Month: July 2022

United Kingdom

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Greatest Hits Radio 1170 Swansea.

The station (Swansea Sound from September 1974 until September 2020) is currently playing a loop advising listeners that their normal programming “can no longer be heard on this frequency”, and to listen via DAB, Smart Speaker etc. Normal programming was heard at 0400 on 26th July, but the loop was being broadcast from 2100 on the same day. I see that the Wikipedia entry says “An End of Service Message will be broadcast from the Winch Wen Site beginning 26/07/2022 for one week, and the 1170KHz service will be switched off W/C 01/08/2022”

All other GHR MW that I can hear at this QTH are carrying their normal programmes today.  As it is the only GHR station that I can find that’s closing, I wonder if the MW licence conditions (inherited from Swansea Sound) are too expensive/onerous for Bauer to meet? As far as I am aware 1170 is the only GHR MW transmitter in Wales and one can conclude that it is the only GHR outlet that requires Welsh language programming as part of its licence conditions. The Gareth Hurford show at 2200 is presented entirely in Welsh. Was that the last opportunity to hear the Welsh language on MW? It may be that there is some Welsh broadcast from Trelew on MW, I don’t know.

It’s also interesting that in this case (as with some other GHR outlets) there is option to retune to an FM station because there is none. Ex-Swansea Sound’s FM 96.4 does not carry GHR. All of the BBC Local Radio stations that closed last year left MW but continued analogue broadcasting on FM – although how audible the FM was in some areas was open to question. In the case of GHR 1170, it is MW to digital only.

Andrew to mwcircle iog (2022-07-28)

Czech Republic

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The end of long-wave transmitters in Topolná.
České Radiokomunikace blows up the station to close the proceedings.
The Senate Defense and Security Committee called on the government to consider using the transmitters in an emergency.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Culture was deciding whether to declare the Topolná transmitter a monument.

All these beautiful people were taken aback and České Radiokomunikace blew up two 270-meter-high masts of the Topolná long-wave transmitter on July 28! Even the village and its Mayor was therefore not aware of the blasting, they also wanted to keep the station as a memorial.

It must be said that the simple replacement of the cables of the masts would have cost almost four million euros to the owner of the transmitter who is České radiokomunikace. What closes any discussion with the explosive.

At the beginning of the year, the Topolná transmitter in the Uherskohradišť region stopped broadcasting Czech longwave radio after 69 years. It is the eleventh tallest building in the Czech Republic.
Story in french:
https://media-radio.info/radiodiffusion/index.php?radiodiffusion=Tch%E9quie&id=339&cat_id=47

Michel FREMY Radio Magazine via longwaveradiolistening iog (2022-07-28)

United Kingdom

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Absolute Radio Pirates will celebrate the music and personalities of the pirate radio stations of the 60s with a one day take over from Absolute Radio 60s on the 12 August from 10am-4pm UK time (UTC + 1 hour).
The special broadcast will mark the 55th anniversary of the Marine Offences Act which made it illegal for any British subject to have anything to do with a pirate radio station – whether it be presenting on air, a crew member on board, being an advertiser, promoting the stations, or supplying them with music.
The pirate radio stations closed down on 14 August 1967, to avoid breaking the law, although Radio Caroline continued to broadcast.
Welcoming a number of well-known presenters and archive content, the pop-up station will feature a line-up including Tony Blackburn, Johnnie Walker, Leona Graham, Shaun Keaveny, along with archive broadcasts from the likes of Kenny Everett and Tommy Vance.
Tony Blackburn talks about his love of Wonderful Radio London. Tony presented the first soul music programme in the UK and developed the Fabulous 40 format which combines the best new music with greatest hits. He will tell tales of climbing masts and doing aerial repairs so he could broadcast.
Johnnie Walker chats about falling in love with pirate radio while working as a car salesman in Birmingham. There’ll be archive content from when he remained on air after the ban came into force at midnight on the 15 August 1967.
Listeners will also hear archive broadcasts of Kenny Everett and his chaotic reports from touring with The Beatles in 1966 alongside Tommy Vance’s final Fabulous 40 from Sunday 6 August 1967.
In 1966, a feud over money between two rival fort-based pirate stations – Radio Atlanta and Radio City, resulted in the murder of Radio City’s owner Reg Calvert. Susan Calvert joins the station to talk about the life of her dad – and how his passion for music took him on a journey into the world of the pirates.
Leona Graham is joined by her dad to talk about their love of music radio which all started with the DJs on the pirate ships.
Radio historian David Lloyd will share a detailed history lesson, to show the evolution of music radio from the 1950s to the present day.
Shaun Keaveny shares his love of music and broadcasting – and the impact and legacy of the pirate radio stations.
Jordan and Perri from KISS Breakfast will talk about continuing the pirate traditions on KISS FM.
Tim Blackmore – the man who helped to launch Radio One before becoming part of Britain’s first land-based commercial music station, Capital in London – shares what he learned from listening to Radio London and how it influenced his 50 year career in radio.
Zeb Soanes will be reading news bulletins from the age of the Pirates – 1964-1967.
Absolute Radio Content Director Paul Sylvester said: “Modern radio wouldn’t exist without these titans of broadcasting who introduced British audiences to the likes of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Aretha Franklin. We’re proud to pay tribute in a typically unique Absolute Radio way, disrupting the airwaves with an incredible soundtrack, legendary voices, compelling archive and the recreation of vintage news bulletins and ad-breaks. If you loved Absolute Radio 40s, well, we’ve fast-forwarded a couple of decades for another appointment-to-listen day of radio.”
Executive Producer Jon Holmes added: “An amazing day celebrating the incredible pirate radio stations that, ironically, changed the audio landscape of the UK from the (air)waves of the North Sea. If you like radio, music, music radio, or people doing what they love sticking two salty fingers up to The Man, then prepare to board Absolute Radio Pirates.”
https://ontheradio.co.uk/2022/07/tony-blackburn-and-johnnie-walker-to-join-absolute-radio-for-one-day-celebration-of-radio-pirates/

Mike Terry to mwcircle iog (2022-07-26)

United States

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Audacy Sports 660 WFAN/101.9 WFAN-FM New York has announced it has extended its deal to carry New York Yankees baseball.
Multiple sources indicate the deal stretches into the late 2020s and potentially into the next decade. Audacy will continue to produce Yankees games in English and Spanish and retain streaming rights on its app in the Yankees broadcast territory. The deal will also see the launch of additional year-long Yankees content as part of WFAN evening host Keith McPherson’s show. WFAN/WFAN-FM have carried Yankees games since 2014 after airing on co-owned News 880 WCBS from 2002 to 2014.
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/234887/wfan-extends-new-york-yankees-rights-deal/

Lance Venta, RadioInsight (2022-07-27)

Palau

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T8AA I have just spoken to one of the radio station studio staff – and have suggested that they put a voice id  around the top of  the hour  maybe every 20 mins.
I was advised that will be done tomorrow  and inserted when the station(s) FM and AM are on automation overnight.

Tony Magon AUS (2922-07-26)

Unid

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Yesterday evening I detected via  some SDR’s an unid station on MW 1044 probably from Greece or from Balkan. It’s playing continuosly 1960s and 1970s music (pop and Rock’n roll) and is to hear during night hours via these Kiwi SDR:

Landersdorf, Austria http://oe3akb.ddns.net:8073/
Zakythos, Greece: http://sv8rv.dyndns.org:8073/
Bukarest, Romania: http://sdr.yo3ksr.ro:8073/ (please use upper side band mode due to a distortion here).

At 21:25 CEST / 19:25 UTC the station identified itself as “Radio Nation” or “Radio Nashville“. Probably from Greece?
Yesterday best reception was on the SDR in Sparta, Greece. Unfortunately this Rx. is offline now.

Nils Düwel (2022-07-25)

Czech Republic

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Czech transmission services company České Radiokomunikace (CRA) is testing the DRM medium-wave digital radio system on 954 kHz.

According to a tweet from Marcel Prochazka, director of legal and regulatory affairs for CRA, the transmissions are originating from České Budějovice in South Bohemia and operating at a power of 3.16 kW from a 107-meter HAAT antenna.

CRA stated in a Czech-language press release that the test is designed to verify the possibility of using its existing analog transmitters for digital radio broadcasting. It hopes to verify various modulation parameters along with day and night coverage, usable network capacity and immunity to interference.

CRA Spokesperson Anna Tůmová said the primary goal of the test is “to verify the compatibility of our existing AM mid-wave transmitters with DRM. We will evaluate the test results in 2023.”

Although the DRM Consortium is not involved in the Czech trial, Ruxandra Obreja, chair of the consortium, welcomed it. “We are very pleased to see this new digital medium-wave test in the Czech Republic and its thoroughness … We are confident that this test will confirm the good DRM performance as recorded daily in India on their 35 plus transmitters and elsewhere.”

Obreja also noted the potential value of upgrading CRA’s analog equipment to support digital radio. “The fact that the analog transmitter used in České Budějovice can be upgraded to DRM is a bonus and will give confidence to those who want to go digital for wider coverage without replacing everything and investing vast sums of money, especially in the current climate. … We are looking forward to the Czech test results due out in 2023.”

Public-service broadcaster Český Rozhlas is cooperating with CRA in the tests, which are broadcasting ČRo’s news station Radiožurnál. ČRo has steadily decreased its use of AM broadcasting in recent years in favor of FM and DAB+.

Although CRA does not have current plans for ongoing DRM transmissions, Tůmová said “We are discussing further use of DRM with potential customers.”
Radio World, by T Carter Ross, July 20, 2022
https://www.radioworld.com/global/cra-runs-drm-digital-am-trial-in-czechia

Mike Terry to mwcircle iog (2022-07-25)

Russia

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Raduga.
“К сведению.
Передатчики СВ-ДВ 171, 270 ,576, 1026кГц и старый 675кГц , что в
таблице радиостанций Новосибирска отмечены, в 2021г сданы в утиль,
вместе с фидерными линиями.”

“The transmitters MW-LW 171, 270, 576, 1026 kHz and the old 675 kHz,
which are marked in the table of Novosibirsk radio stations, were
scrapped in 2021, along with feeder lines.”

55.493991687805575, 83.69030483682087
The pictures are too old to show it.

Marco (2022-07-25)

India

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Every year on July 23, India celebrates National Broadcasting Day to commemorate the first radio broadcast in India from the Bombay Station under the Indian Broadcasting Company in 1927.

Radio broadcasting services started in India during British rule in 1923 under the initiative of the Radio Club of Bombay. In 1927, the Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC) was made a private entity and granted permission to operate two radio stations. IBC went into liquidation on 1 March 1930, following which the government took over the broadcasting facilities and started the Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) on 1 April 1930 on an experimental basis for two years.

Eventually in June 1936, it became All India Radio. At the time of independence from the British Raj, there were a total of six radio stations – Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Tiruchirapalli, and Lucknow. FM broadcasting started later, almost 30 years later on 23 July 1977 in Chennai.

Since 1956, All India Radio (AIR) has been known as Akashvani. In terms of the number of languages broadcasted through it, AIR is the world’s largest radio network.

AIR now comprises 420 stations across the country, reaching nearly 92% of the area and 99% of the total population. AIR is owned by Prasar Bharti, which is a statutory autonomous body set up by an Act of parliament and besides AIR, it comprises Doordarshan Television Network and Prasar Bharati News Services.
https://radioinfo.asia/news/national-broadcasting-day-commemorates-indias-first-ever-radio-broadcast

Radioinfo 25 July 2022 via Mike Terry, WOR iog (2022-07-25)