Mast radiator

A mast radiator (a.k.a. 'radiating tower') is a radio mast or tower in which the whole structure works as an antenna. This is commonly used for transmitters operating at VLF, LF and MF, in particular those used for broadcasting.

Design considerations

Design

Most mast radiators are built as guyed masts insulated against ground. Steel lattice masts, of triangular cross-section, are the most common type. Square lattice masts and tubular masts are also sometimes used.

Free-standing towers are also used as radiating structures. These towers can have a triangular or a square cross section. One of the best-known radiating towers is the Blosenbergturm in Beromünster.

Concrete towers are not suitable for insulation, because of their enormous weight, exceeding the weight of guyed masts and lattice masts in an order of at least 10.

However masts of glass fibre are sometimes used for some small constructions.

Mast height

The ideal height of a mast radiator depends on transmission frequency, demographics for the location, and terrain. For radio systems in the longwave and mediumwave range the value of the height should be in the range between one sixth and five eighths of the wavelength, with favourite values at the quarter or the half of the radiated wavelength. This is not always possible. In which case, masts with a loading coil, 'capacity hat' or similar loading arrangement must be used. The quarter-wave mast is a form of monopole antenna.

The height of the mast determines the radiation properties. For high power transmitters in the MW range, masts with heights around half of the radiated wavelength are preferred because they focus the radiated power better to the ground than structures with heights of quarter wavelengths, which are preferred of economical reasons for low power medium wave transmitters. A focus of radiated power towards the ground is much desired on frequencies below 3 megahertz, because groundwave propagation is very stable. The usage of masts longer than fifth eights of the wavelength is normally not done, because these masts show bad vertical radiation patterns. So the heights of masts for mediumwave transmitters do normally not exceed the 300 metre level. For longwave transmitters, however, the construction of masts with heights of half-wave wavelength is, because of economical reasons (and perhaps problems with the flight safety), in most cases impossible. The only so far realized radio mast for longwave with a height of the half length of the radiated wavelength was the Warszawa Radio Mast at Konstantynow, Poland. For frequencies below longwave the masts have to be electrically enlarged by loading coils or capacity hats on the top, because the required heights for masts of even quarter wave length are too high.

Feed arrangements

There are two ways of feeding a mast radiator from a transmitter:

Base feed: the mast is supported on an insulator, and the transmitter is connected to the mast just above it;
Shunt feed: the mast is grounded and the transmitter feeds it via a wire connected to the mast part way up. (This is a similar approach, on a larger scale, to the 'gamma match' popular among amateur radio operators for VHF and UHF amateur radio antennas.)
Multiple feed: the structure is divided into two (or more) sections with insulators between, each independently fed. This co-linear arrangement enhances low-angle (ground wave) radiation and reduces high-angle (sky wave) radiation. This increases the distance to the 'mush zone' where the ground wave and sky wave are at similar strength at night. This type of antenna is known as an anti-fading aerial (see below).

Ancillary connections

A mast radiator may need various electrical connections other than the main RF one. Such connections include static drain chokes for lightning protection, power supplies for aircraft warning lamps, and coaxial feeders for ancillary antennas mounted on the mast. A variety of techniques are used to 'isolate' these connections at the main RF frequency, such as chokes, parallel tuned circuits and coupling loops, on a base-fed mast. On a shunt-fed mast, where the base is grounded, no such measures are necessary.

Anti-fading aerials

An anti-fading aerial is a transmission aerial for long- and mediumwave with a flat vertical radiation pattern, in order to push the mush zone far away from the transmitter site. An anti-fading aerial must reduce radiation at elevations of more then 50 degrees as much as possible.

In its simplest form it is an aerial of half wavelength. Such an aerial should be as thin as possible. In early days therefore a wire was hung up in a wood framework tower. Nowadays a radio mast is therefore used, which is fed at its foot and in a certain height. Therefore the radio mast must be insulated against ground and be divided by a separation insulator electrically in two parts, where for feeding of the upper part either a cable inside the mast construction or the ladder, which must be mounted insulated is used. The medium wave transmitters Mühlacker, Wolfsheim and Hamburg use such aerials. There are also radio masts for fading reducing aerials with two separation insulator as at Ismaning.

Because such separation insulators are more sensitive as the whole other construction of the radio mast, bigger horizontal forces, which could be generated by wind caused oscillations, should be inhibited. Therefore some radio mast with built in separation insulators have oscillation dampers just above the separation insulator. You find such device at the radio masts of the transmitters Wolfsheim, Hamburg and Ismaning.

An other possibility for reducing an anti-fading aerial is the usage of dipoles hung up in a certain height above ground. A further possibility of the realization an anti-fading aerial is a circle group aerial. Therefore many mast radiators were arranged on a circle and fed in equal phase. With such facilities very flat radiation patterns could be realized, although they are very expensive, because multiple radio masts are required. There was such a facility at longwave transmitter Orlunda in Sweden.