Russia

From new bulletin “RUS-DX” (1 January 2023).

What is heard on LW/MW in Russia?
They write that Mayak is broadcasting on 549 kHz today (December 27).

Source + comments: https://forum.vcfm.ru/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=78&p=164561#p164561

-Kaliningrad Radio Center #5 has prepared a second transmitter and a new frequency for on-air tests: 549 kHz. A few days earlier, short turns were made to test the operability of the restored antenna and the transmitting complex. Tests are carried out with reduced power, at the level of 50-70 kW. The antenna is involved – a mast with a height of 257 meters, previously used in the long wave band (171 kHz)
There are no airing schedules for 549 kHz. Test broadcasting can be carried out on weekdays during business hours (9-17 Moscow time)
Such a conditional schedule is also valid for a frequency of 1143 kHz.
(https://vk.com/public158109176)

Anatoly Klepov, Moscow, Russia (2022-12-30)

United States

Bicoastal Media is shuffling programming in its Southern Oregon cluster on Sunday, January 8.

The changes are being triggered by the planned sign-off of 1440 KMED Medford. The programming of KMED will move to 106.3 KYVL Eagle Point, while remaining on 99.3 KCMD Grants Pass and KMED translator 106.7 K294AS Ashland.

The flip of KYVL will see its “106.3 The Valley” AAA format move to 106.3 HD2 and translators 105.5 K288CP Ashland and 105.9 K290AF Rogue River.

KMED has operated since December 1926 and operates with 5kW day and 1kW night.

On KMED’s website the company wrote, “On January 8th, KMED will be retiring AM 1440 as a broadcast frequency. This change comes in the wake of advanced and more efficient broadcast technologies. KMED will continue to broadcast at 106.7 FM in Medford and 99.3 FM in Grants Pass and on January 8th, 106.3 FM. Although we are retiring AM 1440 KMED will remain on the air in southern Oregon, as it has since 1926. Thank you for your continued support and following of K.M.E.D. on 106.3 FM beginning Jan 8th.”
https://radioinsight.com/headlines/246654/kmed-sign-off-to-lead-to-multi-frequency-shuffle/

Lance Venta, RadioInsight (2022-12-29)

Morocco

Google translation

Morocco on longwave.
Medi 1 is always present on longwave, thanks to its Selouane station, located 18 kilometers south of Nador and west of the Algerian border. It covers Morocco, Algeria and the west of the Mediterranean basin, to the south of France. It uses the frequency of 171 kHz, which had been assigned by the Geneva plan (1975) to Morocco.Radio Méditerranée Internationale Médi 1 was born in 1980: Hassan II decided to create a commercial Franco-Moroccan radio station and entrusted the management of the project to the French company SOFIRAD.
The radio now depends on the SNRT group. Retrofitted in 2010, the transmitter would consist of 4 Thomson Broadcast S7HP 400 kW.
Morocco’s second longwave transmitter is located in Démnate, 7 km south of Azilal in the High Atlas. After several failures, the transmitter was out of service since mid-2017.
However, SNRT had not given up on reactivating the station to broadcast its Al Idaa Al Watania program, which is its reference generalist radio.
In 2017, calls for tenders were launched for “the supply, installation and commissioning of an AM/DRM radio transmitter with a power of 800 kW configured in two blocks of 400 kW including its accessories”. Another tender notice concerned “maintenance and repair work on the 300m high radiant tower, including its accessories.”
Due to the lack of bidders, the bid opening date has been postponed. We ended up believing that the SNRT had given up on its project to rehabilitate its long-wave transmitter center.
In recent weeks several people have been excited to see a new call for tenders for the “supply of modules and spare parts for 2 x 400 kW AM radio transmitters for Thomson S7 HP”.
Unfortunately, it is more than uncertain: this tender concerns parts for the 2,400 kW medium wave transmitters at Ait Melloul, south of Agadir, which were installed in 2015 by the Arilis group. The second bad news is that the call for bids, whose opening was to take place on November 15, 2022, was a failure: the deputy director of Operations and Maintenance could only point out that no response was received.
This is a worrying sign, when one knows how difficult it is to still obtain spare parts for high-power transmitters.
Riz, Thomson, Transradio… the European manufacturers of high power transmitters have already disappeared or have been absorbed by companies that are no longer very interested in this range of products. It’s not much better in the United States, Radio Romania International regularly pays the price.
In the absence of a manufacturer’s delivery, power tubes, power modules and capacitors can be ordered in China, where they are produced by the piece… at exorbitant prices, very long delivery times and often , with a quality that leaves something to be desired.
This does not bode well for the rest of the fleet of seventeen longwave transmitters still in service and medium wave transmitters.
For broadcasters, this is certainly not the time to invest in renovating the installation, turning to Nautel, which has become the largest manufacturer of transmitters of this type.

Zach Liang to WOR iog (022-12-29)

United States

“On January 8th, KMED will be retiring AM 1440 as a broadcast frequency. This change comes in the wake of advanced and more efficient broadcast technologies. KMED will continue to broadcast at 106.7 FM in Medford and 99.3 FM in Grants Pass and on January 8th, 106.3 FM.   Although we are retiring AM 1440 KMED will remain on the air in southern Oregon, as it has since 1926. Thank you for your continued support and following of K.M.E.D. on 106.3 FM beginning Jan 8th.”

KMED is also running this announcement over the air. I wonder what they mean by “retiring”.  Is the AM going dark, or will some other station or format take its place?

Bruce Portzer to irca iog (2022-12-29)

Canada

Imminent Canadian radio MW sign-offs.
A reminder that 540 CBT Grand Falls – Windsor (NL) is due to sign off on Saturday 31st December. It was last heard here on 20th December, but propagation has been poor especially at the LF end of the MW band. The station has a new 100kW transmitter on 93.3MHz FM that began full service on 3rd November.

950 CKNB‘s simulcast period with 100.7 FM at 5.33kW began officially on 14th November and the station is expected to switch off its AM transmitter around 15th February 2023. It was last audible here on 23rd December – the “95” has been dropped from the station ID which is now “CKNB 100.7 FM  Campbellton, New Brunswick”.

Andrew Brade to mwcircle iog (2022-12-29)

Luxembourg

Call for the recording of LW/MW bands on Dec 31st (closure of RTL, Luxemburg)

As RTL will stop LW transmissions on 234kHz, two colleagues and me will make broadband recordings of the full LW (and also MW) bands with high resolution SDRs (PERSEUS, STEMLAB125-14, RSP1A) on Dec 31st before and around midnight CET. However, none of us is located in the main beam direction of Beidweiler, i.e. from Luxemburg towards Paris. I am therefore searching for a volunteer in or close to this area, who is equipped with a suitable SDR (operating down to 150 kHz, >= 12bit resolution, ability to record broadband IQ files), a good antenna and interest to join us. This would be a unique opportunity to conserve the LW band with high quality before one of its most famous transmitters goes off air forever. If possible, even the MW band could be recorded simultaneously thus also including the closing Slovak transmitters at 702 and 1098 kHz.

The files are planned to be made available for the public on COHIRADIA at www.radiuomuseum.org. They can then be downloaded and played back and tuned through either digitally with usual SDR software or also on analogue AM radios when using a suitable hardware (for technical details see https://www.radiomuseum.org/dsp_cohiradia.cfm).

If you are interested please contact me directly by email: hermann.scharfetter@gmail.com.

Best regards
Hermann Scharfetter (2022-12-28)

Slovakia

A Reminder:

On 31 December 2022, Radio and Television of Slovakia will end the operation of medium-wave radio transmitters:
– NE Košice in the Čižatice location on a frequency of 702 kHz
– NE Nitra in the Jarok location on the frequency 1098 kHz

Both transmitters were used to broadcast the national broadcast of  Radio Patria  between 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. in the evening. In the night hours, it was supplemented by the broadcasting of the RTVS  Rádio Devín program service .

Ydun Ritz (2022-12-28)