Where is LW 252?

10000maniacs

This was the weekend it was supposed to be back. A lot of older Irish folks in the UK took RTE at their word. August 14th was meant to be the date. Maybe some of them were looking forward to the All Ireland football semi final and don't have the internet. Don't make promises you don't intend keeping RTE. It's too important an issue.

John Waters was one of the very first save LW campaigners https://m.independent.ie/opinion/comment/rtes-all-too-blunt-message-for-the-irish-diaspora-to-hell-or-the-internet-30628452.html

dxhound2005

I can hear it loud and clear.

3d4life

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058204223/where-is-lw-252

Its not just UK listeners, caller.

Here ( in RoI ) I have to bring the wireless to the top floor and stick the aerial out the window to have a hope of receiving the FM RTE

What chance The Duffer will raise the topic on his 'show' ?

3d4life

"I can hear it loud and clear."

LW ?

Antenna

Yes RTE's LW came back on air a few hours ago, tuned it in a few minutes ago to hear how it sounds. The Algerian 252 remains off the air so RTE are in the clear.

Meanwhile Spirit's 549 MW appears to be suffering from extremely low modulation. (just some bit of audio very much in the background of the carrier which I think is Spirit)

PS Edit - Spirit on 549 modulation was normal again checking it again a while ago

3d4life

"Yes RTE's LW came back on air a few hours ago, tuned it in a few minutes ago to hear how it sounds. The Algerian 252 remains off the air so RTE are in the clear."

Thanks Antenna, its all true !

I now have the pleasure of official state misinformation radio channel in the kitchen

tinytobe

Is there any knowledge on how many are still listening to Radio 1 on LW? I'd say today the internet is the preferred choice if one is outside of Ireland.

Also, 252 reduced power during the last 10 years or so? The signal was definitely stronger when Atlantic 252 was on air.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117829095#Comment_117829095

About 3 to 5 thousand over 60s in England

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117829129#Comment_117829129

Is this just an estimate or a confirmed figure? Also, how did this 3 to 5 thousand over 60s in England listen to RTE Radio 1 when the LW transmitter was off air?

Declan A Walsh

It is assumed that the older element of the Irish community in England listen to RTE Radio 1. A significant number could have "gone native" and listen to BBC Radio 2, or 3, or 4.

tinytobe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117829656#Comment_117829656

Thanks for that. I also thought it's just an assumption. On the other side, it's not that RTE was bombarded with loads of letters and e-mails by complaining listeners when the LW transmitter went off air. Honestly, I haven't known anybody Irish in the UK who listens to RTE Radio 1 on LW. Even today the signal is hard to receive in a big city like London, especially since they reduced power.

Also when the 252 reduced power the signal was really bad in Brighton especially during the day. And often Algeria was ruining the signal as they also had a transmitter on 252 which now seems off air as well?

10000maniacs

The UK DX forums went into overdrive when the news broke that it was back. They love that its back.

It's an extra station for UK listeners to listen to on LW. And they do listen, especially at night.

Also it's always used as a reference on UK radio repair sites.

If 252 and 198 can be picked up clearly, then they have fixed LW on the radio.

It's more popular than you think over there.

tinytobe

I was not aware of this. Not that I mind, I'd love to have LW on air for longer.

Just wondering, does neither the BBC nor RTE ever worry about the annual cost of the LW transmitter?

Do they want to keep them on air for the next 10 to 15 years? - Just wondering?

I often heard tell that in 2022 the BBC will have some form of decision on the future of Radio 4 on long wave?

tinytobe

I also listen to RTE Radio 1 quite often, but they never mentioned on any of their broadcasts that the LW transmitter would go off air and for how long. If they have LW listeners in the UK they should have informed them of planned time off air at least. Thus I always believed that nobody, other than DXers and radio enthusiasts, even knew or noticed of the shutdown.

10000maniacs

There was a UK guy fixing a radio live on YouTube last Sunday and he was confused about the number of gongs at 6:00PM on the Angelus on RTE R1.

Surely there should be six gongs? Wait that's Irish time, they use the 48 hour clock over there. LOL.

Ger Roe

Interesting article here from The Guardian in 2011 where the BBC said that they had bought up all of the remaining TX valves for their LW service. At the time, it seems they had a stock of 10 valves, with two required to operate the TX and an expected max lifespan of 10 years each. The article was written 10 years ago ... I wonder how many valves they have left now?

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/oct/09/bbc-radio4-long-wave-goodbye

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117832629#Comment_117832629

It would have worked out much cheaper if they brought one of the closed LW txs from Germany or France, those German and French DRM ready transmitters were only in use for about 6 or 7 years before they were closed. I presume that they have been scrapped by now.

tinytobe

I don't think DRM is very popular in most EU countries. Germany has no real powerful AM transmitters on air. There are just a very small number of test broadcast or radio-museum style stations around. Their signal is very weak. The Deutschlandfunk has left the LW and MW completely.

I don't know where the LW transmitters from Germany went. Apparently the former AFN transmitter near Frankfurt, the one using the 873 is now somewhere in the Baltics.