Re. a recent discussion in WOR iog
522 kHz
Already in the last days of June 2023, German short wave listener and programme producer Nouri Streichert (Musikallee and Steel Guitar on Channel 292) noted a station on 522 kHz which rebroadcast various international programmes in German. These included stations such as Radio Romania International, Schweizer Rundfunk and Hitradio Namibia. The station was heard in his Hildesheim area (Lower Saxony) and on a WebSDR in Magdeburg (neighbouring Saxony-Anhalt) but not much farther.
520 kHz
By the way, 520 kHz used to be a German frequency because the Copenhague Plan (1948) did not allocate many/enough frequencies to Germany. The Germans, who were only represented by the Allied powers, called it „Wellendemontage“. In response Germany moved to FM very early which gave them an advantage in the development of receivers. Stations in West Germany retained medium wave stations and to a smaller extent short wave stations to reach out to Germans east of the Iron Curtain. On both sides longwave was used to reach out to the lost brethren although neither West- nor East Germany had been allocated a channel.
In the course of 1999, local transmitters in Hof and Würzburg (200 watts each) switched from 520 to 729 kHz. These two stations of Bayerischer Rundfunk were the remnants of what were once numerous filler stations on this unusual frequency, the use of which dates back to the immediate post-war period. At the end of the 20th century, the frequency 520 kHz was below the actual medium wave range and could no longer be received by many radios.
Hansjoerg Biener to WOR iog (2023-09-14)