New LW Station 252

[Hybrid tellies]

Some interesting points raised here. First the aerial across the garden. These use to be common place perhaps as late as the 1950's. I use to drive my HMV1124 with one, plus a good earth. Gave excellant results and helped reduce interference from our colour tv. Perhaps we should consider using this type of aerial again,it would look authentic.
Going back to mw reception of RTE1 on 567Khz. A lot of my newer sets struggle with this signal, the best reception is on my Bush TR130 portable. The signal romps in on this one both by day and night. On my AKD comms set with a small loft aerial during daylight hours I get a reading of S4 (S5 is tops). But I am amazed how well people on the east coast can receive this signal.

Originally Posted by Paul Sherwin

Simon, the RTE1 Tullamore TX doesn't travel far inland in Britain.
(...)
It won't get to Yorkshire

Not so! Here in Bradford, RTE1 on 576 kHz always comes in good and strong during the day, though at night there's always a bit of " Luxembourg " -type fading. I quite enjoy some of their daytime output.
RTE2 on 612kHz from Athlone, too, is always audible, though considerably weaker than the signal from Tullamore.
Having heard the tests on 252, the LW signal is far superior and it's not too hard to null out co-channel interference from Algeria, regardless of whether I'm using the Hacker Super Sov, the Grundig Satellit or any of my big heavy valve sets. Not great on a Dansette 222 though!

Tez.

[Ken]

Hi All

Just tried to tune in RTE1 on 576kHz. There is a bit of hiss but other wise OK. I am using a fairly old PLL tuned reciever (Lowe SRX 50) with its own internal ferrite rod aerial. I am in West Central Scotland. I am looking forward to a new LW station.

Regards,

Ken.

[Hybrid tellies]

Something is up. I first noticed something at 2215 before I went down to the pub, and it is still their now.
On 252Khz there is a strong carrier which you can hear the levels being varied. There are no tones or programmes being aired so I assume its the RTE engineers doing some tests. Using the directional properties of a portable radio I can confirm that the signal is coming from Ireland. It is a very strong signal as the Algerian station is now heard only very faintly in the background.
Can I suggest to anyone who is perhaps not at work tomorrow to have a listen!

[paulsherwin]

It's now official that RTE R1 will launch on 252kHz on Paddy's Day:

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/infocenter/...nsmission.html

Best regards, Paul

[paulsherwin]

They've now started pre-launch test transmissions. Nice clean signal here in Oxford, as good as the big French LW stations like RTL and France Inter.

Best regards, Paul

[jim_beacon]

Nice signal on top of the Chilterns, once you get clear of the low energy lights, cable TV and computer.........

Jim.

[wireless_paul]

Good reception in West Yorkshire on a small Roberts hand transistor radio.
Paul E

[paulsherwin]

Nice signal on top of the Chilterns, once you get clear of the low energy lights, cable TV and computer.........

Jim.

The traditional source of LW interference is of course the next door neighbour's telly - I was reminded of this in no uncertain terms today. Sometimes you can null it out by rotating the radio but it's still a flamin' nuisance

Best regards, Paul

[jim_beacon]

my major problem is the NTL cable coming into the house - it will kill radios within about 5 feet, but affects most of the house, I think rewiring with high qaulity coax may be in order! The cabling for the computer network doesn't seem to be very well shielded either. I think some work on earthing and shielding will be needed in the summer!

Jim.

[Alan_Douglas]

Some interesting points raised here. First the aerial across the garden. These use to be common place perhaps as late as the 1950's.... Perhaps we should consider using this type of aerial again,it would look authentic.

Given the general noise level nowadays, long-wire antennas are hopeless around here, even several hundred feet from the nearest buildings. I've had much better results with shielded tuned loops (are they still called frame aerials there?), either air-core or ferrite. I've wound some on aluminum U-channel salvaged from office partitions, with one series-tuned winding and another coupling winding of a few turns that feeds the receiver through coax. Tuning brings up the signal strength remarkably. And 60 dB nulls are possible for eliminating strong local navigation beacons.

[ekco1953]

The traditional source of LW interference is of course the next door neighbour's telly...

Paul

Thanks for that timely reminder, Paul. I was testing reception of 252 on 3 portables (Hacker, Dynatron, Beolit) and was disappointed with the HF interference on all 3. Read your post and remembered " someone " had TV on downstairs.

What a difference now. I can also locate the neighbours tellies by wandering around the house with a portable.

BTW when close to my PC I get a much lower frequency breakthrough.

If the tests are indicative of content and reception quality I think I'll be tuning in a lot. I'm in east central Scotland - but, like lots of other things, It'll be much better in the west.

Jim

[Sam]

Based on all these comments Im looking forward to term finishing so I can get home and trying to recive the signal! Itll be a fun experience trying to sort out an aeriel for LW. All the way from Ireland to Norfolk! Ill let people know, and what I end up rigging up as an aeriel!

Just got to work out which set to try it with!

[Hybrid tellies]

Reading every one elses comments,our Philips ctv does not upset Long wave reception it just causes mahem with the higher freq medium waves and right across the short waves.
The ultimate long wave eliminator is my old Decca Bradford colour tv. Switch that on and you can say goodbye to both R4 on 198Khz and RTE'S test signal on 252Khz. Because tv's with valve timbases are rare these days, you can hear the once common high pitched whistle right across the long wave band and for some distance away from our house.
Returning to subject, 1 day left for the big RTE opening on 252Khz. As its on St patricks day I might just celebrate the occasion with a Guiness or Jamesons or both of course

[Station X]

The test transmissions have started. Here in Ipswich Suffolk during daylight I'm getting a good signal on an old transistor portable with a ferrite rod aerial.

Using a Communications Receiver and a 90 foot wire aerial running North to South the signal fades about once a second from S9 to S7, but sounds OK if I switch to slow AGC. There is slight interference from the Algerian station.

By comparison BBC R4 LW is a steady S9 +10.

Before someone reminds me let me say that S meter readings are useless in absolute terms, but the comparison is useful.

All I need now is a working valve set with LW.

Graham.

[Ken]

Hi All

Just tuned into the test transmission on 252kHz using a Lowe SRX 50 which is the same radio as I used to tune in RTE1 on 576kHz a while back. Reception here in West Central Scotland is quite good. It compares well with that of BBC R4 on 198kHz.

Have now tried a Roberts R505 and an HMV 1121. The HMV1121 was not quite so good but I was only using about 10ft of aerial. I will try my other radios as I get time. Hope you all have success with the new station.

Regards,

Ken.

[paulsherwin]

The test transmissions have started. Here in Ipswich Suffolk during daylight I'm getting a good signal on an old transistor portable with a ferrite rod aerial.

You'll probably find that the best reception is with a sensitive radio with a ferrite rod aerial. This allows you to null out interfering stations (especially where you are in East Anglia), and ferrite rods are much less susceptible to electrical interference such as distant ligntning.

Best regards, Paul

[jim_beacon]

Reception in West Drayton (Uxbridge) is not so good, I get brilliant signals from Radio 4 on both of the Beolits I have at work (707 and an early type 600), but on 252, the 707 gets nothing, and the 606 only a weak, but listenable signal. I think the main problem is the amount of computers and power cabling on the site - we have also had problems with LF reception (Rugby), and MF navigational aid monitoring (NDB) on the site before, so I'll have to listen to it in the car at lunchtime!

Jim.

[Sam]

Now St Paddy's day is almost over, what were peoples' opinions of the service? What sort of stuff was broadcast, and what was the signal like in diffrent parts of the country? I havent had a chance yet, as I dont have a LW set up here!

Sam

[Paul Stenning]

I tried tuning in in the car on the way to work today (on the A40 between Ross on Wye and Gloucester). Although the seek on the radio found the station, there was too much interference from the ignition to make it worth listening to. I get no such interference on Radio 4 LW, so the signal strength on 252 must be a lot lower in this area.