The Sottens Transmitter is the nationwide transmitter for French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

-speaking Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. The transmitter is located at Sottens

Sottens

Sottens is a former municipality in the district of Gros-de-Vaud in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland.It is known for its radio transmitter for the French language Swiss radio, built in 1931....

, Canton of Vaud, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

. It is run on 765 kHz with a power of 600 kilowatts and is easily receivable during the night throughout the whole of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. Since 1989 the aerial

Antenna (radio)

An antenna is an electrical device which converts electric currents into radio waves, and vice versa. It is usually used with a radio transmitter or radio receiver...

 used has been an aerial with feeding in the middle, fixed on a 188-metre high grounded freestanding steel framework tower. Before 1989 a 190-metre high self-radiating, free standing steel framework tower was used as a transmission aerial.
The Sottens transmitter most recently broadcast Option Musique radio programme from Radio Suisse Romande

Radio Suisse Romande

Radio suisse romande is an enterprise unit within public-broadcasting corporation SRG SSR. It is responsible for the production and transmission of French-language radio programmes in Switzerland...

, up until 5 December 2010.

Further there is a 125 metre tall free-standing lattice tower on the site. This tower, which was built in 1931, carried until 1958 together with a second tower of same height, which was dismantled in this year and rebuilt in Dole as TV transmission tower, a T-antenna for mediumwave broadcasting. In 1958 this tower, which is insulated from ground, was rebuilt in a tower radiator and used as backup antenna.

After the shutdown of RSR on MW, the antenna was later used for ham radio experiments in February 2011, using both standard AM and DRM

Digital Radio Mondiale

Digital Radio Mondiale is a set of digital audio broadcasting technologies designed to work over the bands currently used for AM broadcasting, particularly shortwave...

in the 80 m band.

External links

• Sottens transmitter pictures on emetteurs.ch
• http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b44084
• http://www.skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?b57952
• The Sottens transmitter Retrieved 26 January 2006
• Sottens transmitter Sottens