In Hungary, regular Medium Wave (MW) radio broadcasting started on 1 December 1925. A 2 kW Telefunken transmitter was set up in Csepel (the 21st district of Budapest) and transmitted on the 572 m wavelength.
In 1927, the transmitter in Csepel was upgraded to 3 kW, and the same year, construction of a new 20 kW radio transmitter began in Lakihegy (Szigetszentmiklós). The 20 kW Telefunken transmitter was completed in 1928 and took over broadcasting services from Csepel on 29 April. At the time, it was Europe’s most modern and highest-capacity transmitter.
The number of radio subscribers grew rapidly in the early 1930s, leading to the decision to build a high-power radio transmitter. Construction of the cigar-shaped radio tower started on 1 July 1933, and the 120 kW transmitter was put into operation at the beginning of December of the same year.
The mast stands 284 m tall, and with its adjustable tuning tube, its maximum height reaches 314 m, making it the tallest structure and landmark in Hungary. This mast design is known as the Blaw-Knox radiator, developed by the Blaw-Knox Company, a manufacturer of steel structures and construction equipment based in the USA. The company designed radio towers, most of which were constructed during the 1930s in the United States and Europe.
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On 30 November 1944, retreating German troops exploded the cigar-shaped tower, and a week later, the 20 kW transmitters as well. Both were rebuilt after the war, and the 314 m high mast was upgraded to 135 kW.
In 1977, a 2 MW capacity Medium Wave radio station, the largest in the country, was commissioned in Solt and inherited the transmission of the Kossuth program on 540 kHz from Lakihegy.
In 1983, it was planned to demolish the unused 314 m mast in Lakihegy. Fortunately, this did not happen, and now the tower is used to transmit signals using long-wave radio frequencies (135.6 kHz) reserved for radio ripple control. The antenna also serves as a backup for the national radio supplier.
2310 Szigetszentmiklós, Hungary
