Under ett års tid så har jag under mina resor fram och tillbaks mellan Göteborg och Skåne passerat ett par ganska oansenliga bruna skyltar längs motorvägen med namnet Radiostationen Grimeton. Inga frekvenser eller annan reklam, inga DJ:s som rappar iväg på kanalsökningen jag frenetiskt jagar upp och ner. Så en dag framför datorn kommer jag ihåg att göra en sökning och vips, framträder en facsinerande historia från svunnen tid. Vid nästa passage en tidig gryning med klarblå sensommar himmel och en rödgul sol som kastar sitt, för fotografen så åtråvärda ljus över nejden beslutar jag mig omedelbart att detta tillfälle kan jag ej missa. Då jag närmar mig Varbergstrakten knappar jag snabbt in destinationen på GPS:n och några få minuter senare tornar de enorma masterna upp sig framför mig.
Info from Wikipedia
The Grimeton VLF transmitter is a VLF transmission facility near Grimeton close to Varberg in Sweden. It was built in 1923 and has the only workable machine transmitter in the world. For its radiating element it uses a wire aerial hung on six 127-metre high freestanding steel towers looking like gigantic pylons. These towers are grounded. The VLF transmitter Grimeton was used until the fifties for transatlantic radio telegraphy to Radio Central in Long Island, New York, USA. After the fifties it was used until 1996 for transmitting orders to submarines. In 1968 therefore a second transmitter was installed. This transmitter uses transistor and tube technology unlike the machine transmitter, which works on 17.2 kHz, designed for frequencies around 40 kHz, but using the same aerial. In 1996 the machine transmitter became obsolete and went out of service. Because it is in good condition it was declared a national monument. The transmitter from the 1960s is still used by the Swedish Navy. Since it uses the same aerial as the machine transmitter a simultaneous operation of both transmitters, which would require expensive frequency filters, is not possible. So these special transmissions are very rare. The Grimeton VLF transmitter is not only used for VLF transmission. It is also used for shortwave transmissions and for FM and TV broadcasting. Therefore a 260 metre high guyed steel framework mast was built in 1966 next to the building containing the transmitter for 40 kHz. On July 2, 2004 the Grimeton VLF transmitter was declared a World Cultural Heritage site by UNESCO.
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