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The 'AM death watch' thread...


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Old 30-10-2016, 08:35
hanssolo
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Some BBC local transmitters have already been switched off, but others remain for coverage of sports and outdoor events (airshows, etc). Don't expect much change there until the BBC wakes up and discovers DAB+ and that local muxes can be dynamically reconfigured and split.
Might need investment from the commercial mux owners, Should be possible to sometimes split the 128k stereo into two 64k mono streams.
Just found this, haven't had a chance to fully read it but there is a section on the position of Absolute Radio transmitter sites and its licence as well as other AM licences/maintenance contracts though I'm not sure of the basis for the claim that Ofcom would allow power reductions by Absolute.

http://www.frequencyfinder.org.uk/Opinion_AM.pdf
Interesting, will see if Bauer take uo the option of extending Absolute's AM licence (and maintenance contracts) beyond 2018?
They are promoting DAB and the internet app in cars but without an AM shutdown date there must be a quite a few still using AM in cars?
http://absoluteradio.co.uk/listen/in-car/
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Old 31-10-2016, 22:51
swb1964
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Fed up with the amount of electrical interference on MW, I finally made the switch from Gold to Smooth 101.4 as my default station of choice.

I might pop back to MW occasionally but basically it's dead already as far as I'm concerned.
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Old 01-11-2016, 08:11
tghe-retford
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Fed up with the amount of electrical interference on MW, I finally made the switch from Gold to Smooth 101.4 as my default station of choice.

I might pop back to MW occasionally but basically it's dead already as far as I'm concerned.
DAB isn't exactly interference free either. Particularly with buses. I find a few buses with LED panels cause interference you won't find with FM and a new fleet of buses with the local bus operator causes any DAB signal to drop completely within several metres of them, even with a strong signal! Not just any passengers (most of them listen to MP3's, Spotify or smartphone apps anyway), but also car drivers nearby, businesses and houses.

Those switching from MW to DAB hoping to escape interference may be disappointed and it'll be something Digital Radio UK needs to take seriously for any forthcoming MW to DAB switchover.
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Old 01-11-2016, 09:12
Vince800
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My experience is the opposite. FM reception is next to useless here, Medium Wave is okay with a decent set up & DAB is brilliant.
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Old 01-11-2016, 12:24
swb1964
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I notice you are in Hertfordshire, Vince. I'm presuming you are just outside comfortable range for the London stations? Can you not even get the BBC nationals on FM?
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Old 01-11-2016, 12:27
Vince800
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Not really outside of the range, just around Hemel town centre it's particularly bad due to the hills. To the stage that yes, even the BBC Nationals are useless. BBC 3CR 92.1 & Heart 96.6 aren't as bad but still fade in and out & the TX is visible from most of the area.

I'd say the BBC Nationals from Wrotham, Crystal Palace & Bow Brickhall are all receivable here but none of them are particularly useful. Radio X is swamped by BBC Radio Leicester most of the time! The other London stations are unusable in pockets (useless when driving).

The above is actually the reason I listen to Radio X in Mono on DAB even though that it is available in stereo FM, it's just too noisy when driving.

If you were to take DAB out of the equation than even things like Absolute is much better on 1215 than 105.8.
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Old 01-11-2016, 12:56
swb1964
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Radio X is swamped by BBC Radio Leicester most of the time!
Yes that's a monster signal isn't it! Based on that, can you get GEM 106 where you are, just out of interest?
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Old 01-11-2016, 13:22
Vectorsum
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DAB isn't exactly interference free either. Particularly with buses. I find a few buses with LED panels cause interference you won't find with FM and a new fleet of buses with the local bus operator causes any DAB signal to drop completely within several metres of them...
If that's the case and the buses are of recent manufacture, then they're in breach of EN55015 'Limits and methods of measurement of radio disturbance characteristics of electrical lighting and similar equipment', governing radiated emissions well up into the GHz range. The latest version is 2013, amended in 2015. The transposed British Standard is 15/30323478 DC.

This is not to mention the installation being daft, for converting the buses' 24V DC bus up to mains, then down again to whatever the DC drive voltage was for the panels. They should have specified direct DC drive at 24V or in the worst case ordered a bunch of SMD dropper resistors from RS....

You might want to pen a polite letter to the bus company, asking them to have whichever company fitted out the buses' electrical systems confirm that they are standards compliant (which said fitout firm will invariably have claimed to be the case).
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Old 01-11-2016, 14:24
Vince800
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Yes that's a monster signal isn't it! Based on that, can you get GEM 106 where you are, just out of interest?
Occasionally. It's usually both SAM FM & GEM 106. I find that anywhere near Milton Keynes, GEM 106 comes in with RDS.
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Old 07-11-2016, 15:52
Eitshal
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Community station Radio Jcom in Leeds (1386 AM) has closed down, according to Ofcom. It still seems to be broadcasting online.

I noticed on recent travels that Radio Warrington has popped up on 1332 AM and an Asian station seems to be coming and going on 1413 AM. I don't know how long either of these have been around! We seem to be gaining more AM stations than we're losing at present.
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Old 07-11-2016, 16:43
MikeBr
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Community station Radio Jcom in Leeds (1386 AM) has closed down, according to Ofcom. It still seems to be broadcasting online.

I noticed on recent travels that Radio Warrington has popped up on 1332 AM and an Asian station seems to be coming and going on 1413 AM. I don't know how long either of these have been around! We seem to be gaining more AM stations than we're losing at present.
1413 is Bradford Asian Radio testing. was awarded a community radio licence in May 2014, 40 watts according the British DX Club email list.

Radio Warrington is also a community radio station, came on air May 16 this year, 100 watts.
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Old 08-11-2016, 11:17
briggsy1
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I do miss the old AM/FM radios, manually dialling through the frequencies seeing which stations I would pick up. Occasionally getting the local police force by mistake - who remembers that?
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Old 08-11-2016, 11:36
oscar1
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I do miss the old AM/FM radios, manually dialling through the frequencies seeing which stations I would pick up. Occasionally getting the local police force by mistake - who remembers that?
There is still a lot of fun to be had by "manually dialling" through AM/FM frequencies ---
Regards
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Old 08-11-2016, 11:59
briggsy1
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I still have an old fashioned radio, but 99.9% of the time use my digital radio instead. With preset channels and much better reception it's a no brainer really.
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Old 08-11-2016, 13:25
swb1964
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I do miss the old AM/FM radios, manually dialling through the frequencies seeing which stations I would pick up. Occasionally getting the local police force by mistake - who remembers that?
Yes. It's seems unbelievable now that criminals could tune into the local bill on any old transistor radio.

As for manually dialling through the frequencies, the best radios have a manual tuning knob along with a digital frequency readout- the best of both worlds.
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Old 08-11-2016, 16:40
Hybrid tellies
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AM reception here from Clevedon, Droitwich and Washford is very good, far stronger and more robust than FM or DAB, Up until February of this year it was even better with very strong clear reception of Smooth on 1260Khz and BBC R Bristol on 1548Khz from the local Mangotsfield transmitter. Sadly this site was closed down and the site cleared for housing development.
On FM I also notice a period of hash type noise on FM as the buses pass our house. Not all of the buses do this but I suspect is the older ones that have had their internal lighting converted from fluorescent lighting to LED panels.
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Old 08-11-2016, 17:25
hanssolo
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Sad to hear Jcom have gone internet only did they give any reason for handing back the AM licence as it will be interesting to see if any station other than Caroline has applied for the latest round of community AM licences?
You might want to pen a polite letter to the bus company, asking them to have whichever company fitted out the buses' electrical systems confirm that they are standards compliant (which said fitout firm will invariably have claimed to be the case).
A bit of a tangent for this thread so gave updated a relavent thread.
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Old 08-11-2016, 20:27
wns_195
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Community station Radio Jcom in Leeds (1386 AM) has closed down, according to Ofcom. It still seems to be broadcasting online.
Radio JCom's signal here was extremely weak. The station goes off air for Sabbath and other religious observences.

I noticed on recent travels that Radio Warrington has popped up on 1332 AM and an Asian station seems to be coming and going on 1413 AM. I don't know how long either of these have been around! We seem to be gaining more AM stations than we're losing at present.
Thee Asian station on 1323 is from Leeds and there is a faint signal here. Bradford Asian Radio on 1413 has a stronger signal which is easy to hear. I presume it is broadcasting with more power.
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Old 09-11-2016, 21:04
Chris_Hulse1
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Fed up with the amount of electrical interference on MW, I finally made the switch from Gold to Smooth 101.4 as my default station of choice.

I might pop back to MW occasionally but basically it's dead already as far as I'm concerned.
Gold has been dead for some time now in my opinion,i suppose it depends on where you live,here in Stourbridge we have strong signals on MW from all the nationals,plus local radio,my favourite MW station is Sunshine on 855am,followed by Five Live on 693am.

Radio Wales i find is a good listen on 882am,Chris Needs in particular is very funny.
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Old 09-11-2016, 21:15
Beacon Hill
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Bradford Asian Radio on 1413 has a stronger signal which is easy to hear. I presume it is broadcasting with more power.
Useable daytime signal between Skipton & Ilkley, then pretty much rock solid right the way through to the edge of Leeds city centre (Kirkstall road by Yorkshire telly)
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Old 19-11-2016, 16:29
wns_195
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Has Bradford Asian Radio gone off air oor reduced power? I can't receive it any more.
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Old 23-11-2016, 01:06
Fred Rickwood
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Looks like Trans World Radio from Tirana Albania is due to go off air in early 2017:

http://mediumwave.info/news.html

07/11-2016

ALBANIA
As of January 2017 Trans World Radio will stop its broadcasts on the mediumwave frequency 1395 kHz from Albania. The discontinuation of broadcasts from Albania could mean good news for the low power AM transmitters in the Netherlands that broadcast on 1395 kHz.
Trans World Radio will use other mediumwave stations in Europe to achieve its targets. For example, the radio programme is broadcast on a mediumwave transmitter of Radio Monte Carlo (1467 kHz) and a mediumwave frequency from Georgia (1548 kHz).
The transmitter in Albania is in a poor condition and there is no money to renovate it. Trans World Radio was the only radio channel still using the transmitter near Tirana. The transmissions, which take place in the evening hours, use high power and can also be received in the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is also currently using 1395 kHz for low-power transmissions up to 100 watts. Under the the current broadcasting licences, the Dutch stations are not allowed to broadcast between sunset and sunrise on this frequency.
With the disappearance of broadcasts from Albania it should be possible for radio stations that broadcast on 1395 kHz in the Netherlands to broadcast 24 hours a day via this frequency. The Radiocommunications Agency will have to give formal consent, however.
Current broadcasters omn 1395 kHz include Seabreeze Radio AM (Friesland) and Q-AM (Gelderland) via this frequency. In addition, there are various authorizations issued by the Radiocommunications Agency for stations that have not yet started broadcasting.
Source: mediamagazine.nl translated by Andy Sennit, who has just reported this on the PCJ Facebook group.
Mike Terry, MWC fb group (7/11-2016)
Radio Sea Breeze comes in quite well at times after dark at this location.
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Old 23-11-2016, 01:22
Zaxx
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Meanwhile in Iceland.

RUV's technicians have for a year been experimenting with an MW transmission system, and there are indications that it could replace the two powerful LW transmitters at Eišar and Gufuskįlar.

The transmitter at Gufuskįlar is Iceland's tallest manmade structure, about 412m tall, roughly equal to 5.5 church towers. The mast at Eišar is Iceland's third tallest structure, just shy of 220m. The LW transmitters are intended to transmit to ships around Iceland and plug holes in the FM distribution system. LW, however, is found on only a minority of radios sold today, and running the system is expensive. The LW masts use a lot of electricity and maintenance is expensive, not least fixing the strobe lights on the mast at Eišar which have repeatedly been damaged by weather. They also disturb the people living at Eišar.

Gunnar Örn Gušmundsson, manager of RUV's technical division, says that an experimental MW transmitter at Vatnsendi has worked beyond expectations. Although it runs at only quarter power, its signals have been measured all the way to Eyjafjöll. MW masts are considerably lower and cheaper to run, and most, if not all, new radios can receive them. Further tests are needed before a decision can be made, but Gunnar thinks it likely to end with the LW transmitters being taken down.

(from Ydun's Medium Wave Info)
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Old 23-11-2016, 08:04
Eitshal
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List of AM community radio applications outside the M25, via Ydun.
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Old 04-12-2016, 13:44
MikeBr
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Article on France Info's closure of 162 with helpline for questions.

https://www.franceinter.fr/societe/l...-grandes-ondes
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