The new frequency (87.8MHz) will broadcast the programs of Radio ARA in the south of Luxembourg. For ARA the most important event of the year starts on June 18th, in occasion of Esch capital of culture 2022. We will broadcast the programme of Radio Art Zone including 100 days of artistic sound performances.
After a lot of planning and a lot of paper work, the ILR (Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation) finally validated the installation of Radio ARA’s new antenna located at the gates of Esch-sur ALzette on 18th January 2022. The antenna is located at the gates of Esch. It will help us to provide better coverage across the southern region. And while this news excites many listeners and opens up many opportunities for the communities in the South, the path to this result has been an obstacle course worthy of an Olympic race.
Getting the new antenna to function was a real adventure. Radio ARA has been applying for a new licence since 2009 to get more coverage in the south of Luxembourg. It was only in August 2011 that the licence to broadcast in the south of the country on 87.8MHz was granted. Our initial dream was to use the water tower in Steinbrücken (Pontpierre) as a support for a new antenna. In the end, we got no authorization from the Commune of Mondercange to use the water tower as an antenna support, mainly because security considerations for the access of water towers had changed.
This put us under pressure to find another appropriate emplacement. Also, due to the requirement to implement a complex antenna radiation diagram (that we could not fulfil), we requested to transfer the location from Steinbrücken to Esch/Galgenberg. This license was finally allocated at the end of August 2018 and the official works began in October 2021. Our team completed the installation of the transmitter rack at the end of December 2021 and the reception was finally approved by ILR (Institut Luxembourgeois de Régulation) on the afternoon of Tuesday 18th January 2022.
The new antenna, which at the moment is located on the tower of the Antenne Collective Esch, will be transferred to the new telecommunications tower that will be set up by Post Lëtzebuerg. The technical characteristics of the new transmitter (20 m height, vertical polarization and 1000 Watt in direction 330°N), will enable it to cover the entire southern part of the country and reach a large proportion of listeners in their cars and homes.
The other two frequencies, 102.9 MHz and 105.2 MHz will keep working as usual for the City and the North of the country. Radio ARA wants to send a warm thank you to all the people and institutions involved in this complex project: our contractors Milling Broadcast Services (D) and Broadcast Innovations (NL) for perfect hand-in-hand working, our brave team of technicians Guy, Fernand, Adrian and Jang who made it happen, the Commune of Esch-sur-Alzette and the Oeuvre of Grand-Duchesse Charlotte for supporting this important project.
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(Credits: J.Krips)
