A commentary on what appears to be the imminent death of broadcasting on the longwave band
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- Опубликовано: 26 авг 2024
- Hi there, these are my thoughts on the apparent death of the longwave band. Of the few stations that remain, I wonder how long it will be before they also close down and broadcasting on the band is lost forever.
Thanks for watching. 73.
To me, the dismantling of Long Wave feels like vandalism. As a teenager in 1971 (!) I used to cruise the streets with a friend who had bought an old 1957 Vauxhall Victor. It had a valve car radio and, as the passenger, I took control of the listening side of things. We would pointlessly cruise the streets for the hell of it - always at night and mostly when it was raining - and I have strong memories of tuning in to DLF (at least I think it was) and listening to music. Music on Long Wave at night, in the rain is about as atmospheric as you can get! The sound quality was unlike anything else - almost "other-worldly". Hearing The Beatles "Tomorrow Never Knows" on Long Wave gave it a weird quality not to be heard anywhere else! I'm sure the fact that it was a valve radio had a lot to do with it!
Great story, thanks for sharing.
Thank you, you're most welcome. 73
Great story - thank you!
Could only imagine how absolutely far out Tomorrow Never Knows sounded on longwave!
Vandalism is such a strong term that it needs clarifying - what makes you think this? Can you flesh your point out a bit?
As a child I found LW very exciting as you could hear foreign stations loud and clear at any time of day.
Exactly the same as me! 73
@@OxfordShortwaveLogHave you ever built a longwave AM transmitter of low power to test the range of transmission?
I haven't...
Same here
And also in the basement. I remember FM having a bad reception there and DAB being rather bad (was in the early 2010‘s, I was playing with some radio receiver with like 12 without knowing what I was doing but I think I tuned into 234kHz). Well, now at least that thing got fixed with 5G where I live.
I used to work on a North Sea survey vessel, and LW was essential for allowing us to listen to radio in the instrument room.
I can imagine - great background, thank you.
The first radio I built was a crystal set, consisting of a parallel tuned circuit, in which the coil was tapped and switched to allow medium or long wave reception. Germanium diode detector, a pair of high impedance headphones connected to a longwire aerial and a water main earth connection. Seven miles from Droitwich and the BBC Light program on 1500 metres long wave gave perfect reception, as did the BBC Home service, again from Droitwich on 276 metres medium wave. The BBC Third program from Daventry on 464 meters medium wave, which also carried the BBC European service during the night, came through well too. This simple little arrangment gave me hours of listening and got me hooked on radio which led to a 45 year career in radio and telecoms. So thank you Long Wave.
Brilliant comments, thank you very much. I enjoy building crystal radios and spent a lot of time recently listening to Radio 4 on 198 kHz with them. 73
You were only seven miles from Droitwich, you could pick up radio signals with a piece of wet string in your ear!
Sure could . It was great to be able to listen to the radio without the aid of a computer!🙂@@monochromaticlightsource2834
Thanks Clint, a beautiful and poignant video. It feels like the decline of LW has been accelerating. How many of us started on LW listening long into the night as children trying to understand the world (and still do!), have been in Europe on holiday trying to pick-up 198 to see what has happened at home in the UK, listen to the cricket, have used it to test out crystal radios or basic homemade transistor radios, have not had the room to have a really good long wire antenna (I have tried but have always thought I can make improvements) and so much more. Many of those early pioneers were down in the LW and below, from Marconi and the first east-west transatlantic radio communication in 1902 on 272kHz to 2MT on 428khz (700 metres). I love the old tuning dials with the stations marked on LW and MW like they were going to be there forever. It is a great band and I hope it lives on in some form.
Hi, thank you very much for your comments! It seems we travelled on a similar path in our appreciation of LW and radio in general! 73
Greetings from Lincolnshire G1ZQC here.
I was surprised you didn't mention Radio Caroline on 648kHz. Currently running 4kw with an application to increase power.
They now have 18kw of Solar power, which runs the TX during the day (Sunlight permitting).
Caroline pioneered the way for local commercial radio. Them being Great Britain's oldest commercial station.
Coverage is quite good considering the low power and ground wave properties of such a low frequency allocation.
73 David.
This was centered around LW. I think I'll be producing a MW video soon. Thanks and 73.
Antena Satelor still relies on the 153 kHz transmitter in Bod for countrywide coverage. They also have 4 regional MW transmitters and a few FM frequencies, but not nearly enough to cover the whole country. However, the number of listeners on longwave must be really tiny, so who knows how long it'll be until they shut it down.
Thanks my friend. Fingers crossed they stay on 153 kHz for a long time yet. I love the Romanian folk music they play in the evenings. 73
I've actually heard 153Khz! I was in Germany. There was also 1017 MW with 600KW output. I had a Sony SRF-A100 AM stereo radio. 1017 had rtty transmit in phase modulation. It could not be heard by mono radios. Who were they broadcasting this to 30 years ago.
Hi Clint.Thank you again for this. I remember when one could tune through LW in the evening and hear stations from all over Europe and the Middle East. The various USSR stations were fascinating and great if you were trying to learn Russian. Anyone remember when Radio Moscow's domestic service Interval signal that could be faintly heard in the background of Radio 4 at the top of the hour? 73 and GDX
Thanks Jim! Great piece of history! 73
It is unfortunate that longwave/mediumwave broadcasting is being discontinued almost everywhere. In Russia, unfortunately, this has been done since 2011 in order to save money for the launch of DVB-T2 digital television. On this moment there is no LW/MW broadcasting in Russia exept 1413khz
Yep...I remember it well!
Remembering as a kid in the 90s scanning the LW band and picking up stations from across the world. Was always fascinating to hear.
These days my Tecsun more often than not just encounters static. I figured the LW band had been in a steady decline but you've shown that it was steeper than I had imagined especially in the last 20 years! BBC R4 LW going off air for the last time will certainly be historic for the wrong reasons.
I guess the 5th reason for LW stations closing is the lack of new consumer receivers featuring the LW and MW broadcast bands. I can't remember the last time you could walk into a high street consumer electronics shop or visit a non-specialist online store and pick up a receiver that wasn't DAB/FM only. It's pointless to keep them on air if the only listeners are the few hobbyists who have invested in the receiving equipment and people with older receivers that still function.
Of course the newer technologies give us more listening options, but unlike the other options, we don't have to pay for the airwaves, just the receiving equipment.
Well put. There's only one AM radio on the shelves in Currys these days - a Roberts model for about 20 quid. That's it.
Oh, as for medium wave, over here in The Netherlands there are now 100+ low power medium wave stations on the air. Powers ranging from as little as one (1) Watt up to a maximum of 100 Watts. All on a legal basis! It is amazing to hear what distances can be achieved, either due to the disappearance of many national broadcasters and the often sophisticated antenna systems the operators use. A new industry (for all aspects, hardware and content wise) emerged more or less and as a side effect this innitiative also is a great means of combating radio piracy that still exists in Holland as a matter of fact. So I enjoy this very much and it might be worth the efforts to receive some of those situated near our cost most closely to the UK. Just a suggestion!
Thanks for your comments - really interesting to hear of all the low power stations in The Netherlands!
What I find interesting is Sunlite on shortwave/DAB+. I get both here in Germany but it‘s just weird listening to this modern music on shortwave.
Regarding energy costs, the digital systems are lower power at the transmitter end, but require more power on the receiver end (think DAB receiver running in software). So the broadcasters are pushing the costs away from themselves and onto the listener.
Good point...
A problem of free market capitalism, perhaps.
I'm also going to miss it I love all of my equipment just spending time tuning distant stations, seems as though everything is at a turning point in this world.
Yes, I agree - it's a shame...
In some cases the move away seems foolish. Norway has shut down its LW station. Is there any MW or FM station that offers reliable coverage throughout that mountainous, arctic country? I doubt it. Communication, including emergency notifications, now seem to depend on complex systems such as the Internet and cellular staying up. Norway could have turned that LW station into a nationwide alert system with inexpensive weather alert radios like those used on VHF in the U.S. It could also broadcast the weather, ensuring listeners.
Thanks for your comments, in today's volatile world, I think we should keep AM radio. 73
Hi Clint. This is such a great post you’ve done and your so right it’s really sad that LW is nearing the end of its time. Your knowledge and passion about radio really comes across well and in doing so is what makes me enjoy all aspects of this great hobby/pastime.
As I’ve said previously I always enjoy your video’s and post and look forward to many more. All the best Dave.
Hi Dave, thank you so much for your kind words. It makes the effort worthwhile. 73
Great video. As a child I was stunned to find AM and news station on long wave. 😮
A lot of infrastructure has to be in place for the internet; very easy and many places to break that chain. 😢
With LW, just the transmitter/antenna (and obviously power) and the users radio-receiver covering long distances 😊
Thank you very much and well put. 73
Here in America longwave has been almost exclusively NDBs and Navy RTTY communications, In 1976 I bought an R-389 military surplus longwave receiver and sent for a loop antenna. I was very surprised to be able to receive all those European broadcast stations. It's a real shame that they are phasing out LW broadcasting. They almost ruined TV DXing by switching to digital and are going to replace MW AM and VHF FM with digital.
Thanks for your comments Charlie. 73
The internet, smart phones and apps are killing radio fast, not just LW/MW but radio in general.
Internet is not killing the radio; it’s all the rest of our own technology that creates a lot of EMI noise. That’s what’s killing off all our radio. And even our FM is dying by degrees because there’s no true variety on FM, and it’s even being used as talk radio wasteland here! Something needs to be done about the entire mess. Here anyway it’s all about the money, and not about people’s safety or everything related with AM etc would be left intact and even reinforced. We even used to have the Conelrad and Civil Defense system. Long distance AM is important in the case of an extreme emergency. Had to get that off my chest! Then we use our phones to receive the broadcasts that we can’t hear on our radios because of all the RFI/EMI. That seems backwards to me!
@RJDA.Dakota most people aren't using their phones primarily because of poor reception of a station due to EMI.
People are using their phones and digital devices to listen to music of their choice or radio stations as its instant gratification and requires minimal set up.
Thanks for your comments.
Thanks for your reply!
Governments love control, the Internet has an off switch, an electromagnetic wave from another county doesn't.
I wonder who will take over the empty Long wave spectrum??? I’m really surprised there’s no Long wave stations coming from China. Very interesting video good work👍🏽
Some pirate stations may well appear. My money would be on the Netherlands; radio enthusiasts there have been known to transmit just about anywhere on principle (e.g. the so called MW "X Band" between 1602 and 1701kHz which is not used in Europe for broadcasting, just below or in the FM broadcast band, in the middle of the 70cms amateur band, in the licence free allocation around 868MHz etc etc. There is at least one LW QRP pirate that has been on the air previously... there are videos on RUclips :-) 73 from Ed M0MNG.
I think pirates are the most likely option! Thank you very much! 73
Agree with you Mr Ed. 73
Thanks for your comments, Owen.
@@MrEdTraveller I am surprised no one has put an unofficial TX/RX out there for Long Wave. We used to have CBers using 6.6MHz AM in the UK. I even bought some convertors from a shop that used to be in Dale Street, Liverpool, called PRS or Progressive Radio Store. The convertor plugged in to the back of a CB and give RX only for Channel 1 as 6.6MHz and went up the band. They were 50p each on sale in 1988 ! I got 6 of them for myself and other CB friends who wanted a listen, but we never heard anything. I will have to see if I still have one of them.
Pirating other bands is fun, but I couldn't do that as I would lose my licence.
BBC Radio 4 leaving LW has no official date yet even though the contract date is at the end of March . Also remembering when Germany & Russia were still on LW in the 2010s, but in that same decade they also stopped transmitting on the band. Great video & 73s.
Thank you very much. 73!
Sad indeed! Unable here in the States to log any European LW but by using the Kiwi SDR site, I'm able to log several of the remaining stations at least. MW is still going gangbusters on this side of the big water. I see where some car manufacturers want to eliminate MW from new car radios but some special interest groups are fighting that decision thank goodness! I have more fun logging MW (AM) stations here in the U.S. than SW I would say. 73's...Phil
I feel certain MW will remain in North America for many years to come - it's just too big a space to fill with FM and DAB! Thanks Phil, 73.
Phil, I don't know your situation, but if you live in the eastern US and have enough room for a decent antenna, you can sometimes hear them.
Btw, if you are in the south/southwest, you might try the Tropical Bands. Lots of interesting low-power Caribbean stations. Here in WV they are a difficult catch, but fun when you can.
It's terribly sad, here we've had the RTE mast demolished in Clarkstown. Perhaps a LOWFER situation will arise to keep the band alive.
Back in the USSR the pirates were on Long wave
RTE also pulled down the Tullamore mast recently. Used on 567 KHz.
I hope there will always be something on LW..LOWFER even, 73
So maybe that will happen over here. 73
I've just driven from the West Midlands to the South Coast of England listening to R4 LW all the way there & back again, signal was rock solid.
There you go! I listened to R4 in the car all the way from Abingdon to Nantes. Only 20 minutes in the chunnel was a no-signal area! 73
Not surprising, I live in Bromsgrove, a few miles north of the Wychbold (Droitwich) transmitters. When built, 90 years ago this year, the most powerful in the world.
The ground in Wychbold is highly saline, (WYCHbold and DroitWICH come from Old English for salt, and the Romans called Droitwich 'Salinae' or the place of salt) which is why the site was chosen by BBC engineers, together with its location, close to the geographical centre of England.
Apparently the salty earth increases the potential transmission power(?)
I listened to a lecture on the towers, but I'm no expert.
After an evening listening to SW, RTE used to be my fall back station when other stations had closed. Sad to see it go!
Yes, likewise! 73
It certainly is sad. I wish we had the technology we currently enjoy (sdrs with waterfall displays) with all the stations on LW and SW from the late 70s. But I suppose a lot of that type of advancement has also brought us digital methods of broadcasting and streaming too.
Couldn't have put it better myself! Thank you.
As a Broadcast Engineer I can tell you the main motivation for High Power TX sites to close is power consumption.........Owners are no longer interested in providing Long Range reception for consumers that are out of their commercial area.....the internet does that now.............Religious stations are the exception , as they want to spread a message and generally don't have any Commercial interests in Flogging Product........
Thanks for your comments. 73
Au contraire... religious stations certainly have commercial interests in flogging their particular product!!
Great video and your doing a great job on chronicling LW. I just posted my first LW video here stateside. Keep up the good work 73.
Thank you! 73
Good morning Clint, from David HS0ZQA/2E0WBQ in Thailand.
I'm glad your video popped up.
The propagation on the HF bands is terrible here at the moment.
I'm going to do some listening on LW. I only have a resanent dipole for 20 metres, so I may have to put a longer wire up but I should have enough space.
Good luck, David!
If you can get a load of wire, use a End Fed Half Wave and add it on the end. Run it around the garden in loops and it will still work. Try and get it resonant to some extent and maybe add a really long coil would on a drainpipe. Loads of ways to experiment. The last time I put a long wire up it was for MW! That went from the ground, 50ft up a tree and 100ft to another tree. I used a big coil at the base of it. Trial and error really. When I have tried HF mobile I have used an ATU to match a farmers fence that run for miles across a field to 160M and 80M. I even tried it on 2m RX and it was amazing in the direction it was running.
Linking CB radio to feed LW with talk would allow people to add a mobility to the long wave band. Aircraft ADF radios can receive the upper half of longwave.
Nice idea...
I am in Canada. LW was never used for commercial broadcasting here or across the border in the USA, but instead for aircraft NDBs. There are literally hundreds of stations on MW here, essentially every 10 kHz. In fact I can receive more than 10 music stations on AM / MW from where I live, with classic hits, hip-hop, trance/house, R&B, Top 40 being available, including a new station CFAJ on 1220 kHz from Niagara Falls which is commercial-free and wide format (big band, 50s/60s rock, metal, classic rock, dance, CHR) 1930s to 2000s with a totally random format. I love stuff like this, and there is nothing on FM like it. I believe AM will do well in North America for years to come, since new stations are still going on the air. Regarding LW, I agree with you this is an amazing broadcast band with the capability to reach very long distances! In the early 1990s, I could pick up a CHR station on 252 kHz LW (Atlantic 252) from northeastern Canada with Nordmende 808 on several occasions. I believe this was a super-powered CHR station serving most of western Europe from Ireland. I was astonished to hear the latest hits on LW ! Long live Long Wave !
Thanks very much for your interesting memories! I also used to listen to Atlantic 252 all the time, but the signal in Oxford was a lot stronger than how you copied them lol. I've thought for a long time that MW will continue in North America for a long time to come. It's just too big to fill the gaps with FM/DAB. Thanks again and 73!
Did you ever get AM Stereo? It was experimented with in the UK and sounded good, but discontinued. So was spatial or surround sound transmission which sounded more like a 3D wrap-around effect.
After the mess that DABradio has turned in to in the UK, I still have to say Medium Wave stations sound much better in the car than DAB. Sound quality is far better, so is the range and overall coverage.
UK DABradio is now a few different channels of pre-mixed music repeated every few hours a few times a day with different adverts and DJ voices with generic sayings every few minutes. Bitrates are awful and most is mono, thin, tinny, horrible "listen down a phone" audio...! There is no dynamic range and with 16Kbps and 32Kbps I would prefer MW and LW any day.
It takes 2 transmitters on longwave to cover the whole of the uk. Which they say costs a lot to run and maintain. But how much does it cost to run and maintain far more transmitters that are needed to cover the UK on FM ? It will also cost plenty to run and maintain the DAB network.
Well said...
It was three LW transmitters (Droitwich, Burghead and Westerglen) and many MW fillers for the mush areas, central London, Cornwall and Northern Ireland.
The declining of longwave goes fast indeed. I remember Atlantic 252 which was quite popular among younger listeners in the nineties. And I know BBC radio 4 has listeners in the Netherlands too on longwave. Sad that even the BBC will leave longwave. 😢
I remember Atlantic 252 when I was a kid - I was an avid listener. Such a sham about BBC R4. Thanks Rene 73
Great video Clint, big effort as always. Thoroughly enjoy the channel.
Thank you again John! Appreciate it. 73
Very poignant and distressing recollections of the past Clint. Progressive values and changes are being forced upon us , and the fact that we can do nothing about it is so sad. Probably won’t be long until MW goes the same way , being available on DAB or an Alexa app 😢. Great content as usual buddy , and thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.
And when the internet goes down or out, then you’re stuck with no communications. Radio is easiest answer and simple things are elegant because of that simplicity aspect. Here we have a saying: If it’s not broken then you can’t fix it. Things work out in the end. Deny communications and then eventually everything goes down.
@@RJDA.Dakota Great point Sir.
Thank you for your comments, Sir. 73
Exactly - it crosses borders and bypasses all censorship. 73
I remember listening to RTL Luxembourg to a rock n roll music programe weekdays nite also of course Atlantic 252 which was one the best stations on the radio. I'm so glad I taped songs I like of these stations gives me something to listen to when I'm feeling nostalgic!
I am on the other side of the pond. I had a really good long wave receiver as a kid. It was a multiband thing that did longwave by converting up and then back down. I remember listening to some very strange stuff on it. I think a fair bit of what I was picking up was illegal or unintentional transmissions. There were a bunch of morse code stations and some that gave weather reports. There were some that made sort of a giggling screaming sort of sound that ran for about a minute or so then stopped.
Thanks, Ken.
I thought 198kHZ was used in case of nuclear war as an emergency transmission It is also used as a frequency standard
I've heard the same...
When the local LW radiostation worked, I did some experiment. I receive this station (40Km from my house) in the undeground. I heard the transmitter and lot of noises inside train.The first 4 stations on the red line in Kiev isn`t so deep. But the station isn`t working more that 10 years. This waves can propagate in cities - because a long of wave quite big and building isn`t scattering so strong as shortvawe and mediumvawe. I made several experiments with 1W transmitter and found out - when a length of a wave quite big - shadow zones becomes more small, or disappear at all. But it is a problem - how to transmitting a very long wave from a flat.. It needs a big loop antenna - several meters.
Yes that's correct, long wavelengths work around objects very well, unlike VHF/UHF etc. Understand your difficultly TXing on a LW frequency from a flat with very little space...73
I would imagine Polskie Radio will endure, people there have a long memory, and once having the tallest structure in the world indicated their passion to get a message out.
I have had a home there for 13 years, (Mikolajki) the people there are extraordinary, the strongest in good character l have ever met, l include Finland, who of course have SISU.
But as even they have conceded in conversation , the electrician brought down communism.👍
Thanks very much for your excellent comments! I hope Polskie Radio endures! 73
Hmmm .. Medium wave is also getting abandoned these days ( I thought my radio was defective until I fired up my signal generator ! ! ) + no more 199 Caroline ! ...... DAVE™ 🛑
MW commentary coming soon. Thanks and 73
Thank you for the update. Years from now, people will find your podcast historically valuable.
Thank you Dave. 73
Just reminds me of the song by Everclear - AM Radio.
Where they talk about the portable CD player, etc... various formats have always been impacting AM radio stations. Its sad, but has been on the cards for decades :(
Yes it has, still a shame though. 73
Can and will the LW band be opened to public transmissions? Can the public apply for a broadcasting licence for LW? I can't see why not.
I agree that's a good idea...
It is a real shame that all these LW stations are going away. It seems that LW is dying faster than MW. 😥😥
It does, David - and it's upsetting me! 73
If it was possible to have QSO stations as they were called on MW why not on LW as well?
Not sure....
@@OxfordShortwaveLog 2 way MW pirates in the London area where known as QSO stations
@@charlesloukas1946 Never heard of that and I have done a fair bit in that scene in different areas!
Many years ago I hear Iceland's LW station in Latvia. Today with powerfull IGBT transistor inverters can will create powerfull LW AM transmitter. With solar panels can create free energy for transmitter.
Thanks for your comments!
Unfortunately with the rise of consumer electronics with the accompanying RF noisy switch mode power supplies because all the filter components are removed to save a penny, is it any wonder joe public doesn't listen to LW with the constant buzz ?.
I remember for a time in the 80`s all the building sites had Atlantic 252 blasting out as it was as good as BBC radio 1/2 on MW..they were the days!
Exactly! I loved Atlantic 252 when I was a kid!
Next door has something switching on and off creating a huge buzzing noise which then decreases in it's level on both m.w. and l.w. Even the strong Radio 4 is affected.
I have the same issues at my QTH BIll. It's a pain!
We are only just getting shut of the noise generated by PLT or powerline transmission devices used to extend internet around homes and also from Broadband on phone lines. OFCOM always refused to allow us as primary band users to have action taken against BT for example, for causing interference. Now at least fibreoptics are being fitted everywhere to carry broadband, so some HF is free of interference, and you can get shut of a lot from PLT with filtering. Switching Mode power supplies can be a pain, but are often shielded and earthed, so a filter on the mains plug helps.
Thanks for this interesting video. What a great shame that LW is in decline.
I actually like the background "hum" of LW and also the faint bleed-over from other stations (usually Slavic) that is "just" audible during a pause. FM sounds a bit clinical. The hum & bleed-over both lend an atmosphere of of fashioned-ness, and it constantly reminds me of how wondrous it is that radio signals can travel through the aether AT ALL !
And you're right, TMS is better on LW. LW is a tradition - just like cricket is.....and likewise full-test matches.
Thanks again.
Thanks for your comments Andrew - I couldn't have put any of them better myself! 73
Here in the US, my favorite time to DX on AM is during the baseball season. The local AM 590 carries the Detroit Tigers. But the 50,000 watt stations are best heard after the sun goes down. 670 AM from Chicago has the Cubs and White Sox. The best part is I don't spend $100 per month on cable TV bills.
It kind of a shame that LW and MW weren't given over to DRM. If only DRM took off as a radio standard on consumer gear, then maybe these AM stations would have gone digital.
I think another reason is newer radios just not having those bands, when I was a kid, you'd get three band radios but even back then there were more and more radios that were only two band and MW was called AM.
Then DAB came around and no DAB radio had any AM bands, not MW and certainly not LW. If they had anything other than DAB, it was FM.
And of course fewer radios means fewer listeners, fewer listeners means the cost is less justifiable.
When I'm out and about, I listen to online radio on my mobile phone which also has a built in FM only radio, no LW, no MW, no DAB (I think I've only seen two phones have a DAB radio built in and one of those was the Virgin Lobster TV phone)
Thanks for your comments, Neil. 73
As a kid I used to listen to stations like Atlantic 252. However these are the days before the internet, when you were limited to state sanctioned broadcasters.
I used to listen to Atlantic 252 also when I was a teenager! That was a great station for music. 73
Last I heard Droitwich was running 250kw which will mean Burghead and Westerglen are running 25kw each. BBC has said on a few occasions that they want to close the service. I understand the data service which phase modulates the 198 KHz carrier is no longer required.
Thanks, John. It appears next year will be it for R4.
It is certainly required for those of us that have Economy 7 heating - how will they swith that?
@@lionelsear5606 Smart meters will do it all. Modern smart meters use 4G/5G mobile phone service for data and control. So no need for Radio 4 long wave. Anyway the BBC is indicating March 2024 the service will be closed.
Good old radio Luxembourg got me into it 80’s the bands were a plenty.cheers sir
Definitely, Sir! I remember listening to Radio Luxembourg on 208 metres when I was a small kid! 73
I know that the antenna for RÚV is due for an overhaul and it's just not feasible to do. It's a 60 year old 412m high Loran-C tower.
It also costs a lot to run (running at 150KW, can do 300) and very few people use it anymore.
Unfortunately, those are the economics of the situation. 73
We have lost Test Match Special on LW…. very sad indeed.
100% on that Mark.
Radio 4 and Atlantic 252 were so exotic to a young kid. I love all this still.
Cheers - I do too!
I will watch this but I had to say glad that Radio 4 Feedback played your message at 20:06
Hi yes it did!
Here in Alberta LW you can hear Non Directional Beacons (NDBs) for aircraft on LW. I have used my directional loops to receive stations from the St. Lawrence River (near Montreal) and the far North up on Ellesmere island. Interference from stations sharing the same frequency is overcome by changing the direction of the null of the loop. I would like to transmit on these frequencies; some hams are doing this already on some specific frequencies. VE6MRV
Cheers, Marvin. I remember DXing NDBs during a trip to California in 2019 - there's nothing else on the band in North America! Still makes for interesting listening! Yes I've heard hams in Europe - not for me though - the antennas are too big! 73
Listening to the dull, soulless, flat sound of TMS on DAB as opposed to the crisp audibility of longwave in the garden with a beer and the occasional crackle of distant thunderstorm.
Exactly!
Great stuff Clint!
Thanks Lewis! 73
Long wave is essential for information.
It is the fundamental form of radio communication that has existed for over one hundred years.
Like the telephone copper wire.....Fundamental form of communications.
Both could disappear in the UK soon.
When all else fails due to a WW3, only a few with short wave radios will be able to communicate.
I have a battery Sony VHF, SW, MW and LW receiver that can also work with mains power.
I suspect that the LW transmitters in the UK, will be mothballed as all equipment including power generators, copper feeds, aerials etc would be impossible to replace once scrapped.
I agree with everything you've said.
As someone only recently getting into radio, this was a tough watch. What will there be to listen to?
Well hopefully AM will stick around for a while longer. As European stations shut down, paths to north and south America open up. 73
Cost of everything has to be the big thing. Internet must be cheaper and as more people get computers and such it becomes more popular that way.
Perhaps we can have our miserly 137 kHz amateur band extended. Maybe move it away from the strong signals near to it to make better reception of the weak amateur stations on there.
Bill, G4GHB.
Well said, Bill. 73
@@OxfordShortwaveLog O.K., 73.
Great video, shame to see the LW band becoming emptier and emptier each year but like you said, that's where we are. I also agree with you on listening to cricket on BBC R4 - picking it up on an ordinary analog receiver was very handy (especially for someone who doesn't live in the UK).
Here's what I do know about some stations that are currently listed. Some of this is information that isn't first-hand so I can't vouch for everything.
153 (Chaine 1, Algeria) - possibly now inactive. I didn't find it on any SDR when Antena Satelor was off the air for a couple of hours earlier this month.
153 (Antena Satelor, Romania) - recently seems to be running at much lower power.
164 (MNB1, Mongolia) - allegedly running at significantly reduced power, breaks in transmission fairly common.
171 (Medi 1, Morocco) - no longer audible here in Ireland for about a month now on my setup. Monitoring SDRs would suggest that power has been reduced even further. Frequency no longer mentioned on their website.
209 (MNB 1 Mongolia) - allegedly at least one of the three transmitters are either off or only operating intermittently.
225 (Polskie Radio 1) - also broadcasting separate programs from FM aimed at Belarus, Russia and Ukraine since the invasion, will likely stay around for a while yet.
252 (Chaine 3, Algeria) - went off the air for several days last month. Returned but with much lower power. Was booming here in Ireland after RTE 1 left LW but now down to anorak quality level. Using a Transradio Tx just as a matter of interest (also used by one of the MNB stations on 209 which is unreliable and RTE until April which had a lot of outages in the years prior to closure). Has been intermittent for a while now.
I wonder which will be next to go after Iceland, Denmark and BBC...
Thanks for the info. Conor which ties in mostly witih my understanding of what's happening on LW. It's daylight here and I have weak audio on Antena Satelor and Medi 1. Chaine 3 on 252 kHz is already booming in S9+. Next to do is Denmark at the end of the year and then probably followed by BBC R4 next year...what a shame. 73
Here in the U.S., longwave was never really a thing for whatever reason. There's still a few NDB's around (Non Directional Beacons), but they don't exactly make for compelling listening. I feel your pain though. Radio everywhere is in sharp decline these days. It's a sad state of affairs.
Thanks and yes, AM radio is in a very poor state and unlikely to ever recover. 73
And then you think that MW or even FM, how about DAB, will be around forever? Although I did think that my local MW station would be around most of my life. Things really do change so quickly now. So called outmoded systems, so many of them never really even caught on. MDs, CDs also a thing of the past. Vinyl records making a comeback (temporarily because of the nostalgia, that’s all). I used to have a small tape recorder, as a teenager, which later traded for a cassette recorder. It goes on and on. But sometimes simple things like radio endure. When the internet goes down or out because of any number of things, that radio will still exist. Remember, the first real receivers were crystal sets. I don’t like to be a pessimist but with all the things going on in the world today, radio, especially shortwave and medium wave, would be more useful for all, than the few that can afford digitalization. That leaves a lot of Africa and Southern Asia out. Radio and radio stations are important. And real news, not slanted opinions.
Couldn't have put it better myself, thank you my friend. 73
Longwave, Mediumwave and the crystal set - the ultimate fall back position when everything else fails! We might even have to re-learn making a "Cat's Whisker"...! Not that I've ver made one, but the details will be in a book somewhere.
100% Jim!
Yeah, but what's a book? ; ^ )
Hi Clint, just heard your comments aired on BBC Radio 4 Feedback programme. I would like to be able to say I was listening on 198 kHz but heard it on BBC Sounds a day after first broadcast. For anyone reading this and wants to hear the programme on 198 kHz it will be repeated at 1900 UTC on Sunday 13th August.
Thanks for your comments - I heard my comments on 198 kHz! 73
Fm QTH Denia, Spain. Noticed today 3 feb 2024, Polskie radio is a few Khz off on 228khz. My stongest station is Nador on 171khz. All very nostalgic... ex-merchant navy radio officer who used to transmit CW on frequencies in 500khz band... that's all gone too!
Thanks for your comments! I'll take a look at Polski Radio signal later on. 73!
I always found RTE on 252 to be an unusual one. RTE already had a very good MW allocation on 567 kHz but they discontinued it in 2008 in favour of LW. I suspect that they did so because they already owned the LW site as part of their involvement in Atlantic 252, and that there was a stipulation in the planning permission that it had to be demolished once no longer in use. This happened, the tower was demolished a few months after closure. The construction was very controversial among locals and ended up in court in the mid 80s, hence the stipulation. RTE ended up replacing the Atlantic-era 500 kW TX pair with a single 300 kW Transradio unit in 2007 but within 5 years or so, they had dropped it to 150 kW (as can be seen in the WRTH guides here). So it wasn't uncommon for Algeria to overpower RTE at night even in Ireland.
Thanks for the info. - appreciated.
Humanity's best parts are being dismantled.
Yep!
I heard 243khz DR in Denmark two days ago...I remember trying to get DR on Shortwave....i hear Northern China and Eastern Russia after 12 midnight my time in the Pacific.....so sad to see this band going out...way is that...MW AM Band has too much stations everywhere....i remember trying to get Longwave for Europe from California back in the 1970s-1995...i heard a few at night when it was a cold night... from Germany and the UK why is this happening!!!
Thanks for your comments - very interesting. Apparently, no one is listening to LW these days - which I know isn't true!
Sad reality is, demand for LW and MW broadcasting is just diminishing. If broadcasters could get away with it they, would be happy to scrap all costly radio transmission facilities. Recently, in the US, Ford started removing AM (MW band) radio from their new cars. There was a bit of a push back and they have reintroduced them. So, suspect at least MW will be around for a while. However, as you say the situation and geography in some areas of the World maybe means that some LW stations also still make sense for a while.
Agree with you - MW will stick around for years to come - particularly in North America and larger nations in Europe etc.
AM broadcast has a strong ultra conservative support in the US. All O hear is religious nut cases and ultra right BS & Hate talk 😡
Found your video here by accident. With reference RTE I did notice that on 252Khz (I think?) had disappeared - I did check my antenna at the time to see if my old (from new in April 1981) FRG7700M receiver was still working!
What's going to happen to Long Wave I ask myself?
Yes, RTE are no more - not sure about longwave - the NDBs will continue for a while from around 280 kHz up to medium wave.
As someone from the US, which never had commercial stations on LW (though not sure why considering the midwest would have been perfect for LW stations) I never grew up with longwave radio. In fact, I didn’t even know about it til I was 13 or 14 when I first seriously got into shortwave radio. Finding websdr allowed me to hear a LW broadcast for the first time, BBC 198. Once I got a Satellite 750, my first radio with longwave, I could finally hear some local, nondirectional beacons, and I once even had Algeria on 252, though it was exceptionally week and hard to hear, but it was there! AM transmitting in general is extremely efficient at covering large swaths of land with less power than FM could ever achieve. SW, LW and MW are vital means of communication and you’re right, it’s extremely near-sighted of those in charge to do away with these bands rather than invest in less expensive means of transmitting on LW MW and SW.
Thanks for your comments! 73
If ever there was a time when we need the simplicity and resilience of AM broadcasting for emergency situations, surely this is it. As for 2025 when the UK is set to close the public switched telephone network, I think there is a real risk of people being totally without information if the power goes out. Data over mobile fails instantly when there is a power outage in my area.
Great comments Ross - couldn't agree more!
It is sad about the LW band dying. I was hopeful that it mabe re purposed for DRM but it looks like DRM also died an early death.
I think you're right....
hello, I'm a 60 year old newby... I'm listening to lw (153 - 282 ) I can sometimes get an emission on 245 kHz starting around 6pm (France time) I hear a musical chime, same notes repeated in different musical approches and then a man or a woman giving a short sentence message that I can't tell the language (I get some noise) This transmission spreads to 243 with les quality. On the list in Wikipedia 243 is from Denmark, is that what I'm hearing? Why the chimes? There's nothing on 245 in accordance to Wiki. Thanks, Cheers from Normandy.
Hi there, yes you're definitely copying the signal from Denmark - Kalundborg on 234 kHz. The chimes are an interval signal they've been using for ever! 73!
Unfortunately once a Denial of use attack occurs with the Internet, all Countries will suffer a serious communications blackout. Satellite communications are also susceptible to attacks as well as GPS spoofing. In this day and age, redundancy seems to be a bad word. The real money players want you to subscribe to all services for a fee but there is no backup plan should they fail. Power, Water, and Gas services are also remotely controlled by Smart Meters and can also be shut off once hacked. Imagine a war where no shots are fired.
Couldn't have said it better myself. When other infrastrcture fails, radio will still be there.
I really really hope they don't get rid of LW. I'm Irish and I lived in the UK for about 5 years, many years ago. While I was there I started to listen to the BBC. Now back in Ireland I still listen to the BBC on LW. MW doesn't reach here as intact as LW. It doesn't have the reach that LW has. I'm sure it's the same for many people in France, the Netherlands and possibly Denmark also, who listen to the BBC on LW. This is a form of soft power and the UK really should hold on to that. The UK has already shot itself in the foot with regards to influence in Europe due to Brexit. If the BBC drops LW it'll be yet another loss of influence. Also in times of emergency, LW is a great way for getting news out across the UK (& Ireland).
I agree with everything you've said, thank you very much for taking the time to comment. 73
To improve my French I listened to RTL. I once got a question right on La Grosse Tete. This was in my beloved Montego Countryman 2DL in traffic. I have had " better cars". The Montego was true LW.
I remember the Montego when I was a kid - in fact one of my Harwell ARS members has two!
So sad to lose these things we have known for so many years.
Yes, definitely.
I've been curious about longwave since I was quite young. Here in the US about all we have is nondirectional beacons on the band, and those are going away. One of my lifetime goals is to get a European LW broadcaster in my log. Probably not going to happen, though. 😢
I copied a couple of NDBs when I was in California in 2019...keep trying though, you might catch Algeria on 252 kHz! 73
@@OxfordShortwaveLog Thanks for the suggestion! A couple of years ago I saw a presentation about SDRs and the presenter said that he had been able to copy a longwave broadcaster from his QTH in Texas at least once. I have logged about 20 NDBs just sitting out in the yard in the early morning with my PL-990X and the add-on reel antenna. Between the 990X and my HF+ Discovery I might have some luck. I also like DXing VLF and have logged three of the high power US Navy stations down around 25 kHz (NAA, NLK, and NML4).
Great stuff! I logged Algeria, Morocco and BBC R4 from Belem in Northern Brazil, so you have a decent chance! 73!
@@OxfordShortwaveLog I'm inspired! What's the best time of day to try?
When there is a dark path from North Africa to your QTH. Good luck! 73
Long-wave radio is being systematically killed by shoddily designed and manufactured switching power supplies (starting with those for cell phones) that produce a whole spectrum of broadband interference in addition to poor DC. The same thing is happening on medium and shortwave flares. It's very sad and strange that policymakers are taking the easy way out by abandoning these bands and no one is eliminating the manufacturers of radio smog-emitting crap .
Thank you for raising the topic and best regards 73 & Best DX 👍👍
Thanks for your great comments - it applies to all of AM broadcasting which is such a shame. All the best and 73
I have a Grundig T-7500 hifi receiver from the 80's. Its a decent radio, but I cant really hear anything but buzzing in long waves here in Finland. Of course I would need a better antenna setup. I can hear some Russian and Eastern European MW stations at night time though. Hungarian Kossuth radio at 540kHz is by far most clear and loud and then some Baltic radiostations
Thanks for your comments - AM radio is dying in Europe but hopefully some stations will remain for many years to come. 73
The jingle Kalundborg langbølge on 243 kHz used is described in the following link: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr%C3%B8mde_mik_en_dr%C3%B8m_i_nat
Thanks for the link!
Nice Video 73
Thanks! 73
I can't hear anything below about 5mhz. Incredible amount of random noises. I don't know why
You live in an area of high QRM unfortunately...
These are sad times indeed
They really are!
This might or might not surprise you; But as a lifelong DX'er (40 years) near Chicago, in the United States, I have never once in my life heard anything on Long Wave. Absolutely nothing. I still scan through it on my various shortwave radios as well as my SDR setup, even on the best antennas I've ever setup, LW is stone cold dead on this continent.
Thanks for your comments - I'm not surprised - I listened in California for a week in 2019 and heard nothing but a couple of NDBs. 73
To rewrite the song 'Internet killed the radio star'...its all very sad, I share your pain x
Thank you.
I haven't heard Denmark or Iceland. I started listening on a small radio that only had long and medium wave. I assembled a battery in a paper tube to power it. Today there is too much interference to listen indoors. An English broadcaster can have listeners far outside the country borders.
The Internet requires an additional chain of infrastructure to be working. World Service is only available in big cities on USW, and may go down if there are local problems of they lose visibility to the satellite. In some places like in the kitchen or in the garden, I can't load streams off the internet because there is no computer, and I can't listen on headphones. BBC used to have restrictions of the iPlayer; and their apple-format streaming is a bit bloated for old PCs.
I think each country could maintain at least one station where they still have multiple duplicating ones that clutter the band.
Thanks for your comments.
Sad to see the slow death of MW & LW.
Technology advances - look at the changes with TV - VHF broadcast > UHF Broadcast > Satellite & cable > Digital > Streaming.
Ironic that with each advancement the reliability & robustness decreases.
I think I was born too late! Thanks for your comments.
Sad isn't it.
It really is.
RTE1 252khz was excellent I hear that the transmitter needed 1600£ of electric per week
Sounds about right - and a lot! 73
Its a shame they are closing down - I'm wondering is it because of pressure to free up the bands, or pure lack of people listening, or a bit of both, maybe its something completely else. Ah you answer at 11:04 :D
I think it's lack of listenership and costs, unfortunately. Thanks and 73
Same way for me and CB radio , Used CB starting in 1969, in the car and as a base station, Lots of activity throughout my life.
Bought a nice CB radio and made a great base station here in 2023 and CB radio is dead unless you are talking long distance skip.
Thanks for your memories. I tried CB a year ago and hardly copied anyone. 73
The situation across all the AM bands (LW, MW and SW) is increasingly worrying. I first started listening as a 12 year old, having just got my hands on a R1155. Back then the bands were a playground. There was always something interesting and perhaps even exotic to listen to. These days, not so much. SW is dominated by China and a handful of religious broadcasters, although it is possible to pick up African and South American locals. LW is almost dead, and MW is slowly following in its footsteps.
I agree with all of your comments.
I've built a transmitter using NE555 timer as many on RUclips. Simplest was best. Output pin 3 via resistor to 2+6. At least I can remember. Sound not bad. 5.2 volts and fussy. Small aerial to pin 5 via 1uF audio input helped. A 180 uH inductor pin 7 to plis.
Thanks for sharing
I think I know how you feel. I've been bitten by the radio bug since I was 13 or 14. LW, MW and SW broadcast is slowly dissapearing. Shame. Then again, times change. There are no steamtrains running today. Some people will think that's a shame too. Internet has made it obsolete. That's how it is.
You're right, Rene. The internet accelerated the death of AM broadcast radio for sure.
As I have said I would use 198kHz as a hybrid Radio 4 station of World service, Cricket and nostalgic archive. If the valves are used up I imagine new cathodes and getters can be made. Oxford university dept of science might be able. They have a glass lathe.
Agree with you Nigel. 73
Gonna set up a pirate station now that LW is going to be open.
LOL you're not the only one!
With the availability of very cheap but incredibly powerful Audio MOSFETs, you can build yourself a power amp of a few kilowatts for not much money. You just need a hefty 48V power supply or two.
TBH, am not really buying the excuses they (the broadcasters) are making - out of all the broadcast bands, Longwave has had IMHO the least amount of change technologically, more a victim of it's own success in that way because of the hardware side. FM, Medium Wave and even Shortwave transmissions utilised more up-to-date hardware and delivery methods using transistor & IC components, which also brought down the cost of operations significantly and enabled a change of how we receive them (FM Stereo, AM-CQUAM, DRM, SSB, etc.). Have seen very few even talk about modern small hobby Longwave modulators, let alone broadcast-scale modern LW exciters that only require modern transistors & ICs - there could be more potential in LW moving forward due it's groundwave properties (obviously you have the radio clock time signals that to a lesser extent still need the band to remain active), however, with more spurious digital interference (alot of it was reported to Ofcom, including IoPl interference, but they did nothing about it) reception is also a major problem. It's up to us the hobbyists to keep the band alive - as the broadcasters seem to have given up on the one thing that gave them so much influence over our lives & decisions.
Thanks for your great comments