More AM closures

[Rubberfingers]

My first thought, when I read about Radio 4 Longwave being discontinued, with consultation with the MCA over the Shipping Forecast, was that this could actually be a negotiating ploy by the BBC to get the MCA to meet some of the costs of LW transmission. I understand that the Radio Teleswitch system previously mentioned is being switched off in March 2023, so presumably any funding of the transmitter from the Electricity Supply Industry will disappear at this point?.

[Nuvistor]

From the 6th May the MCA transmissions on LW have been reduced, whether it’s a slow decline or an abrupt end in the near future time will tell.

https://www.gov.uk/government/public...-15-march-2022

The main transmission of weather is by NAVTEX on MF and VHF.
https://assets.publishing.service.go...018_August.pdf

I have no experience of sailing so I can only use the information as provided.

[Nuvistor]

Re post #82 It appears the changes are not reduced LW but MW has been removed.

[G6Tanuki]

Originally Posted by Rubberfingers

My first thought, when I read about Radio 4 Longwave being discontinued, with consultation with the MCA over the Shipping Forecast, was that this could actually be a negotiating ploy by the BBC to get the MCA to meet some of the costs of LW transmission. .

Good point... must admit, a friend who has extensive sailing-experience reckons that there's a small-but-influential group of people who lobby for the continuation of the R4LW shipping forecasts but the nearest they ever get to a boat is the Pimms tent at the Henley Regatta...

[Glowing Bits!]

The only two stations with decent reception here are Smooth Radio on MW and Radio 4 on LW.
Now I'm going to purchase a pantry TX before it's too late.

[roadster541]

The real benefit of alternative R4 LW coverage has never been more apparent than over the past couple of days when Test Match Special has given welcome relief from what was being broadcast on R4 FM. With the added bonus, yesterday, of a double dose of Andy Zaltzman on TMS and the News Quiz!
Rod

[Graham G3ZVT]

My car radio doesn't receive LW (or MW come to that)
I does receive FM and DAB, but the radio does not support the auxilliry channel (or whatever it's called that gets TMS and Daily Service).
Is that a common omission on modern vehicles (VAG)?

[Julesomega]

My not-too-old car has DAB and DAB+, and receives the secondary channels you mention. Also has MW & LW. It doesn't do 'bubbling mud' on DAB, just gently mutes. Would be a fabulous radio if they had bothered to fit a decent antenna on the roof instead of a printed line in a rear side window

[lightning]

Originally Posted by Glowing Bits!

The only two stations with decent reception here are Smooth Radio on MW and Radio 4 on LW.
Now I'm going to purchase a pantry TX before it's too late.

Excuse the ignorance
But,
What's a pantry TX?

[Cobaltblue]

Thread this thrrad and you will get the idea.

https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...d.php?t=177559

Cheers

Mike T

[Richardgr]

I recently have had to drive a few times to and from Bremgarten in Switzerland to Täby in Sweden (3500km return), and although I normally end up listening to a CD twice before changing it, I do rely on the local radio. In Europe there is no problem tuning in to local stations on FM with all different types of music, and always a good selection of classic tunes to listen to. Maybe they don't have the national broadcasters to the same degree, but radio (this is FM) is alive and kicking there.

I read somewhere that after the Second World War, the broadcast slots on AM were carved up, and Germany was excluded from those discussions and was allotted the FM band. Hence from post-war times Germany was manufacturing and supplying FM radios, before reception was possible in the UK, and AM was a secondary concern to Germany from that time.

Could that be the root of the issue, the dragging of feet to abandon an old technology? AM has become a bit of an anachronism, and for some reason FM did not supersede it, and now the same half-hearted strategy is being applied to DAB?

In terms of coverage, there is a mobile signal just about everywhere, so maybe the long term solution is DAB over mobile, with a special subscription being part of the revamped Digital TV Licence.

[dodgy-dxer]

Originally Posted by Richardgr

In terms of coverage, there is a mobile signal just about everywhere, so maybe the long term solution is DAB over mobile, with a special subscription being part of the revamped Digital TV Licence.

Richard

I dont think you have been to the UK of late then!

Best laugh Ive had in a while - its so sad really

Fred

[G6Tanuki]

Originally Posted by Richardgr

I read somewhere that after the Second World War, the broadcast slots on AM were carved up, and Germany was excluded from those discussions and was allotted the FM band. Hence from post-war times Germany was manufacturing and supplying FM radios, before reception was possible in the UK, and AM was a secondary concern to Germany from that time.

Could that be the root of the issue, the dragging of feet to abandon an old technology? AM has become a bit of an anachronism, and for some reason FM did not supersede it, and now the same half-hearted strategy is being applied to DAB?

Post-WWII, France also shunned MW AM broadcasting; there are plenty of French-market radios from the 50s/60s/70s onwards that had only LW and FM.

[Richardgr]

I read somewhere that after the Second World War, the broadcast slots on AM were carved up ...

Found it ...

the-complete-history-of-fm-radio

After World War II, FM radio broadcasting was introduced to Germany. In 1948, a new wavelength plan was set up for Europe. Because of the results of the recent war, Germany was given only a small number of medium-wave frequencies, which weren’t good for broadcasting. Therefore, Germany began its broadcasting on UKW, or “Ultrakurzwelle”, meaning ultra short wave, nowadays called VHF.

After experimenting with amplitude modulation and AM stations, it looked like FM was a much better alternative to VHF than AM. Because of this history, FM radio is still referred to as “UKW Radio” in Germany to this day. Many other European nations followed this change later when the superior quality of FM was realized.

One of the first FM stations in Europe was the Hungarian Kossuth Radio – the second most popular station of Hungary – which marks an important milestone in the history of radio, as the Antenna Hungaria broadcasts it with a heaping 2 MW power on 540 kHz, making it the most powerful medium wave transmitter in the world, and is among the most powerful radio transmitters of the world. Successful reception of the Kossuth Radio broadcasted by this antenna was reported from as far as Michigan, United States, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Since 2013, this transmitter site has been a preserved industrial monument.

[Hybrid tellies]

Kossuth Radio is still on 540 KHz from a new 1-2Mw transmitter at their Solt site.

I think Germany grabbed some MW frequencies during the 1960's and 1970's I can remember hearing Germany, east and west, loud and clear across the MW band most nights. I think both east and west Germany were given official frequency allocations with the 1975 Geneva agreement.

Ref the reduced shipping forecast service. Despite what the BBC said earlier that there be no more programme splits between LW and FM this seems to indicate that all of the weekly shipping and coastal forecasts will be on Long Wave only which contradicts what they have said earlier.
No mention of the R4 MW transmitters but I expect they will continue to carry the LW programme feed.