Former OMEGA-transmitter Bratland

Aldemarin · 02 Apr 2014 16:48

OMEGA-transmitter Bratland was surely one of the most unusual transmission facilities in the world as it used a wire antenna to Aldra island as antenna. Unfortunately not many information on this facility are available and I hope to find some more by forumers.

I have got the following questions:
- when was the wire antenna of the OMEGA transmitter was installed and when was it dismantled?
- how did the anchor points looked like? Were towers used or just rock anchors? Do the anchor points still exist? Has someone pictures?
- where were the anchor points exactly located? Where was the helix building?
- is it correct, that there is a model of the facility at Grønsvik kystfort as the Norwegian Wikipedia claims? Has someone pictures?

Tarjei · 03 Apr 2014 14:12

I am unfamiliar with this system, but from what I can find in various historical sites the system was installed sometime during 1965/66 and first signals were sent in 1966. The transmissions caused a lot of disruptions in the power grid. Some remains (of what I do not know) can be seen on google street view.
https://maps.google.com/maps?q=loc:66.4 ... 73,,0,0.89

The system was shut down in 1997. I can't see any remains of the antennas.

On a different note, this topic probably belongs in the english section if we are to follow forum guidelines.

Tarjei · 03 Apr 2014 14:50

Some pictures, two from a norwegian hiking site and an aerial photo showing the foundations on the mountain Liatind

This "Digital museum" site also has several photos:

http://www.digitaltmuseum.no/things/rad ... 374&pos=21

Aldemarin · 03 Apr 2014 20:45

In fact, one can find at 66°24'33"N 13°6'3"E the relicts of the basements of a lattice tower and at 66.42459 N 13.1668 E ( http://www.terraserver.com/view.asp?cx= ... .5&pic=img ) there is obviously an abandoned rock anchor.

Natter · 03 Apr 2014 22:51

Tarjei wrote:This "Digital museum" site also has several photos:

http://www.digitaltmuseum.no/search?pla ... ksv%C3%A5g

Natter · 03 Apr 2014 23:02

Aldemarin wrote:In fact, one can find at 66°24'33"N 13°6'3"E the relicts of the basements of a lattice tower

That's way off (ref the models pictured in my previous post).

Aldemarin wrote:and at 66.42459 N 13.1668 E ( http://www.terraserver.com/view.asp?cx= ... .5&pic=img ) there is obviously an abandoned rock anchor.

That's about 30m from one of the three concrete installations on Liatinden shown on Tarjei's photo above.

I suspect you get your positions from a non-norwegian mapsite (for instance, Google Map positions are often 20-50m off)?

Aldemarin · 04 Apr 2014 17:53

I used non-Norwegian sources to find out their locations.

How was the concrete brought up the mountain for building the anchor blocks on the mainland site? As there is no access road, either helicopters or a temporary aerial tramway might have been used.

How large was the power consumption of the transmitter? One read always 10 kW, but I believe a 10 kW transmitter would have not generated so much trouble in the power grid.

Tarjei · 04 Apr 2014 21:07

2x150kW

sundgot · 21 Apr 2014 17:20

http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omega_navigasjonssystem

Omega var et amerikansk verdensomspennende navigasjonssystem
for atomubåter som var i drift fra siste halvdel av 1960-tallet til 1997.

Eneste stasjon i Norge lå i Aldersundet i Lurøy kommune på Helgeland.
Stasjonen i Norge var eid av amerikanerne, men ble drevet av Telenor.
Dette førte til en opphetet forsvarspolitisk debatt på 1970-tallet.

Langbølgesenderne trengte lange antenner, og antennestrekket i Aldersundet
var 3500 meter langt mellom Liatind på fastlandet og Aldertind på øya Aldra.
Dette var ei tid Nord-Europas lengste luftspenn. I dag er antennespennet tatt ned,
men en liten utstilling ved Grønsvik kystfort viser med utstyr fra stasjonen,
modeller, plansjer og bilder hvordan systemet fungerte.

Aldemarin · 27 May 2014 12:08