RTL's Beidweiler longwave masts come down in Luxembourg

The mast array that once pushed RTL's French-language longwave service across the border is gone. On Nov. 6, three guyed masts at Beidweiler in Luxembourg were brought down in a controlled demolition.

A service that began in 1932

Radio Luxembourg's longwave service dates back to 1932. It was first sent from a transmitter site in nearby Junglinster. The station rebranded as RTL in 1966, and six years later, in 1972, its main longwave transmission moved to Beidweiler.

Junglinster is also credited with the discovery of the "Luxembourg effect". It is an ionospheric cross-modulation phenomenon, first seen in 1932. In plain terms, one station's programme could be heard faintly underneath another's. Listeners tuned to the 60 kW Swiss medium-wave station Beromünster on 653 kHz began to pick up Radio Luxembourg's 250 kHz longwave signal riding on top of it.

Power on a continental scale

When operations at Beidweiler began in 1972, the transmitter power was 1,400 kW. Two years later it was raised to 2,000 kW. That put the site among the most powerful stations in the world.

RTL's own retrospective describes what that meant for listeners: "Beidweiler enabled RTL's French-language broadcasts to reach across France, ushering in what many remember as the golden age of longwave radio."

The signal went out on 234 kHz. The directional array was aimed toward Paris, and each of its three tall guyed masts was fitted with a cage antenna.

The last broadcast came in 2023

After five decades of operation from Beidweiler, RTL discontinued its 234 kHz transmissions on Jan. 2, 2023. RTL says the transmission hardware has been sold and dismantled since then.

How the masts came down

The three structures, each about 950 feet tall, were run by Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), which provides RTL's technical services. Until 2023 they carried two megawatts of RTL's longwave AM service toward France. RTL shared a video of the dismantling.

BCE's head of transmissions, Eugène Muller, explained the method to RTL. Each guy cable has two fittings. Once crews release them, the weight of the cables still attached pulls the mast over in the opposite direction. The aim is to protect the solar panels on site, which are part of an energy farm.

The ground stays in use after the masts. The site will continue to be used for solar generation.

Source: Radio World