Transmitter pictures Monte Santo di Lussari (priv)
Monte Santo Lussari (1,790 m) is located near the border with Austria (in north-west Italy, Friuli Venezia Giulia region) and is also Tarvisio’s most famous mountain. Monte Lussari is also known as a popular place of pilgrimage and during winter, for the small ski area with several slopes.
The broadcasters’ transmitters are located at two different points: the private stations (Radio Deejay, RTL102.5, Radio 24 and Radio Radicale) broadcast directly above the church, while the state-owned RAI has positioned its antennas right next to the mountain station of the “Telecabina Monte S. Lussari”.
Many antennas at the location of the private stations are orientated towards nearby Carinthia. Radio 24 (106.40 MHz) and Radio Deejay (101.90 MHz) in particular cover, besides Tarvisio and the Valle Canale valley, large parts of the city of Villach, Klagenfurt and central and lower Carinthia. Areas of the Upper Mur Valley (Aichfeld) are also covered.
Monte Lussari has a long history in Austrian broadcasting, as German-language programmes for southern Austria were broadcast here for almost three decades (see the ‘History’ section below).
History of the transmitter and importance for Southern Austria
In 1977, when Austria still had the ORF monopoly (which fell in stages between 1995 and 1998), the still well-known ‘Radio Valcanale’ began broadcasting from here (in Italy, the state monopoly fell in 1976).
Monte Lussari was chosen as the broadcasting location primarily because of its proximity to Austria and its high alpine location, which made it possible to cover a large area of Carinthia and Upper Styria from Tarvisio with relatively low transmission power.
Radio Valcanale began broadcasting on 21 December 1977 and was finally discontinued in July 1998 after several renames in the intervening years (including ‘Radio Sunshine’, ‘RTM’ and ‘Radio Mega-Herz’).
Radio Valcanale was known for its music selection (mainly German Schlager and folk music) and was one of the most important ways for local artists and musicians to present themselves to the public at the time.
In addition to Radio Valcanale, many other programmes were broadcast from this location for almost three decades (incomplete list):
- Antenne Austria Süd
- Radio Carinzia
- Radio Nuova Radio Carinzia
- Superradio
- Radio Azzuro
- Radio Time Dance FM
- Radio Freies Europa
- Radio (Tele) Alpe(n) Adria
- Radio Bakkano
The last partly German-language radio station from Lussari was the youth radio station ‘Radio Bakkano’ (1999 – Oct. 2001), which covered Carinthia and parts of Styria as well as Friuli Venezia Giulia.
Today, the Italian news station ‘Radio 24’ (106.4 MHz) broadcasts on the former Radio Bakkano frequency. With this change of operator, the era of Italian (commercial) private radio stations focussing on the Austrian audience, which began in 1977, has come to an end. The only exception is Radio Maria Südtirol from the Monte Forno location (border triangle Italy/Austria/Slovenia).
The historic transmitters on Monte Lussari
It is not known who broadcast from the site near the church that is in use today. However, there is another mast, now empty, on the neighbouring hill to the east of Monte S. Lussari. This was used by Radio Valcanale.
Here are a few photos:
The following photos were taken in 1998. As said, the transmitter was mainly used by Radio Valcanale who broadcasted intermittently between 1977 and 1998. The large 8 fields were directed towards Austria, the others (can be seen on the front right) were directed towards Italy (FM 103.4). Transmission was at around 10 to 30 kW, exact details are not known.
The radio relay shown in the pictures from 1998 was connected exactly to the studio in Via Valcanale 81 in Camporosso. About 2 years earlier, the studio was located in Tarvisio.
Pictures of today’s transmitters
Monte Santo di Lussari (priv)
Transmitter pictures Monte Forno (Pec/Ofen)
Monte Forno (Pec/Ofen), better known in Carinthia as the border triangle (Dreiländereck, a former ski area), forms the border triangle between Italy, Slovenia and Austria. Right next to the national border at the easternmost point of Italy is the transmitter of the Italian private broadcaster ‘RTL 102.5’ and ‘Radio Maria Südtirol’.
For many years, the location was the broadcasting centre of the legendary ‘Radio Uno’, initiated by radio producer Willi Weber (for more information, see ‘Things to know about Monte Forno’, below).
RTL 102.5 broadcasts from here on the frequencies 101.10 MHz (main beam direction Valle Canale, now used by in-house radio programme Radio Freccia) and 104.50 MHz (main beam direction Austria). The 102.5 MHz frequency, on the other hand, is operated from the Monte Lussari site.
RTL 102.5 was previously also on air on the frequency of Radio Maria Südtirol (99.10 MHz) (at that time still 99.20 MHz), but RTL gave it up to Radio Maria during the first few years of operation.
Monte Forno was easily accessible via the Austrian side by chairlift (Bergbahnen Dreiländereck, Arnoldstein). Since 2023, the ski resort and the lifts are closed and it is unclear if the activity will be reactived any time soon. For now, the only way to reach the peak is to take one of the hiking paths, or from the Southern side (coming from Italy and Slovenia) or from the Austrian side.
The transmission masts on Monte Forno have a long-lasting and often turbulent history behind them – and some special features.
The history of the Monte Forno peak as transmitter position
Geographically speaking, Monte Forno is the most north-easterly point in Italy. More precisely, it stands on the last few metres of Italian territory. Many antennas on Monte Forno still face east – towards Carinthia.
This has a historical background: When the ORF monopoly prevailed in Austria (which fell in stages between 1995 and 1998), the legendary ‘Radio Uno’ began broadcasting from here in 1985. This was preceded by the fall of the broadcasting monopoly in Italy in 1976. As no precise laws had been laid down at the time, virtually anyone was allowed to broadcast in Italy from this point onwards, and the legal provisions for this were very limited. It was not until the 1990s that the Italian government introduced regulations, as the FM band in Italy was in danger of collapsing. Today, it is no longer possible to activate new frequencies; only in a few cases this is still possible. New licences for new radio stations are hardly ever granted any more.
Radio Uno was a successful project in the Carinthian media scene and one of the first ‘private stations’ in Austria. Willi Weber created a broadly diversified programme and quickly overtook ORF with Radio Kärnten, which at that time did not even offer 24-hour programming. Radio Uno initially broadcast on 100.3 and 104.4 MHz. Later for a long time on 99.2 / 101.1 / 101.6 and 104.5 MHz (temporarily also on 105.5 MHz). When the owner and founder of Willi Weber ceased operating Radio Uno in May 2000, he sold all frequencies to ‘RTL102.5’.
The Milan-based group acquired all frequencies at the Monte Forno on 19 May 2000 and modified them over the next few years: the former main frequency of Radio Uno 101.1 MHz was turned towards the Valle Canale (Kanaltal), 99.2 was given to Radio Maria Südtirol (today on 99.1 MHz), but from 2000 it also began broadcasting on frequency 102.5 (although this is broadcasted from Monte Lussari).
Although RTL 102.5 broadcasts on 104.50 MHz with an ERP of only approx. 10 kW (as in the days of Radio Uno), it covers the entire central and lower Carinthian region and also reaches numerous Carinthian valleys in the Alps.
RTL 102.5 can also be received in good quality in eastern Styria, the Mur Valley and southern Burgenland, with reception even reaching as far as Hungary in some places! Compared to the nearby Dobratsch transmitter (2145m), which is about 10 kilometres further north and much higher up, and which also transmits with much more power (100 kW), RTL 102.5 often achieves much stronger signals with 104.50, especially in the Alpine valleys. Here, the location (further south, more open to Carinthia) but also the vertical polarisation may have an advantageous effect. A special feature is that the 104.5 frequency can only be received stably for a few kilometres in Italy itself and is therefore mainly used to reach Austrian territories. For Tarvisio and the valleys nearby, RTL 102.5 broadcasts on 102.50 from the Monte Santo di Lussari site.
