Options
225 Long Wave - Scotland
Hot Hits
Posts: 596 Forum Member
✭✭
I wonder if Scotland did go independent whether they would try to use 225KHz Long Wave. ??? Ofcom didn't want to but I bet they would try to use it. Not sure what power it is authorised for but am sure it would be heard over much of the UK.
0
Comments
It was allocated on the last day of the 1978 frequency conference, Westerglen 50kw is what has been quoted as what the BBC intended to use it for. BBC decided to put Westerglen on 198 instead as it didn't cause many problems with Droitwich on same channel. Problem is Poland has an allocation on there 2000kw, due to the antenna collapsing now listed as 1000kw but don't know if they run that, audible here and I would have thought stronger than here in parts of Scotland.
BBC passed the allocation to the Radio Authority who advertised it, several groups expressed interest but the Radio Authority then decided that it was too interference limited, IIRC they were talking of moving the allocation elsewhere with fill in transmitters on MW/LW.
Isle of Man I think tried to get hold of it before they settled on 279.
Found an article on when it was advertised for INR4:
http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/old-technology-interferes-with-governments-vision-for-future/2013190.article
They hadn't agreed clearance, have an idea they were going to do 50kw from Droitwich plus fillers?
I doubt it, there might be Long Wave transmitters at Westerglen and Burghead but they will the same problem as Droitwich i.e. high running costs and elderly equipment. Any new broadcasting organisations is going to have enough problems and a tight budget so would expect them to want to save those costs.
The areas of Scotland with the high population have good coverage on VHF FM and DAB, the Highlands and Islands are poorly served by Long Wave .
If they are hell bent on LW, given that we are talking 2016 for independance and it's likely to be 2018 before SBS gets going---well 198 might be free by then anyway!!
Probably nothing to do with Long Wave. There are the four national VHF FM networks which I presume we will unfortunately lose as well as the various ones on DAB unless they do some deal to pay for some of them. The new radio could just be a second Radio Scotland channel using one of these networks
How would they go about getting a non-commercial license from ofcom/Scotcom?
The Scottish Parliament would no doubt have a Broadcasting Act which would create any Scottish public service broadcaster and pave the way for an additional network.
107 is an obvious free frequency to serve Edinburgh and its surrounds - depending on what community radio is allocated in the area.
How they will find a frequency on FM in the Glasgow area will be interesting.
To be fair they are only supposed to serve Scotland!
All that being said, I'm guessing that the OP's real interest in asking relates to the prestige and extra aura of nationhood conferred by having a voice that can be heard abroad. This is the real function that 198 LW serves in the UK context, its essential service long since having passed to the FM network (unless you're a cricket fan).
It wasn't the fact that Atlantic 252 was on long wave that killed the station.
In it's heyday it was very popular and had more listeners than Virgin Radio at the time, if I remember correctly
What led to the demise of Atlantic 252 was changing the format to dance and R & B.
Even so AIUI Atlantic was turning a small profit right to the end so maybe switch off was premature.
I think the rock/alternative era of the late 90s was the beginning of the end, with RAJAR figures at a record low in Q4 1999. It then relaunched and gained some listeners back under the mainstream dance/R&B format.
That's my memory too. I recall a holiday in NW Scotland, it was
the only station available with any consistent quality on the car radio, better than R4 198 kHz, so that's what we listened to for a fortnight.
Radio Highland FM, which broadcast in Scots Gallic.
In the UK as a whole there are ten times more Polish speakers than Scots Gallic speakers!
I doubt if an independent Scotland could afford to continue these channels are their present level.
It's BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, BBC Radio Highland was the name of the Radio Scotland opt-out from Inverness. Not sure if the name is still used by the BBC though used colloquially for the Inverness opt-out. It was an English language service with a few Gaelic programmes prior to the start of Radio nan Gaidheal.
I can believe the figure for Polish speakers. I have lived in the Highlands for many years but have never heard anyone speaking Gaelic in the street here but I will hear several people speaking East European languages everytime I am in town.
As a classic rock station.
I don't know whose idea it was to change the format to dance/R & B, but I stopped listening after that.
The original concept of the station was to target older listeners.
D1 got the stereo DAB dance slot moved to easy listening with Primetime (now effectively replaced by Smooth?).
In 2007 RTL tried classic rock again on DRM SW and internet to the UK as R Luxemburg, but it never took off, then a young person format on NGW D2 DAB, but NGW lost it's bid.
The RTL group has given up on DRM and DAB, concentrating on FM in Germany and France, but tested DAB+ in Belgium.
Doubt if LW will be used in future as it is expensive and prone to household interference, but notice D1 can split frequencies for different programmes in Scotland if it wants.
107.0 MHz FM has been allocated to Kirkcaldy, Fife community station K107 which started test transmissions on 107 FM a few weeks ago.