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(left) The 314 m mast. (right) The Skylon from the 1951 Festival of Britain.
Tomorrow sees the opening of the new 120 kW broadcasting station at Likihegy, near Budapest, which owns the world's highest wireless aerial and incidentally, the loftiest structure in Europe. This cigar shaped mast is 314 metres high and thus exceeds the height of the Eiffel Tower by 14 metres.
The base of the 1,020 ft. cigar-shaped mast of Hungary's new 120 kW. transmitter. The porcelain base supports a weight of 480 tons.
Actually the mast itself is 284 metres high, but a steel rod projecting from the top can be extended to a maximum of 30 metres in order to tune the aerial to exactly the desired wavelength.
The station is built on the 100% spare system, i.e. everything is duplicated - even the crystal oscillator - in readiness for emergencies. In the last stage four 120 kW valves are used in push-pull.
An interesting novelty is the provision of a switch which, in case of emergency, will cut out all current supply, closing down the station in a fraction of a second. Naturally this ;brake' must only be used in very special circumstances, as such a drastic cut-off is a great strain on the equipment.
The present 20 kW transmitter at Budapest is continuing operations for four hours a day with an alternative programme.
Miss Lily Flotas, the announcer at the new high-power station at Budapest, which opens to-morrow with a power of 120 kilowatts. On the right is Mr Eduard von Scherz, the world's first announcer, who was superintending Budapest's wired broadcasting programmes in 1893.
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