BBC Radio 4 long wave reception problems etc.

[McMurdo]

the 'pips' sounded different to usual

I've noticed that but it's present on FM

[Hybrid tellies]

Thanks for the info. I am glad the distortion is not the fault of the transmitter or the aerial. But it is still frustrating as this fault keeps re occurring, surely it can't be that difficult to provide a reliable broadcast quality link between the BBC and Droitwich. For AM a suitable 10Khz broadcast audio link is all that is required and not much to ask for with today's technology.

[PaulR]

It did seem better on my trusty Philips Music Maid clock radio at around 11:00 last night and again at 7:30 this morning. When it is good, it is actually quite good

Looking at 198 from a business point of view there is little to justify the cost for the few who listen to it, much as it would be missed by those who, like me, do.

[threeseven]

If my ears aren't deceiving me it seems better this morning, on both a Sony ICF-2001D and a Ferguson Transistor 7.

[Martin G7MRV]

This issue should now be clear. Our engineers had work on the modulator equipment as part of scheduled maintenance.

However, we will continue to monitor the service over the next few days

Martin

[Phil G4SPZ]

It certainly sounds fine now. Thank you, Martin!

However, we will continue to monitor the service over the next few days

Not being antagonistic, why not monitor all the time?

[Junk Box Nick]

The audio quality is a lot better on my sets.

[Hybrid tellies]

Yes thanks Martin its sounding fine on both my best sets the Hacker Hunter RP38A and ITT/KB Tiny Super. There is just some cracking and rustling in the background but that is lightning static which I think is beyond the control of Arqiva

[Mach One]

It's all part of the charm of good old AM radio! Thanks to Martin from me, too!

[turretslug]

Originally Posted by Hybrid tellies

There is just some cracking and rustling in the background but that is lightning static which I think is beyond the control of Arqiva

Agree with Mach One, I rather like it as a "regional electric storm advisory", a familiar piece of British life! Perhaps FM/DAB etc. insulate us a little too well from what's actually going on between transmission from A and reception at B.

Thanks to Martin here also.

[Martin G7MRV]

Originally Posted by merlinmaxwell

Not being antagonistic, why not monitor all the time?

Its just one of around 4,200 transmitters we maintain

That explains it, thank you.

[raditechman]

I also noticed that R4 LW was much better sounding again. Greatly appreciated.
John

[G6Tanuki]

R4LW is once again sounding good here, on my old WWII-era PCR receiver.

[Martin G7MRV]

Glad every ones happy again,

My appologies if my previous post was a bit harsh! It was 'one of those days' and I didnt have time to put much into the post.

In these days of managed services, though, it is the case that a small handful of specialists remotely manage entire networks. Taken as a whole - LF, MF, VHF, DAB and DTV, our dept handles around 4000 individual transmitters, and about half that in actual physical sites - all unmanned and remotely operated. We can only monitor a service specifically for a short time and only when we believe there is an issue, and again, only if that service is either within reception range, or we have a form of remote monitoring available.

[threeseven]

Thats a serious amount of TX's!!

[Aub]

Anyway, Thanks Martin and your colleagues.

Aub

[Panrock]

Yes a big thanks to Martin. I'm not normally a R4 listener, but having read this thread I've just tuned in with my Murphy A122, and I have to say the quality is excellent. Who needs FM?

Steve

[Phil G4SPZ]

Originally Posted by Martin G7MRV

...our dept handles around 4000 individual transmitters... we can only monitor a service specifically for a short time and only when we believe there is an issue...

Well, it appears that Forum members are probably the biggest group of regular long wave listeners and knowledgeable specialist 'volunteer monitors' that any broadcaster could hope to pull together. Be sure that we'll flag it up the minute anything starts to sound wrong! From Aub's initial post on the 19th, this whole problem has been resolved in less than a week, which in my view is very good going. Having Martin as a Forum member is clearly the key to this rapid progress.

Apologies if this idea duplicates any formal body with volunteer monitors that may already exist, but maybe a single new thread entitled 'Public Broadcast Quality and Engineering Reports' could be started, to which anyone interested (either personally or professionally) could subscribe. Not only would that cover any frequency, not just 198 LW, but over time it would build up an archive of issues reported and hopefully resolved. The likelihood is that very few reception problems would be reported, but at least everyone would be alerted at the time.