Closure of German AM radio stations

[Radio Fixer]

I have been, with the help of Goggle Translate, trying to follow this thread on the Radio Museum (I think you have to be a member to read it?).

http://www.radiomuseum.org/forum/es_war_...15_ab.html

Its basically about the closure of AM stations on MW and LW (and FM?) wont, by my interpretation of it, be too far away.  There is discussion about how LW could be listened too at long distances and in many poor countries not everyone has Internet access. One participant made the point that soon there will be no German language on the airwaves for people to try to brush up there language skills. 

It seems many believe that DAB, + and ++ are little better for the average user than FM and it's all being carried along on the tide of "Its digital so it must be better", which is my feeling.  FM is great as far as I'm concerned.

Looking around the 'Net some French LW stations are set to close or already have (in 2015).

Sad but the accountants rule ...

If Brian has a look at the thread, with his language skills, he may correct any inaccuracies of mine and perhaps add things that I missed.

Gary

[Terry]

No need to bother with Google Translate, Gary!

Lots of AM Radio news here, in English!

[Radio Fixer]

Good info site Terry, thanks

I didn't mind reading the threads from the Museum  and Goggle though.  Interesting what other collectors are saying !

Have to have a rack of pantry transmitters and FM (or DAB) tuners soon, particularly for a motor tuned set to have some showing off

Gary

[Murphyv310]

Good morning and happy new year.
There is a lot going to happen regarding Medium Wave and its slow demise. It's nothing like it was even a few short years ago.
The sad fact is the younger generations have little or no great interest in AM and the broadcasters know this. Transmitting to a few thousand die-hards is just not economical.
That's part of the reason and there are many other reasons for closures.
Having pantry transmitters gives our radios some life, it removes the magic though that the sets used to give when we trawled around the bands, hearing those stations that were marked on the dial was wonderful.
This is one aspect of getting older, times that will never return and the enjoyment of our hobby going into oblivion, added to all the interference from SMPS & Powerline adapters make it far less enjoyable as well.

[AlanBeckett]

Couldn't agree more.

Alan

[Terry]

Have to have a rack of pantry transmitters and FM (or DAB) tuners soon ...

The traditional problem with pantry transmitters has been to find a clear frequency, especially at night. This should now be much easier although some caution is necessary.

For example, when the Swiss Sottens transmitter on 765kHz closed down it would be an easy mistake to  make to assume that the channel was clear.

Unfortunately, the same frequency is still used by BBC Essex, so that definitely wouldn't be the case in this neck of the woods although reception of the BBC transmitter improved at night!

It might be interesting to compile a list of all the channels which are now truly clear ...

[Murphyv310]

Hi.
The one advantage of EU MW closures is that US, Canadian & South American DX could be easier.
The best time for American DX is early in the morning before sunrise. A Beverage, EWE, loop or tunable/rotatable large frame aerial will usually give results. The "X" Band is also a boon for us here as there are no Europeans to interfere in this area of the band 1602-1710Khz

[Geaney]

I was reading in the French vintage radio club magazine that the last 14 regional AM stations were due to close on December 31st.   I haven't had a chance to check until today and sure enough, no more French Medium Wave broadcasts across the dial.   A number of stations are still on Long Wave but I guess their days are limited too.

Just after Christmas some friends dropped by and their kids were keen to have a go on some of my guitars.  During their stay the surprise for me was how interested the kids were in the vintage radios - especially the large Tonfunk console which was playing away happily.  I suspect part of the problem for the younger generation is most of them are not even aware that this technology exists - or at least existed.

Time marches on........

Cheers,    John



 

[Terry]

For the benefit of anybody wanting to find a clear channel for their pantry transmitter, this list of recently vacated channels may be of help. There is no guarantee of a completely free channel, though - for example, Belgian pirates have been reported on 1440kHz!

549 Germany
603 France
711 France
756 Germany
864 France
1206 France
1242 France
1269 Germany
1278 France
1377 France
1422 Germany
1440 Luxembourg
1577 France