BBC Radio 4 long wave reception problems etc.

[PaulR]

I haven't noticed any improvement since my original post. I sent off a couple of complaints but never received a reply.

[Andrew2]

I've just sent in a complaint. It really is getting silly now - R4 LW is one of the UK's 'flagship' radio services, and it's dog-rough.

[M0TGX Terry]

Aha, it's not just me then.
I wrote to BBC Complaints, PO Box 1922, Darlington, DL3 0IT on 14Jan to complain, and got a telephone call in response, on 22 January. The man who called me said he'd checked the quality by listening to an interview on radio 4, and he found the sibilance so bad that in the end he turned his radio off. He referred it to "his technical colleagues" who apparently said there was a problem with the ground plane at Droitwich drying out!!! I reminded him how much rain the Midlands has had in the last few weeks, at which point he suggested I keep a log for a week of when the problem occurs, then send it to his address (as stated above), or I could telephone him on 03700 100 123. He was very pleasant, but so far the problem is still there. The week is now up and I shall submit my log tomorrow. For the record, I have listened on a variety of valve, transistor and IC based sets, at various times between 0700 and midnight. The problem only occurs on days with a "y" in their name.
Maybe we should organise a march on Broadcasting House.
Terry

[paulsherwin]

I think we established in an earlier thread that this awful quality relates to the distribution path switching to some sort of ancient low bitrate backup circuit (maybe ISDN) and never switching back. It's not a transmitter fault as such. Why it's taking so long to sort out is anybody's guess, but it may be down to the complex contractual relationships between the companies involved (the BBC, BT, Siemens Broadcast and Arquiva).

[G6Tanuki]

Originally Posted by Andrew2

I've just sent in a complaint. It really is getting silly now - R4 LW is one of the UK's 'flagship' radio services, and it's dog-rough.

I honestly don't see R4LW as inn any way a "flagship" service - nobody I know listens to it by choice - indeed they're most likely to complain about the 'muffled, no top-end' quality when they've got no other option but R4LW to listen to the cricket when they're in the car, and they switch back to FM as soon as they get the chance.

Of the R4 listenership I honestly reckon that less than 5% of it is on long-wave these days.

[PaulE27]

I listen to R4 LW by choice. The signal is more robust than FM, as are the receivers, as they don't need a flimsy telescopic aerial to work properly!

Paul

[Andrew2]

My office is in a part of our village where R4 FM is extremely poor and 'multi-pathy'. LW is the only option. The ragged, sibilant sound quality makes me cringe sometimes! I sometimes tune to the French stations for comparison and they sound fine (for 6KHz BW AM).
I suppose it depends how you define 'flagship'. R4 LW is still listened to in many parts of Europe, and although the shipping forecast is available via other means nowadays, many skippers still like to hear it on good ol' LW.
It's also a reliable frequency standard and AFAIK it is still used to control domestic heating timers.

[lesmw0sec]

I usually listen to R4 on my olde R1155 beside my bed at around 10.30 - 11pm. Quite agree with other posters - the quality is dreadful. Just tuning to any other station sounds fine. If I can discern the problem on a radio somewhat older than me - there must be a problem!

[PaulM]

Yep, just listened to it on my trusty Atalanta and it sounds truly dire!

I do hope it's not the transmitter - it's a Marconi and I remember it going through the factory in Chelmsford. It loomed large (very large) in the next door lab to where I worked.

If it is the ISDN link as suggested above, then it's high time it was fixed. Just how hard to mend can that be?

Maybe this is just part of a 'plan' to pull the LW service by making it sound duff?

This needs bringing to the attention of the press.

Cheers,

Paul M

[Glowing Bits!]

I somehow thought it was back again, for a minute, I thought the Ekco U199 UL41 was suffering from a leaky grid again!

After trying 198KHZ on a PLL radio, it does sound a bit bad from the not-so-sunny outskirts of Wrexham.

[Hybrid tellies]

I have raised this issue on Digital Spy and sent a message to Arquiva. Have not bothered with the BBC because there site is just a nightmare. I think the problem is not as bad as it was a few weeks ago but it still sounds bad on modern and older sets. Its as if they have turned the treble down but we are still getting lots of sibilance

[PaulE27]

I was listening just after 12:00 today, when the signal disappeared completely. It came back a bit later for about 30 sec, before going off again. It is still off, two hours later.

The curious thing is, though, I thought the audio problem had been fixed during those 30 seconds!

Incidentally I don't believe it could be an ISDN fault (that would be all or nothing), although it could be a codec fault.

Paul

[Station X]

I'm receiving R4 LW at reduced signal strength at the minute. Droitwich could be on low power or off the air altogether.

[PaulM]

I'm pretty sure it's on quite low power. I normally have to crank the RF gain on my Atalanta down quite a bit to stop it being overloaded at the front end. It's now full up just to manage a reasonable signal level. Not very scientific, but a pretty good indication of something going on. I like listening to R4 on the Atalanta because it's a Marconi New Street product at both ends - kind of satisfying in a nostalgic way!

It could still be ISDN - paralleling of ISDN feeds is often used to increase data capacity and if the R4 signal is part of a multiplex then anything could happen if one or more of the links is lost.

However, given that we have low power, it does begin to look like a transmitter problem (or perhaps antenna?).

Here's hoping a solution is on the way. Perhaps 'somebody' reads this forum! If they do, can we have a technical explanation, please? Not some management-speak excuse, a detailed fault report.

Cheers,

Paul M

[colourking]

Originally Posted by Station X

Droitwich could be on low power or off the air altogether.

Using the BBC's reception postcode checker:

LW Radio
Your local transmitters are...

Transmitter Channel Effect When
Droitwich Radio 4 LF Off Air from 12:08 today

[Station X]

I'm obviously receiving it from the transmitter in Scotland then.

[Glowing Bits!]

According to the 'Radio & Television Service' website, Radio 5 Live on MW is on low power, Radio 4 LW is off altogether.

[paulsherwin]

The ISDN reference was just a guess. The important point is that the audio feed is going through some extremely low bitrate circuit in the distribution channel, which results in the splashy sibilants and generally grainy sound. If you listen to World Service on DAB you'll hear similar effects, though R4LW is worse.

[high_vacuum_house]

Originally Posted by Glowing Bits!

According to the 'Radio & Television Service' website, Radio 5 Live on MW is on low power, Radio 4 LW is off altogether.

I was going to blame my Murphy AD32 and then my Murphy A70

Christopher Capener

Just had a look on my SDR, it is there.