“A whole new take on installation!”
Broadcast antenna system in Norway

Seven engineers and technicians of the radio and TV broadcaster NORKRING situated in Norway came to the KATHREIN-Werke KG in Rosenheim in early 2009 to take part in a broadcast seminar to get the latest information on Kathrein’s current advancements in the digital broadcast antenna technologies DAB radio and DVB television.
One of the seminar’s main focuses involved the different mounting and installation options under the hardest conditions i.e. at extreme heights, in case of unsuitable infrastructure, or adverse climatic conditions. At the time of the seminar, the course directors Christian Sautter and Wolfgang Niedhammer, both Kathrein engineers, were not yet aware of the fact that this topic was particularly “hot” and extremely interesting for the Norwegian experts.
A visit and tour of the transmission station on the Bavarian peak Wendelstein is part of the standard framework programme of every broadcast seminar at Kathrein. The fact that the station is surrounded by snow and ice during almost six months of the year raised questions concerning the installation of such transmitting systems at such exposed locations. These questions were discussed intensively among the experts present.
Since the high regions in northern Norway have winter temperatures almost all year round,the installation of broadcasting systems is almost always very difficult and requires an extraordinary degree of creativity as well as unusual measures. A few weeks after the Norkring technicians had returned to their home country, the Rosenheim engineers received a report and a pictorial documentation on the installation of an antenna near the 62^nd parallel.
The transmitter station is located atop the 1666 meter-high mountain TRON, which is approximately 150 km north of Lillehammer. Kathrein delivered a new DAB transmission antenna for this site. Due to the deadline that had been set, the transmitter system had to be installed and set into operation as soon as possible - in mid-winter and in spite of the fact that installations of this kind are unthinkable because of the heavy snow and ice and the temperatures that are constantly below the freeing point. However, the Norwegians, all specialists, did the impossible! It was apparent that an unusual means of transport, a sleigh, would have to be used.
Under the motto “a whole new take on antenna installation" , the Kathrein antenna and ist respective feeder cable was brought to the top of the peak. Antenna project managers Kjell Amundsen and Ingar Johnsen of Norkring and their team are visibly proud of their effort. The antenna installation was punctually put into operation around Easter.
Kathrein antennas are designed to be robust and thus brave all weather conditions, whether high temperatures and heavy rainstorms in the tropics, snow and ice in the polar regions, or lightning, hail or hurricane-like storms. “That‘s nothing new to us ", explained Dipl.-Ing. Wolfgang Niedhammer of Kathrein. “That’s practically part of our daily routine." The high demands to be met in terms of quality and robustness is one of the reasons why Norkring has been depending on proven Kathrein quality for many years.

Norkring visit to Wendelstein station: (from left to right): Rune Flatmo, Kjell Bolstadt, Ottar Fossum

The experts having a talk in the service building at Wendelstein transmitter station

Beautiful weather makes the unusual trip …

… through the snowy landscape easier

Final destination: The transmitter station on the 1666m peak TRON

The antennas were installed...

… before the weather conditions turned bad

“A whole new take on installation!” Broadcast antenna system in Norway (Word-File: 32 KB) (Picture 1: 1.80 MByte, Picture 2: 1.36 MByte, Picture 3: 1.87 MByte, Picture 4: 0.52 MByte, Picture 5: 0.44 MByte, Picture 6: 0.58 MByte, Picture 7: 1.26 MByte, Picture 8: 0.34 MByte)
	© 2009 / KATHREIN-Werke KG, Rosenheim
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KATHREIN-Werke KG
last update 27.04.2009