Peter's DX Corner

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Tag: DCF77

Mainflingen antennas demolished… and what about my old QSL?

November 22, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Maybe it is “old man” emotional, but then again. In Germany they are destroying communication infrastructure like they are destroying energy infrastructure, while at the same time they tell us “we are at war with Russia”.

So in Mainflingen (well known to us DX-ers) 3 antennas went down. Their demise can be seen in this YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pA9vgduChA

Mainflingen is the home of DCF77, the time signal station that transmits on 77.5 kHz. And no worries… DCF77 is still alive and kicking. But Mainflingen was also the backup station for the Deutschlandfunk, broadcasting from Donebach on 153 kHz. And of course I QSL-ed this station in the 80-ies… but rather than 153 it had 155 kHz on the QSL. Was it the backup from Mainflingen I received 46 years ago?

Another thing I didn’t know but found out: the antennas in Mainflingen are part of the logo of the community of Mainhausen which Mainflingen is a part of.

QSL DCF77 Time-Signal 77.5 kHz

August 15, 2023 / / 2 Comments
QSL DCF77 Mainflingen
QSL DCF77 Mainflingen Time-Signal 77.5 kHz

I received this beautiful QSL card DCF77 Time-Signal on 77.5 kHz by mail. The transmitter is located in Mainflingen, Germany. The QSL was accompanied by a folder on how time is managed. I also received a 2009 magazine from the PTB (Physikalisch-Technischen Bundesanstalt) with a special topic on 50 years of DCF77. This magazine is also available online. I sent my report to dirk.piester@ptb.de .

As you can read on the QSL there is no voice announcement of the time. Instead the date and time are transmitted by in code through the interval between second markers (0.1 s = “zero”; 0.2 s = “1”). You can see this in my waterfall map below. The gap prior to second 53 and 57 is twice as big. At the minute there is no gap.

DCF77 signal. The binary code is clearly visible.

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