AM radio station list

RIP long waves...only Alger Chaine 3 (252Khz) still carries the flag.
No more BBC when driving south of Abbeville,North of Gibraltar... so sad!!
 
On our honeymoon in 1984, we stopped in the Camargue for lunch. I tied a length of wire between the car aerial and a handy nearby fence post. I wouldn't say that Radio 4 came thundering in but it was eminently readable.

Which is more than can be said for modern cars. I found that the hash put out by all the electronics would make 198 KHz unlistenable by the time we got down to Orleans.
 
Night and winter propagation made it very easy to get for much of the time. Worst was summer months of course.
And 648 gave World service. You would get one or the other at night .On any car radio.
A good soft power for us in France,and an alternative source of news.
Plus you 'd get France Inter ,RTL in exchange. Truck drivers at night had these over most of Europe,British Isles included.
Now,we re stuck with the local brand. Now,enjoy Austrian or Czech radio when in Vienna/Prag!!!! A stupîd way of saving pennies,really!
Why kill it?
 
Night and winter propagation made it very easy to get for much of the time. Worst was summer months of course.
And 648 gave World service. You would get one or the other at night .On any car radio.
A good soft power for us in France,and an alternative source of news.
Plus you 'd get France Inter ,RTL in exchange. Truck drivers at night had these over most of Europe,British Isles included.
Now,we re stuck with the local brand. Now,enjoy Austrian or Czech radio when in Vienna/Prag!!!! A stupîd way of saving pennies,really!
Why kill it?
The official reason is the low numbers of listeners and cost.

I would hazard a guess the frequencies are going to be sold off.
 
The official reason is the low numbers of listeners and cost.

I would hazard a guess the frequencies are going to be sold off.
who would buy these frequencies? Radio sets sold today & car radios do not receive long waves.
Except maybe in Algeria which surely recycles our old car radios so they get Alger Chaine 3 (252Khz)all over the Maghreb area!!
Morocco has Medi1 on 171 ,likewise. Covers the West Med.
Why not keep 1 LW station for each "big" country? Helps when traveling around Europe & Maghreb....
 
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who would buy these frequencies? Radio sets sold today & car radios do not receive long waves.
Except maybe in Algeria which surely recycles our old car radios so they get Alger Chaine 3 (252Khz)all over the Maghreb area!!
Morocco has Medi1 on 171 ,likewise. Covers the West Med.
Why not keep 1 LW station for each "big" country? Helps when traveling around Europe & Maghreb....
The long wave band sits in the middle of allocated maritime mobile and aeronautical navigation slots.


There is a chance these could expand to fill the gaps as the broadcasters close down.
 
Night and winter propagation made it very easy to get for much of the time. Worst was summer months of course.
And 648 gave World service. You would get one or the other at night .On any car radio.
A good soft power for us in France,and an alternative source of news.
Plus you 'd get France Inter ,RTL in exchange. Truck drivers at night had these over most of Europe,British Isles included.
Now,we re stuck with the local brand. Now,enjoy Austrian or Czech radio when in Vienna/Prag!!!! A stupîd way of saving pennies,really!
Why kill it?
500 kilowatts isn;t pennies. LW had to go - too much interreference from modern tech
 
500 kilowatts isn;t pennies. LW had to go - too much interreference from modern tech
Indeed, I remember 198 being Radio2 back in the day, I remember a nice strong signal, unlike when I listened on my car radio on Friday, completely spoilt by interference..
 
Indeed, I remember 198 being Radio2 back in the day, I remember a nice strong signal, unlike when I listened on my car radio on Friday, completely spoilt by interference..
yep, and in the home basically anything that steps down voltage causes problems, so that includes almost every device, LED light etc
 
Radio 4LW 198kHz fell silent as the Droitwich, Westerglen & Burghead txers were turned off for the last time just after midday yesterday (30/6/26)
 
Two more R5Live fill in transmitters closed on July 31st:

693kHz Folkestone
909kHz Redruth

Exeter 909kHz & Southwick 693kHz are expected to close at the end of September
 
The US may be the only country keeping MW/W frequencies in a few years.

In 2015, the United States’ Federal Communications Commission decided that radio broadcasting deserved an AM Revitalization Plan. Its main goal was to make changing the location of medium-wave sites easier and allow FM repeaters to retransmit medium-wave signals. Hence, the priority was to keep medium-wave licensees on the market rather than make medium-wave more attractive as a distribution network. Contrary to Europe, AM and FM offer different services in the U.S. This has maintained the distinctiveness of the service. The current battle is in the Senate, where an act requiring all new motor vehicles to include an AM tuner has been introduced.


and last month

 
The only reason the Yanks are keeping AM alive is lobbying by the rich & influential folks who own the talk & religious nut job stations that infest the medium wave band over there.
 
The only reason the Yanks are keeping AM alive is lobbying by the rich & influential folks who own the talk & religious nut job stations that infest the medium wave band over there.

Whilst it is still in the main an uncivilised part of the planet, they do have cquam radio on medium wave, or stereo broadcasting on AM, which having heard many DAB/DAB+ stations would give it a run for its money.

But not religious nut job stations, Intelsat 20 (68.5E) provides it all in spades.
 
The only reason the Yanks are keeping AM alive is lobbying by the rich & influential folks who own the talk & religious nut job stations that infest the medium wave band over there.
they're supposed to be about limited government, yet want to force every car buyer to pay for an AM radio that they probably don't want
 
Actually it’s probably down to the NAB the National Association of Broadcasters who are a very powerful organisation. I like listening to my Baseball team games when in the USA and the only station that covers the games is on AM.
 
AM reception would still require some form of ferrite core in the box, or have modern chip sets and diversity antennas overcome the old tech ?
 
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