.html | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130701022008/http://www.radioeins.de/programm/sendungen/medienmagazin/radio_news/beitraege/2013/stimme_russlands.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 2013-07-01 | publisher = radioeins.de | title = Abschaltungen bei der Stimme Rußlands vollzogen}}</ref>

The last programme to be transmitted from this station was that of Deutschlandradio. Transmissions ceased on 31 December 2015. All masts have been demolished.

==See also==
* [[List of tallest structures]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Structurae|id=20011483|title=Reflektormast Cremlingen}}
* {{Structurae|id=20011484|title=Mittelwellensendemast Cremlingen}}
* {{Structurae|id=20011485|title=Reservesendemast Cremlingen}}
* [http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b45898 Diagrams of the masts]
* [http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b45899 Diagrams of the masts]
* [http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b45900 Diagrams of the masts]
* https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=52.293805,10.726781&spn=0.010447,0.028925&t=h&om=1
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bvfcAv2wlA Video of the demolition]

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[[Category:Buildings and structures in Lower Saxony]]
[[Category:Former radio masts and towers]]
[[Category:Radio masts and towers in Germany]]
[[Category:1962 establishments in West Germany]]
[[Category:Towers completed in 1962]]
[[Category:2015 disestablishments in Germany]]