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The 'AM death watch' thread...


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Old 08-12-2014, 07:44
Mark C
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Stereo broadcasts on the BBC for real started in 1966 on Network 3, then were added to Radio 2 around 1972. Central Scotland got stereo in 1974.

Many but not all transmitters were in stereo by the time of the frequency changes in 1978.. There are still a couple in Scotland today that are in Mono for Radio Scotland and Radio Nan Gaidheal.
No, and Central Scotland and Aberdeen are prime examples, stereo BBC didn't arrive
in some areas until just before or just after the local ILR, amazing what competition can do
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Old 08-12-2014, 12:56
Sid Law
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That might have had something to do with it, though Capital in the 1970s sounded better than Radio 1/2 from Wrotham (and Wrotham (obviously) had a top quality feed, even before PCM)

The IBA didn't allow ILR to apply any processing to FM (other than a limiter) so it's odd there was a difference at all.
Maybe the "better" sound was due to the ILR's having a simpler signal path. Studio desk to control room desk to land line or SHF link to transmitter.

I'm guessing that at that time, a signal from a continuity at BH would have had quite a long and tortuous journey through jack fields and master control (as an analogue signal) before even getting out of the building.
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Old 08-12-2014, 13:09
Mark C
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Maybe the "better" sound was due to the ILR's having a simpler signal path. Studio desk to control room desk to land line or SHF link to transmitter.

I'm guessing that at that time, a signal from a continuity at BH would have had quite a long and tortuous journey through jack fields and master control (as an analogue signal) before even getting out of the building.
Yes, I suppose it would have gone through quite a few items of active electronics, on its way out, each nibbling away at the quality
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Old 08-12-2014, 21:13
MikeBr
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There is probably a debate going on within Polish radio how to procede and still provide a service with Government costs.


Shutting down 225 will help pay for the DAB+ rollout but probably has a lot of opposition?
Some more information, 225 was switched off in 2012 which led to immediate protests. It is also used by the Polish electricity industry like 198.
http://energomiar.pl/oswietlenie-dro...m-opis-systemu
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Old 08-12-2014, 23:47
Hertz
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Seems the predicted shutdown of Poland on 225 kHz was a bit premature:

http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.ie/201...inate-its.html

Polish Radio won't terminate its longwave transmissions

It appeared that the information in the international DX press that the Polish Radio is going to switch off its longwave transmitter is wrong. It appeared first on the EuroRadio forum and later was passed to many DX circles and mailing lists, but there's no such information on the "Jedynka" website, nor in its Facebook page.

Dominique from Poland got interested in the issue and contacted Roman Czejarek, Polish Radio employee and active participant in the construction of the Solec Kujawski transmitter site.

Here is the answer: "I do not know anything about such a plan. No one has given such information, at least here in Poland."

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Old 14-12-2014, 22:26
MikeBr
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Norddeutscher Runfunk, Germany has announced that its four mediumwave transmitters on 702, 792, 828 and 972 will close on January 13 2015.
http://www.radioszene.de/75141/letzt...telwellen.html
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Old 19-12-2014, 22:28
spanners
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Medium wave seems to be the way forward for the unification of Korea:

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read....cataId=nk00100

Securing a medium wave frequency is paramount to achieving this goal, as these private radio broadcasts are currently only able to reach about 1-3% of North Korea’s population. The South Korean government has taken a noncommittal approach in providing an AM frequency for these stations to broadcast to the North, and as a result, low-powered signals borrowed from other transmitters are being employed, resulting in a relatively narrow reach.

Upon the designation of an AM frequency with the support of the South Korean government, UMG plans to develop a transmission station capable of broadcasting to the entire peninsula, centered on fostering social consensus around unification matters.
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Old 19-12-2014, 22:55
lundavra
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Medium wave seems to be the way forward for the unification of Korea:

http://www.dailynk.com/english/read....cataId=nk00100
So someone in South Korea is setting up another propaganda station broadcasting to North Korea?
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Old 29-12-2014, 15:38
MikeBr
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There are discussions in France to switch off 162khz

There are discussions in France to switch off 162khz
Quote:
President of the CSA (French regulator), Patrice GÉLINET, promises to relaunch digital radio
20.11.2014 - France - France
President of the CSA, Patrice Gélinet, addressed the reasons used by the larger radio stations for not going digital: "…four radio stations are already paying dual transmission costs, FM and long wave, at a price significantly higher than via DAB+, and for a poor quality of signal. Radio France spends €6m for its long wave transmissions, which would cost three times less via DAB+”.
Radio France is facing a 20 million euro deficit in 2015 and is thus looking to drastically reduce its budget

"And if it points unable to switch to digital terrestrial radio - " I do not have the means to do so, even by closing the medium and long waves " Radio France CEO December 11.
http://www.telerama.fr/radio/mathieu...nce,120437.php

There is speculation on radio anorak messageboards by French contributors that closure of some/all medium wave transmitters and the long wave one will feature in their budget plans but I can't find anything about this in press reports apart from the above one, which perhaps shows this is under consideration?

And more closures:

"Russian state television and radio broadcasting operator RTRS February 1, 2015 will disable 30 of 40 medium-transmitters, said a source close to the RBC RTRS. Department of operation RTRS has sent a letter to the regional radio centers. The representative confirmed RTR RBC that the company will continue in 2015 to reduce the broadcasting of radio programs on medium wave, but did not name the specific timing and extent of the reduction of funding for this purpose.

The remaining transmitters - thin (1 to 15 kW), they provide the ability to receive broadcasts in a radius of no more than 50 km, the source says RBC. These transmitters are planned to eventually convert to broadcast in FM-band with the same short-range, told the correspondent of RBC deputy director of RTR Sergey Arkhipov."
http://top.rbc.ru/technology_and_med...794719bd44450e

The article goes on to point out that this could mean that Russian broadcasts into Ukraine will cease. On 11 December Radio Ukraine International restarted broadcasts in Russian on 1431 800kw transmitter 1500-1900 which can be heard in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
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Old 29-12-2014, 17:05
martinwatkins
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re France: I'm not aware of any great fuss following the closure earlier this year of Limoges 792 kHz Nancy 837 kHz and Toulouse 945 kHz - unless anyone knows otherwise....? So I doubt the rest of the France Info MW network would be much missed (apart from by people like us!!).

I suspect though that 162 kHz would be considered more of a radio virility symbol, and that turning it off would be seen as a national defeat, even if I've not noticed anyone using it for many years now.

Please keep us posted about developments.
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Old 31-12-2014, 09:17
jimbo
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A reminder that tonight 153 177 and 207 kHz (from Germany) carrying DLF and Deutschaldnradio Kultur will close at 2300 UTC (midnight local time).

MW services for this station will close on 31 December 2015

As for France, France Bleu is closing 1278 on 1 June 2015
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Old 31-12-2014, 23:24
Colin_London
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A reminder that tonight 153 177 and 207 kHz (from Germany) carrying DLF and Deutschaldnradio Kultur will close at 2300 UTC (midnight local time).

MW services for this station will close on 31 December 2015

As for France, France Bleu is closing 1278 on 1 June 2015
Well it seems to have gone a bit wrong - at about 2257 GMT on 153kHz they played an announcement that was clearly about DLF closing on long wave, there then followed about 90 seconds of what passes for silence on the Longwave band (actually SRR Radio Romania co-channel), then it seems that the transmitter cut to a backup feed as it started broadcasting DLF again including the national anthem just before midnight and various bells to celebrate the New Year after midnight.

Still broadcasting as I type this - maybe someone forgot that they would actually need to go to site to shut it down. 177 & 207 however do seem to have closed.
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Old 01-01-2015, 10:19
Colin_London
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DLF is now closed on 153kHz this morning, so SRR Radio Romania now has a clear channel.
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Old 01-01-2015, 11:27
martinwatkins
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As for France, France Bleu is closing 1278 on 1 June 2015

Thanks for that. So that leaves

Rennes 711 kHz
Lyon 603 kHz
Paris 864 kHz
Marseille 1242 kHz
Lille 1377 kHz
Relays 1404/1494 kHz
Nice 1557 kHz
Bordeaux 1206 kHz

by my reckoning, with Limoges/Toulouse/Nancy having gone, and Strasbourg (the one you mention) in its final months.
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Old 01-01-2015, 14:32
MikeBr
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Well it seems to have gone a bit wrong - at about 2257 GMT on 153kHz they played an announcement that was clearly about DLF closing on long wave, there then followed about 90 seconds of what passes for silence on the Longwave band (actually SRR Radio Romania co-channel), then it seems that the transmitter cut to a backup feed as it started broadcasting DLF again including the national anthem just before midnight and various bells to celebrate the New Year after midnight.

Still broadcasting as I type this - maybe someone forgot that they would actually need to go to site to shut it down. 177 & 207 however do seem to have closed.
According to reports on DX groups 153 shut down at 2327. At 0400 the control system of the Donebach transmitter switched over to daytime pattern and 153 came back on again. Was on for over an hour before they switched it off again.

Recording of 207 closedown from Rolf on a German radio forum
http://www.hochstrasse.ch/forum/2014...ing_207kHz.wav
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Old 01-01-2015, 17:54
Colin_London
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According to reports on DX groups 153 shut down at 2327. At 0400 the control system of the Donebach transmitter switched over to daytime pattern and 153 came back on again. Was on for over an hour before they switched it off again.

Recording of 207 closedown from Rolf on a German radio forum
http://www.hochstrasse.ch/forum/2014...ing_207kHz.wav
LOL - the transmitter that didn't want to die. Came back to life twice!
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Old 01-01-2015, 18:29
Vectorsum
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LOL - the transmitter that didn't want to die. Came back to life twice!
Good on you, Donebach. That's what I call going down with guns blazing...
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Old 02-01-2015, 13:32
MikeBr
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Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria:

Longwave 261 Vakarel is off, mediumwave 747 Salamanovo, 864 Samull, 963 Kardjali, 1161 Doulovo and Targovishte are also off from 2200 UTC Dec. 31.

On air is only mediumwave 576 Vidin - Horizont HS-1 incl. Turkish Minority.
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Old 12-01-2015, 19:22
jimbo
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A reminder about NDR on

702, 792, 828 and 972 kHz

Tomorrow is the final day of broadcasting for NDR on these frequencies.
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Old 12-01-2015, 22:51
eulenspiegel
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A reminder about NDR on

702, 792, 828 and 972 kHz

Tomorrow is the final day of broadcasting for NDR on these frequencies.
Closing at 09:00 local time, I understand.
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Old 13-01-2015, 08:38
jimbo
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Closing at 09:00 local time, I understand.
Yes it went off just after 0800 UTC with no fanfare - just a switch off with no announcement.
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Old 13-01-2015, 12:37
swb1964
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What's the latest on 252 from Ireland? I know it has been given a repreieve but for how long?
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Old 13-01-2015, 13:58
MikeBr
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What's the latest on 252 from Ireland? I know it has been given a repreieve but for how long?
2017 with reduced hours in 2016.
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Old 13-01-2015, 14:47
jimbo
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The next closure I think is Spain 1224 kHz - on 1 February - or rather at the end of January.

Something similar has been announced for 40 out of 50 Russian transmitters but I cannot be sure about those.
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Old 13-01-2015, 15:43
Ennerjee
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That might have had something to do with it, though Capital in the 1970s sounded better than Radio 1/2 from Wrotham (and Wrotham (obviously) had a top quality feed, even before PCM)

The IBA didn't allow ILR to apply any processing to FM (other than a limiter) so it's odd there was a difference at all.

The IBA didn't allow it, but it was certainly employed by some stations. This is from a thesis submitted as part of a PhD:


"A much "beefier signal‟ than that of any other station, BBC or independent, played a central role in the Beacon music presentation.

"This was provided by the use of a sound compressor, though presenters deliberately increasing the sound level also played a role.

"Flattening the higher and lower levels of the transmitted sound, the use of what might have been an Optimod - a device used by the pirates during the sixties - would have provided the impression of a stronger signal.

"Though it has since been indicated that some other ILR stations also employed a similar practice, at Beacon the IBA did not find the device. It did notice the practice of sound manipulation, however. Concern over the Beacon station sound level was such that in March 1977 it warned the station of its excessive sound levels."


Source: Independent Local Radio (ILR) in the West Midlands, 1972-1984: a comparative study of BRMB Radio and Beacon Radio by D. P. Allen

https://eprints.worc.ac.uk/1430/1/In...,_1972-198.pdf
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