Elenos transmitters used for large coverage areas in the Netherlands
Dutch broadcast network operator Broadcast Partners provides FM and DAB+ radio distribution and ancillary services for a large number of licensees.
Broadcast Partners is the largest service provider in both the Netherlands and Belgium, serving dozens of public and commercial radio stations. For FM distribution, Broadcast Partners uses combinations of Elenos ETG Indium FM transmitters because they have proven reliable.
The systems are compact and have very high energy efficiency. The latter has been an important issue for years, not only for sustainability reasons but also to control operational costs.
Network operators such as Broadcast Partners are currently facing a dynamic and volatile energy market. “A high-yield transmitter product helps us reduce the operational costs of our FM networks,” said Werner de Schepper, CTO of Broadcast Partners.
The landscape in the Netherlands is interesting. The country has a flat landscape without major elevation changes. In this situation, it is possible to serve a large part of the country with one transmitter, provided that a frequency diagram allows it, sufficient transmitting power is available and the antenna system is installed high enough.
A good example is a frequency broadcast from the Gerbrandy tower in the middle of the Netherlands. The signal is transmitted through a 12-layer antenna system at an altitude of about 330 meters. It is interesting to note that this multi-pattern antenna system transmits the signals of multiple radio stations, with a cumulative ERP power of more than 440 kW. In this way, with only one redundant transmitter (see photo), it is possible to serve about 70% of the country’s area, including cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague and a ditto percentage of the country’s population. That brings with it a lot of responsibility.
“We provide reliable radio distribution around the clock for a lot of radio stations, and therefore we need to deploy high-quality products that we can rely on.” explains Werner. “For that, we use transmitters from Elenos.”
