Completed 10 January 1977 Opened 10 January 1977 Status In use | Height 304 m Construction started 6 September 1974 | |
 | ||
Type Mast radiator insulated against ground Main contractor Magyar Posta (Hungarian Post) Location Solt, Bács-Kiskun, Hungary | ||
The Transmitter Solt (Hungarian: Solti rádióadó) is a transmission facility for 540 kHz MW (Medium Wave) near Solt, Hungary. It is the most powerful medium wave radio transmitter in Europe and also the most powerful in the world (along with three Saudi transmitters) with an output power of 2000 kW (2 MW). Due to the high power Kossuth Rádió (also known as Radio Budapest, formerly Budapest I.) can be heard all over Central Europe (covering Hungarian-speaking territories) and as far as Kazan, Russia (~2,200 km) to the east, Kuala Lumpur to the southeast (~13,500 km) and Ireland (~1,900 km) to the west in the evening. It uses a 303.6-metre (298.4 m long radiating) guyed mast. It is a protected industrial monument since 2013.
Contents
Map of Solt, Transmitter Solt, 6320 Hungary
Location
Trasmitter Solt located in the Great Hungarian Plain, 4 km north from Solt and 80 km south from Budapest.
History
By the 1970s Lakihegy Tower became out-of-date (covered only 50% of the country's territory in 1972) so the Magyar Posta (Hungarian Post) and the central government decided to build a new and much more powerful transmitter. Construction started in 1974 with the cooperation of the Soviet Union as a high priority project. Several farmhouses and barns were demolished around the mast and the area became closed. Europe's most powerful radio transmitter was designed by Hungarian, Polish and Soviet engineers from several companies and organizations, including the Soviet Ministry of Communications (Министерство связи СССР), Hungarian Postal Planning Institute (Postai Tervező Intézet), Power Plant and Network Planning Company (Erőmű és Hálózattervező Vállalat), Road and Rail Planning Company (Út- és Vasúttervező Vállalat) and Budapest Geodesial and Cartographical Company (Budapesti Geodéziai és Térképészeti Vállalat). It was finished in 1977.