Lutheran Radio Centre North-Eastern Zone Booster (Translator) Chain |
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 The solar panels compeat with the leaves of the trees to catch the necessary energy
Transmitter hut and antenna above Arusha. Radio Free Africa in background
4 stacked 3 element yagi antennas at Hagwe
Many people are helping to set up the Same transmitter
A wonderful fiew of the Usambara mountains from the transmitter hut.
Samueli helping to build the transmitter hut in Tanga
The transmitter in Kibaya overlooking the huge land of the Maasai Steppe
Uluguru mountains and antennas on Bondwa / Morogoro
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania |
Several Boosters have been chained to give better coverage
of the North-Eastern zone of Tanzania. All Boosters are controlled and fed by the studio
in Moshi.
1. Kilimanjaro Booster: The Kilimanjaro Booster is located about
2500 metres above sea level on the Southern slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was built in
1998/1999 with funds of the ELCT-Sikiliza FM-Project. It is solar power operated. The
transmitter power (CROWN FM250) is about 20-250 Watts into 4 horizontally polarised 9 dB
(dipole) group antennas, so maximum e.r.p. is about 1kW. The main target are the Southern slopes
of Mt. Kilimanjaro, but it reaches nearly up to Arusha (Tengeru), Same and far into the
Maassai area South of the Kilimanjaro. Moshi Town and its surroundings have
about 1 Million possible listeners. The transmitter had been sponsored by
the Sikiliza Project and Trans World Radio. 2. Arusha Booster: It first started to operate on August 1st
1999 at an experimental stage in Sura (Mt.Meru) about 1500 metres above sea level. Due to poor coverage of the Northern
part of Arusha we moved the transmitter to the Kiwesi hill, just North of Arusha, which is
about 2000m high.. It uses a CROWN FM 250 transmitter into a 10 dB vertically polarised
antenna, about 15 metres above ground The primary target is the town of Arusha and the West- slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro. But it can be heard often even up to Karatu and regions around Babati up to the slopes of Mt. Hanang. Arusha town has about 200 thousand
possible listeners. The Booster has been sponsored by the
Northelbian Mission in Germany. 3. Rombo Booster The Rombo Booster is covering the East
Slopes of Mt. Kilimanjaro, where no other FM radio from Tanzania reaches. The most of the
highly populated area are Roman Catholik Christians. The transmitter has been sponsored by
Radio Habari Maalum in Arusha. The 12dBd antennas produce about 2 kW e.r.p. and the
station can be heard nearly up to terakea, and very far into Kenya.
4. Same Booster The Same Booster is located above Same
on the slopes of the Shengenna massive. It uses a CROWN FM250 transmitter and a 6dB
collinear vertical antenna about 12 metres above ground (1700 meters above sea level). Its
primary target are the town of Same and the Pare Mountains, but it reaches far South in
the Maassai area up to Orkesmet as well. The transmitter has been financed by the
Silkiliza Project, under the auspices of the Bavarian Lutheran Church in Germany. There are about 2 Mil. possible
listeners in its range.
5. Usambara Booster A strong request came from the Diocese
in Lushoto in the Usambara mountains to cover the Usambara mountains. The area around
Mlalo has the highest population density. Aim of the Booster is to reach the
people in the Usambara mountains as good as possible (deep valleys) and transmit the
Gospel up to the coastal line, mainly Tanga. It can be heard even on the Mountains of
Morogoro. There are about 2.5Mil. people, many of
them are Muslims. The transmitter is a donation from
Trans World Radio (CROWN FM250) . The Antennas and the antenna support had been made
locally in Moshi.. 6. Tanga Booster The Tanga Booster had been opend
officially January 2nd 2005 by the Bishop of the North Eastern Diocese. Its should improve
reception in Tanga Town and its surrounding. Right now it is set up close to the Kisosora
church, but the range is only about 40 km because of its low altitude. For better coverage
of the coastal area it should be moved up to the Amani Mountains as soon as a donor is
found to sponsor the electricity connection there. The transmitter is sponsored by the
Northelbian Mission, Germany. 7. Kibaya Booster There is a big Christian revival
movement among the Maasai, and we got a strong request to put a booster there. In most of
the areas, no other FM station can be heard, and Medium Wave is quite poor. So this
booster fills a major communications gap. Since it is located in the middle of the
Maasai land it will cover nearly all the area up to Dodoma. The population is fairly
scattered, but many people have their transistor radios The Northelbian Mission in Germany sponsored the transmitter and its Solar system. By a direct mailing campaign and the Bingo Lottery they have raised about 40 000 Euro for it! 8. Bondwa/Morogoro Booster Since many people wanted to listen to Voice of the Gospel even in the South, the Northelbian Mission of Germany donated a Crown FM 250 ransmitter for Morogoro Area. The studio added two 12 dBd Antenna systems which brings the signal up to Bagamoyo and parts of Zansibar. The range is so huge because the mountain is so high with its 2300m. We have rented part of an TTCL tower there Unfortunately we can just run 50 Watts up to now, because the transformer of the power company is too small. .
Here a Map which shows the approximate
reception areas of each transmitter.
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