Author: mw

India

mw

Special dawn programme “Mahishasur Mardini” by Akashvani on the ocassion of ‘Mahalaya 2026’.

Special transmission by Akashvani for ‘Mahalaya 2026’Date : 10th October, 2026 (Saturday)Time : 0350 – 0545 IST, 2220 UTC (9th Oct, 2026) to 0015 UTC* (10th Oct, 2025)* some stations have late sign in & may continue past 0100 UTC

Akashvani, Delhi will broadcast the special dawn on the programme “Mahishasur Mardini” on the occasion of Mahalaya in following languages  :
– Hindi/Sanskrit version – on its Indraprastha & FM Gold channels. This will be relayed by all FM Gold channels and selected MW stations.
– Bengali/Sanskrit version – at same time on Akashvani Delhi FM Rainbow network and selected MW stations.

Akashvani, Kolkata will also originate the special Mahalaya programme in Bengali/Sanskrit at same time which will be relayed by selected MW & FM stations .This programme may also be relayed over DRM channels and on YouTube channel AIR Live News 24X7 & DTH.

Live-streaming on : https://prasarbharati.gov.in  and News On AIR

App”Mahishasuramardini” is a special two hour transmission consisting of Sanskrit & Bengali recitation & music composed by Late Shri.Birendra Krishna Bhadra. Akashvani has been broadcasting this program since early 1930’s. The sheer nostalgia is what makes the dawn of Mahalaya special as one of the most looked forward to radio broadcasts. Countdown of the Indian festival of Durga Puja starts from the day of Mahalaya.

Frequencies observed during past years in MW:
531 – Jodhpur
549 – Ranchi *
603 – Ajmer621 – Patna A *
648 – Indore657 – Kolkata A *
675 – Chattarpur684 – Port Blair
711 – Siliguri *729 – Guwahati A
747 – Lucknow A756 – Jagdalpur
774 – Shimla792 – Pune *
801 – Jabalpur *
810 – Rajkot A *
819 – New Delhi A *
828 – Silchar
846 – Ahmedabad *
891 – Rampur
909 – Gorakhpur
918 – Suratgarh
954 – Nazibabad
981 – Raipur
990 – Jammu
1008 – Kolkata B *
1026 – Prayagraj
1044 – Mumbai A (Pure DRM)
1125 – Udaipur/Tezpur
1179 – Rewa
1242 – Varanasi *
1260 – Ambikapur
1269 – Agartala
1296 – Darbhanga
1314 – Bhuj
1386 – Gwalior
1395 – Bikaner *
1404 – Gangtok
1458 – Bhagalpur
1530 – Agra
1593 – Bhopal A*
Try also in DRM mode on minus 9 kHz of AM frequency

Reception Reports to :Please submit your reception reports on line at:
https://prasarbharati.gov.in/reception-report/
or by email to: spectrum-manager@prasarbharati.gov.in
or by postal mail to :
Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy)
Akashvani (All India Radio),
Room No. 204,
Akashvani Bhawan,Parliament Street
New Delhi110001, India

Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi to dxindia iog (2026-09-28)

United Kingdom

mw

BBC Local Radio Medium Wave transmitters to close by end of November.

BBC Local Radio Medium Wave transmission services in Cumbria, Derby, Gloucestershire, Norfolk and Somerset will close by the end of November 2026. This is the final phase of a switch off process which was announced in 2011 with phased closures in 2018 and 2020.

Webpage goes on to list the other ways of listening to those stations
https://www.bbc.co.uk/reception/work-warning/news/mwclosures

Mike Barraclough to MWCircle iog (2026-09-28)

Czechia

mw

In mid-October, Czechia will lose the country’s tallest structure: two steel radio transmitter masts in the village of Liblice near Český Brod will be brought down in a controlled explosion. This pair of 355-metre towers has loomed over the surrounding area for half a century and, according to the site’s owner, would cost more to repair than to demolish.

Owners of neighbouring properties have already received notices: during the blasting operation, being present within the designated safety zones will be prohibited. Once demolished, the landmark that has been part of the local landscape for half a century will disappear from the horizon.

The current pair of steel masts was built in 1976, with the ceremonial launch taking place on 28 December 1976. Each mast reaches a height of 355 metres — taller than the Eiffel Tower including its antenna (330 metres). At the time of construction, the structures were considered a remarkable technical achievement.

Originally, the transmitter broadcast the second programme of what was then Czechoslovak Radio on medium wave. The combined output of the two towers reached 1,500 kilowatts, allowing the signal to cover a significant part of the country. Czech Radio stopped broadcasting on medium wave at the end of 2021. Country Radio continued transmitting on the same frequency from Liblice for a while afterward — it shut down on 31 March 2025. Since then, no radio station has broadcast from the site.

České Radiokomunikace, the company that owns the masts, found no further use for them, and keeping them standing would have required extensive and costly repairs. The most urgent task would have been a complete replacement of the guy-wire anchors, at a cost of roughly 120 million crowns. Restoring the structures’ anti-corrosion protection would have cost about another 25 million crowns, and repairing the lifts inside the masts roughly the same amount. According to estimates, the most essential work alone would have cost around 170 million crowns.

novinky.cz via Around Prague website (2026-09-28)

Sweden

mw

SAQ Grimeton scheduled to air on UN-Day, Oct 24th 2026.

SAQ was put into commercial radio traffic on December 1st 1924, at first on 16.2 kHz. In mid December 1924, the frequency was changed to 16.1 kHz and on Dec 24th 1926 it was changed back to 16.2 kHz. On March 10th 1927 SAQ’s frequency was again changed, this time to 17.0 kHz, a frequency previously used by Italian station IRC in Rome.

Only two weeks later, on April 3rd 1927 SAQ’s frequency was again changed, now to 17.2 kHz, a frequency previously occupied by LPV in Buenos Aires, in order to provide “suitable noninterfering wave channel for new Belgian station ORU Ruysselede”, according to the traffic manager at RCA.
17.2 kHz has since then, except for a short period in the 1950’s when SAQ was transmitting on 17.25 kHz, been the frequency we all now belongs to the historical Alexanderson alternator SAQ at Grimeton Radio Station in Sweden.
On UN-Day, October 24th, 2026, SAQ is scheduled* to spread a peace message to the World on 17.2 kHz CW.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CADvSwQhdKI

Program and transmission schedule:
10:00 CEST (08:00 UTC): The visitor center and radio station is opened for visitors.
See grimeton.org for more info.

Transmission & YouTube Live stream:
14:20 CEST (12:20 UTC): Live stream on YouTube begins with a technical walk-through of SAQ.
14:30 CEST (12:30 UTC): Startup and tuning of the Alexanderson Alternator SAQ.
14:45 CEST (12:45 UTC) SAQ in the air “VVV VVV VVV de SAQ SAQ SAQ” (approx. time)
15:00 CEST (13:00 UTC): Transmission of a peace message from SAQ.

Live Video from World Heritage Grimeton Station
The transmission event can be seen live on our YouTube Channel

We are planning to carry our some test transmissions on Friday, October 23rd, 13:00 – 16:00 CEST (11:00 -14:00 UTC). SAQ will be on the air shorter periods of time during this interval, when we will be carrying out tuning, tests and measurements.
Your comments are welcome to info@alexander.n.se.

QSL Reports to SAQ
Your QSL reports to SAQ are, as usual, most welcome and much appreciated!

SAQ Grimeton Radio Station (2026-09-26)

Australia

mw

Went out for a band capture on the 26th Sept & noted the 4VL/t 1584 Cunnamulla QL is back on the air, having being absent since June. I could compare with the 918khz main frequency (song matching) & heard its match on 1584.

Geoff Wolfe – Cooma NSW Australia (2026-09-26)

Iceland

mw

Autumn bandscan 2026
Tonight’s weather is as good (calm and a light cloud layer) as tomorrow’s weather forecast is bad (gale and rain).

On the LW band, the Polish Radio came in with a good signal.

On MW, British senders gave good signals. Even BBC Asian’s outlets on 1440 and 1449 kHz were well readable, as was what I think was Radio Caroline on 648 kHz, Talk Sport on 1107 kHz, and BBC 5 live on 1116 kHz. Manx Radio on 1368 kHz had a good signal, though not as booming as the Big Brits.

There was also a gaggle of Spanish, Central European and North African stations, and several unresolvable pile-ups.

Well, that is it for now. A pretty good evening in my opinion.

Reynir Heidberg Stefansson (2026-09-23)

India

mw

Emergency broadcast by Akshvani Visakhapatnam 927 kHz just now due to Cyclone Arnab which is expected to make landfall shortly

Akashvani Visakhapatnam of Andhra Pradesh State is noted with continuous special emergency broadcast just now around midnight Indian time  ie1830 UTC on 927 kHz instead of signing off earlier.. Look out for any more stations in the area with emergency broadcasts.

More details of cyclone is in 
https://www.indiatvnews.com/news/india/cyclone-arnab-live-tracker-update-landfall-time-place-bay-of-bengal-deep-depression-odisha-andhra-pradesh-imd-weather-alert-schools-closed-1055054

Yours sincerely, Jose Jacob to dxindia iog  (2026-09-23)