Longwave Broadcast DXing in Europe

[@boerewors79]

When living in South Africa I could hear U.S. East Coast MW (AM) stations at night. LW and MW are very cost efficient for the distance that they cover.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Yes they are! Thanks for commenting

[@hamradiofun5527]

We take LW for granted here in the UK. Not so much nowadays with the younger generation. I didn't realise that LW works via groung wave ... Every day is a school day! Cheers Walt.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Yes it was interesting to find out about the ground wave thing when I was researching. Cheers!

[@4nradio782]

I miss the longwave broadcasters that used to be audible from the Pacific NW coast (WA, OR) up until the early-1990s. In particular, Radio Moscow relays from Far East Russia were audible in parallel on up to *six* LW frequencies at once! Programming was often a hoot, too. I recall hearing Soviet versions of popular disco tunes but sung in Russian! "Остаться в живых, остаться в живых..." = "Stayin' alive, stayin' alive..." 🤣 73, Guy

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

That’s awesome, thanks for sharing. 73, Walt

[@StuartM0TTQAmateurRadio]

I recall may years ago in the old Short Wave Magazine there were reception reports from the east coast of the US and Canada on some of the North Aftican LW stations. I could tune my old spiral loop across most of the band and in the days before switch mode QRM I could hear a lot of the more distant stations. The BBC TX on 198kHz is supposed to be closing some time by 2027 but that is highly controversial as it carries both the shipping forecast and cricket commentaries!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Interesting Stuart, thanks for commenting

[@eastvillepark6037]

I hope Ireland keeps using Long wave

[@joeblow8593]

I've picked up a number of long wave beacons at night from Florida to Canada here in the Midwest. The only Transatlantic LW station I got was 171 khz from Morroco

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Cool, hoping to pick up Morocco on the East Coast when I get home.

[@davidsradioroom9678]

I spent 12 years in Europe. I used to tune in LW stations often. Cool video.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks!

[@danmassey8527]

Thanks for this. I am an electronic musician of no note, but wanted to find those random sounds I used to hear on LW radio when I was a kid.This has made my day!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Awesome, thanks for watching!

[@danmassey8527]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES Thanks for posting!

[@AdamEbelgccengineering]

I have been listening to LW radio since the year 1992, but I did discover it during the year 1987 when one of my mother's friends had a Zenith transoceanic radio, but did not receive anything, but I knew LW is another world band like SW, but it's low frequency. I almost got myself a DX-440, but the price range was too high for me, so I had to wait until I received the DX-380 in 1992 to get started in LW listening. I really got into it around 1993-94 when I received a DX-390 and was able to receive various LW stations at night such as Radio France Inter on 162 kHz, Medi 1 on 171 kHz, SNRT on 207 kHz from Morocco, and Atlantic 252 from Ireland around 3 AM. I have been hooked ever since. You need a good long wire antenna up to 100 feet and a good RF ground to receive distant LW stations at night from 6 PM to 3 AM here at home on the East Coast of VA.

[@agoraphobicadam1171]

Walt, It was great to see you on Coffee And Ham Radio this morning. KO4HPC 73

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks Adam, I love hanging out with those guys!

[@cryostratos5359]

Dziękujemy za wizytę w Polsce!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

I love Poland!🇵🇱

[@LB0FI]

This is pure magic Walt! I need do look through the basement for a LW radio now!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks Morten!

[@kennethblackwell1137]

Thanks, Walt. This is certainly different from the normal ham fare....Have fun...!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks Kenneth!

[@hamradioqrp-k0klb]

Thanks for the demo Walt.. When I first started SWL, I often scanned those frequencies (not knowing what they were) and never heard anything.. after a while I didn't even bother.. now I know why I didn't hear anything.. Great info.. thx for sharing.. Take care over there... k0klb

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks so much Kevin, 3 more weeks and you’ll definitely hear my call without the SP/ on the Friday night net. Miss you guys!

[@DK5ONV]

👀 Happy weekend to you, Kevin 💯🙋‍♂🍻

[@adam-g7crq]

Crikey I haven't listened to long wave in a long time Walt your lucky to have a low noise floor where you are at the moment, urban life in London with all it's noisy consumer electronic products make's it impossible to listen that low down, I wonder what top band is like for you there. Thanks for the video, Adam G7CRQ

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks for commenting Adam, I’m lucky because I’m outside of the city center here at the edge of a farming community. Noise floor is pretty low throughout. I actually listen to 1215 Absolute Radio almost nightly here on medium wave and it’s normally very good reception.

[@migi5374]

This is the second video I've seen on Longwave. Trains in America use longwave. 160-164khz

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Cool! I’ll have to listen in and see if I can catch them on LW

[@gavinnorthants]

Used to love listening to Atlantic 252, but went bust due to low listening figures. Was way ahead of its time, and would be comparable to Kiss or Capital now. Maybe has a playlist in between these two stations. Was also good for when in a remote area on holiday in Wales, as the signal would travel over the mountains, and no FM signals were available.

[@niladrimukherjee2098]

Hi buddy I am from India. Glad to learn that someone outside China is making radios . Europe made great radios like Philips ,Grundig ( now being made in China and lacks the German vitality ) and even Poland had great radios too. Would appreciate if you would make videos of radios that are manufactured NOT in China but in U S.A ,CANADA ,Europe etc.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Hi Niladri! Will do as I come across those radios

[@Foxyfoxy9293]

There is some kind of magic in long wave radio. We used to produce our own electronic devices but we don't anymore since 90's. I even doubt the one you have was made here. It is Polish brand but most probably receiver was assembled in China. Hope you enjoyed your time here 🙂.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Yes there is magic in LW radio! I love Poland, I’ll be back next month.

[@Foxyfoxy9293]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES If you will be here try listening to 540 kHz after the evening, it is medium waves. World's most powerful MW transmitter. It is located in Hungary but can be heard well in central Europe but mainly evenings. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kossuth_R%C3%A1di%C3%B3

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

@@Foxyfoxy9293 I will, thanks for the information

[@Steven-mc1ug]

Found LW reception very poor $35 Digitech AR-1733 radio with its telescopic aerial on East Coast of Australia. Need to set up a decent aerial so I can actually understand what is being said. Very new to this thanks for your video.

[@Yosemite-George-61]

Hi, I live in Normandy, I listen to long wave and can, most nights, catch radio 1 from Poland (252 kHz) last night all I could understand was :"Black friday"... (is 24 november today) Cheers!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

That’s awesome! Cheers!

[@THEBossSound]

As always a great video Walt! K9EZ

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks so much!

[@K3JRZOnTheAir]

Very cool. So why, WHY, don’t we have such frequencies in use in the US???

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Good question, it’s just never been a thing in the states as a broadcast band.

[@inversion66]

They were apparently never allocated for broadcast use in ITU Region 2, which includes Canada and the United States.

[@migi5374]

A nice, simple, designed radio. I would've picked one up as well for $15

[@GeoNeilUK]

I wouldn't mind seeing if I could find some DRM radio, but I find very few actual DRM radios adn they're VERY expensive.

[@andyledger2307]

When I was a kid (longer ago than I care to mention now … ah, stuff it, back in the 70s), there was a lot to listen to on LW in the UK. Now, it’s really only BBC Radio 4, although I did catch some distant French sounding station late-ish the other evening. MW is going the same way as more stations go DAB and online. Just the other night, Gold went off air on MW. Sad times.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Yes very sad times. MW is starting to thin out here in the USA as well.

[@andriikolesnyk279]

Hello, Walt! I wonder how many people in the world still listening to the Long Wave radio nowadays. Broadcasting in LW requires huge antenna fields and an enormous amount of power (200kW and more). I.e. cost per listener is non-competitive neither with FM nor with SW broadcasting. Not to mention the broadcasting quality.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Roger that, it’s a part of radio that will disappear. Glad I got to experience it.

[@SimonBlandford]

LW enables a national radio service to most European-sized countries to radios with no external antenna, reliably, for 24 hours a day with no variation in conditions due to interference from skip etc. No need to reduce power at night just not to bother other countries. For countries with national broadcasting, it’s a couple of Mega Watts of electricity and a huge field with massive towers in it well spent. It’s also useful for ships to get reliable news and weather reports e.g. the “shipping forecast” on BBC Radio 4 LW.

[@qwertyamdx]

You're not quite right about the cost of broadcasting. In fact, it's the other way around - LW gives the best value for money due to great daytime coverage. For example, the Polish 225 kHz transmitter, operating with 1000 kW, covering the entire country and a big part of Europe costs them less than a half of what they pay for the FM service used by the same programme. This is publicly available data. The recently switched off Czech LW transmitter (270 kHz) was making only around 10% of their overall broadcasting costs (again, for a single radio programme), albeit it was running with only 50 kW. Also, the BBC has published data stating that AM is the most energy-efficient analog broadcasting platform, with FM having significantly higher energy footprint. Overally, whichever platform is used, the broadcasting costs make only a small part of a radio station's budget.

[@SimonBlandford]

@@qwertyamdx That's really insightful. Thanks!

[@Inkling777]

I wonder why European governments keep funding what has to a very expensive system with few listeners, particularly when they're cutting back in other areas. The BBC ended an AM station that covered Northern France and Belgium and the Australians shut down one that broadcast regular programming to SE Asia.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Yes I think this is a dying part of radio. Really glad I got to experience it.

[@qwertyamdx]

It's the cheapest analogue broadcasting platform for a broadcaster that wants to cover a vast territory with a strong signal during daytime. You're probably mixing shortwave and mediumwave with longwave, which is the topic of the vid.

[@unarmedduck]

BBC's R4LW service is largely funded by privately owned power companies. We have a variable tariff system called economy 7 here in the UK, which allows for much cheaper electricity rates for a 7 hour period overnight. An inaudible signal is broadcast on R4LW which tells the tele-switcher attached to a meter which tariff to charge. As the BBC haven't got to fund the £1.5m bill to run the 700kW transmission the service remains viable. For now.

[@steeviebops]

RTÉ Radio 1 is now gone. Transmission ceased in April and the tower was demolished today.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

That’s sad!

[@marcovL1970]

Lot of of longwave stations shutdown the transmission also on medium wave.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Yes that’s sad

[@richiehoyt8487]

RTE (Ireland) shut down their LW service in, I think, mid~April. Seems like they were trying to pull the plug on it for years, since their Atlantic 252 wheeze stopped being an earner for them (in spite of having upgraded the transmitters just a few years back, they dialed back the power significantly - to save on the juice as far as I can tell.) Of course they deserted the MW Band decades ago...

[@blacksmock445]

Interesting that there is no Medium Wave on your radio. Most European countries no longer broadcast on MW. UK and Spain still have quite a few MW Txs, but these are rapidly disappearing. Poland has a powerful LW transmitter on 225kHz, which is probably the main purpose of LW on your radio. RTE Ireland and Radio Luxembourg disappeared from LW in the first few months of 2023, together with one of Iceland's 2 LW stations.

[@martinotobias]

A good video. Do you really recommend this radio and how does it work an medium wave?

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks, it was ok on medium wave but not outstanding. I bought the radio at an electronics store in Poland just for the LW capability which it did pretty well.

[@martinotobias]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES thank you. its really hard to find something for medium wave.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

@@martinotobias I just got a XHDATA D-109 and it is very good on MW. Rather inexpensive too, about $40 USD

[@martinotobias]

@@COASTALWAVESWIRES den xhdata 808 hab ich bereits. ist da ein unterschied? und vielen dank fuer die infos.

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

@@martinotobias Das 808 ist ein viel besseres Radio als das 109. Das 109 ist einfach ein gutes Radio für einen niedrigen Preis.

[@rjy8960]

Sadly BBC LW is closing 2024 :(

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

That is very sad.

[@agw5425]

Relax and breath, you push to fast when talking. Your subject is interesting but for pete's sake slow down. Videos do not have to be as short as possible, add a minute and make it far more pleasant to listen to. Ps. put some curtains near you when recording your voice to reduce at least some of the echoes from the room you are recording in.

[@bucknakedbullfrog]

I am just now learning about LW. Thanks for making this video!!!

[@COASTALWAVESWIRES]

Thanks for watching!!