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Old 24th Sep 2022, 4:59 pm   #1
lightning
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Default Medium Wave Radio Stations.

l realise it's been discussed elsewhere
But
When we were camping in the 1970's l always took a little pocket MW radio and you could pick up loads of stations including the major ones such as R4 and R1

As a kid it wasn't so easy to get a radio, with spending money at 50p per week it took a while to raise the £4 needed to buy one off the local market stall.

l looked forward to listening to "The Archers" because l thought it was about Archery!

Once l found that wasn't the case l discovered many other stations and used to sit in the tent at night going through the waveband with my £4 "solid state" 5 transistor receiver.

lt was a little sad last week when we were in the Lake District to find that there was nothing useable received on MW at all.
Radio 5 was just about intelligible.

I know it's old tech and everything but it just feels a bit sad to see my childhood pastime consigned to history.
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Old 24th Sep 2022, 6:23 pm   #2
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

It can only get worse....on AM at least! That is the price of progress unfortunately. I'm surprised that there are any stations left on MW at all given the appalling reception in most areas now. I wonder just how many listeners there are to the existing AM stations? It IS a pity from our point-of-view but we are only a minority that like playing with old technology.

If you could visit everyone in your home town to find out what they listened to, you'll probably find that NONE had a MW radio or at least never used the AM band. Most radio is listened to on car radio's and that will usually be to and from work on one of the local or national stations
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Old 24th Sep 2022, 9:53 pm   #3
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

I imagine MW mostly used to listen to Radio 5 & Talksport by people without a DAB, unless the have a local oldies station which uses it.
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Old 24th Sep 2022, 10:35 pm   #4
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sideband View Post
If you could visit everyone in your home town to find out what they listened to, you'll probably find that NONE had a MW radio or at least never used the AM band.
I can't imagine it's that bad yet, I'd expect to find a few Five Live listeners at least. And a couple of months ago on our flea market, which doesn't often have radios of much age, a general stall was offering a five band Waltham portable, a model I don't think I'd met since seeing it for sale in Tesco in 1972. I decided to give it a home, whereupon the seller related how they'd been reluctant to part with it as it was the best set they had at receiving Caroline.

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Old 24th Sep 2022, 10:43 pm   #5
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

AM is still pretty big in Australia because of the distances involved, and I have yet to see a DAB radio.
I do remember sitting in the car listening to the radio at Lake Eucumbene, when it still had fish in it.
My, that is 60 years ago. The reason I moved to Mareeba was to take over as station engineer at the local AM station. Its listened to from here all the way up the cape ( about 1000 miles, straight line ) and as far west as Mount Isa. So your Hifi FM is about as much use as yes, well. Mind you, most cars dont go up there. BUT!! There are many cattle stations, and small towns that rely on AM information for weather reports, cattle sale prices and local happenings.

Slightly OT, but SSB doesnt go very far in Au because of the amount of mineralisation in the ground.
Most of the signal is bounced out into space.

Joe
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Old 24th Sep 2022, 11:51 pm   #6
emeritus
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

In the London area there is at least one Asian station that plays indian music and has announcements and adverts in what I assume is an Indian language.
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 8:57 am   #7
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

Hi.
The Lake District was never I'd say the best reception area even in the glory days.
On medium wave here in Kilmarnock I can easily receive, Absolute, Manx, Clyde 2, Talk Sport, West Sound, 5 live, Radio Scotland, Radio 4 (720Khz from NI) & Spirit Radio. On long wave RTE & Radio 4. Medium wave comes alive at night with many UK low power stations receivable, Europeans and of course Radio Caroline.
Far from dead yet!
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 9:01 am   #8
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

Quote:
Originally Posted by joebog1 View Post

Slightly OT, but SSB doesnt go very far in Au because of the amount of mineralisation in the ground.
Most of the signal is bounced out into space.

Joe
Can you elaborate?
I've heard many Amateurs from Australia here in the UK using SSB
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 9:07 am   #9
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

As a child I was increasingly drawn into electronics and especially radio, and my favourite time of day was night-time when MW filled up with European stations. This was the time of the offshore pirate stations and in bed I would listen around them before tuning to the big continental broadcasters like Deutsche Welle who would be playing lush orchestral music. It was like a magic carpet.
It's so sad the way it all seems to be coming to an end, although it can be interesting to see what's been hiding behind the 'big guns' as they vacate the band.
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 11:01 am   #10
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

Good to hear there's still activity on AM

Maybe it was because l'd taken with me a tiny Sony MW radio about the size of a box of matches.

A better receiver may have picked up more stations. Next time l'll take something better.

What l always found is that the lower end of the tuning scale was quiet. Once you got to radio 4
around the middle of the band it got a lot busier. lt still seems the same today. Why were all the stations at one end of the band?
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 11:32 am   #11
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

Geophysics! Radio propergation using the D layer of the ionosphere is enhanced as you go higher in frequency within the MW band.
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 1:21 pm   #12
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

As well as the Asian stations (which are kinda fun when you need a blast of Bhangra to wake you up first thing in the morning) there is also Smooth Radio which quite a few of my friends listen to, though it's not that strong out here in rural Wiltshire. Indeed I have probably helped reduce MW listening by pointing out to people that they can get much better quality by telling Alexa to 'play smooth radio '.

Night time it's still worth tuning around to see what you can hear, with the coming winter and a transatlantic dark path it should be possible to get some US stations in your listening log.
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 3:03 pm   #13
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Default Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.

Still quite a few stations on MW in this area (near Brentwood, Essex) that I listen to on my old sets - Gold, Absolute Radio, Smooth, Caroline easily receivable during the Day and the usual R5live and Talk sport, which are not really to my taste but are the strongest signals.
There is even a relay of R4 still on which I read somewhere was to fill in for the London Area.
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 3:07 pm   #14
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Default Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.

Build a nice frame loop antenna, then you will hear the lot.
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 3:40 pm   #15
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Default Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.

Count yourselves lucky! Here in Warsaw, Poland, there's literally nothing audible on MW during the day. As far as I can tell, Poland has no medium wave stations at all. There's far more around at night, with signals from Romania especially, but I can also easily hear Ukrainian and Russian (broadcast from the mysterious Transnistria) stations on the car radio.

Chris
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 3:58 pm   #16
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Default Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.

I checked out Caroline on my car Radio from East Midlands .... it was clear but sounded very flat ? Nothing like what Radio 1 used to sound like in the olden days.
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 4:18 pm   #17
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Default Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.

Mostly unusable here in Horsham. There are a couple of stations that are just about listenable but I have no interest in them. FM is good but there is no DAB at all, even upstairs. Used to be very clear with no interference. Very odd because it is open ground with no buildings around.
I was servicing a Vidor 4 valve portable recently with a very directional frame aerial. Lining up the radio for maximum interference proved it was arriving across open fields! There is also a general hash in the background making listening painful. I think it's days are over. John.
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 6:08 pm   #18
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Default Re: Medium wave radio

Quote:
Originally Posted by lightning View Post
Good to hear there's still activity on AM

Maybe it was because l'd taken with me a tiny Sony MW radio about the size of a box of matches.

A better receiver may have picked up more stations. Next time l'll take something better.

....
I was brought up in the lakes and as has been mentioned the lakes have never been good for any radio reception or TV for that matter, not sure what its like for DAB.
On my valve radios with an aerial strung up in the loft I can usually get lots of stations on MW but I'm restoring a 60's transistor with a ferrite rod (it also has provision for an external car aerial) and can only get 4 so as you'd expect the quality and and probably more importantly the aerial have a bearing.

One of those is a very strong R4 signal which we're lucky to get on MW here, hopefully that doesn't get switched off anytime soon.

John
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 6:29 pm   #19
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Default Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.

The continuous hash type of interference is strange, there's not really any in the house, even with a mains set, unless it's near a modern phone/TV or similar and that's on a housing estate. The car radio however has always had so much it virtually obliterates anything on AM unless it's a very strong station, even when it's parked in the drive!
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Old 25th Sep 2022, 8:09 pm   #20
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Default Re: Medium Wave Radio Stations.

I do rely heavily on MW and to some extent on LW. I like 5Live, and since this is not available on FM, MW is the only option when it comes to portability. DAB radios are power hungry and as such run batteries down rapidly so are just not an option when out and about. Usually MW reception conditions are fair, but if MW interference becomes excessive then I switch over to R4 on LW. The AM bands still appear quite lively and as such are worth preserving.
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